There are many great joys in life and Disney, the creators of "Wreck it Ralph", have always been experts at tapping into those emotions. It has been key to their success. Just like the characters in "Toy Story", we all long to be needed and not necessarily loved, but liked. We want to be included. We want to know that there's somebody out there who thinks of us from time to time and quite simply, that is all that Ralph wants.
Locked away inside his game between the hours of open and close of the arcade, Ralph is alone. He's a bad guy. The hero of his game, Fix-it Felix is the star. Felix is the one with the friends and who receives all the accolades. When the arcade closes up for the night, the characters can travel from game to game, they can socialize with each other, but Ralph is alone, with no friends to speak of. Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly, wants people to like him. He wants people to be proud of him, but being locked away inside his game only allows him to destroy and then get thrown off a building. This triggers a nostalgic and incredibly creative adventure.
"Wreck it Ralph" never really struck me as outwardly hilarious, but the movie is endlessly entertaining and loaded with imagery and blast from the past references. Also like "Toy Story", another world occurs when people aren't looking and when that world takes off, the video game references from the past will go right over your child's head. The adults though, will recognize characters from Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Q*bert, Street Fighter, Joust, Frogger, Pac-Man, Burger Time, the bartender from the game Tapper and even paddle one and two from the ultra nostalgic game, Pong.
Ralph means well, but like most animated movies, that doesn't always lead you in the correct direction. So, when he meets a sweet little 9-year old racer named Vanellope Von Schweetz, voiced by Sarah Silverman, he finds that he's not alone in his plight to be included. Vanellope is a glitch, a flawed character program, hidden away in the system, not allowed to play. The two of them may have formed one of the most memorable character bonds in recent history.
While the movie may not be hilariously funny, "Wreck it Ralph" is sheer joy and fun and it taps into an emotion that many adults have forgotten and many kids know all too well. It reminds you what it is like that first time you realized that you had a friend. Your child will also see a nice example of friendship and loyalty. This, in my opinion, makes "Wreck it Ralph" not just a movie for kids, but for adults as well. With all the references of nostalgic games and its flawless reminder of how euphoric friendship is, "Ralph" is for everybody.
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