Wreck It Ralph

I was proud of myself for getting that one, but at the same time felt secret shame, because the only reason I got it was because of The King of Kong.

There's definitely a story to be had in the idea that arcades themselves are a dying breed. In fact, watching the arcade in the movie get overrun with kids as soon as it opens each day made me think, "Yeah, like that would happen these days." Of course that's what broke my suspense of disbelief.

What was it? It appears we left too soon. :)

Saw this with my kids today and we all loved it. It's amazing that in a year when Pixar and Disney both put out an animated movie, Disney was the better one. And they even had a little dig at Disney Princesses at the end.

Also, I want a Sour Bill candy.

I really liked that Vanelope didn't need to fall in love with a guy to become what she became. Miyazaki has always done it this way, where relationships between male and female protagonists were loving, but not romantic. I think it makes for better characters and stories. Glad to see Disney trying it out a well.

I liked this OK, but I didn't love it. I wasn't expecting this to be a movie about fatherhood, and it kind of disappointed me. I thought the first theme -- Ralph learning to accept being a bad guy -- was a lot more interesting than yet another animated movie about fatherhood.

I really want to play a Sugarrush game though!

Yeah, but I was disappointed that

As my partner said, "Too bad it had to be so heteronormative." :)

So I watched it with my husband, and I was actually kinda dissapoint that of all of the Nintendo characters (including mentioning Mario at one point) they didn't include DK. Also since when has Sonic been in an arcade game?

Qbert though, man he was my childhood. And if Sugar Rush were an actual full game in a sort of Mariokart style, I would play the crap out of that, you have no idea. My husband was actually glad that the bullies hogging Sugar Rush were boys.

Finally saw this and I'm so happy I did. Best movie in a long time to just make me smile and go along for the ride. Enjoyed all the gaming references and was pleasantly surprised at the direction the story took, but really shouldn't have been. It's a fairly standard story trope but it was executed so perfectly. I almost teared there near the end.

Paperman is up on youtube

This is out today on download services. Not Netflix, but iTunes, PS3, X360 & Amazon. Amazon is a little messed up, the link when you search for it takes you to the SD version, which is unavailable. HD-only. If you want it from them use this link instead of searching: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2DSIAI/

It's $20! If you haven't seen the movie, SEE IT.

The disc release is March 5th.

Heheh, "boob".

We are on our third consecutive viewing of the credits. Which, in the four year-old controlling the seek bar's defense, are just perfect.

When this first came out, I watched it with my father and grandmother. While my dad and I are gamers and got a lot of the in jokes, my grandma laughed just as much as we did- the movie got the humor broad enough to appeal to a wide audience (especially all those candy jokes, like the Nesquick sand). I'm late to this party, but I really really enjoyed this film. It felt like the creators had fun making it and I barrels of fun watching it.

I'm totally buying a copy for myself when it comes out.

I finally saw the movie on my flight to Toronto. I really enjoyed it for a non-Pixar movie. It didn't insult old gamers like me by mocking the old 8-bit era games of yesteryear. I like the nods to classic games like Q-bert and Street Fighter but I wish there were more.

Saw it with the kids this weekend and we all loved it.

Saw this today and really enjoyed it. It happened to have a trailer for Monsters Inc University beforehand, really just driving home how Disney animation is on the rise while it's hard to recall that time when every Pixar film was a must see.

I prefer complaining though so let me get my three annoyances off my chest, even though two will be mentally countered by most using the "kid's film" defence. If you find yourself doing that, for shame, sir, for shame! Remember Bambi! Remember Watership Down!

There was a time when children's animation wasn't so terrified of having the sad in there too and I miss that.

Calhoun was easily the best character though, stole every scene she was in, though she wasn't in the best scene which was when Ralph gets his medal. That over-the-top awards scene just made me laugh, it was such a pitch-perfect gaming moment.

Agree. It was beautiful but did nothing for me as a story.

Nonsense, good sir. And why? Because it was a fucking kids movie. Wait, hear me out.
Your comparisson is rubbish because Watership Down was never a kids movie (I was traumatized by it - my dad dragged me in to see it) and if your logic applied to Bambi, then we wouldn't have his mother dying early in the movie but Bambi dying at the end.

And sometimes - especially in a kids movie - the wilingnees to sacrifice yourself is strong enough, that we don't need the sacrifice itself for the message to shine through. You sound like an Old Testatment god...

The first scene was almost as powerful as Bambi's mother dying. Nobody died, but at that point we knew the characters involved better than we knew Bambi's mother and we understood perfectly how painful Ralphs choice was - my youngest kid still talks about how sad that scene made her even though the movie had a perfectly cromulent happy end (just like Bambi did).

I have no idea, why your using spoiler tags at this point.

I tire of the idea that children's movies must be all happy happy joy joy. When I was a kid (old man mode ACTIVATED!) I was watching Watership Down and The Last Unicorn. Yes, Bambi had the mother die early on, but she still died! These were animations which were suitable for both audiences and didn't hold their punches. It seems to me that now animated films won't go beyond teasing sadness. There's no meat to the story because no sacrifices are ever required, everyone gets what they want because they wanted it. It's primarily frustrating because some great stories are getting told in the medium, but they all end in one incredibly predictable happy ending and feel a little cheap for the cop-outs it takes to get there.

I'd just like to see a little more daring when it comes to that.

Not sure why I spoiled the last bit either, removing the tags now.

Don't know The Last Unicorn and I still don't really consider Watership Down a pure children's movie. Apart from that your argument is very selective.

Up has unwanted abortion, childlessness and the death of a spouse in the first 10 minutes.
How to Train Your Dragon has a main character maimed.
Brave only has a supporting character maimed.
Frankenweenie is about the death of a loved pet.
ParaNorman has the main character interacting with a corpse and a plot revolving around the execution of a kid.
Tintin has people dying, but no important characters.
Kung Fu Panda 2 has a beloved character dying... but it's an old age kinda like Yoda thing, so not too sad.
Rango was dark(ish) and full of death.

And that's just what I remember from the last few years. With all due respect, Wreck-It Ralph is a better movie than Bambi with more of a story and the overall quality of animated movies is way higher than the past you're looking at through rose coloured glasses.

I don't think Wreck-It-Ralph is a pure children's film either and I agree that it's better than Bambi (a film I don't like), but I don't think I argued otherwise. My point was I feel it could have been better than it was. It was good, I think if it had committed it would have been great.

And yes, Up has that fantastic opening. My argument is selective because I haven't seen every animation ever.

You seriously think that Wreck-It-Ralph needed more of this?

I'm not sure why that matters; the best "kids" films cater to both children and adults, which is a big part of what makes them so timeless. To put it another way, films like 'Bambi', 'Dumbo', 'Snow White', 'Mary Poppins' and the best of Pixar's back-catalogue are much-loved classics in part because they're bearable for adults to watch.

(And, of course, not patronising adults is just as important to a film's legacy as not patronising the kids; this is why drek like 'A Shark's Tale' and the 'Madagascar' films won't stand the test of time).

Now, having said that, I don't entirely agree with Quitch's criticisms. The fact that Ralph's conundrum turned out to be based on a lie doesn't matter because what was important to the story was the fact that Ralph had to make a decision at all, and the choice he made - not the underlying reason for having to make that decision. The same thing applies to 'cop out 2' - Ralph's willingness to make the sacrifice is more important to his character's arc than him actually being able to see it to its apparently inevitable conclusion. And, of course, the film is also about Vanellope's journey.

But, I think there's something in what he's saying and I think the word he's looking for is possibly 'bittersweet', which is a word that can't be used to describe 'Wreck-It Ralph' but that can be used to converse about a lot of the kids films that are considered to be timeless classics.

If you're looking for bittersweet, Toy Story 3 definitely fits the bill. Andy walks away from the toys, but they find a new owner who needs them. And in general, that movie is about growing apart and abandonment.

And I'd argue against the idea that Ralph got his medal and got to be a good guy just because "he wanted it." He was willing to sacrifice his relationship with Vanellope --the first good relationship he'd ever had-- in order to save her.

Then, why don't you read the rest of what I wrote?
Since you basically continue to repeat what I wrote in my first post on the subject. We basically agree on this:

As I said.

Well, I don't. It's not that I don't understand his point, I just don't agree.
Ralph makes two very tough decisions. That one is based on a lie and the other doesn't end up killing him - please which is the last children's animated feature, where the hero died at the end? Anyone? - doesn't take away from that. So I'll put Wreck-It Ralp on the list with those timeless classics - it was certainly better then Brave.






Ok, we don't agree completely. I like the Madagascar movies. They're not deep or terribly poignant, but they're fun stories with great characters. Absolutely not on par with A Shark's Tale or Ice Age.

Hanzii - part of what I wrote was a response to you and the rest of it was just adding to the ongoing conversation and wasn't specifically addressing you so - I apologise if that wasn't clear.

This is what I love about the two 'Toy Story' sequels. Jessie's tale in 'Toy Story 2' is heart-breaking; both 'Toy Story 2' and 'Toy Story 3' are absolutely fantastic films but I find it really hard to watch either of them because of these two scenes. Both of them remind me of when I found out that my mother had terminal cancer - I drove home from the hospital, a short twenty minute drive on my own and the whole time all I could think of was that I'd never again have the opportunity to be that little boy who used to curl up in my mam's bed, safe in her arms. That's ludicrous (and probably really selfish) and it's just as ludicrous that I feel that way when I watch the 'Toy Story' films, but they remind you that there's no going back, the march of time is relentless and adult life fucking sucks sometimes.

This is true and the key to the film is that it's not getting his medal that secures Ralph the respect and friendship that he desires, it's everything else he does.

(I will say that my main criticism of the film is that I don't think it explains why the villains at the support group - all of whom are there because to some extent they feel the same way that Ralph does - aren't buddies).

Ralph just never went to the meetings, so they don't have a relationship with him. The time he DOES go, he starts talking about insurrection, while they're about being "fine" with the system as it was.

I actually see Toy Story 3 as an example of a happy ending, it's just a new chapter in their life and they've accepted moving on and making this new child happy. It's a bittersweet moment for Andy, but not I think for the audience. At least not for me. It's also an example of where I think the decision to allowing the main characters to survive the near-death moment is justified because there is a greater emotional pay-off later for them doing so. I don't think Wreck-It Ralph pulls that off.

It's the definiotion of bittersweet for both the toys and Andy - saying goodbye to your oldest most trusted friends and at the same time starting a new exiciting period of your life. Couldn't be more bittersweet than that.
Fair enough that it didn't work for you, but I think you're in the minority on that one (still talking about Toy Story 3, not Wreck-It Ralph, which I agree was a simple happy ending - I just don't think it takes away from the movie).

But it (Toy Story 3) did work for me, I thought it was a great ending.

How does it feel to have the only post in the thread James Birdsong didn't like?

man, i loved calhoun. i don't think i've ever seen jane lynch be non-awesome in anything.

Do you guys have any clue how hard it's been not to mention how much Jane Lynch's character looks like her since this thread started popping up again!?!? I mean seriously!

Loved everything about this movie. The animation, the cast, catching all the little 'in' jokes, the overwhelming desire to immediately fire up Mario Kart...

That reminds me, on the home release there's a deleted scene where Ralph goes to a game where Elyscape is king.

Aha, they actually have it on Disney's site:
http://video.disney.com/watch/extreme-easy-living-2-4d5b89044b1eae56ce4f68c5

I'm assuming that would have been the analogue to The Sims? Mixed with Facebook?

I just finished watching this and holy shit do I ever have the biggest smile on my face! It was funny with some great callbacks to my childhood, and most of all it was totally warm hearted. <3.