Wreck-It Ralph

Ever since 2001, when an Academy Award for best animated feature was first awarded, animated films have been undergoing a mini-renaissance. Now that a shiny gold statue is up for grabs, most studios have started releasing more and more animations of greater quality, and encroaching on what was almost solely the preserve of Disney. If the award had been given for the entire life of the Oscars, Disney would surely have multiple wins, but since it dates to a more modern age the past masters of the animated film have yet to take home the statue. (This is largely down to the dominance of Pixar studios. Disney, realising when they were licked, purchased Pixar in 2006).

The most recent contender from Walt Disney Animation Studios was Wreck-It Ralph, which managed a sixth nomination for the studio, but again lost out on the big prize to Pixar's Brave. Had I had a vote, I'm not sure which I would have chosen. Unfortunately this is because whilst both films are good, neither is truly great in the way that some of the previous winners have been.

Anyway, what of the film itself? It tells the tale of Ralph, who has the misfortune to be the bad guy in an arcade game named Fix-It Felix. Lonely and frustrated after 30 years of villainy and ostracised from the other inhabitants of the game, he embarks upon a quest to earn a hero's medal of his own. There are plenty of little in-jokes and Easter eggs for geeks like me to spot (Leeroy Jenkins graffiti!) especially in the opening half hour or so. Disney really hit the bullseye by licensing an extensive background cast of actual video game characters. Whilst it would have been easy to populate the background with knock off characters that alluded to the classics, by using real characters the world feels much more authentic.

Unfortunately the middle third of the film, when Ralph begins exploring the worlds of other games really sags. The sequence in the Hero's Duty particularly feels underdone, merely an excuse to inject a MacGuffin of motivation for Ralph. It is ironic that the representation of the most hi-def, up to date titles feels most two dimensional. The candy themed Sugar Rush kart racing title also fails to quite hit the mark, although is more fleshed out than Hero's Duty.

Thankfully by the final third things pick up again, although the traditional Disney saccharine moral-of-the-story parts are particularly egregious in the environs of the candy kingdom. In the end, this will be a great film for kids, and there is enough here for geeks to enjoy, but this is by no means compulsory viewing.