Ralph Breaks the Internet
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph. The film is directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (in Johnston's directorial debut), written by Johnston and Pamela Ribon from a story by Moore, Johnston, Ribon, Josie Trinidad, and Jim Reardon, produced by Clark Spencer, and executive-produced by John Lasseter, Jennifer Lee, and Chris Williams.[a] John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, and Ed O'Neill reprise their character roles from the first film, and are joined by Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, and Alfred Molina as part of the new cast, as well as Alan Tudyk, who voiced a new character in this film. In the film, Ralph (Reilly) and Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman) must travel to the Internet to get a replacement for the Sugar Rush cabinet's broken steering wheel and prevent Mr. Litwak (O'Neill) from disposing of the game.
For the soundtrack, see Ralph Breaks the Internet (soundtrack).Ralph Breaks the Internet
- Phil Johnston[1]
- Pamela Ribon[1]
Jeremy Milton
- November 5, 2018 (El Capitan Theatre)
- November 21, 2018 (United States)
112 minutes[2]
United States
English
$175 million[3]
$529.3 million[4]
The first discussions about a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph began in September 2012, and the new installment went through three different scripts before the filmmakers settled on the final plot. When the film was officially announced in June 2016 as Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, much of the original cast confirmed they had signed on, with new cast members added in 2018.[7][8] It is Walt Disney Animation Studios' first computer-animated film sequel and is the first sequel from the studio to be created by the original film's creative team.[7]
Ralph Breaks the Internet premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on November 5, 2018, and was released in the United States on November 21. The film grossed over $529.3 million worldwide against its $175 million budget and received generally positive reviews from critics. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, 76th Golden Globe Awards, 46th Annie Awards, and 24th Critics' Choice Awards, losing all four awards to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Plot[edit]
Six years after the events of the first film, Ralph and Vanellope have stayed best friends, hanging out after work in Litwak Arcade. Ralph is content with their life, but Vanellope longs for excitement and expresses how bored she has become of Sugar Rush's predictability. To please her, Ralph sneaks into her game and makes a secret road. The next day, when Vanellope fights the arcade player's control to test the track, the cabinet's steering wheel breaks. As the company that made Sugar Rush is defunct, and the cost of a replacement wheel on eBay is too high, Litwak decides to scrap Sugar Rush and unplugs the game, leaving its citizens homeless. The Surge Protector finds homes for all Sugar Rush's citizens as a short-term measure as they figure out how to save the game, with Felix and Calhoun adopting the racers. Remembering eBay, Ralph and Vanellope travel through Litwak's new Wi-Fi router to the Internet, a place where websites are represented as buildings in a sprawling city, avatars represent users, and programs are people.
The search engine KnowsMore directs them to eBay, where they win the auction for the steering wheel by unintentionally spiking the price to US$27,001 only to find they have just 24 hours to raise the funds, or they will lose the bid and the wheel. On the way out, they run into clickbait salesman J. P. Spamley, who brokers items obtained from video games and offers them a lucrative job of stealing a car from Shank, the lead character in the popular racing-centered battle royale game Slaughter Race. They steal Shank's car, but she stops them before they can leave the game with it. Suggesting another way to make money on the Internet, she proceeds to make a viral video of Ralph and uploads it to video-sharing site BuzzzTube. She directs them to BuzzzTube's head algorithm, Yesss, who capitalizes on Ralph's video popularity. They decide to make more videos, which will earn them the money for the wheel if they attract enough views. Vanellope offers to help advertise the videos, and Ralph has Yesss send her to Oh My Disney. There, while being chased by Stormtroopers for advertising on the site, Vanellope befriends the Disney Princesses, being encouraged by them to discuss her sense of un-fulfillment and reaching an epiphany in the form of an "I Want" song on the subject. Ralph makes enough money to buy the wheel but finds Vanellope talking with Shank, overhearing how she wants to stay in Slaughter Race, having felt at home there due to its relative novelty and unpredictability compared to Sugar Rush.
Worried of losing his friend forever, Ralph asks Spamley for a way to draw Vanellope out of the game and is brought to the dark web vendor Double Dan, who provides Ralph with a virus, Arthur, that feeds off insecurities and replicates them. When Ralph unleashes Arthur into Slaughter Race, it replicates Vanellope's glitch, triggering a server reboot. Ralph, Shank, and the others help Vanellope escape before the game resets. Vanellope blames herself for the crash, but Ralph confesses to her that the crash was actually his fault. Outraged by this reveal, an argument breaks out, culminating in Vanellope throwing away Ralph's cookie medal and running off.
A guilt-ridden Ralph finds his now-cracked-in-half medal. In lieu of cyber-insecurities, Arthur copies Ralph's emotional insecurities, and makes dimwitted and emotionally unstable duplicates of Ralph. The clones overrun the Internet in a global DoS attack, all chasing after Vanellope to keep her for themselves. Ralph saves her and attempts to lure the clones into a firewall, but they form a giant Ralph monster, Ralphzilla, that seizes them both. Ralph comes to accept that Vanellope can make her own choices, letting go of his insecurities. This also causes Ralphzilla and the clones to disappear, and Ralph and Vanellope reconcile. Ralph gives half of the broken medal to Vanellope and they bid each other a heartfelt farewell as Shank has arranged for Vanellope to respawn in Slaughter Race.
Back in the arcade, Sugar Rush is repaired, and Ralph partakes in social activities with the other arcade characters as he stays in touch with Vanellope over video chat, feeling content with his newfound ability to be independent.
The first twelve characters in the Disney Princess line appear, along with Anna and Elsa from Frozen.[10][18] All but three of the original voice actresses reprised their roles.[18] Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora were voiced by Jennifer Hale, Pamela Ribon, and Kate Higgins, respectively, as Ilene Woods and Adriana Caselotti had passed away and Mary Costa had retired.[10][19] Additionally, Rajah (Jasmine's pet tiger), Meeko (Pocahontas' pet raccoon), Cinderella's mice (including Jaq and Gus) and her bird companions, and Prince Naveen (in his frog form, whom Ralph mistakes for Frogger) also appear in the film.[20]
Several characters from other films and media also cameo with their original or current voice actors, such as Roger Craig Smith as Sonic the Hedgehog, Maurice LaMarche as Tapper, Brad Garrett as Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, Corey Burton as Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO from Star Wars, Vin Diesel as Groot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.[21] Film composer Michael Giacchino also reprised his role as the First Order stormtrooper FN-3181 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[22]
Additionally, Melissa Villaseñor voices Taffyta Muttonfudge, one of the Sugar Rush racers, replacing Mindy Kaling from the first film;[21] Bill Hader provides the uncredited voice of J. P. Spamley, a personification of clickbait pop-up ads represented as a desperate salesman who cannot make a sale;[23] John DiMaggio voices Arthur, an insecurity virus;[21] Sean Giambrone (English YouTuber Daniel "DanTDM" Middleton in the UK version, but not on the UK home release) voices eBoy, an eBay employee who informs Ralph of the status on the eBay item deadline;[1][24] Flula Borg voices Maybe, an algorithm who is an assistant to Yesss;[17] and Dianna Agron voices the news anchor covering the virus in the real world.[21] Ali Wong, Timothy Simons, GloZell Green, and Hamish Blake, respectively, voice Felony, Butcher Boy, Little Debbie, and Pyro, all of whom are other characters in Slaughter Race as Shank's racing crew.[1] The film's directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston reprise their roles as Sour Bill, Zangief (Moore), and the Surge Protector (Johnston), respectively.[21] YouTube personalities Colleen Ballinger, Dani Fernandez, and Tiffany Herrera voice cameos,[25] with Nicole Scherzinger having a cameo voice role in a mid-credits scene.[26]
Popular culture cameos and references[edit]
Similar to the first film, Ralph Breaks the Internet includes a number of cameos and references to video games and various Disney properties, including Walt Disney Animation Studios films, Pixar films, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and The Muppets franchises.[27] The band Imagine Dragons (whose song "Zero" is featured in a trailer for the film, as well as its end credits and soundtrack) make a cameo appearance in the film, with the members voicing themselves.[28][29] The video game Fortnite Battle Royale is briefly shown, including the battle bus and the floss dance.[27] Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' former writer, editor and publisher, makes a cameo appearance in the film. Lee died some days before the film's premiere, making his appearance in Ralph Breaks the Internet one of his final cameos in films.[30]
The filmmakers revealed that the film originally featured a joke about Kylo Ren being a "spoiled child", which was later cut from the film by request from Lucasfilm because it would undermine his role as a villain.[31] Also cut from the film was C-3PO being mockingly called R2-D2 and BB-8 by the princesses.[18] Additionally, the film would originally include The Golden Girls characters, but it was later cut because the directors felt it was a bizarre juxtaposition.[32] The legion of Ralph clones, which forms a gigantic Ralph monster,[33] resembles the King Kong character from various films.[34] During production, the giant monster form was dubbed "Ralphzilla" after Godzilla.[35]
Marketing[edit]
To coincide with the film's release, Fortnite Battle Royale made a cameo appearance of Ralph via an "outdoor cinema screen" in the game's location "Risky Reels" and added the emote dance Hot Marat, which was available as a limited time offering.[64][65][66] For "Wreck Urselfie", a mobile experience used to build scenarios with Google Home featured Ralph and Vanellope stuck inside users' smartphones, as Google BrandLab used Google's API Cloud Vision.[66] The first WhatsApp experience that allowed fans to connect with Ralph and Vanellope while they navigated the Internet and ended up in WhatsApp.[66] Amazon, which promoted the film with its products FireTV and the Kindle Fire, and its subsidiary IMDb, announced the "Pre-Black Friday sale" through the "themed landing page," which was seen in the scene where Ralph "broke" its home page.[66] Furthermore, fans had some Disney offers and continued to connect the purchase of the film's tickets.[66] Carvana and Disney collaborated to promote the film's release throughout a multi-channel campaign.[67] The film collaborated with the mobile in-cinema game Noovie Arcade, which tied the video game used in the film's teaser, the "pancake milkshake", causing audiences to have each other's challenges and gain scores and milkshakes at least 21,100 theaters including AMC Theatres, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas.[66] The virtual reality experience based on the film, which was created in collaboration with ILMxLab and The Void, titled Ralph Breaks VR.[66][68] Aside from the film, it takes on a different plot.[66] Additional marketing partners for the film included BAPE,[69] eBay,[24] Fandango,[70] Mailchimp,[71] McDonald's,[72] Netgear,[73] and Purple.[74]
In the month of the release of the film, the world builder video game Disney Magic Kingdoms included a limited time Event focused on Ralph Breaks the Internet to promote it, with the characters involved in a new storyline unrelated to the events of the film, including Ralph, Vanellope, Yesss, Shank, Spamley, Fix-Felix, Jr. and Caulhoun as playable characters, some attractions based on locations of the film, and the Comfy Costumes that Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine wear in the film.[75]
Release[edit]
Home media[edit]
Ralph Breaks the Internet was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on digital on February 12, 2019,[81] and on Blu-ray and DVD on February 26.[82] Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, a short highlighting some of the Easter eggs hidden throughout the film, deleted scenes, and the music videos for "Zero" and "In This Place".[81] A feature exclusive to the digital release is a featurette on the artists going to race car driving school to research all the driving in Slaughter Race.[81] In its first week, Ralph Breaks the Internet sold 225,099 DVDs and 816,890 Blu-rays as the most sold film on both formats in the United States.[83] Overall, Ralph Breaks the Internet sold 616,387 DVDs and 1.4 million Blu-rays, adding them up to get a total of 2 million copies, and made $47.7 million through home media releases.[83]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Ralph Breaks the Internet grossed $201.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $328.2 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $529.3 million,[4] against a production budget of $175 million.[3]
In the United States and Canada, Ralph Breaks the Internet was released alongside Creed II and Robin Hood, as well as the wide expansion of Green Book, and was originally projected to gross $67–77 million from 3,900+ theaters in its five-day opening weekend.[84][3] The film made $18.3 million on its first day[83] (including a pre-Thanksgiving record $3.8 million from Tuesday previews[85]) and another $10.2 million on its second.[83] It went on to debut to $55.7 million in its opening weekend (a five-day total of $84.5 million), finishing first at the box office and marking the second-best Thanksgiving opening behind Disney's Frozen ($93.6 million).[86] In its second weekend the film made $25.8 million, dropping 54% but remaining in first.[87] For the third weekend, it topped the box office once again with $16.1 million, dropping 37%.[88] In its second and third weekends the film finished ahead of The Grinch, marking the first time where animated films reached the top two spots at the box office for two consecutive weekends.[88]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 275 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ralph Breaks the Internet levels up on its predecessor with a funny, heartwarming sequel that expands its colorful universe while focusing on core characters and relationships."[89] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[90] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A" earned by the first film,[91] and those at PostTrak gave the film four stars out of five.[66]
Bilge Ebiri of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying that "somewhere amid the film's ornate imagery and deliriously irreverent humor, we might begin to realize that we're watching a terrifying, incisive satire about the ways that a life lived online makes monsters of us all".[92] Brian Lowry of CNN said that "The colorful action should delight tykes, but the smart, media-savvy asides make it especially appealing to grownups".[93] Kerry Lengel of The Arizona Republic gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying "what makes the movie compelling, despite the subdued dramatic payoff, is that it is a heightened reflection of our experience—our love affair, really—with our gadgets, our apps and, yes, our brands".[94] Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film three stars out of four, stating that the film is "almost always inspired in the moment" and said that "the new characters are all pretty great", though he said that the film's first third "struggles to find its focus", and felt that Felix and Calhoun's subplot "would have worked better as a pre-movie animated short".[95] Chris Bumbray of JoBlo's Movie Emporium said that the film "is just as solid" as the first film, and said it was compared to the science fiction film Ready Player One.[96] Bryan Bishop of The Verge described the film as "The Lego Movie of Disney films", stating that it "soars when it sends up the studio's own films, but its portrayal of the internet feels a little optimistic for 2018."[97]
Oliver Jones of The New York Observer gave the film a two-and-a-half score, saying that "Ralph Breaks the Internet is a candy coated, hard shined brick of postmodernism—a Vitamix smoothie of gags, nostalgia, product placement and Fruity Pebbles".[98] Alonso Duralde of TheWrap said that "Within a few years, the specifics of the viral-video gags in Ralph Breaks the Internet will be as dated as a Tay Zonday joke".[99] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that the "sequel to the 2012 film is somewhere between Ready Player One and The Emoji Movie, summoning up a zero-gravity spectacle of dazzling colours and vertiginous perspectives, a featureless and inert mashup of memes, brands, avatars, and jokes".[100]
Future[edit]
Directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston said that a Ralph Breaks the Internet spin-off film focusing on the Disney Princesses could be made depending on the audience's response, and "if there's a good story to be told".[117] Also, John C. Reilly says that he has an idea if a third film was to be made, he would consider seeing Ralph and Vanellope "beaming themselves right out into space".[118]
