New “Wreck-It Ralph” Trailer

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After several months of ghosts, ghouls and creatures of the night… Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph is looking like a breath of fresh air – in more ways than one. This looks like fun:

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  • The “Wreck-It
    Ralph” 8-bit End
    Credits

    wreck-it_ralph-promo

  • “Escape From Planet
    Earth” trailer

    escapefromearth-promo

  • International
    trailer for
    “Wreck-It Ralph”

    wreckit2-promo
  • Astronut

    Honestly, I’m not feelin’ it. I see nothing intriguing or even amusing really, and I say this as a 40-something, old-school video game player and fan of animation. In fact, I played video games religiously for years and even ended up with a job in the industry… but I am STILL not amped about this. Just looks… meh…?

    • Ryoku75

      The problem is that this really isn’t about video games, its a movie about some guy that wants a more exciting life that happens to have video game characters in the background.

      • Polecat

        Which actually sounds just a little bit like The Nightmare Before Christmas.

  • andrew

    If you like that check out this clip from the upcoming episode of Gravity Falls

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nDzu3iLQG8

  • http://909pop.com Mike Scott

    I’m looking forward to seeing that. I agree re: Astronaut a liiitttle bit, 8bit stuff’s some of my favourite things, but this looks like it maaay be a little bit of a forced adaptation of 8bit into an existing formula. Sure, there may be nods all over the place to videogame culture, but, it looks like its really been squished into a Disney movie formula. Bad Guy wants to be Good Guy. Little bit saccharin for what video games normally are, perhaps lost a bit of that ‘dirt’ that makes some games interesting.

    Anyways, who knows before I actually see the movie. Not gonna judge it beforehand I s’pose.

    Diddly.

  • MissConception

    I don’t think any other studio would/could shell out the clams for all those copyrighted characters. Gotta love that Disney budget.

    • VC

      And yet Mario and Luigi won’t be in the movie, because Disney’s budget apparently didn’t stretch as far as Nintendo would’ve liked (seriously Disney, you were able to get the use of all of the Looney Tunes characters for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” but you couldn’t have paid a little extra for the Mario Bros. to appear in “Wreck-It Ralph”? Come on…).

      Also, does anyone know who owns the modern rights to Q*Bert? A lot of these characters are pretty easy to trace (Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Namco Bandai, Konami, Warner Bros./Midway etc.), but Q*Bert’s a toughie.

      • Altair

        I read once (and I might be mistaken) that Mario’s rights are almost as expensive as Mickey Mouse’s.

        • wever

          Ssssssssssso theeeeeeeeeeeeey……. can’t afford to use their own character???

      • wever

        They were able to get the rights to Looney Tunes in Roger Rabbit because 1.) it was a different time then, and their budget was bigger, and 2.) the movie wasn’t really made by Disney but by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, who have a larger rep among Hollywood filmmakers.

        • ShouldBeWorkin’

          They got Bugs Bunny. IIRC there was a condition that Bugs got equal time with Mickey.

      • Steve Gattuso

        Note: “Roger Rabbit” didn’t quite get everyone, either. Note the lack of representation of Popeye, for example. I don’t recall seeing any Terrytoons characters, either.

        There’s always one or two holdouts.

        • Polecat

          No Felix the Cat, either. I could be wrong, but I thought that Terrytoons might have come on the scene a little bit later than the era Roger Rabbit was supposed to be set in.

      • philippe

        it’s “electronictoystory”. I have always wondered how the rights were discussed between Pixar and the branded toys: “we are making a film with your characters so it’s free 1h30 publicity for you” and the other side “you are using are famous characters during 1H30,you need to pay…”

      • http://www.kellytindall.com/ Kelly Tindall

        If there’s one thing the Super Mario Bros Super Show has shown me, it’s that Nintendo is really picky on their licenses. I bet Disney wasn’t even willing to pay to bring “Captain Lou” Albano back from the dead to reprise his role as ‘Mario’!

      • Chris Sobieniak

        Last I’ve heard, Q*bert’s rights are with Columbia Pictures/Sony these days. At least going by what is given for a trademark for this mobile game.
        http://www.sonypictures.com/mobile/qbert/

  • http://markpudleiner.blogspot.ca/ Pudleiner

    I think the kids will be all over this.
    And good job helping out the industry next door > games.

    Looks like a very fun project to be animating on :-)

  • http://mattmaners.blogspot.com Matt Maners

    The more I see of it the more I am loving it. Definitely excited about it.

  • whoiseyevan

    I’m really pumped about this one.

  • hitface

    i like this trailer better than the previous, you can really see the different approaches to animating the characters for each type of game. dont really know how to feel about the concept itself though. seems reeeeall gimicky.

  • http://www.jupeykrusho.blogspot.com jupey

    Fun concept. Fun characters. Fun animation.

    Avengers scratched my superhero itch, hopefully W-IR will scratch my gamer one.

  • Mike

    This looks fun. Excited for this and for Paperman!

  • Mac

    A bunch of video game cartoons waxing on the nature of good and evil, except obviously none of the people working there give a shit about dealing with anything seriously cause they’e just followed the premise that was provided, and went where their WDA storyman schtick led them. So you’re just subjected to hollow morality puns, and I imagine the whole experience could cause a lot of anxiety for it’s creeping sense of nihilism.

    We had a lot of trouble reconciling Reboot as a kid, but at least it got us talking about Baudrillard on the playground.

    • mike

      I literally can not roll my eyes as hard as your comment requires.

    • Nic

      What are you even talking about?

      Video games are literally /all about/ basic moral decisions and good and evil. There are entire games /dedicated/ to morality and making decisions that are then judged as good or evil. Outside of movies, where do you think most kids get their definitions of Good Guys and Bad Guys?

      Where else would it be more appropriate to have a basic plot about the intricacies of good and evil. The whole point of this movie is to address the nature of being the good guy or the bad guy.

      Have you ever even played a video game?

      • Mac

        Yes I’ve played video games. I’m joking in my academic tone, but I’m more than half serious. I am apprehensive that Disney will offer an interesting take on good and evil vis-a-vis the formal/player/narrative dynamics of video games, even as they appropriate video game aesthetics for another meaningless adventure of feeling good about yourself.

        It will be one of those stock character arc dressed up in hollow video game aesthetics. Take those Fable games, they mock the very idea of morality by making it a matter of keeping score of good actions versus bad actions, and the ironic tone of this behaviorist fantasy game makes the player reflect personally on the nature of ethics and society to themselves in their living room. Super simple, not too much to ask from a multi million dollar cultural product. We’ve always wanted that kind of thing from Hollywood, and video games embrace it with courage and intelligence.

        Will this movie have any of that? I’m not criticizing Disney to acknowledge the evils of western imperialism in an adult drama or something, Is actually harmonizing form and content a little more too much to ask?

        • The Troof

          Mac, I can tell by your posts and your 5 cent words that you are very smart, congrats! It is a child’s movie I am sure there will be good vs. evil, but when it comes down to it how deep should a holiday Disney film dive? You seem like the kind of person that likes to hear themselves talk, and argues for just that sake… By the way what’s wrong with a little escapism and “another meaningless adventure of feeling good about yourself.”? Maybe they will take your advise and their next film can talk about the troubles in some depressing third world country.

        • Funkybat

          I’m willing to bet you consider the moral and ethical exploration in the Bioshock games to be simplistic and sophomoric. Hard to imagine what would satisfy your intellectual tastes in mass media. Maybe you should do your own short film, exploring these questions in a more sophisticated manner than you expect Wreck It Ralph to do.

        • Dave O.

          Mac, trolling the comments section again???…

          Don’t you have a dissertation to work on?

  • http://adreamer49.wordpress.com/ Jacob

    The concept and animation are great. The story feels a little to Disney cookie cutter. However I am looking forward to taking my little sisters to this movie.

  • TempleDog

    Yeah, getting that old ‘zero to hero’ cartoon preachery from this one. Why do this things always have to be some kind of journey of personal growth, fer the love of corn? Honestly, I’m pretty much off North American animated features for good…sooner watch some of these nutty innernet kids goofin’ with their animated shorts than these big-budget features. Beginning to feel the same way about Trip-A vidyagames, as well.

    One final lil’ nit to pick, about the tune used in the trailer opening. Why is Disney using a stock piece of 8-bit style music (check out the Destructoid video podcast, Max n’ Tara use it on EVERY show) for a trailer to a multimillion dollar animated feature? Anybody else notice this? Okay, enough bitchery, I’m out.

    • Gern

      Just a wild guess, go with me on this: audiences like they’re characters to have arcs?

      • http://ryanrosendal.blogspot.com Ryan

        “Why do this things always have to be some kind of journey of personal growth, fer the love of corn?”

        But that’s like almost every movie ever, from “Casablanca” (positive personal growth) to “There Will Be Blood” (negative personal growth).

      • SKent.

        yes but do they have to be so dull and obvious about it?

        I wish I could watch more of these animated features without spending half the time admiring the artistry of the visuals, and the rest of the time cringing.

        • Aaron

          I wish American animation would embrace negative personal growth more. I know it will never happen unless someone like Aronofsky or Scorcese or P.T. Anderson directed an animated feature, but I’m so tired of the “Hero’s journey”. I think this is partly why animation is confused as a genre instead of a medium(credit to Brad Bird), the arc of the characters is always so similar.

    • http://www.daryl-rhystaylor.co.uk DarylT

      Because its a movie and therefore it has a story and the fundamental nature of story is character change and development, and it’s a positive character change because there is no point in having a main character if you audience doesn’t like him.

      • TempleDog

        Reservoir Dogs, mate. Or, hell, anything by Bill Plympton.

        • Mike

          Breaking Bad!

    • Nic

      I said this in a previous comment but oh well.

      Video games are, in many cases, all about the basics of good and evil. Whether defining who the ‘bad guy’ is or trying define who you are as a character (are you the hero or the villian?) games always have a strong sense of right and wrong involved. Even basic FPS games have an ‘us versus them, we’re the good guys so let’s take out the bad guys’ mentality behind them.

      I guess my point is that, if you’re ever going to have a game that questions morality and who you are as a good or bad guy, this would be the movie for it.

    • wever

      It’s called the Danny Elfman Syndrome. Trailers always use the same stock music regardless if they were in the movie or not.

    • billynyc

      You can bet “Fer the love of corn!” is my new go-to phase of exasperation.

  • Matthew Koh

    I really like the Pocoyo-ish animation that they put in.

    • Mapache

      You’d love Kaeloo.

  • Sarah J

    The movie looks like it might be fun, and I really love the designs of the characters and settings. But I’m a little afraid that I’ll go see the movie and find it to be an hour and a half of nerd pandering and/or Disney trying to show that they’re still relevant. Seriously, I think the main thing that ruined The Simpsons is that they’re constantly trying to show how “with it” they are with today’s young people. Ah well, the movie still looks good and I will give it a chance.

    • SKent.

      I remember that.. where every episode felt like the expression of a midlife crisis. I don’t really get that same vibe from this. I’m sure we can expect various cameos and injoke pandering to gamers, but the real problem here is the cloying clichés and self-affirming shmaltz.

      • http://los-utopicos.blogspot.com allari

        Looks fun, hate the pandering to gamers though.

  • http://elblogderg.blogspot.com Roberto González

    Yeah…I know this is for kids, but Who Framed Roger Rabbit wasn’t so heavy in its morals. The only moral there was that laughing is important in life, which was kind of a different moral.

    I understand this one needs the bad guy/good guy premise for the story to begin with…If Ralph didn’t feel “bad” for being the bad guy he wouldn’t escape to another game, and there won’t be any plot. But something about the way is handled feels too simmilar to what Pixar/Disney/Dreamworks have been doing recently. Especially Disney movies influenced by Pixar. Bolt, Muppets, Tangled and now this seem to be a little too preachy or heavy on “emotions” (well, Tangled was maybe the most tolerable in that department).

    Other than that it does seem fun to look at. It has interesting visuals, nice cameos and decent gags.

    I’m looking forward to it, but I think the kids (and their parents) deserve some good ol’ fun without being lectured from time to time.

    • Polecat

      I think I read somewhere that Roger Rabbit was interpreted by some people as an allegory for the way African-Americans were treated in old Hollywood. If that’s true, then it flew over my head when I first saw it. There was also the theme of the destruction of Norman Rockwell’s America via the introduction of the freeway. So I guess there might have been something in it that was vaguely related to a moral. Kind of.

  • Nick Watson

    This movie feels like it should have been made by sony…

    • Juliusaurus

      Oh, but then we’d never get Nintendo characters in it!

  • http://ryanrosendal.blogspot.com Ryan

    Damn this looks like a lot of fun. I love the animation on the 8-bit characters; stiff but appealing!

  • Mel

    Joseph Campbell has a lot to answer for!

    • Bud

      No, but “creative executives” who’ve dumbed down what he collated do.

  • http://animationanomaly.com Charles Kenny

    Anyone else kind of pissed off about a Disney films featuring a first person shooter game or is it just me?

    • Mike

      Not particularly–it’s not Call of Duty or anything. By the look of it they’re just shooting robots and aliens with unrealistic sci-fi weaponry. It’s no darker or more inappropriate than the stuff you’ll find in, say, Princess and the Frog or Lilo and Stitch.

    • Bud

      No, not if it’s funny. After all, it IS a Family Film. Safety Firs!

      • wever

        I don’t think that first-person shooter game is supposed to be funny.

        • Steve Gattuso

          Three words: Team Fortress Two

          ’nuff said.

    • Great

      Just you Charles

    • Taylor

      They killed Bambi’s mom. The white man hunted savages in Pocahontas. Children are kidnapped and morphed into donkeys in Pinocchio, etc.

      I started on Wolfenstein when I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9. Are you actually concerned about this or just trollin’?

      • http://animationanomaly.com Charles Kenny

        Oh I’m not trolling at all.

        I’ve no problem with the violence but in your examples it’s justified in the context of the film. In Wreck-It-Ralph it comes off (at least to me) as gratuitous and self-serving. Somewhat disappointing coming from Disney.

    • axolotl

      I think it’s a step in the right direction…I had high hopes when Stitch picked up the chainsaw in LILO AND STITCH, but it seemed like a missed opportunity.

  • Drew

    I smell a new Disney Renaissance coming on after Tangled and Frozen next year

  • Bud

    Safety First! that is.

  • Billy Batz

    The characters always act the same, like Woody and Buzz , and the monsters from Monsters inc. ,and Incredibles.One character says something and then the other character pushes it too far and goes,”Sorry! Sorry, my bad” and his eyes look back and forth quickly.Someone at Pixar must have loved the movie ‘Running Scared” (watch it to see the Pixar template)that buddy banter and hero’s goal is the only story they do, now Disney is emulating that.Great,why won’t anyone make a cartoon for 40 year olds like me?

    • Blues

      40 year olds like you? Out of respectful curiosity, what would that entail?

      • Billy Batz

        40 yr olds that still love animation.

        • Lara

          Try Satoshi Kon’s films.

    • http://enigmation.de slowtiger

      I’d be too happy to provide you with a cartoon for 40yr olds. Only problem is to get funding for it. Producers in Germany still think “Animation = Kids”, and I’m not famous enough to get a chance on Kickstarter.

  • Chelsea

    I don’t know how I feel about this one. It looks okay, but nothing I’m very excited about. I also really hope that Ralph has a ‘good reason’ for leaving his game. What I mean is I’m not going to buy it if the film just shows him one day deciding that he’s sick of it, without a significantly impactful event taking place that causes him to rethink his role in the game. Disney is USUALLY pretty good about that but the trailers don’t show that so for all I know it could go either way.

    I’m not going to judge too much though because the marketing for Tangled was so awful and I thought that movie was pretty good. I think the Disney marketing team is just… very lost.

    I dislike that they seem to be wanting to use random pop songs that have absolutely nothing to do with the movie their promoting in the trailers. Poo using Keane was weird, and Wreck It Ralph using FUN most likely only because it’s an extremely popular song right now…

    I think songs can be a really powerful tool in selling a trailer and their selection should fit the movie, not just the popular tune of the day. When ParaNorman’s trailer used Donovan that was really distinct! It really fit the tone of the film and set it apart from other trailers that were doing what Disney is, AND the trailer song was related to an easter egg of the kids actually trying to sing the song in the movie.

    I really like the music that Disney keeps using so that isn’t my complaint. I just wish they would choose music that fit the movie.

    Anyway, I will go see this. Probably not on opening week though.

    • Mac

      Technically Felix tells Ralph he fantasized about playing a different game he saw, that he would have given up everything just to play that game. Ralph spends the next few days trying in vain to play another game In the end Ralph hates Felix more than ever, and unable to reconnect his split subjectivity.

      Walt Disney Feature Animation presents Arthur Schnitzlers Traumnovelle, as video game.

    • hotdogface

      Come on, the first trailer’s use of “Once in a Lifetime” was perfect!

  • Taylor

    “Disney cookie-cutter”, “typical zero to hero” wahhh wahhh.

    Cripes, its not a sequel, its not a new princess, the actors are hilarious, it looks like a sensory overload of fun, AND ITS AN ANIMATION ALL ABOUT VIDEO GAMES! Thats pretty darn snazzy guys.

    Let your inner-animation-snob take the night off and allow yourself to find joy in something like this. If not this, what else is left for you to have fun with? Plain and simple fun?

    Jeeeeeez…..

    • Kevin

      TAYLOR!!! I agree, I think some people on here saw a completely different trailer than the rest of us! Also, U judged Tangled pretty harshly based off of the trailer (and choice of music) and I ended up LOVING that.

    • http://www.terrybiddle.com TBiddy

      I don’t have enough thumbs to show how much I agree with this statement.

    • Steve Gattuso

      This is the same crowd that got their knickers in a twist over the new My Little Pony show. And we all know what a horrible disaster THAT was, amIrite?

      And now, back to reality.

  • http://drgrobsanimationreview.com/ Gijs Grob

    I’m really looking forward to this, even though I’ve hardly played computer or video games myself… It looks totally un-Disney, which is a good thing, it feels definitely original, which is a great thing, and it looks like fun, which is er… a fun thing!

    Let the Guardians, Croods, second Monsters, third Madagascars and fourth Ice Agers pass me by, ‘Wreck It Ralph’ is MY hope for computer generated animated features!

  • http://www.daryl-rhystaylor.co.uk DarylT

    I’m really looking forward to this movie and it’s looks a lot of fun.

  • bones

    There is something off-putting about all of these different character designs in one film.

  • Daniel J. Drazen

    With cameo appearances by Sonic and Eggman. I’ll give it a shot.

  • Gobo

    I really appreciate the way they’ve adapted 8-bit characters into a 3D world; it could’ve been really clunky to have actually depicted them in pixelated blocks, but just by giving them a jerky, jumpy movement, it gives it that 8-bit feel. That’s subtle, but it’s a simple, elegant solution.

    I’m really looking forward to this.

  • Dana B

    I think this film is gonna wind up surprising us in the end. Disney is pretty good with not giving *too* much away in their trailers.

    I’m definitely looking forward to it. The animation and visuals never fail to impress me. Also, being a life-long “gamer” is a plus to enjoy the film even more. Two more months to go, can’t wait :)

  • http://www.frankpanucci.com Frank Panucci

    The trailer music IS a little on the noxious side, especially the Lawrence Welkish version of FUNKY TOWN, which was already a horror in its original form. The story appears to be another paint-by-numbers assembly. But the movie looks good enough, if watched strictly for the animation skill & tech on display.

  • http://www.caricaturesbydave.com Dave Stephens

    Character animation reminds me of Tangled, though it looks less over-animated than Tangled did, imho… Looking forward to this one!

    • wever

      Same studio. I do love how there is less squash-and-stretch here than in Tangled though. That principle is great, but you need to know where to apply it.

  • http://andrewtclarke.blogspot.com Andrew

    The latest episode of Gravity Falls “Fight Fighters” pays excellent homage to video games of the 80′s-90′s era, especially the games of Capcom. And also has some brilliant video game gags.

    It feels like the episode was written by true gamers. I just don’t get that feel from the trailers of Wreck It Ralph.

  • http://www.portfolio-powell.blogspot.com Chris Powell

    My most anticipated movie of the Year. Im SO jazzed for this. LOVING the trailer and I laugh every time he says “I love my mama!”

    Take my money now!

  • http://www.trevour.com Trevour

    Did I just see the bartender from “Tapper” (well, probably “Root Beer Tapper”)?? Excellent.

    • http://www.portfolio-powell.blogspot.com Chris Powell

      I wondered who that was! nice.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      I was glad to see they remembered him!

  • Andrew Kieswetter

    Where’s the Pokemon!???? Looks great though.

    • Matthew Koh

      Pokemon is not an arcade game, you fool!

      • http://4eyedanimation.com JoeCorrao

        lighten up Francis

  • http://www.cartoonsolutions.com Ryan Simmons

    Wow, a lot of people here have some extremely strong feelings about a movie that THEY HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN YET!

    • Braik

      Welcome to the Internet

  • Ryoku75

    If the villain plans to stop Ralph through “Online Passes” and DLC, then Disney already gets a thumb up from me, though thats unlikely with Capcom unvolved.

  • Andrew Kieswetter

    It’s a pity we won’t obviously see any Dragon’s Lair or Space Ace characters in Wreck-it-Ralph. Btw,Disney,if you’re reading this,how about a sequel to Bolt? (please)

  • Jamie

    I’m actually really looking forward to this. In my opinion, it’s a creative spin on the “change your fate” story. In this case, the title character is programmed in his game/life to be bad and breaks the rules to change who he is by literally changing his game/life. It’s clever, refreshing, and – judging from the trailers so far – seems like it could be entertaining. To top it off, kids love video games, and the retro references will nab adults. And as a bonus they already have a tie-in game to sell. Pretty genius here. Hope my expectations are met!

  • http://www.daganm.blogspot.com Dagan

    I keep coming back to the same initial thought when I see clips and read about this movie… The animators must have had a lot of fun working on this! :)

    Looks like a lot of fun. REALLY love that this is set in a “real” video game world with all of those actually existing and mostly beloved characters, instead of just send-ups of each thing… Well, mostly anyway. Can’t wait!

  • Michael

    Honestly, the negativity on this blog towards anything resembling the hero’s journey is discouraging. The “Disney formula”, as it’s referred to here, is exactly what inspired me to take up animation, and spend the money to be educated to work towards a career. The thing I like about Disney films is that they use a formula, but somehow manage to make each movie different enough that I’m having a new experience with each film. I didn’t have the same experience watching Aladdin as I did watching Beauty and the Beast or Tarzan.

    Archetypes and story-based formulas work. They sell extraordinarily well because it’s easy to digest for the view / reader. Not everything has to be morbid, dark, or “deep” to the point in which the message isn’t clear or even relevant. Most plot messages in stories are easy to digest, easy to recognize. If it’s not, then it’s a bad story. There’s a reason Disney functions so well, and why a large percentage of studios go this route. You can be edgy without trying to be edgy. The sheer fact that this involves classic video game characters and introduces a midlife crisis as a portion of the story is pretty inciting to me, imo.

    The movie looks like a fun ride. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a pleasure to get away from all of the serious bologna in the world and enjoy an uplifting story about personal growth. If you want serious tones, shoot outs, and negative personal growth, there are plenty of movies being released like that. Looking to Disney for that is like expecting a 3 year old to change the oil on your car. Wrong place to be looking.

  • http://elblogderg.blogspot.com Roberto González

    I don’t remember the hero journey in Three Caballeros. I won’t be sure about calling Snowhite a hero journey either. In Alice in Wonderland (classic version) it wasn’t very clear what Alice learnt in her trip, but it was entertaining all the way through. Compare that to Alice (Burton’s version) which applies the hero’s journey and it lacks the fun and the imagination.

    Actually Wreck It Ralph looks like an original, fun and nice movie and it’s probably taking too much criticism here because of a couple of trailers, but since some commentaries mentioned it, it’s interesting to talk about it. And yes, I think most animated movies these days are a little more preachy and obvious about this than they used to be. Even in something like Pinocchio, which is clearly a moral tale, it kinda ‘shows’ more than ‘tell’.

    There are exceptions, of course. Laika’s movies, for example.

  • http://4eyedanimation.com JoeCorrao

    eye candy with a budget…but…its life affirming

  • John

    I miss 2D animation. :(

    • Matthew Koh

      Does sprite animation count?
      There are some bits in there.