Disney attempts to do a Pixar quality animated picture without Pixar!

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2012)

'WRECK-IT RALPH': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Disney attempts to do a Pixar quality animated picture without Pixar and they don't do a bad job at it! The film tells the tale of an arcade world where the arcade characters are alive and one video game bad guy is tired of being a villain and sets out to be a hero for once (abandoning his game, which causes trouble for the rest of the game world). John C. Reilly stars as the voice of the titular character and Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk co-star. Rich Moore (a veteran director of cartoon shows like 'FUTURAMA', 'THE SIMPSONS' and 'THE CRITIC') made his feature film debut directing the movie. He also co-wrote it along with Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee and Jim Reardon. John Lasseter (a veteran Pixar director and producer) executive produced the film. The movie doesn't match the very best of Pixar but it does rival it's less than stellar offerings (There's also a Disney short film before the movie, 'PAPERMAN', that rivals the best of Pixar's shorts).
The film is set at Litwak's Arcade where video game characters roam from game to game at night when the arcade is closed. Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) is tired of being the villain of the game 'Fix-It Felix, Jr.' where the other video game characters have treated him like an outcast all of the game's thirty years of existence. Ralph decides one night, while at a video game villain support group, he no longer wants to be a villain. After learning that characters in the new first-person shooter game 'Hero's Duty' can win a medal for heroics in their game he abandons his game and sets out to win a medal there. This causes havoc not only for his game but the entire arcade as he accidentally unleashes a Cy-Bug, with powers to multiply and destroy everything in it's path (and when a video game character dies outside his own game he dies for good). Ralph meets an outcast, named Vanellope (Silverman), in a kart-racing game and the two team up in order to help each other find happiness and better fit in in to their own video game worlds.
The movie is a little like a cross between 'TOY STORY' and 'TRON'; it resembles 'TRON' because of it's story involving characters that live inside a video game and 'TOY STORY' because these characters do what kid's want of them during the day but have their own lives at night, when they're not being watched. Several characters from actual video games have cameos in the film and the movie is a good tribute to video games and arcades. It's funny at times and also has a lot of melodrama (like most Disney, as well as all, animated kids films). It's got a lot of cheesy humor and drama but at times it's genuinely funny as well as touching (like most Pixar films). The message about acceptance of outcasts is also very powerful and positive for kids. It's not quite as clever as the director's TV work or as classic as 'TRON' or 'TOY STORY' but it is as good as your average Pixar film, which is what I think Disney set out to do.
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