Best Animated Feature of 2012?

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2013)

A video game villain (John C. Reilly) wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say this was the best animated feature of 2012. While I enjoyed "Frankenweenie" and "ParaNorman" and think "Pirates" is deserving of recognition, this film just won my heart. I have not seen "Brave" yet, but have my doubts that it can compete on this level.
The story is automatically a winner, as it has a bad guy -- who is bad through no fault of his own -- trying to be good. That is a great concept, and could raise interesting moral questions (which I will not do here). But they went the extra mile here and actually included real video games characters -- how they were able to get the rights is beyond me, but they did. And they threw in video game humor which was not necessary for the film to be a success, but will make various fans smile and nod (the "World of Warcraft" reference is over my head, but I liked the "Zero Wing" and "Portal" jokes).
What makes the animation here special, perhaps more special than other cartoons, is that they had to incorporate so many styles and create mini worlds. From the 8-bit world of Ralph, to the first-person shooter to the elaborate Candy Rush... this must have taken some time and more than a small share of creativity. If a game has not already been developed based on this film, it seems only natural -- the groundwork has already been done.
Does Vanellope von Schweetz count as a Disney princess? Probably not -- but I think she should.