When I went into the theater to watch Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph I was expecting a Disney movie with its usual entertainment of catchy music and whimsical magic; to my surprise Wreck-it-Ralph had neither. Wreck-it Ralph didn’t focus on the good guys of the movie but rather the bad guys looking for something other than rejection from his peers (Spencer & Moore, 2012). Ralph’s quest for acceptance leads him on adventures that will surely change him. From the colorful arcade setting to the unique characters themselves, this movie kept me captivated from the opening scene to the ending credits. Wreck-it-Ralph is a vibrant and comical animated story about finding acceptance in a cheerful world where the main protagonist is unwelcomed due to his destructive role in the arcade. Wreck-it Ralph sets place in a modern day arcade. The Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade becomes more than just a place of business. Similar to Toy Story, the video game characters come to life and leave their predisposed games to travel from one video game world to another via …show more content…
power cables. With so many generations of classic video games and character chamoes, you often find yourself playing Where’s Waldo (Handford, 1987) instead of focusing on the movie. On the upside all the different video game characters and video game worlds help separate Wreck-it-Ralph from standard Disney movies. With the use of what seems like unlimited sets, the video game characters are able to recreate themselves daily. The characters are not just pawns for human entertainment but rather diverse individuals who live ordinary lives (Lussier, 2015). You have seen this type of animation style done in movies like Shrek (Katzenberg, Warner, Williams, Adamson, & Jesson, 2001) and Roger Rabbit (Marshall, Watts, & Zemeckis, 1988), where fairy tale creatures and cartoon characters are simply ordinary people. Director Rich Moore, who directed Futurama and The Simpson, and the screenwriters Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston created the characters with different dimensions. The older generation video gamers moved with jerky movements and were designed with block like shapes. The newer generation video games had high definition and moved more smoothly (Sarto, 2012). Quickly into the movie you are shown the life of Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly. Ralph is a hulky, 8-bit version of Donkey Kong in his game Fix it Felix Jr (Lussier, 2015). Ralph’s one and only job is to destroy the Nicelanders apartment building so that Felix, the charismatic superstar of the game, can fix it with his golden hammer. Ralph is depicted as a giant destructive individual who no one likes because of his job, so he is forced to live in solitude. With the 30th anniversary of his game, Ralph is excluded from the celebration and decides he no longer wants to be the bad guy. No longer wanting to be shunned in his game, Ralph goes to Tapper. Another homage to earlier video games is Tapper. Tapper is a 1983 video game whose goal is to serve beer, or for the children root beer, and collect the emptied mugs as fast as you can while collecting tips (Midway, 1983). While at Tapper, Ralph comes across a PTSD stricken soldier and finds his way into Hero’s Duty to follow rumors of a heroic medal he wishes to acquire to use as a symbol of validation that he is ultimately a good guy despite his reputation. Hero’s Duty is a high definition, chaotic and violent game that reminds me of our modern day Call of Duty (Activision, 2003). The game is ran by an even more aggressive and foul-mouth squad leader, Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) who has yet to accept her tragic back story which comes into play later on in the movie. Sergeant Calhoun’s aggressive behavior plays into the stereotype that aggressive games lead to aggressive behavior. Her aggressive nature could have been turned down a little and still would have had the same impact. After stealing the medal, Ralph accidentally finds himself on his way into another video game called Sugar Rush.
Upon his arrival, he loses his medal to an overzealous, fun loving girl named Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). Sugar Rush focuses on the theme of cute and delicious candy similarities that look good enough to eat (Sarto, 2012). The villagers of Sugar Rush are essentially bodies with a candy style head or are just simple pieces of candy with extremities drawn on them. The racers of Sugar Rush are themed with Strawberry Shortcake familiarities that mimic the background of the game. The term go big or go home comes to mind when I think of the setting of Sugar Rush. They might have taken the candy theme to the extreme on this one. They even went as far as to have Oreo guards sing an Oreo cadence. The amount of overly bright colors and the unnecessary additions in the background became a bit
overwhelming. Soon after meeting Vanellope, Ralph discovers that they have much more in common than he originally believed. Vanellope is considered a “glitch” in Sugar Rush and because of this her fellow racers label her to be an inadequate racer for their game. She is bullied and abused by her peers who will stop at nothing to keep her from racing. Throughout the movie Vanellope remains optimistic that she is and will be the greatest racer that Sugar Rush has had. With Ralph by her side they tackle obstacles put in front of them that are meant to keep Vanellope from getting the acceptance that she desperately wants. Meanwhile, as both Ralph and Venellope, overcome difficult situations that are placed in front of them, Ralph’s cheerful counterpart, Felix recruits Sergeant Calhoun to assist him on his pursuit to find Ralph and bring him back to their game before their “Out of Order” sign becomes permanent. With more trouble brewing below the surface of the innocent world of Sugar Rush, Felix and Sergeant Calhoun will have their hands full as they try to track down Ralph before Fix it Felix Jr. is put out to pasture. Wreck-it Ralph leads you on an emotionally roller coaster as you follow their journey for acceptance. The realization that Ralph and Vanellope might not gain acceptance by neither their peers or by each other left a lump in my throat. This was the same feeling I felt when Simba’s father was killed in the Lion King (Hahn, Allers, & Minkoff, 1944). Disney could not leave it at that though, this is a children’s movie after all. Ralph realizes what he has wanted all along, the love and acceptance of someone that sees him as more than a destructive person. Although he is labeled as a bad guy, Ralph knows that his actions prove otherwise and he is not such a bad guy. Ralph’s act of heroism brings not only his acceptance but that of Vanellope’s as well. She is able to see the importance of being a glitch and that it is quality worth having. With them finding the importance of who they are as individuals and as friends you can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of tearful joy. Vanelllope is also able to prove herself as a real racer after Ralph and her defeat an arch enemy. This defeat brings Vanellope the acceptance from her fellow racers that she has always wanted. While watching Ralph and Vanellope on their adventure you start to see their relationship start to evolve. Ralph no longer sees Vanellope as an annoying little girl but more as a person in need of help. As their relationship strengthens, Ralph and Vanellope start to accept each other’s character flaws. They start to depend on each other and become more like siblings. The characters in Wreck-it Ralph are brought to life through the voices of many well-known comedic actors. John C. Reilly (Ralph), Sarah Silverman (Vanellope), Jack McBrayer (Felix), and Jane Lynch (Sargent Calhoun) all bring out their characters unique personalities. While recording the movie the actors sat together in the same room and this left for a lot of improvisation that was added into the movie (Attack of the Show, 2010). The actors were able to add depth to the relationships of the characters and give the movie more humor. With the introduction of even more characters in Sugar Rush, the plot of the movie becomes more intricate. As the relationships grow and the characters start to reveal more about themselves, there end up being a lot of subplots. The flow of the movie is slightly affected by these subplots. You are constantly being bounced back and forth from one character story to another. This leaves you questioning why they would put so many different story lines in one movie and not just focus on Ralph and Vanellope’s quest for acceptance. All the subplots come crashing together in the last fifteen minutes of the movie and makes the movie feel rushed to finish. I found the movie to be very entertaining and different from usual movies that Disney releases. The many different characters, although overwhelming in the beginning, help the movie by adding a sense of gaming humor. From the moment Ralph takes a cherry from Pac-Man to the last Bad-Anon meeting for villains, you can find humor and familiarity in the faces of these well-known video game characters. Although there are many different plots in the movie, what stands out the most is the loving and accepting relationship between the eccentric full of life Vanellope and her awkwardly lovable friend Ralph. Their journey of acceptance is something we as children and adults go through at one point in our lives. Whether it is acceptance from friends or finding self-acceptance, Wreck-it Ralph creates an atmosphere in which we can all learn from their journey. A movie for all ages, Wreck-it Ralph will warm your hearts and teach you about the importance of acceptance.
Ralph has an idealistic view of the world and he always strives for righteousness and perfection in himself and in others. I think that because he expects perfection in this world, he is disappointed with the imperfections in himself and in others as well as the unfairness in the world. Facing difficult situations, one after another in his life, has affected him deeply because of his idealistic view of the world.
When Ralph is confronted with adversity his character develops. He loses his sense of civilization and the savagery within him grows after killing his friend Simon. Ralph faces the inevitable loss of innocence on the island when discovering what was humanity is capable of. This novel will forever remain popular as it shows human nature in its truest form.
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
Poor Kids is a documentary that highlights a major issue the United States is suffering from. This issue is known as poverty, more specifically, childhood poverty. This documentary views the world through the eyes of children that are subjected to lives of poverty due to the poor financial state that their parents are in. Life is very rough for these children and they must live their everyday lives with little to none of the luxuries most people take for granted. Poor Kids sheds light on the painful fact that there are children that starve every day in the United States.
This is the turning point for Ralph, not only as a person, but as a character in the book. Ralph goes from a somewhat flat character, to a round character, and with this transformation, he completes his dream, a dream which he had with him the whole time. Not only has he come to peace with himself and his accomplishments, he has come to peace with those around him, “Ralph watched the water fight with sadness in his heart, never guessing the scene would one day hearten him, as it did now.” (p296). Some may say that Ralph never achieved his dream. I say that he achieved his dream about half way through the book, he just didn’t realize all he had, and all he could lose until it was almost gone.
Ralph’s power at the beginning is secure but as the group succumbs to their savage instincts, Ralph’s influence declines as Jack’s rises. This is due mainly to the cruelty and violence that goes on in the story. This cruelty reveals that Ralph’s commitment to civilization and being rescued is so strong that he will not allow himself to change his morals and become cruel like the others. The cruelty in this novel also shows that Ralph is a very intelligent character. His intelligence can be proven because there was a point in the novel when he hunts a boar for the first time and he experiences the thrill of bloodlust. He also attends one of Jack’s feast where he is swept away by the frenzy and participates in the killing of Simon. This is a very tragic moment for Ralph because this is when he realizes the evil that lives within himself and every human being. It is the cruel acts that happen in this novel that reveals Ralph’s character of being intelligent and being able to think deeply about human experiences. He even weeps when getting saved because of his knowledge about the human capacity for
doing things like this Ralph tries to show the freedom the boys have without any
The philosophy of parenting is a concept that all parents try to understand. When they realize what a parent needs to do to be successful, they employ their parenting strategy on their children. The ultimate goal is to raise their children to become successful and autonomous away from the security of home, wherever that might be. The reason why parenting styles differ is that each parent has a different definition of success. For some, success means going to an Ivy league college, while for others it just means to be happy in life no matter what lifestyle their child leads. The type of person produced is largely dependent on what parenting style that was used on them.
In the Oscar award winning movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, a network of characters portray the lifestyles of different races in Los Angeles. In the movie, characters “crash” into one another, similar to pinballs, to spur new emotions and explain their actions. A main character Anthony, an African American male, steadily tries to prove why he does not and will not fall into the black male thug stereotype. He was slightly close minded and repeatedly had a negative outlook towards his environment. Anthony created contradictions between what he said and what his actual intentions were. His actions were guided by his environment and further analysis of them will prove his motivation.
Worrying about how to handle this meeting, Ralph “[loses] himself in a maze of thoughts that [are] rendered vague by his lack of words to express them,” even though his mind is not a maze, this analogy works effectively, because Ralph usually loses his train of thought which is from of the stress he is under, his poor amount of nutrition and sleep; the weight of leadership has its toll on Ralph as the story progresses. He is dutiful and dedicated, but his attempts to instill order and calm among the boys are decreasingly successful and contrast with Ralph growing knowledge of leadership which is evident when Golding says, “the assembly shredded away and [become] a discursive and random scatter”; Golding suggests that their civilized society is slipping away and it is becoming primitive. Golding develops Ralph's particular concerns and insecurities in this chapter; by showing him brooding over his perceived failures, Golding highlights Ralph’s responsible, adult nature. Although Ralph exemplifies a more than sufficient intellect, he begins to realize that he lacks Piggy's knowledge when he says, “I can’t think [...] not like Piggy”.
Toy Story is the groundbreaking 1995 motion picture developed by Disney and Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The film was so revolutionary not only because it was the first feature length animation to be created completely by CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) but also, also the film was more rounded in all respects. The characters not only looked more sophisticated and three-dimensional but their personalities were also more human and fewer cartoons like. The film uses a constructed text in order to put across a theme of two very different characters learning to work together beyond their rivalries to rise above a common enemy and work towards a common goal. The film uses characters and imagery very cleverly to portray this theme. The music used in the film is also different to other Disney features. Rather than the characters bursting into song themselves as in Aladdin or Hercules, the songs are played and sung by an outside person (Randy Newman) and reflect the mood and emotions of the characters in a particular scene. For example, the title sequence song “Friend in Me”, when Woody and Andy are playing together, and the scene where Andy’s room has been made over to a Buzz Lightyear theme, “Strange Things” where the song reflects Woody’s confusion and fear not only about the change in his surroundings but also the change in his friends and his own character and self-confidence. The attention to the smallest detail for example the reflections in Buzz’s visor give the film even more realism and depth. The use of unusual and imaginative camera angles, made possible by the use of CGI, also adds to the texture and pace of the film.
As soon as Ralph emerged from the scar that was embedded in the lush forest of the island, he was a different person. Unconcerned about the severity of his situation, Ralph instantly let his desires take over. Greatly disregarding the voice of reason, Ralph seeks immediate pleasure in his new adult-free life. With great ignorance that is found common a little boy from Britain, Ralph lightheartedly “danced out
Ralph is the one who brought the group of boys together, but he can not manage to keep them that way. He blows on a conch shell and they come, meeting
“The loss of innocence for which Ralph weeps at the novel's close is not, however, a matter of transformation from childish goodness to adolescent depravity, is not a growing into wickedness. It is rather the coming of an awareness of darkness, of the evil in man's heart that was present in the children all along,” (Boyd). At the end of the novel, Ralph cries for a few reasons. He cries because he has lost his friend Piggy. He also cries because he has lost his innocence. He now realizes that there is evil in every man.
A Christmas Carol is one of the few traditional Christmas stories I have never read. I already knew the basic story line, but I didn’t really know what was going to happen. I love reading and watching things for the first time. It was fun seeing the different versions and comparing them to the book. There were some differences, escpecially in the Muppets movie, but overall the lesson still shown through. I think it’s a great story that teaches us how to really be grateful and love the people around us.