Second only to Pixar announcing a new CG feature is probably Disney announcing a new Pixar-less CG feature, and there was nary a mention of their partner studio in this press release for WRECK-IT RALPH.
Disney seems to be flying solo on this one, and as good as Pixar is, the mouse has shown they can crank out a good product themselves, as I stand by my claim that TANGLED was one of the best films of last year.
But there are no princesses to be found here, WRECK-IT RALPH has been shrouded in mystery back when it was called REBOOT RALPH, and I’m assuming they dropped the original name as everyone has pretty negative associations with “reboot” in today’s Hollywood landscape. We heard that this was a film about a video game character, but now we have more info on what exactly that means.
“Some of us are born to be bad, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it. Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy®-winning director Rich Moore (TV’s “The Simpsons,” “Futurama”) take moviegoers on a hilarious, video-game-hopping journey in “Wreck-It Ralph,” the story of an arcade game Bad Guy determined to prove he can be a Good Guy.”
The film is said to be a journey through a bunch of different video game genres, and switches animation styles as it progresses. The voice cast includes John C. Reilly as the titular Ralph, Jack McBrayer, Sarah Silverman and Jane Lynch. A rather strange ensemble, but I’ll go with it.
If done properly, it sounds like it could be pretty cool, as I imagine things transitioning from 8-bit arcade all the way to modern FPS landscapes which would be a pretty cool animation journey. I will say if this was being done by someone other than Disney I would probably be a bit skeptical, but I have trust in the studio that this will likely be worthwhile.