A major motion picture studio is about to make a sequel to a popular movie. Normally that wouldn’t qualify as earth-shattering news, but since shattering is what “Wreck-It Ralph” is best at, perhaps we’ll make an exception this time.
The first Wreck-It Ralph premiered in 2012, and told the story of the bad guy from a video game, Ralph (John C. Reilly), who was sick and tired of being treated like he was a “bad guy.” So he hopped into a different arcade game and tried to become a hero, leading to near catastrophic disaster and an unlikely friendship with a glitchy racing game sprite named Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). Wreck-It Ralph earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature and a very respectable $471 million worldwide, so again, a sequel announcement isn’t much of a surprise.
Walt Disney
What is particularly interesting about the Wreck-It Ralph 2 news is that Ralph and Vanellope are headed into the internet this time. It would seem like a natural progression for the characters, who were previously trapped inside an analogue video game arcade, which is something of a relic in this contemporary world of online distribution. Sending Ralph and Vanellope to World of Warcraft or Minecraft (or their analogues, at any rate) is a pretty good idea, which is why it’s a bit surprising that none of the locations featured on the first image for Wreck-It Ralph 2 are related to video games. It looks instead like Ralph and Vanellope will be traveling through the world of phone apps instead.
Which also makes sense, since retro games like the ones Wreck-It Ralph satirizes are very popular downloads on smartphones, but that seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. It also raises a lot of questions about the rules inherent to the Wreck-It Ralph concept. Is there only one of Ralph? If Ralph is on multiple phones and desktops throughout the world, are they all going through the same story? Would they all share the same memories? Would Ralph and Vanellope have to befriend each other all over again?
Apparently we’ll find out when Wreck-It Ralph 2 premieres on March 9, 2018.
Top Photo: Walt Disney
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
