Wreck-It Ralph
feels like it should have been a Pixar Animation Studios project. The premise
is exactly the kind of clever idea they latch onto and develop into viable
material for an animated feature film. The screenplay by Phil Johnston and
Jennifer Lee is from a story by Johnston, Rich Moore, and Jim Reardon. Moore,
who learned his animation directing chops on “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” – where
he likely learned a great deal about handling culturally relevant material –
directed. It concerns a video game villain, the titular Ralph, who has grown
weary of destroying a building, doing it well, and then looking on as the game’s
hero is rewarded with medal upon medal. Thirty years of the same actions over and
over will do that to a guy. He desires the chance to be the hero for once, but
his Bad-Anon support group (featuring one of the Pac Man ghosts and King Kroopa
from Mario Bros.) tell him he can’t change who he is. You see one of the film’s
object lessons in the works from here.
