Wreck-It-Ralph Review

Image result for wreck it ralph villains


Similar to Zootopia, I believe that Wreck-It-Ralph is a very unique and contemporary film that reveals a lot of creative ideas on Disney's part. Not only do they bring in classic and legendary characters from other well-known video games, they make a story out of it and bring video games to life. I really enjoyed the film because it didn't seem like a repetitive type of story.

The topic of villainy is extremely prevalent in this film because the entire plot is based around it. Ralph, being the main villain, wants to be a part of the "in" crowd and wants to be recognized for all that he does for the game (even though he is a bad guy). I find it interesting that Disney took on the perspective of the bad guys. I don't know of many Disney classics that took on that persona, but it seems to be an ongoing trend of the new era (Maleficent, Wicked, Kronk's New Groove).  Perhaps that is the reason for all of the popularity. Everybody knows everything about the "good guys" of games, films and books, but rarely do we get the point of view of the villains. The reasoning for this perspective seems to relay the messages of "don't judge a book by its cover" and "anyone can do anything" very well.


To add to the villainy discussion, I find it intriguing how their are two classifications of villains in the story. There are the villains portrayed as evil by their game who are actually normal "people" per say in real life (Ralph, Satan, the Pac Man Ghosts, etc.), and there are the villains who are portrayed as good in their games but are actually evil in real life (King Candy). The line between what defines a villain is definitely misconstrued because the bad guy of the film is good and the good guy turns out to be bad. This could relay the message that not everybody is who you think they are and again, "don't judge a book by its cover."

An aspect of the movie that I thoroughly enjoyed was the character of Vanellope. Even though her voice can sometimes be annoying, I found her spunk and determination to be inspiring. I think that because she is a girl who is not accepted by her peers, her story and character is something many people can connect with. I also think she fulfills many little girl's dreams in creating something out of pure candy :). Another part of Vanellope's character that I found enjoyable was the relationship she had with Ralph. She accepted him for who he was (even though he had big hands) because she was an outsider just like him. The way the two created a sort of brother-sister relationship that in the end made them partners for life was adorable and again, inspiring.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review on Henry A. Giroux's "The Disneyfication of Children's Culture"

The Disneyfication of Children's Culture, by Henry A. Giroux is an article that argues how Disney's facade of "innocence and moral virtue" has underlying themes that can be harmful to the education of adolescent minds. Giroux focuses on the fact that Disney is an economic powerhouse that is trying to make their money off of movies that are most of the time not politically, morally or historically correct. Disney is such an influential and readily available source that children are exposed to it everyday, yet their most famous movies (since 1989) include stereotypical ideologies of race, gender and conservative world views. Giroux goes on to suggest how teachers, cultural workers and parents can change the course of Disney pedagogy, and hopefully help children come to the realization that the happy go-lucky animations aren't always correct. Based on the title of this article, I had the preconception that it was going to dote on how Disney was positively influentia
Read more

Thoughts on David Crewe's "Animal Harm: discrimination and difference in Zootopia"

Image
The article,  "Animal Harm: discrimination and difference in Zootopia"  by David Crewe writes about the meaning and nuances of the Disney animation Zootopia. Crewe starts off giving a back story as to the previous plot line of the film, which eventually changed due to need for a happier story. He then begins to talk about all of the themes intertwined within the movie, for instance "optimistic equality, systemic inequality, intersectionality, good intentions," etc. Overall, this essay speaks to how Zootopia connects to the real world as well as what messages come out of it's colorful scenery. There are many claims to Crewe's argument that I appreciate him including. He dotes on the topic of optimism in the film, which is a factor that one cannot ignore while watching Judy Hopps. The difference between Zootopia and other Disney films though, as mentioned by Crewe, is that Judy's optimism becomes dismantled many times throughout the story. It is
Read more

Review of Giroux's, "How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age"

Giroux's second article, How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age , brought his ideas to a more respectable level. The publication of Giroux's first article was in 1994 and his most recent one was published in 2011, which is significantly more relevant to the "modern" Disney era. Although the context is more recent, Giroux still finds a way to make his pessimistic opinions about the Disney name known. The article focuses more on Disney as a corporation and how it influences children into being high end consumers of today's society. Large companies are able to have such control over cognition by way of technological advances, and now, as Giroux would say, Disney is able to insert product advertisement into "every waking moment of children's daily lives." Giroux still argues that Disney has this power because nobody is willing to stand up and criticize their facade of innocence/joy. He even goes on to say how the
Read more