Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
November 22, 2018 8:51 PM - Subscribe
Six years after the events of "Wreck-It Ralph", Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
Vanellope is getting bored of her game, as she knows every in and out of it. Ralph, however, is fine with things as they are. But to liven things up for Vanellope, Ralph creates a new path in her game, which ends up leading to the player of Sugar Rush breaking the steering wheel. Since Mr. Litvak is too cheap to pay $200 on eBay to get a replacement wheel, it's up to Ralph, Vanellope, and their new access to the Internet to go get a new wheel...and then have to come up with the money to pay for it.
This leads to the two originally trying to make money by getting a fancy car in a game called "Slaughter Race," which Ralph is scared of but Vanellope loves--and Vanellope makes friends with their leader, Skank. Skank won't give up the car but does refer them to her algorithm friend Yesss, who helps Ralph become a BuzzzTube superstar to make money. Ralph makes the money to get the wheel....but what if Vanellope doesn't want to leave Slaughter Race? (I cried, a little, y'all.)
So basically, Ralph ends up breaking the Internet and both of them learn about what happens when a friend moves on. Also involves really awesome behavior on the parts of the Disney Princesses. (I dearly hope the T-shirts the princesses get make it to Disney merchandising.) And stay until the very, very end for credits fun.
What Ralph Breaks the Internet gets especially right about being online
Ralph Breaks the Internet Is Remarkably Smart About What It Feels Like to Live Online
‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’: How Disney Animation Is Coping with Change
Disney goes viral with an ambitious, overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph sequel
Spoilers! How those Disney princesses save the day in 'Ralph Breaks the Internet'
I found it really touching, actually. I didn't expect this one to be about a friend moving away and wanting to move on vs. someone else not wanting them to. *sniffle*
Vanellope is getting bored of her game, as she knows every in and out of it. Ralph, however, is fine with things as they are. But to liven things up for Vanellope, Ralph creates a new path in her game, which ends up leading to the player of Sugar Rush breaking the steering wheel. Since Mr. Litvak is too cheap to pay $200 on eBay to get a replacement wheel, it's up to Ralph, Vanellope, and their new access to the Internet to go get a new wheel...and then have to come up with the money to pay for it.
This leads to the two originally trying to make money by getting a fancy car in a game called "Slaughter Race," which Ralph is scared of but Vanellope loves--and Vanellope makes friends with their leader, Skank. Skank won't give up the car but does refer them to her algorithm friend Yesss, who helps Ralph become a BuzzzTube superstar to make money. Ralph makes the money to get the wheel....but what if Vanellope doesn't want to leave Slaughter Race? (I cried, a little, y'all.)
So basically, Ralph ends up breaking the Internet and both of them learn about what happens when a friend moves on. Also involves really awesome behavior on the parts of the Disney Princesses. (I dearly hope the T-shirts the princesses get make it to Disney merchandising.) And stay until the very, very end for credits fun.
What Ralph Breaks the Internet gets especially right about being online
Ralph Breaks the Internet Is Remarkably Smart About What It Feels Like to Live Online
‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’: How Disney Animation Is Coping with Change
Disney goes viral with an ambitious, overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph sequel
Spoilers! How those Disney princesses save the day in 'Ralph Breaks the Internet'
I found it really touching, actually. I didn't expect this one to be about a friend moving away and wanting to move on vs. someone else not wanting them to. *sniffle*
Okay, so my mom interrupted me while I was collecting links, I had to hit post before that got bad, so here is some more. Also, for those who remember pamie.com, Pamela Ribon co-wrote the movie!
How ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ spoofs the Disney Princess industrial complex (Washington Post)
See Pancake Bunny and Milkshake Kitty get revenge on Wreck-It Ralph in new VR experience
See the Disney princesses’ new outfits in Ralph Breaks the Internet
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 PM on November 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
How ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ spoofs the Disney Princess industrial complex (Washington Post)
See Pancake Bunny and Milkshake Kitty get revenge on Wreck-It Ralph in new VR experience
See the Disney princesses’ new outfits in Ralph Breaks the Internet
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 PM on November 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
and Vanellope makes friends with their leader, Shank.
FTFY. Very different implications there!
But anyway: Vanellope gets on the internet and immediately discovers she's gay, right? I know I can't be the only one for whom this read *super* queer. She gets onto the internet, runs into a fantastically attractive woman who is into the same stuff she is, and they are both instantly and clearly charmed by each other. She gushes at length to her very-platonic dude BFF despite having just met this other person, and then Uhauls herself straight into a new game filled with weirdos with a less narrowly-defined course for life, while he tries to figure out WTF just happened and why she wasn't happy in their little arcade. It all feels very... familiar.
I wound up feeling like overall the movie did a pretty good job of covering both the benefits and the drawbacks of the internet in a way that was pretty kid-friendly. Man, the stuff about not reading the comments, and the validation that doesn't actually come with being a viral video star was kind of an interesting detour.
posted by Sequence at 11:27 PM on November 22, 2018 [11 favorites]
FTFY. Very different implications there!
But anyway: Vanellope gets on the internet and immediately discovers she's gay, right? I know I can't be the only one for whom this read *super* queer. She gets onto the internet, runs into a fantastically attractive woman who is into the same stuff she is, and they are both instantly and clearly charmed by each other. She gushes at length to her very-platonic dude BFF despite having just met this other person, and then Uhauls herself straight into a new game filled with weirdos with a less narrowly-defined course for life, while he tries to figure out WTF just happened and why she wasn't happy in their little arcade. It all feels very... familiar.
I wound up feeling like overall the movie did a pretty good job of covering both the benefits and the drawbacks of the internet in a way that was pretty kid-friendly. Man, the stuff about not reading the comments, and the validation that doesn't actually come with being a viral video star was kind of an interesting detour.
posted by Sequence at 11:27 PM on November 22, 2018 [11 favorites]
Does this hold up to the original? I was skeptical that this was going to just be full of internet meme-jokes and Ready Player One-style cross-franchise references.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:44 AM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:44 AM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think to some degree it does, but it's also a very different thing at the same time. The emotional heart of things is different but is still there. Sure, there's a lot of jokes (I wonder how well that will hold up in the future, but eh, what can you do), but the core story is what happens when Vanellope wants different things in life than Ralph and how will their friendship hold up under different circumstances.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:58 AM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:58 AM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Is an icon for that site "metafilter" buried in the massive overload of internet sites and logos as they fly through the pipes?
posted by sammyo at 10:09 AM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 10:09 AM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
There were callouts to 90s era www (altavista shows up in the background of an emotional scene and I coughed out a laugh which made my son think I was being weird dad until I explained it to him afterward).
posted by kokaku at 3:54 PM on November 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 3:54 PM on November 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
It's not as good as the original but it's a solid, tolerable B- .
posted by bq at 3:55 PM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bq at 3:55 PM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm in the at least as good as the original. The Disney princess send up and Oh My Disney setting were pretty well done.
posted by kokaku at 4:06 PM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 4:06 PM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Is an icon for that site "metafilter" buried in the massive overload of internet sites and logos as they fly through the pipes?
Mewhowhat? Is that like, an app or something?
posted by happyroach at 7:23 PM on November 23, 2018
Mewhowhat? Is that like, an app or something?
posted by happyroach at 7:23 PM on November 23, 2018
Those Ralph zombies seemed like real nightmare fuel. I can't remember seeing anything that creepy in one of these Disney/Pixar productions.
And WHAT THE HECK was going on in the post credits scene with force-feeding the bunny pancakes until it exploded? Was that supposed to be a reference to those creepy YouTube videos aimed at toddlers people were worrying about last year? A general cautionary tale aimed at getting parents to pay attention to what their kids are watching?
posted by straight at 8:43 PM on November 23, 2018
And WHAT THE HECK was going on in the post credits scene with force-feeding the bunny pancakes until it exploded? Was that supposed to be a reference to those creepy YouTube videos aimed at toddlers people were worrying about last year? A general cautionary tale aimed at getting parents to pay attention to what their kids are watching?
posted by straight at 8:43 PM on November 23, 2018
and Vanellope makes friends with their leader, Shank.
FTFY. Very different implications there!
I could NOT stop calling her Skank throughout the movie even though I liked her character. I don't exactly hear anyone talking about shanking so much during my life.
Other links:
How the Disney Princess Scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet Came to Be
Ralph Breaks the Internet's Directors on the Importance of Slaughter Race, the Film's Grand Theft Auto Clone Exploring Friendship in Ralph Breaks the Internet: Screenwriter and former Austinite Pamela Ribon talks BFFs, online and IRL
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:52 PM on November 23, 2018
FTFY. Very different implications there!
I could NOT stop calling her Skank throughout the movie even though I liked her character. I don't exactly hear anyone talking about shanking so much during my life.
Other links:
How the Disney Princess Scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet Came to Be
Ralph Breaks the Internet's Directors on the Importance of Slaughter Race, the Film's Grand Theft Auto Clone Exploring Friendship in Ralph Breaks the Internet: Screenwriter and former Austinite Pamela Ribon talks BFFs, online and IRL
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:52 PM on November 23, 2018
Is an icon for that site "metafilter" buried in the massive overload of internet sites and logos as they fly through the pipes?
I did not catch any Metafilter references, but I do want to know if I hallucinated that there were at least two veiled references to porn in the credits--one for Sherlock fanfic that said something about "safe search off" and another that promised to delete your web history? Nothing kids would recognize in a million years but it raised my eyebrows a bit.
There were a few nightmare fuel things for me. I had to keep forcing myself to stop looking for individual faces and body parts on the Ralph zombies because it was so unsettling, and that whole scene with Double Dan, euuruguugh.
posted by Sequence at 11:54 PM on November 23, 2018
I did not catch any Metafilter references, but I do want to know if I hallucinated that there were at least two veiled references to porn in the credits--one for Sherlock fanfic that said something about "safe search off" and another that promised to delete your web history? Nothing kids would recognize in a million years but it raised my eyebrows a bit.
There were a few nightmare fuel things for me. I had to keep forcing myself to stop looking for individual faces and body parts on the Ralph zombies because it was so unsettling, and that whole scene with Double Dan, euuruguugh.
posted by Sequence at 11:54 PM on November 23, 2018
The Ralph zombies brought to mind the Clive Barker story In The Hills, the Cities (content warning.... body horror, nsfw).
posted by kokaku at 2:14 AM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 2:14 AM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
This movie is delightful, and it's straight-up worth the price of admission for the princess T-shirts alone.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:13 PM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:13 PM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I just saw this, and I was really impressed. I didn't love it in the way I did the first movie, but that's okay; it was solid work, very funny.
I had vaguely expected that the villain of the piece would be the algorithm, plotting to take over the world as algorithms do. Turned out the villain was Ralph himself. It was genuinely unsettling and not at all subtle to see a horde of "needy, clingy, desperate" dudes destroying the internet with their demands for attention. And it was really remarkable to see an ending where the hero doesn't get what he truly wants from somebody and that's okay. Ralph didn't get some other kind of prize for it, either; he was just moving on and making new friends. It's a surprisingly mature conclusion for a big-budget kids' movie.
I thought the weakest part was the Disney/Star Wars sequence. I'm not as easy to amuse as I used to be, and it makes me a little achy when large corporations poke fun at themselves in a way that's supposed to be transgressive but was undoubtedly cleared by some of the richest men in the country. Still, it's good for the kids to start questioning the princess stories early.
I do want to know if I hallucinated that there were at least two veiled references to porn in the credits--one for Sherlock fanfic that said something about "safe search off" and another that promised to delete your web history?
I forgot I should have stayed for the credits! If this is true about the fanfic, I am very sorry to have missed it, because I would have cackled. There was a reference to "sending popups to Tumblr" and I laughed aloud at the very idea of a personified Tumblr waiting for these poor things.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:30 PM on November 24, 2018
I had vaguely expected that the villain of the piece would be the algorithm, plotting to take over the world as algorithms do. Turned out the villain was Ralph himself. It was genuinely unsettling and not at all subtle to see a horde of "needy, clingy, desperate" dudes destroying the internet with their demands for attention. And it was really remarkable to see an ending where the hero doesn't get what he truly wants from somebody and that's okay. Ralph didn't get some other kind of prize for it, either; he was just moving on and making new friends. It's a surprisingly mature conclusion for a big-budget kids' movie.
I thought the weakest part was the Disney/Star Wars sequence. I'm not as easy to amuse as I used to be, and it makes me a little achy when large corporations poke fun at themselves in a way that's supposed to be transgressive but was undoubtedly cleared by some of the richest men in the country. Still, it's good for the kids to start questioning the princess stories early.
I do want to know if I hallucinated that there were at least two veiled references to porn in the credits--one for Sherlock fanfic that said something about "safe search off" and another that promised to delete your web history?
I forgot I should have stayed for the credits! If this is true about the fanfic, I am very sorry to have missed it, because I would have cackled. There was a reference to "sending popups to Tumblr" and I laughed aloud at the very idea of a personified Tumblr waiting for these poor things.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:30 PM on November 24, 2018
But anyway: Vanellope gets on the internet and immediately discovers she's gay, right? I know I can't be the only one for whom this read *super* queer.
I totally got this vibe and thought I was projecting until the scene with all the rainbow lights and it was just like, okay, come on, what lesbian was responsible for this?
I really enjoyed this. I have a less than functional memory so can't say whether it impacted me as much as the first one did, but I was not expecting an extremely explicit message about male insecurity, and I loved that I was kind of blindsided by it. Before we got to The Point/Main Conflict I thought it was a little weird how they kept using the word "insecure" to refer to Ralph, but now I'm like, holy shit? That's genius? They're giving kids a name for this feeling, and showing what not to do, and how to deal with it in a healthy way. The male hero rescues a female character from his own terrible attitudes and behaviors by facing them and learning that it's unacceptable to try and control her. It was super duper awesome to see. I've gotta go to bed so I don't wanna spend forever analyzing this but... what a refreshing and positive message.
posted by brook horse at 8:11 PM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I totally got this vibe and thought I was projecting until the scene with all the rainbow lights and it was just like, okay, come on, what lesbian was responsible for this?
I really enjoyed this. I have a less than functional memory so can't say whether it impacted me as much as the first one did, but I was not expecting an extremely explicit message about male insecurity, and I loved that I was kind of blindsided by it. Before we got to The Point/Main Conflict I thought it was a little weird how they kept using the word "insecure" to refer to Ralph, but now I'm like, holy shit? That's genius? They're giving kids a name for this feeling, and showing what not to do, and how to deal with it in a healthy way. The male hero rescues a female character from his own terrible attitudes and behaviors by facing them and learning that it's unacceptable to try and control her. It was super duper awesome to see. I've gotta go to bed so I don't wanna spend forever analyzing this but... what a refreshing and positive message.
posted by brook horse at 8:11 PM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
/I thought it was a little weird how they kept using the word "insecure" to refer to Ralph
And of course it is a terrible/beautiful pun with the virus "scanning for insecurities"
posted by straight at 8:41 PM on November 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
And of course it is a terrible/beautiful pun with the virus "scanning for insecurities"
posted by straight at 8:41 PM on November 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
+1 to all the approval for the main plot and the amusing way it approached a serious subject and handled it competently and digestibly.
I also really enjoyed the digs about parenting via Felix and Calhoun. I was amused but disappointed when the first bit is just a gag about unprepared parents and how awful children can be, but the way they bring it full circle at the end was extremely pleasing to me.
I'm still unsettled by the bit in Vanellope's song where the dog-eating shark is described as "deplorable" and Vanellope responds that she is "adorable." That has to just be an artifact of the writing and initial work happening before "deplorable" became the memeword for the alt-right and so it just gets locked into the whole animation cycle, right? It was a jarring fragment in an otherwise delightful couple of hours in the theater with my boo and my child.
posted by Scattercat at 5:22 PM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
I also really enjoyed the digs about parenting via Felix and Calhoun. I was amused but disappointed when the first bit is just a gag about unprepared parents and how awful children can be, but the way they bring it full circle at the end was extremely pleasing to me.
I'm still unsettled by the bit in Vanellope's song where the dog-eating shark is described as "deplorable" and Vanellope responds that she is "adorable." That has to just be an artifact of the writing and initial work happening before "deplorable" became the memeword for the alt-right and so it just gets locked into the whole animation cycle, right? It was a jarring fragment in an otherwise delightful couple of hours in the theater with my boo and my child.
posted by Scattercat at 5:22 PM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
FYI, if you stay all the way through the credits, there's a really nice scene.
IFF you actually read the credits while waiting, you may be able to guess it.
Incidentally, they give special thanks to Cory Doctorow -- any idea what he contributed?
posted by cheshyre at 6:14 PM on November 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
IFF you actually read the credits while waiting, you may be able to guess it.
Incidentally, they give special thanks to Cory Doctorow -- any idea what he contributed?
posted by cheshyre at 6:14 PM on November 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
Watching my teen daughter navigate ever-changing friendships, this movie struck particularly close to home. I've got to take her to see it, to at least see how people can learn to let go and let friends blossom as they want.
I'm generally impressed that Disney/Pixar is taking all these things past the 90min mark. This one clocked in at nearly two hours!
Incidentally, they give special thanks to Cory Doctorow -- any idea what he contributed?
I imagine maybe they asked him to drop in on a story meeting to bounce internetty ideas off of (since he helps run BoingBoing and all)
posted by mathowie at 10:13 AM on November 26, 2018
I'm generally impressed that Disney/Pixar is taking all these things past the 90min mark. This one clocked in at nearly two hours!
Incidentally, they give special thanks to Cory Doctorow -- any idea what he contributed?
I imagine maybe they asked him to drop in on a story meeting to bounce internetty ideas off of (since he helps run BoingBoing and all)
posted by mathowie at 10:13 AM on November 26, 2018
It went by too quickly to confirm, but I'm 99% sure the woman searching for the ballet tights at the Knowsmore bar ended up getting them from Desmond's Tutus and I almost hyperventilated.
posted by Mchelly at 12:52 PM on December 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 12:52 PM on December 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yes your eyes were not fooling you. There's so many little hidden gags like that.
posted by kokaku at 9:00 AM on December 3, 2018
posted by kokaku at 9:00 AM on December 3, 2018
and it makes me a little achy when large corporations poke fun at themselves in a way that's supposed to be transgressive but was undoubtedly cleared by some of the richest men in the country
The person at Disney who rules over the Star Wars universe with an iron fist is named Kathleen Kennedy.
posted by sideshow at 12:10 PM on December 3, 2018
The person at Disney who rules over the Star Wars universe with an iron fist is named Kathleen Kennedy.
posted by sideshow at 12:10 PM on December 3, 2018
Shank was so beautiful and beautifully animated, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I really loved the queer vibes we got from Vanellope in the scenes with Shank, it made me sooo happy.
I cried a whole bunch at this movie, at the scene towards the end when Ralph and Vanellope are FaceTiming or the movie equivalent, and planning to hang out in a few months or whatever. It rang so true to life that it had me crying buckets and i was still randomly sniffling in the supermarket on the way from from the cinema.
posted by Ziggy500 at 8:31 AM on December 9, 2018
I cried a whole bunch at this movie, at the scene towards the end when Ralph and Vanellope are FaceTiming or the movie equivalent, and planning to hang out in a few months or whatever. It rang so true to life that it had me crying buckets and i was still randomly sniffling in the supermarket on the way from from the cinema.
posted by Ziggy500 at 8:31 AM on December 9, 2018
I liked the message, and the princesses, and the girlcrush.
I didn't like the brands. Which is probably the one of the surprise fun parts of the first movie, how many disparate characters and clever references they get in there from video games! But I don't have the nostalgia or love for Facebook or Google or any of that bullshit.
Why some sort of fake youtube, instead of just YouTube? Did Disney nix that as too much free advertising for a future competitor or did YouTube not pay up? Maybe YouTube felt the content was too critical and declined?
posted by graventy at 11:44 AM on December 14, 2018
I didn't like the brands. Which is probably the one of the surprise fun parts of the first movie, how many disparate characters and clever references they get in there from video games! But I don't have the nostalgia or love for Facebook or Google or any of that bullshit.
Why some sort of fake youtube, instead of just YouTube? Did Disney nix that as too much free advertising for a future competitor or did YouTube not pay up? Maybe YouTube felt the content was too critical and declined?
posted by graventy at 11:44 AM on December 14, 2018
Probably because the actual YouTube doesn't really work the way their PseudoTube in the film does with regards to how Ralph earns money with it. It's like using a fictional country in a spy thriller because no real country has the weird political setup you need to make the plot work.
posted by straight at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
just saw it last night
this got really emotional for me because i had no idea what the big life lesson was. my best friend moved to a place an hour away last year and it definitely felt like losing her the way Ralph felt about losing Venellope. i didn't uhh sabotage her new place, but it was emotional.
the whole movie was super fun! i really liked all the jokes, and i loved that during the disney princess rescue, each of their iconic theme songs had a few tunes played during that scene. makes me wanna go listen to those songs again!
i'll admit i didn't get the lesbian vibe, but i was too focused on how great the lyrics to that song were for Vanellope. the sendups in the song itself to princess songs was great!
the bunny and kitty scene was also hilarious. i loved that it started off with the girl asking her mom about great scenes in trailers not making it into the movie, and then the scene happened. i sang along with "the bunny gets the paaancaaaake" since i've watched that bit of the trailer like a million times. it's still funny. i know people hate the terrible kid-bait videos on youtube that are bad for kids, but i took this as just a funny bit in a movie, and i would hope parents in general monitor what their kids watch, even if it's difficult to do so.
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on February 7, 2019
this got really emotional for me because i had no idea what the big life lesson was. my best friend moved to a place an hour away last year and it definitely felt like losing her the way Ralph felt about losing Venellope. i didn't uhh sabotage her new place, but it was emotional.
the whole movie was super fun! i really liked all the jokes, and i loved that during the disney princess rescue, each of their iconic theme songs had a few tunes played during that scene. makes me wanna go listen to those songs again!
i'll admit i didn't get the lesbian vibe, but i was too focused on how great the lyrics to that song were for Vanellope. the sendups in the song itself to princess songs was great!
the bunny and kitty scene was also hilarious. i loved that it started off with the girl asking her mom about great scenes in trailers not making it into the movie, and then the scene happened. i sang along with "the bunny gets the paaancaaaake" since i've watched that bit of the trailer like a million times. it's still funny. i know people hate the terrible kid-bait videos on youtube that are bad for kids, but i took this as just a funny bit in a movie, and i would hope parents in general monitor what their kids watch, even if it's difficult to do so.
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on February 7, 2019
Boy, this was fun. Kinda wish I didn’t read the credits closely, because it spoiled the stinger!
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:52 AM on March 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:52 AM on March 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by jenfullmoon at 9:02 PM on November 22, 2018