Last night I hosted an advance 3-D screening of the new Disney animated film, “Wreck-It Ralph.” If you ask most radio personalities, hosting these types of events are about as fun as a kick to the scrotum but I owed it to my fellow jocks to take one of these for once. Not to mention my family wanted to check it out so I cracked a few lame jokes on the mic, hosted an impromptu dance contest and before I knew it, I was slumped in my chair with a freshly smeared pair of 3D glasses.
First let’s talk about the glasses themselves. As a parent I’ve been watching 3D films for about a year now and the glasses seem to get fancier every time I go. The frames get more ergonomic and the lenses get thicker. It seems 3D glasses go through generations quicker than computer technology. Weird.
Okay, one more thing before we get to Wreck-It Ralph. Immediately after opening visuals of flying debris that instruct audience members to put on their glasses, we were all treated to a Disney short film titled, “Paperman.” It ran for about 7 minutes and it was in black and white but I can honestly say that they made more use of 3D technology than all of the 91 minutes of Hotel Transylvania. Not to mention it was a really sweet story that had parents and children applauding at its credits.
But now to the marrow of this post… Wreck-It Ralph. Any kid from the 80s and 90s knows that they would appreciate this film just from the references seen in the trailers. Street Fighter II, Q*bert, Sonic the Hedgehog, they’re all in there. Oh and the quintessential video game code from Contra? You bet your sweet ass it’s in there. But no more spoilers. Let’ me just tell you my thoughts on this film.
At what point did animators strive to have the character resemble their voice actors? Was that always in style? Whatever the case, the characters that hopped along to the voices of Jack McBrayer and Sarah Silverman bore a striking resemblance to each other while there was not one single strand of curly hair on the head of John C. Reilly‘s character. Reilly’s character (Wreck-It Ralph) sounded like Seth Rogan for majority of the film. I guess they both have that mucus-based vibrato but it was still a surprise to me. Note to self – when John C. Reilly isn’t mumbling, he sounds like Seth Rogan. Still, there were moments where the character stepped on himself in dialogue and that’s when the voice of old Dr. Steve Brule would creep in – reminding me that it’s John C. Reilly sipping wine behing the microphone, rather than Seth Rogan packing a bowl.
The animation itself played perfectly with the dialogue… almost too well at times with King Candy and Vanellope von Schweetz. The story stirred up it’s fair share of emotions. I felt a similar Monsters Inc dynamic, which brings me to the verge on tears sometimes. Bottom line, having a daughter has made me soft.
By the end of the film, I had an overpriced hotdog in me and I was drench with urine. Not my own, mind you. My daughter had an accident. She basically peed herself when the action got a little too crazy for her. Again, I don’t wanna ruin it for you more than I already have. I digress, all distractions aside, I thought it was a great film that plays to both children and parents.
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