Wreck-It Ralph Review - A Retro Turbo-Tastic Classic!

*This review is largely spoiler free, but read cautiously if you haven’t seen the film yet*

It's been a long wait. It's been an arduously long wait. But Walt Disney Animation Studios' 52nd animated feature, and one of its most unanimously praised ones in decades, Wreck-It Ralph, has finally hit the UK. Disney landed the film with an uphill battle: die-hard animation fans (myself included) harboured resentment at the delay and casual viewers - including many a friend of mine - have given up waiting and pirated the film - we don't endorse that, but it is a cold, hard fact that Disney need to wake up to. So, the question I posed to myself as I walked into the cinema on Saturday morning was a simple one: is it worth the wait? And the answer I arrived at within minutes was a resounding yes.

Disney Release New Wreck-It Ralph Clips

Us poor blighters in the UK are still to even see Wreck-It Ralph in cinemas (don't even get me started on Finding Nemo 3D, which doesn't arrive until March!), but Disney are already promoting the films impending home video release in the US. As such, the Mouse House have rolled out a series of new clips from the film - so UK fans can check out a little bit more of the film, given that their excitement levels have likely waned slightly since November.

Guest Review: Wreck-It Ralph

By Damien.

Should non-gamers see Wreck-It Ralph?

A guest review disguised as an idiotic question.

Wreck-It Ralph is a video game character. Or rather, he's a video game villain. He's the bad guy in an arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. He's the Donkey Kong to Felix's Mario; except, not that lucky, because while the giant ape had that 1981 game named after him, Ralph has virtually nothing.

There's no fun to be found in being tossed over and over in mud, no respect from his co-workers and no medal to show for it all. Ralph is bored, and wishes he could be a hero.

In the months leading up to the release of this film one of the main concerns was: "Are non-gamers gonna get it?"

Now, I'm not a non-gamer, but I can still offer my best guess on the matter. And here it is:

More Wreck-It Ralph Clips and Featurettes!

With a week to go until the US release of their 52nd animated film, Disney aren't letting up with the marketing for Wreck-It Ralph, and today we get a couple of great clips, and a funny viral video ad.

New Wreck-It Ralph Concept Art - Including a Cartoon John Lasseter!

Disney's 52nd animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralph, hits US cinemas on 2nd November, so the Mouse House have begun heavy advertising for the video-game themed adventure; hoping to replicate the success of Tangled. Denise from Mouse Steps noticed that the artwork from Pixar's Brave at the Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney World's Hollywood Studios has been replaced by pre-production art from Ralph!

Included in the concept art (below) was a drawing of a little cartoon man in glasses and a Hawaiian shirt, a man that may look familiar to you. Yep, it seems Disney have included a reference to Pixar and Disney Animation CCO, John Lasseter, in their latest animated film (presumably paying homage to the huge influence Lasseter and co. have had in turning round Disney Animation since the Pixar merger in 2006). This comes after Lasseter had a cameo in Pixar's Cars 2, with the car version of himself, John Lassetire. From the character design, it looks like John will be one of the Nicelanders in the "Fix-It Felix, Jr." arcade game that Ralph is the villain in.

Check out the rest of the concept art after the jump break!

UPDATED - Wreck-It Ralph TV Spot

Now that the London 2012 Olympic Games are underway, Disney have released a seemingly Olympic themed TV spot for their latest animated feature, Wreck-It Ralph. While the film is set inside the world of video games, this TV spot (above) features some real-life games, specifically wrestling.

The video is interspersed with footage from the trailer we saw at the start of last month and features Glee's Jane Lynch, who lends her voices to the tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun in the film, and a very hands-on Jack McBrayer, (30 Rock) who voices Fix-It Felix, Jr. in Ralph.

It doesn't really show us anything new, but it's pretty funny - because, honestly, who doesn't love Jack McBrayer? Disney are handling the marketing for Wreck-It Ralph very well thus far, and it certainly looks phenomenal; the Mouse House surely have another winner on their hands.

Wreck-It Ralph is still a while off though, and hits US theatres on 2nd November, and arrives here in the UK (at the moment) on 15th February, 2013.

UPDATE

Disney continue the advertisement with another two Olympic themed TV spots, this time showing Jack McBrayer playing the Fix-It Felix, Jr. arcade game, and trying his hand at Gymnastics. Check the latest Wreck-It Ralph TV spot outs, embedded below.

The Wreck-It Ralph Website's Up

Following recent releases for Disney's 52nd animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralph, including the film's first stills and trailer, Disney have now launched the official website. Largely what you'd expect, the site features the trailer, stills, the official synopsis and some downloads including wallpapers and Twitter icons. However, it packs a little extra punch.

You can play the fictional game, Fix-It Felix, Jr., the game in which Ralph is the villain. Not dissimilar to Donkey Kong, your aim is to use the arrow keys to avoid Ralph's obstacles, using the space bar to repair the damage Ralph has done. Contrary to the trailer which sees the inhabitants of the building launching Ralph off the roof, the aim of this game is to see how far you can get before Ralph beats you - he is the star of the film after all!

It's a great little game that gives you a real feel of the world of Wreck-It Ralph and shows how well the team at Disney - led by director, Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) - understand the retro-game world.

This film already has the feel of a classic...