Ralph Breaks Disney (Movie Review)

As the years proved Disney to be more advanced in animation, the stories they share to the world are always in question. Has their new movie outdone the previous one? Is it still generic? Even if their movies have not yet been released, there is already a buzz around town that they will inevitably be successful no matter if they give us a great movie or a lame one. It's alarmingly sure to say that no one can break Disney.

Except for Ralph.

Ralph Breaks the Internet- that title has a double meaning: figurative yet also literal. In millennial slang, "breaking the internet" means going beyond viral. It means championing the online world, conquering and reigning until the next hot thing claims the spotlight. But literally, breaking also mean an unpleasant violence to ruin something. After watching this movie that challenged itself to be more complex than the usual linear Disney flix, I have been wondering if it won or wrecked the game.

From the title of the movie itself, there is a clear intent that the makers are pertaining to Disney with the representation of the Internet. There is no doubt that shots are targeted to the old Disney with its traditional ways that need an upgrade. This is a big risk for Ralph and Venellope, Disney rebels that deserve praise even if they are obnoxious.

Took Risks!

I appreciate the wit to contradict and even make fun of Disney stereotypes with conservative sarcasm. There was a great deal of irony in this movie that proved effective in making everyone laugh uncontrollably. It poked fun at a lot of Disney conventions but still in a safe way. Contrast equals interest: with their contradictions came along subliminal messages, and I never thought that a Disney movie would have the guts to include a ton of thought-provoking moments, though still easy to grasp.

Sure they had plenty of symbolism and representation in their old movies, but in Ralph Breaks The Internet, there were a lot of messages. There are times when the moral lessons hit us with a heavy hand, and the incessant badger of showing the audience what's wrong with Ralph or Venellope can be hard to breathe in. During those times when Ralph becomes super cinge-y, we have to remind ourselves that this movie is intended for children. And being a responsible entertainment company, Disney has to force-feed the good example children must follow. So we have to suck it up and wait until the cluster-cringe is over. For the children (sigh).

Another risky move they played is the animation style. In the first installment of Wreck-It-Ralph, the character designs are off the charts and even more in the sequel. In animation, I'm pretty sure they stick with one consistent style throughout the movie. But in the Ralph franchise, this wouldn't work at all. Instead, inconsistency is the key. Visually, you'd think the different character designs would collide with one another but this didn't happen in the movie. The abundance of characters with different looks may be dense, but nothing clashed. I like to think that is their special way of showing diversity and individuality which is something Disney usually avoided in the past. It's nice to know that the writers and animators took the time for each character, and gave them a story of their own just by how they are drawn to look, talk and move.

In the book Story, author Robert McKee states that "Screenwriting is the art of making the mental physical." The big challenge in RBTI is materializing the non-material Internet itself. It was made into a mega metropolis with super hi-ways and a concrete jungle glorified in capitalism. There is traffic, congested streets filled with netizens, a knock-off wall street, hearts and likes that substitute for currency, even a sketchy dark web. Not to mention, a lot of product placements of websites like eBay that became essential to the story. The Internet setting reminded me a lot of Toon Town in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, another remarkable movie with a unique take on animation. In good words, there was nothing lax with how they made the invisible internet appear before us.

Breakdown :(

Given that RBTI is a Disney movie, I expected another factory-made Hollywood reheat that does nothing more than to pacify rabid fans. Sure there were a lot of re-occurring Disney references to poke nostalgia, but they were milked and saturated enough as both decoration and plot devices. However, it's still a question for me if the Disney princesses and other Disney cameos were even necessary because the story moves on with or without them. I guess I would have to be contented with them just as fluff for the story. That isn't always a bad thing especially when the audience clamors for vapid cameos just so they can see their favorite characters once more.

Fans: "MUST. SEE. ARIEL. BRING HER BACK!!!"

Disney: "But we already gave her a mother-daughter sequel. Besides, she has no reason to be in the movie. She's busy with Prince Eric and stuff."

Fans: "WHAT?! YOU DENY ME OF MY OBSESSION? I WILL BOYCOTT YOU!"

Disney: "You and what army?"

Fans: *Creates petition to boycott Disney

Disney: "Ha! You're insignifica-"

Fans: * Gets 2 million signatures in 0.5 seconds

Disney: ...

Breaking In: Sources Tell Us Disney Princesses Will Appear In New Wreck-It-Ralph Movie!

But it's unfortunate that RBTI still has a spoon-fed storytelling wherein it wasn't at all subtle with the moral lessons and social media culture portrayal. The messages were always in your face and the characters' personal dilemmas are spelled out in lazy dialogue. For the children? I hope our kids aren't as dumb as Disney thinks they are. I have yet to meet a kid rolling his/her eyes during those annoying parts, and I'm sure there's a lot of them out there.

The whole social media deal disturbed me, because everything about it was exaggerated that I can't tell if the lifestyle they were showing is being glorified or mocked. If mocked, then great, but that wouldn't make sense since they viewed the internet as this amazing wonderland. If anything, it worries me that they made being money-oriented and hungry for social media validation seem like a fun thing. Like being viral truly is the best way to live your life. If that's what is socially normal and cool now, it only feeds the superficial and materialistic egos of people.

As a sequel, I have to say that there were repeat performances from the first movie. There were original and unique elements for sure. But if you compare it closely with the first one, the same structure follows. Maybe because it truly is in Ralph's nature to mess things up, and of course, they repeat or reference back to the first movie to achieve familiar ground with the audience.

Ralph Breaks Disney Rules

In spite of the movie's missed marks, overall it challenged the Disney stereotype itself. They are brave to set a new mindset for our generation of children. Before, Disney glorifies fantasy, of happily ever after, true love's kiss, and the usual rags to riches story. Now, Disney teaches children to take on bigger roles, to dream bigger than fantasy and face reality's heavy choices. Disney is finally grounded without compromising imagination.

I have to say my favorite part is that they established a new role model for girls and boys whose main attribute isn't her looks, kindness and femininity, but her ferocity, talent and wisdom. I'm talking about Shank (Gal Gadot), the cool racer chick and antithesis of Disney Princesses. It's always refreshing when characters like Shank are introduced and celebrated. She eventually becomes someone Venellope looks up to aside from her best friend Ralph. It's as if Ralph represents the old Disney while Shank is the new Disney.

Though obnoxious at times, the characters are still endearing. I appreciate the fact that they were written to have existential crises, insecurities, heavy decisions and turning points. There is also an attempt to misdirect the main characters. Their motives change and they want the opposite of what they wanted before, and I think that's a great effort in the story structure. We are at the edge of our seats waiting if they will show us their adult sides. And they do, under their childish exterior- they face what's important in life to give us a meaningful lesson on growing up and growing apart.

*I would like to commend the writers Johnston and Pamela Ribon for the screenplay of this movie.*