Wreck-It Ralph [Blu-Ray]

Disney's nostalgia-steeped ode to videogames (specifically of classic arcade variety) has a surprising realist message beneath all of its candy-coated positivism and playfulness: know your role, and learn to love it. A simpler takeaway to digest is the very true assertion that unglamorous jobs are vital to society's infrastructure. If every child grew up to be a rock star, actor, playwright or famous chef, who would fix our toilets, clean up our garbage or demolish condemned buildings? We know those roles are important, but we're still not likely to see a garbage man gala any time soon. A celebratory outlook on blue-collar labour is what Wreck-It Ralph aims to add to Disney's history of hero fantasies. As the film's knuckle-dragging namesake points out, "it sucks when nobody appreciates you for doing your job." Tired of being reviled and marginalized by the upper crust of society, Ralph (a perfectly cast John C. Reilly) decides to try his enormous hands at being the star of a different story. His thinking is that being awarded a medal from another game will cause the snooty citizens of Fix-It Felix to re-evaluate their opinion of him. The insecure villain goes game hopping to acquire some digital bling and, unable to escape his nature, causes chaos and destruction in his wake. Of course, being a family-friendly affair first and foremost, he also learns a little something about friendship and gains a sense of self-worth along the way. For a project so invested in inside jokes for avid gamers, Ralph's interactions with other videogame characters and game worlds are all too brief. The moments with the most resonance for the geeky parents the film is most directly aimed at all occur in the first act when Ralph visits Bad-Anon, a support group for villains that features a cross-section of highly recognizable and more obscure baddies, and when classic adversaries meet up for a friendly beer after the arcade closes for the day. As discussed and demonstrated in the "Extended and Deleted Scenes," which includes optional commentary, Wreck-It Ralph went through many incarnations before the final story structure was settled upon. None of these scenes were ever animated, but the storyboards with voiceover show a less focused version of the plot that saw the well-meaning villain visiting a wider variety of game types before and during his inevitable adventures in the candy go-kart game that takes up the majority of the movie. The bonus content of this 3D Blu-Ray package is anchored by an in-depth look at the "making of" the movie. With interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with the writers, director and a few of the art designers and animators, we get inside info on the story's inspiration and genesis, with candid asides from the creative crew on the process of cycling through ideas, along with an examination of the thoughtful design elements that went into creating a distinct look for each different game world. Some fake game commercials emulating the styles of different eras are novel but less interesting. If you require a little help spotting all the Easter eggs scattered throughout, hitting pause during the movie brings up "Disney Intermission," in which an annoying guy points out factoids — without the host, this feature would have been a neat addition. Finally, to offset Wreck-It Ralph's relatively mature, if a little shortsighted, message (how often do people appreciate labourers after a union strike?), the saccharine and romantic Oscar-winning short Paperman is included.