Wreck-It Ralph

[Prometheus]

I'm not sure how many of you guys will have heard about this movie already, but basically in November of this year (it was due to be early 2013, but it was ahead of schedule and the release was brought forward), Disney will be releasing a movie called Wreck-It Ralph. It's basically a story of a video game villain, who is determined to prove that he's not such a bad guy.


Disney appear to be very confident in the movie, even going so far as to liken it to a modern equivalent to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, albeit one relating to video games as a subject-matter rather than to animation.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gxa_p_tULyE?feature=oembed

The above video shows an arcade cabinet that was built to promote the movie, at an event where early footage and concept artwork was shown last year. Unfortunately, it appears that it was only running a rolling demo, and wasn't playable!


Anyway, anyone who's even somewhat savvy about this sort of thing will readily notice how very significant this movie is: It is the first time ever* that video games have been deemed to be significant and mainstream enough to base Disney's big animated movie for the year upon.


I cannot overstate how huge this is, and whilst far too many "real gamers" and others of that sort of ilk will no doubt be too busy whining about how things aren't represented to suit their niche tastes, the rest of us should probably celebrate the fact that the medium has finally gained this sort of recognition!


*(I know that some folks will say that I'm wrong here, and will cite Tron as a reason why. However, Tron was about computers and their users and programs more than it was about video games, and whilst it contributed to gaming culture, it was not a part of it at the time of its release. And, of course, it goes without saying that Tron Legacy was not really in the spirit of the original, or even all that close to it.)


Reports from an event where early footage was shown last year included statements from the production crew that the final film would feature plenty of cameos from famous video game characters. The report linked here describes a "support group" scene featuring various video game villains, and some closer-to-complete images from that scene have gotten out onto the internet today.

You guys can't imagine how happy I am to see Dr. Wily in that line-up (especially considering Capcom's dire treatment of the Mega Man series, and of the Classic series in particular, in recent years - fake-NES-game downloadables are no way in which to treat a beloved franchise!). Dr. Wily. In a movie. In cinemas. How awesome is that?!

Anyway, yeah. Is anyone else looking forward to Wreck-It Ralph as much as I am?


EDIT: I should note that I've been following its progress for a while, and I already had a good feeling about it waaaay before the above image got out into the wild.

 

[EvilDragon]

That game looks like a combination of Rampage, Donkey Kong and Kaboom

 

[-Tj-]

Call me skeptical, but I'm not sure I'm on board with this one. I've never really cared for Disney humor in their animated films and family movies, and I have a feeling this one won't be much different. I'll reserve judgement till I see the film.

 

[Fzero]

Never heard of it and i cant view that video from here at work, but reading that wiki page it sounds interesting though and I like the fact it has some cameos planned from characters we all know and love [though prbably a lot of its target audience, younger kids, wont know some of them -- Disney dropping them for the parents eh]


I'd definately give it a watch.


Will it be better than The Black Cauldron? that remains to be seen.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, sad to see it will probably be a shiny 3D animation again.


I'd love to see a movie in 3D 8bit graphics-style

 

[-Tj-]

That'd be cool, but sadly I think the closest we'll ever get on the big screen from mainstream studios are the sfx in Scott Pilgrim.

 

[Trip]

Could go either way this one. Ripping off things like Penelope Pitstop and call of duty could be it's death I'm afraid.


Here's some screenshots cutesy of IMDB

 

[EvilDragon]

That looks crap.


They should do it like this:


http://www.sevensheaven.nl/imagedetails/illustraties/pixels/inside-donkey-kong-stage-2/

 

[mvickers03]

Hahaha, ED that 3D render of Donkey Kong is awesome. I agree that the concept shown in Prometheus's OP looked awesome but the IMDB pictures have killed the mental image of what I originally thought it would be

 

[fusion_power]

Most people would not want to see an entire Movie in 8-Bit Retro Style, even if it is 3D.

*(I know that some folks will say that I'm wrong here, and will cite Tron as a reason why. However, Tron was about computers and their users and programs more than it was about video games, and whilst it contributed to gaming culture, it was not a part of it at the time of its release. And, of course, it goes without saying that Tron Legacy was not really in the spirit of the original, or even all that close to it.)

I also thought about TRON. I would count it as an videogame Movie, even PacMan had a Cameo. And Tron Legacy had at least Olivia Wilde, so it's OK.

 

[Blue Protoman]

I might actually see this. I wonder if there are any theaters near Stony Brook...

 

[Binky]

3D...


...will it feature endless flight scenes that have no relation to the plot?


Anyway voxels ftw (preferably in 256 colours)

 

[Prometheus]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but the producers are Pixar's John Lasseter, and a chap called Clark Spencer, who was the producer of my favourite Disney movie (which is my favourite precisely because it's *nothing like* a Disney movie), Lilo & Stitch. To me, this is an absolute winner of a combination. I just can't write this one off, given that, guys.

Here's some screenshots cutesy of IMDB

Ee! Thanks for this. It's looking much like I'd expected after the descriptions from the event where the early footage was shown, last year. Much appreciated!

and I like the fact it has some cameos planned from characters we all know and love [though prbably a lot of its target audience, younger kids, wont know some of them -- Disney dropping them for the parents eh]

Not necessarily just the parents, though - bear in mind that most of the confirmed cameos so far (with the possible exception of Zangeif) are from games that have universal, ageless appeal.


This noted, I must say that I'm extremely disappointed in Capcom, in this regard. This is, without a doubt, most likely THE biggest mainstream exposure the Mega Man series is ever going to get, and thusly it's a golden opportunity to introduce new fans to the Mega Man series by means of cross-promotion. For example, placing a new Mega Man title on store shelves next to the official Wreck-It Ralph tie-in game (which we all know will sell well), bearing a label that says something like "As Seen in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph". There'd be plenty of impulse-buyers who might pick it up alongside the official Wreck-It Ralph game, be that for themselves or for their kids, and I can practically guarantee that there would be a substantial number of kids who will flip for the movie and everything to do with it, and will most probably want to try every game associated with it, too.


But alas, it seems that Capcom has really dropped the ball on this one...

 

[-Tj-]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but the producers are Pixar's John Lasseter, and a chap called Clark Spencer, who was the producer of my favourite Disney movie (which is my favourite precisely because it's *nothing like* a Disney movie), Lilo & Stitch. To me, this is an absolute winner of a combination. I just can't write this one off, given that, guys.

Lasseter was also behind Cars and Cars 2, arguably two of Pixar's least-liked films. I can kind of agree with Lilo and Stitch being somewhat different from the Disney norm, but it still had a lot of that Disney humor in it that I'm not terribly fond of.

This noted, I must say that I'm extremely disappointed in Capcom, in this regard. This is, without a doubt, most likely THE biggest mainstream exposure the Mega Man series is ever going to get, and thusly it's a golden opportunity to introduce new fans to the Mega Man series by means of cross-promotion. For example, placing a new Mega Man title on store shelves next to the official Wreck-It Ralph tie-in game (which we all know will sell well), bearing a label that says something like "As Seen in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph". There'd be plenty of impulse-buyers who might pick it up alongside the official Wreck-It Ralph game, be that for themselves or for their kids, and I can practically guarantee that there would be a substantial number of kids who will flip for the movie and everything to do with it, and will most probably want to try every game associated with it, too.


But alas, it seems that Capcom has really dropped the ball on this one...

Depending on how Disney handles it, it could either be great for the series, or they could "Wreck-It". So far as my memory serves, there hasn't yet been a decent Western-produced film or television series that is based off beloved Japanese game or cartoon characters. Maybe there are and I'm not remembering them. The US Mega Man cartoon wasn't anything special (and the YouTube poops make it look worse than I remember), the Sonic cartoon was pretty bland, and don't even get me started on the horrible things they did to my favorite, Darkstalkers. The recent Astro Boy was ... interesting.


I'm worried they'll take those beloved, known characters and do what they've always done: ruin their image.

 

[Prometheus]

Lasseter was also behind Cars and Cars 2, arguably two of Pixar's least-liked films.

And all of their most-beloved, and in some cases groundbreaking, ones, too. (And a fair chunk of well-regarded non-Pixar movies, and Ghibli localisation stuff, too.)

I can kind of agree with Lilo and Stitch being somewhat different from the Disney norm, but it still had a lot of that Disney humor in it that I'm not terribly fond of.

I'm really curious about this, as I think I might have missed it. What sort of humour do you mean?


I mean, Lilo & Stitch is about as off-beat as they come - a misfit little girl who regards Elvis Presley as a deity adopts a hyper-destructive alien with a brain like a supercomputer.

Depending on how Disney handles it, it could either be great for the series, or they could "Wreck-It". So far as my memory serves, there hasn't yet been a decent Western-produced film or television series that is based off beloved Japanese game or cartoon characters. Maybe there are and I'm not remembering them. The US Mega Man cartoon wasn't anything special (and the YouTube poops make it look worse than I remember), the Sonic cartoon was pretty bland, and don't even get me started on the horrible things they did to my favorite, Darkstalkers. The recent Astro Boy was ... interesting.


I'm worried they'll take those beloved, known characters and do what they've always done: ruin their image.

How Disney handles it could be great for all of the series that are cameo'ing, sure, but in the case of Mega Man, that means nothing if Capcom isn't going to bother capitalising on it by actually selling something...


The US Mega Man cartoon is a VERY interesting case, since they had unprecedented access to production materials straight from Capcom Japan, and they actually made quite good use of them, if we step aside from the very obvious issues the show has.


(As an aside, I think that the recent Astro Boy is one of those love-it-or-hate-it things. I quite enjoyed it myself, but as you'd expect, I went in expecting a bit of watering down and a bunch of changes from the source material. It does do these things, but I don't think it was done badly. )

 

[-Tj-]

Yeah, that's too bad. Though I don't think they've really capitalized on that in the past, either. When the TV series was aired here, I'm not certain they had a game coinciding with it. Mega Man has stood pretty well on its own all this time, though, and nearly everyone who plays video games knows who he is. He's like the Mickey Mouse of games (or the Bugs Bunny, so to speak... Mario would be more like Mickey Mouse).


In Japan, tie-ins happen all the time. So much so that I get jealous of them since all my favorites are from there. They even have Pizza Hut in Monster Hunter..! Grr.

 

[Prometheus]

Bumping this because they've released a trailer, and it's looking great in my opinion;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=GHDQHVkYq4g


One thing of note, though, has annoyed me considerably: Dr. Wily's cameo has been removed, and more Street Fighter cameos have been added in its place. Just what are Capcom playing at? This was an ideal opportunity to promote Mega Man - the other of their two cornerstone franchises - to a new audience on its 25th anniversary, and they cancelled that, along with all of the anniversary games! Goddamnit, Capcom.

 

[Fzero]

I will join my mate and his kids when they go watch this i think, will be like a spot-the-cameo

 

[iprice]

I mean, Lilo & Stitch is about as off-beat as they come - a misfit little girl who regards Elvis Presley as a deity adopts a hyper-destructive alien with a brain like a supercomputer.

I love Lilo & Stitch. All the movies and the tv series. Love them all. Fantastic stuff. Stitch Has A Glitch almost had me in tears. Not ashamed to admit it either.

 

[fusion_power]

One thing of note, though, has annoyed me considerably: Dr. Wily's cameo has been removed, and more Street Fighter cameos have been added in its place. Just what are Capcom playing at? This was an ideal opportunity to promote Mega Man - the other of their two cornerstone franchises - to a new audience on its 25th anniversary, and they cancelled that, along with all of the anniversary games! Goddamnit, Capcom.

I'm more glad to see Dr. Robotnik from Sonic. M. Bison and Zangief are cool too.


Nice new Trailer, I like the general theme of the Movie, Retro and Videogames in general. Now it just needs a propper 8-Bit Game like seen at the Arcade.