Previously, when I gave you An Inside Peek Into The Making Of Wreck-It Ralph A #DisneyMoviesEvent Disney Animation Studio Tour, we talked about the physical making of the film with the animation folks. Today, I am going to tell you about how the concept was created as we delve into the minds if the producer, Clark Spencer, and the Director, Rich More.
We were able to talk to the pair directly after we had pre-screened the movie. I absolutely loved the movie, along with my peers who viewed it with me. It had a very nostalgic feel to it as the minor characters like Q-Bert and PacMan were introduced. This brought up a huge question during our interview, “How difficult was it to get approval from the game companies, and the commanding companies? This sounds like a legality nightmare.?” Spencer began to answer, “I remember when Rich first pitched the idea, and Rich talked a lot about wanting authenticity, which means you have to have the real video game characters,” and then More chimed in, “If you’re gonna do it, you should do it right. You know.”
Spencer explained how they began the process, “I always wondered, and we always wondered, what will we be able to get? And I think we always said, well, if we can get a few characters, that’ll really help ground it. But amazingly when we went out to the companies and they heard the idea for the film, they were very excited about it. And I think we had this moment when we both went to E3, the big gaming convention here in Los Angeles, this is two years ago. And we went and Rich pitched the movie to the companies. Talked about where the characters might sit in the film. And they got really excited very quickly. And then it was a process over the course of many months, where we were talking with the companies, and the legal teams were all meeting with each other to talk about what can and can’t get done. Not simply, but surprisingly, it went a lot smoother than you might ever expect.” It seemed to all click together, spenceer continued on, “But I think it was one of those things where it felt — because there were gonna be a lot of characters in the film and because the characters weren’t gonna be the main characters, companies were interested in being a part of it. And I think in some ways, TOY STORY blazed the trail for that. When people saw, well, it’s great to be a part of the TOY STORY franchise, and, and film, because it’s ways for different toys to be in the same world, and be represented. So I think it was one of those things where we were sort of able to use that as a reference point, in game company stock. This could be an exciting project to be a part of. ”
The age old question is asked, “Is this all there is to life?” Ralph was uncomfortable in his own skin and they thought that was a juicy, rich story that the audience would love. They were right. As Ralph battles his own personal internal conflict, he made a few friends a long the way. I saw the film in it’s unfinished state and I cannot wait to take my kids and husband to see it completely finished.
From Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy®-winning director Rich Moore comes “Wreck-It Ralph,” a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping adventure. For decades, Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr. (voice of Jack McBrayer), the good-guy star of their game who always gets to save the day. Tired of playing the role of a bad guy, Ralph takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a journey across the arcade through multiple generations of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.
On his quest, Ralph meets tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch) from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty, and feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush, who may just be his first real friend. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade and Vanellope herself. Ralph finally gets his chance to save the day—but can he do it in time? “Wreck-It Ralph” crashes onto the big screen on November 2, 2012, in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters. Connect with Wreck-It Ralph on Twitter and Facebook, and don’t forget to enter the Wreck-It Ralph sweepstakes here.
