“I’m bad and that’s good. I will never be good and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.” Ralph (John C. Reilly), the villain of the game Fix-it Felix Jr., never believed in the “Bad-Anon” villains support group mantra until he sets out to find a life that will give him the respect and appreciation he deserves after being mistreated in his game for the past 30 years. He journeys to the game Hero’s Duty to prove himself by earning a Hero’s medal, and after encountering a vicious alien Cy-bug, the “bad guys” of Hero’s Duty, ends up in the go-kart racing game, Sugar Rush where he meets Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a sprinkle-covered little girl who steals his medal and uses it to enter the race. Despite their differences, the duo find things in common as Vanellope shares her story of being discriminated for her glitch, making other characters think she is a mistake in the game and prohibiting her from racing. Ralph then agrees to help Vanellope win the race in order to get his medal back. As they work on the race, the characters in Ralph’s game panic after Ralph goes missing, giving gamers the impression that the game is broken. If Ralph doesn’t return to turn the game back to normal, their console will be unplugged and its characters will disappear or become homeless. It’s up to Fix-it-Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and Hero’s Duty leader Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Jane Lynch) to find Ralph and defeat the evil Cy-bug he brought to Sugar Rush.

This movie mixes “Despicable Me” with a gamer’s paradise. The whole concept of a bad guy who’s not really a “bad guy” and the very cute animation are things that made “Despicable Me” popular and also worked superbly in “Wreck-it Ralph.” Vanellope is the equivalent of Agnes from Despicable me, but sassier and more mischievous. Ralph is similar to Gru and the definition of a gentle giant. He is short-tempered, grungy, but kindhearted. He and Vanellope make the perfect dynamic duo as she tests his limits and he finds her soft side. I really liked their relationship because their friendship itself is what effortlessly generates the movie’s overall “warm, fuzzy feeling.”

I loved how the games incorporated were so similar to existing games. Fix-it-Felix Jr. is similar to the 64-bit game Donkey Kong, Hero’s Duty is a blend of Gears of War and Final Fantasy (I thought it was hilarious when they gave Calhoun a “tragic backstory” as they do in FF), and Sugar Rush is like Mario Kart, with the replacement of Strawberry Shortcake look-a-likes instead of the famous plumbers. Details in the movie’s story are also very unique, like the use of outlets and cords as trainways and trainstations that characters travel on to go from game to game, and the idea of games coming to life behind a screen (a twist to the idea in Toy Story movies). I really liked Disney’s use of popular game icons, such as Pacman, Sonic, Bowser (Mario Bros.), Scorpion (Mortal Kombat), as I feared they would create their own video game knock-offs. It’s one thing to make creative settings, it’s another to replace beloved characters that audiences expect ot see. I also thought the movie nicely incorporated a necessary tint of “gamer darkness” as it showed Gears of War-like uniforms, weaponry, and the first person shooter concept in Hero’s Duty and the addition of Satan and Scorpion as members of the villain support group. I was very proud of Disney for not making every aspect of the movie soft, bright, and fluffy all the time as they usually do.

Any child, teen, and obsessive gamer should see Wreck-it Ralph. It’s a Disney movie that even the most hardcore gamer will appreciate.