Yesterday, 'Wreck-it Ralph' was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature film of the year. The film is also nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category. From Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy-winning director Rich Moore, 'Wreck-It Ralph,' is 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?
This week, Examiner.com was on the red carpet for the National Board of Review Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street where the film also was honored with the award for Best Animated Feature. We caught up with the film's director Rich Moore. Check out what he had to say about working on the project:
Q: How did you get involved with the project?
Rich Moore: Well I started working at Disney four years ago and I was coming off of things like The Simpsons and Futurama. And I was invited by John Lasseter to develop some ideas you know for films and one of them was about the world of video games. And as I began to develop this idea, I was reminded by John Lasseter not to try and make a Disney film, you know. Not to try and make something that’s quote unquote like a Disney type of entertainment. So he wanted me there for me, for what I brought to entertainment for what I brought to the Simpsons and Futurama. So it was a great way to be launched at Disney, being encouraged to make the type of movie that I would like and do the kind of thing that I would like to see.
Q: What were the challenges of making this film?
Rich Moore: Well I would say the biggest challenge in the film was: we have three separate video game worlds in the movie and in animated films as the movie is coming together, stylistically, visually, the whole thing just naturally wants to congeal into one idea. Like I say, this is a movie that celebrates different video game genres, so it was very important to me that those different worlds are very different. So I was constantly pushing against the forces of nature that long to kind of homogenize the film to looking like one thing. And it took a lot of persistence to make that happen and it took a lot of faith and trust on my crew’s part to really have faith in the vision that I had for it. So I would say that was probably the biggest challenge.
Q: What is your favorite scene in the film?
Rich Moore: Well I love the opening scene when we first meet Ralph and we learn kind of about his world and how it all kind of operates. And I wouldn’t say particular scenes, but I love the relationship between Ralph and Penelope. I love how Ralph kind of begins as a very immature kind of kid like adult you know and we get to watch him mature into kind of a big brother figure to this kid and then ultimately kind of a parental figure. So I would say the scenes with Ralph and Penelope are really favorites of mine.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
Website: Disney.com/wreck-it-ralph
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