Disney’s “Ralph Breaks The Internet”
I previewed the movie and loved it! Read all about it in my “Ralph Breaks The Internet” article!
In “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” video-game bad guy Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and best friend Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) leave the comforts of Litwak’s arcade in an attempt to save her game, Sugar Rush. Their quest takes them to the vast, uncharted world of the internet where they rely on the citizens of the internet—the Netizens—to help navigate their way. Lending a virtual hand are Yesss (voice of Taraji P. Henson), the head algorithm and the heart and soul of the trend-making site “BuzzzTube,” and Shank (voice of Gal Gadot), a tough-as-nails driver from a gritty online auto-racing game called Slaughter Race, a place Vanellope wholeheartedly embraces—so much so that Ralph worries he may lose the only friend he’s ever had.
I attended the D23 conference in the Summer of 2017 and one of the presentations included a teaser trailer from “Ralph Breaks The Internet.” Vanellope is on the run from some Stormtroopers and slips into a room that is filled with Disney Princesses!
The scene is brilliant and is my favorite trailer of all time. As you can see above, Disney also had the original actresses voice the Princesses in this scene. Most of them showed up at D23 after the clip was introduced and it was one of the most exciting moments I have ever experienced!
And then in the Summer of 2018 I was present at the press day for “Ralph Breaks The Internet” and learned all about how this scene came into existence. I hung on every word! The “Oh My Disney” sequence has been a part of the story since the first script and story reels. Co-writer Pamela Ribon discussed the inspiration for the scene, and Ami Thompson (Art Director, characters) and Kira Lehtomaki (Head of Animation) presented the work that went into bringing these characters into the world of the Internet!
I was shocked to find out that Pamela was responsible for the Princess scene and what concerns she had! She shared that she came up with the idea but felt it was too bold for a Disney movie to include all the Disney Princesses, and to have them change character (and clothes). She thought it might even be career ending. I was shocked:
Co-writer Pamela Ribon wasn’t sure they’d be allowed to import beloved classic characters into a contemporary environment, but she was compelled to try out of loyalty to one character in particular. “Vanellope is technically a princess, but hasn’t really been included among Disney royalty,” says Ribon. “Who wouldn’t want the Hoodie Princess in there? That’s my princess! I loved the idea of geƫting her into that club.” Ribon did her homework, discovering that a good Disney princess has at least one of a few qualities. “We have all these princesses and all these tropes and I just wanted to make sure I got it right,” says Ribon. “So I asked which princesses were kidnapped, which were poisoned and which ones were cursed.”
The minute I saw the first Princess trailer, I knew that I was watching ground breaking material. I was shocked to hear from Pamela that she thought this might be career ending. This is such a brilliant scene! Luckily the directors were on board from the very beginning:
From the very first reel filmmakers assembled, there was one sequence the filmmakers and artists felt was a keeper—the scene that welcomes the canon of Disney princesses to the story in a fun, but ultimately meaningful way. “We knew we’d have to find a balance between making fun of ourselves and celebrting these iconic characters,” says producer Clark Spencer. That led to this scene that brought the princesses together in a room for the first time ever. Ribon leaned into the tropes with dialogue that both celebrated and poked fun at the iconic characters. Filmmakers didn’t know if it would fly. Says Spencer, “Everyone looked at me and said, ‘Do you think we could do it?’ I said, ‘There’s only one thing to do. Write it. Board it. Put it in the screening and one of two things is going to happen: The whole world will laugh and think it’s brilliant and then it’s in the movie, or they won’t find it as funny as we do— but we’ll have put our best foot forward.’ We just wanted to let people experience it in a screening as it was envisioned by the story team. Nobody knew about it outside of the story room until that first screening.
There is no separate trailer for this scene, but some of it can be seen starting at about 1:30 in:
The scene is brilliant, it shows your classic Disney Princesses, and then it shows another side to them as they spot an intruder in their room (Vanellope). Eventually Vanellope wins them over and the ladies ask Vanellope about her clothes and the Princesses get a makeover and their new clothes are brilliant:
Vanellope makes an impression on the princesses, too, showing them the appeal of casual attire. Ami Thompson, art director-characters, was tasked with redressing the classic cast. “I still can’t believe that I got to design casual clothing for the Disney princesses,” says Thompson. “We wanted to incorporate modern style that reflects their individual stories—Cinderella’s t-shirt has a pumpkin carriage with ‘G2G’ for ‘got to go.’ Snow White’s jeans have an apple print. Merida’s tank top has a bear on it and reads ‘Mum.’ Everything is edgy, surprising—we designed band-style shirts, flannels and chopper-style tees.”
Starting at :44:
This scene is delicious, and this is just part one of the wonderful world of Princess activity in “Ralph Beaks The Internet!” Maybe the Princesses will save the day instead of the usual storyline where they are the ones being saved. Who knows, see the movie and find out!
The ladies also shared how that since some of the Princesses were originally drawn in 2D, some were too cartoony, and some were in 3D, they had their work cut our for them trying to bring it all together. They also used Princess figurines to figure out the Princesses’ positioning in the room!
One of the animator’s issues was how to make the Princesses move. Luckily, Mark Henn was there to help (Mark Henn is a Disney supervising animator, whose contributions to animation have included several Disney leading or title characters, most notably heroines. His work includes Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, Young Simba in The Lion King and the title character in Mulan. He was the supervising animator of Princess Tiana in The Princess and the Frog.) His vast experience, specifically with several characters in this scene, helped set things up for success, he brought the experience of knowing every nuance with almost half of these characters regarding their animation, after all, he was the original animator for them. Again, the attention to detail that goes into every single scene of an animated Disney movie is mind blowing!
When Vanellope sneaks into the Princesses room they are on a break. Another incredible character comes into to tell them they are due back to their jobs in a few minutes, it is C-3PO! And it is the voice of Anthony Daniels himself!
I previewed the entire movie last week and loved it, you will as well. The Oh My Disney scenes are terrific and include pieces from the world of Disney which includes Marvel and Star Wars. It is great entertainment!
I highly recommend this new blockbuster from Disney. The way the writers represented the Internet is brilliant and entertaining. We get a chance to laugh at the world we work with every day and all day, but never think about what the real process may be behind out computer screens!
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a $25 Fandango gift card to see “Ralph Breaks The Internet”!
Order your “Ralph Breaks The Internet” tickets now on Fandango!
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” hits U.S. theaters on Nov. 21, 2018.
Like WRECK-IT RALPH on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WreckItRalph/
Follow WRECK-IT RALPH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wreckitralph
Follow WRECK-IT RALPH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wreckitralph/
Visit the official RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2 website here: http://movies.disney.com/ralph-breaks-the-internet-wreck-it-ralph-2
And I always have a celebrity photo to share. I met Kira Lehtomaki at a subsequent event and told her I need this photo for my article!
And of course, Disney Princess, Vanellope von Schweetz!
And then Vanellope took a selfie with her fellow Princesses:
I would love to see this movie #sweepstakes
The movie looks so cute ! Very nice review