Ralph and the Princesses!

Ralph of "Ralph Breaks the Internet" (All photos courtesy Walt Disney Pictures).

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" (2018) is the Walt Disney Pictures sequel to "Wreck-It Ralph" (2012). It was directed by Rich Moore, who directed "Wreck-It Ralph," and screenwriter Phil Johnston.


"Ralph Breaks the Internet" is the 57th feature-length animated feature film by Walt Disney Animation Studios. "Ralph Breaks the Internet," with its explosion of colors and endearing characters, upholds Walt's heartwarming legacy in fine fashion despite a fairly silly plot and more gimmicks than your typical Disney animated feature film.

The Disney princesses show up!

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" features John C. Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph, a video game character for fictional arcade game "Fix-It Felix Jr." Reilly played the character in "Wreck-It Ralph." If you've seen "Wreck-It Ralph," you'll know that Ralph is a big, loveable character. Oh, and the Disney princesses are present, too!


Ralph is friends with Vanellope von Schweetz, voiced by comedian Sarah Silverman. Vanellope is another video game character in a fictional video game "Sugar Rush."


Vanellope also is voiced by the same actor who voiced her in "Wreck-It Ralph." In fact, most of the actors from "Wreck-It Ralph" return, with new voice actors playing mostly minor characters.


Other major characters in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" are Shank (Gal Gadot), Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Jane Lynch), Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer), J.P. Sampley (Bill Hader), Double Dan (Alfred Molina), KnowsMore (Alan Tudyk), and Mr. Litwak (Ed O'Neill). Alan Tudyk voiced King Candy, the ruler of Sugar Rush, in "Wreck-It Ralph."


Walt Disney Animation Studios does not do a lot of sequels to its feature-length animation films. Two that stand out were "Winnie the Pooh" (2011), which was a sequel to "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977), and "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990), which was a sequel to "The Rescuers" (1977). None of the Disney films during the Disney Renaissance of the 1990s had a full-length sequel that was released theatrically.


Walt Disney Animation Studios does a lot of sequels to its animated films, and you probably have seen them in the store. However, they are usually not released theatrically or are not feature-length.


For instance, "The Little Mermaid" had sequels, but they were released straight-to-video. That doesn't mean they were bad movies, they just didn't fit into Disney's tight schedule for releasing films into theaters. That's a nice problem to have!


The next Walt Disney Animation Studios feature-length theatrical sequel is expected to be "Frozen 2" in 2019. "Frozen," of course, was the highest-grossing animation film of all time, so that sequel is eagerly awaited.


Elsa and Anna from "Frozen" haven't officially been inducted into the Disney Princess line yet because their films are too popular. You can rest assured, however, that Anna and Elsa will become official princesses when the time is right.


The general plot of "Ralph Breaks the Internet" is that Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz like to play a video game together at Litwak's Family Fun Center and Arcade, but they accidentally break the game's wheel. The wheel is so expensive that Mr. Litwak shuts the game down rather than repair it. Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope find a replacement wheel, but it is too expensive. So, they steal a car from the online game "Slaughter Race" to raise the money.


When this doesn't work, they create a series of popular videos that become viral. Eventually, Ralph earns the money to pay for the wheel, but Vanellope decides that she wants to leave the arcade and go into Slaughter Race permanently. Ralph unleashes a virus into Slaughter Race" to get Vanellope's mind off of it, but the virus accidentally clones Ralph on the Internet. Ultimately, the Disney Princesses come to the rescue and save Ralph from the clones, while Vanellope stays in Slaughter Race.


A lot of popular video game and movie characters appear in "Ralph Breaks the Internet." In fact, this is the first time that many of these characters appear outside of their own games.


For instance, Sonic the Hedgehog, Buzz Lightyear, and C-3PO from "Star Wars" appear in "Ralph Breaks the Internet." There also are a lot of new characters from Slaughter Race, such as Pyro (Hamish Blake), Felony (Ali Wong), and Little Debby (GloZell Green).


By far, though, the most popular guest stars in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" are the princesses from other Walt Disney films. The princesses who appear in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" include: Jennifer Hale as Cinderella, Kate Higgins as Aurora, Jodi Benson as Ariel, Paige O'Hara as Belle, Linda Larkin as Jasmine, Irene Bedard as Pocahontas, Ming-Na Wen as Mulan, Anika Noni Rose as Tiana, Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, and Kelly Macdonald as Merida.


The voice actors who voice the princesses are the same ones that voice the characters in their most recent films. Snow White also appears, voiced by screenwriter Pamela Ribon. Most people who watch "Ralph Breaks the Internet" are most fascinated by the appearance of the Disney princesses.


A lot of other Disney characters favorites appear in "Ralph Breaks the Internet." These other Disney characters who appear in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" include  Mickey Mouse, Grumpy, Dumbo, Humphrey the Bear, Eeyore, Tinker Bell, Nick Wilde, Heihei, Baymax, R2-D2, Yoda, First Order Stormtroopers, Iron Man, Judy Hopps, and Rocket Raccoon. If you know who all those characters are without having to look them up, you watch a lot of Disney animated films!


A big rumor was that Mario from the Mario Brothers would appear. However, Mario is not in "Ralph Breaks the Internet." There are more rumors that, if there is a third "Wreck-It Ralph" film, Mario will star in it. However, nothing along those lines has been said officially and probably won't for several years.


Alan Menken wrote an original song for "Ralph Breaks the Internet," "A Place Called Slaughter Race." Menken has written music for many Disney films, including some of the most popular such as "The Little  Mermaid" (1989). Disney released "Ralph Breaks the Internet" in the United States on 21 November 2018. The release date in the United Kingdom is 30 November 2018.


"Ralph Breaks the Internet" finished first at the box office in the United States during its opening weekend. This was the second-best Thanksgiving opening ever for Disney, only behind "Frozen." "Ralph Breaks the Internet" did slightly worse than expectations, though.


The animators put a lot of work into "Ralph Breaks the Internet." There are 150 unique sets in  "Ralph Breaks the Internet." That requires a lot of work in creating an entire environment in which the characters can move around and with which they interact. That's probably one of the reasons why it took six years to release this sequel to "Wreck-It Ralph."


The credits for  "Ralph Breaks the Internet" feature Ralph "rickrolling" the audience. If you don't know what that means, watch the film.


Some of the Disney Princesses haven't been seen in an animated film in a long time. In fact, the animators had difficulty creating some of the princesses because they had never been portrayed in modern animation. The animators had to translate the original hand-drawn characters into three-dimensional characters. To do this, they used some dolls of the characters. Thus, even though all of the Disney princesses appeared in their own films, some have a very new look in "Ralph Breaks the Internet."


There are lots of very current references in "Ralph Breaks the Internet." For instance, certain websites are key parts of the plot of "Ralph Breaks the Internet." Among the sites mentioned in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" are eBay and YouTube, thought YouTube is called "BuzzTube."


There also is a lot of talk about routers and viruses and so on and so forth. If you aren't that into the Internet, it may get a bit confusing at times. However, if you are a computer geek, or just really like the Disney princesses, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" is right up your alley.

The worldwide premiere of "Ralph Breaks the Internet" was on 5 November 2018 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. That is where many new films premiere. Most people like "Ralph Breaks the Internet," and it has gotten positive reviews. There is no word yet on whether "Ralph Breaks the Internet" will lead to another sequel in the "Wreck-It Ralph" series. However, Ralph's character has made such a good impression on audiences that another sequel is almost inevitable. Overall, despite a pretty silly plot that is going to become archaic a lot sooner than most Disney films, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" is well worth your time.




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Frozen all The Time!

I'm sure you've heard about "Frozen" and don't need to be told that it is an animated feature film. However, below are various facts about "Frozen" that you may not know.


"Frozen" (2013) is the most successful animated feature film in history in terms of money made.


While it made over a billion dollars, "Frozen" is not in the top 100 inflation-adjusted grossing films.


While "Frozen" is the 13th highest-grossing film as of 2018, it is the top animated film of all time as of that year.

Disney's animation fortunes had been in a bit of a slump since the "Disney Renaissance" of the 1990s, but "Frozen" was as successful as any previous Disney animated feature film.


"Frozen" features two Disney princesses, Anna and Elsa, who are sisters.



One of the sisters, Elsa, has magical icy powers have inadvertently trapped her kingdom in eternal winter.


Anna sets out with some companions to find Elsa to get her to make the kingdom warmer again.


"Frozen" was adapted from a story by Hans Christian Anderson called "The Snow Queen."


"Frozen" premiered on 19 November 2013 at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.


The stars of "Frozen" are voiced by Kristen Bell (Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff), and Josh Gad (Olaf).


One of the most distinctive aspects of "Frozen" is its musical score. The songs for "Frozen" was composed by Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The background score was composed by Christophe Beck.


"Frozen" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, which was "Let It Go."


"Frozen" also won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.


There was a short animated sequel to "Frozen," "Frozen Fever." It was released on 13 March 2015.


There also was an animated featurette called "Olaf's Frozen Adventure," which was released on 22 November 2017.


"Frozen II" is scheduled for release on 22 November 2019.



Much of the music in "Frozen" was done by traditional Norwegian Sámi music.


"Frozen" did especially well in Japan.


"Frozen" has a traditional wisecracking sidekick in the form of snowman Olaf.


The sequel to "Frozen" is being created by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.


Bell, Menzel, and Gad will appear in "Frozen 2."


In "Frozen," Anna is 18, while Elsa is 21.


Elsa becomes a queen in "Frozen." Thus, technically, Elsa is not a princess at the end of "Frozen."


Three actresses sing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman": Katie Lopez, Agatha Lee Monn, and Kristen Bell.


"Frozen" was no. 1 at the box office for 16 straight weeks in Japan.


"Frozen" broke the Japanese record for animated feature films. It became the second-highest-grossing film behind "Titanic."


There were 600 people working for two-and-a-half years for a total of 3 million hours to complete "Frozen."


The soundtrack of "Frozen" spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.


Santino Fontana voices Hans, Anna's suitor.


"Frozen" was the highest-grossing animated film of 2013 and the third-highest overall.


Jennifer Lee, one of the co-directors, had no animation experience.


Co-director Chris Buck is an animation specialist.


Elsa's castle is very complex and took nine months to complete for the film.


"Frozen" made over a billion dollars worldwide.


"Toy Story 3" (2010) was the first animated film to make a billion dollars.


All of the songs in "Frozen" were written on the same day.


"Frozen" became the first animated film to sell over ten million tickets in South Korea.


Elsa's mountaintop retreat is based upon a mountain peak in Whistler, British Columbia.


"Frozen" is in 2:35:1 aspect ratio, which is unusual and only the second Disney film to have that ratio.


Another Disney animated feature film based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson is "The Little Mermaid" (1989), which was a major success and began the "Disney Renaissance."


"Frozen" had an estimated budget of $150 million. It returned several times that.


"Frozen" made $400 million in the United States alone.


The cumulative worldwide gross of "Frozen" is $1.276 billion.


Rapunzel and Eugene from "Tangled" make a brief appearance in "Frozen." This happens when the castle gates open.


Animators worked with a real reindeer while doing the animation for "Frozen."


Both Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel auditioned for, but did not get, the voice role of Rapunzel in "Tangled."


The screenwriter of "Frozen" was Jennifer Lee.


One frame alone in "Frozen" took 132 hours to render.


Alan Tudyk, who voices the Duke of Weselton, also voiced King Candy in "Wreck-It Ralph" (2012).


Disney announced the title of "Frozen" on 22 December 2011.


"Frozen" was made using computer animation. Disney briefly tried using traditional animation right before "Frozen," but it proved to be more of a problem than it was worth.


The first and last words spoken in "Frozen" are Elsa.


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