Wreck-It Ralph   Starring (Voice): John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch Distributor: Walt Disney Animation Studios RRP: £19.99 Certificate: PG Release Date: 03 June 2013

For decades, arcade game character Wreck-It Ralph has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr., 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 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...

Wreck-It Ralph is Walt Disney's 52nd animated full length movie. While it's computer generated, there's the odd nod to the days of Disney's cell drawn animation. Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch) is the film's most realistic looking character, mainly due to the fact she's a personality from the latest game in the arcade, yet ironically she appears most like a classic Disney animated character.

The film follows Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), the bad guy from a 30-year-old arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. When the paying public have gone home all of the arcade's characters can visit each others machines and Ralph decides he's had enough of being the bad guy. All of the other characters in his game get together after "work", yet he spends his time alone because everyone is afraid of him breaking something.

Ralph decides to travel to one of the new games (Hero's Duty) in order to win himself a medal, in the hopes that the other characters in his game will accept him for being a hero. But when things go wrong Ralph ends up inside another game, Sugar Rush, which is a candy-themed racer. Here he meets little bundle of trouble Vanellope von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman), who is a wannabe racer in the game. Each day before the arcades open all of the citizens that live in the game get to race - the first nine past the finish line get to be choseable characters for that day.

Vanellope has never been able to afford to pay the fee to enter the race, until Ralph turns up with his medal. Vanellope knows she can be a good racer if she's given a chance and so Ralph, realising that his and Vanellope have a lot in common, agrees to help her.

This is a movie that everyone from the very young to the very old will take something different away from. And for those of a certain age there's a lot of fun to be had spotting the classic arcade games and characters of yesteryear.

There's some interesting The Wizard of Oz references thrown in which are quite amusing. Including the fact that King Candy (voiced by Alan Tudyk) sounds a little like the real wizard (setting up a rather clever twist in the tale).

Extras are a little on the thin side. All you get is the animated short Paperman, which is a sweet tale that will tug on your heartstrings.

This is a movie you'll be happy to watch more than a handful of times. So if you're buying this for your small children, you won't be pulling your hair out if they play it over and over again.

9

Darren Rea