Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

The animated comedy film, Wreck-It Ralph (2012), produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, follows the lives of video game characters after Litwak’s Arcade closes. After leaving their in-game roles, they gather at Game Central Station to socialize. One evening, the infamous villain of Fix-it Felix, Jr., Wreck-It Ralph, attends a support group called Bad-Anon where he expresses frustration with his designated role. Feeling excluded from his game’s 30th-anniversary party, Ralph sets out to win a medal in hopes of gaining respect. He overhears that the first-person shooter Hero’s Duty awards medals and sneaks into the game to steal one after defeating Cy-Bugs. However, things go awry when Ralph accidentally launches himself into an escape shuttle with a Cy-Bug inside and crash-lands in Sugar Rush, a confectionery-themed kart racing game. As a result, his own game is labeled ‘out of order’ and faces potential unplugging without Ralph there to fulfill his role.

Fix-It Felix, Jr. leaves the game in search of Ralph and teams up with Sergeant Calhoun, the fearless hero from Hero’s Duty. Calhoun tracks the Cy-Bug, which acts as a virus outside of its game. Felix is concerned that Ralph will suffer the same fate as Turbo, the main character from TurboTime who became envious of a new RoadBlasters cabinet and ultimately resulted in both games being shut down. In Sugar Rush, Vanellope von Schweetz takes Ralph’s medal and uses it to buy her way into the nightly race where winners become playable characters the next day. However, King Candy, ruler of Sugar Rush’s world, prohibits Vanellope from racing due to her glitchy teleportation abilities. Desperate to reclaim his medal, Vanellope promises to help Ralph win if he helps her build a new kart and teaches her how to navigate through Diet Cola Mountain.