Somewhat thankfully, it is not another Super Mario Bros. movie. Instead, Disney's upcoming Wreck-It Ralph is "the story of an arcade game Bad Guy determined to prove he can be a Good Guy." Better still, it has some promising talent lined up.
The 8-bit video game-inspired Wreck-It Ralph, a movie formerly known as Reboot Ralph, is being directed by Rich Moore, an animation director whose credits include The Simpsons (during its better years), Futurama and The Critic, among others.
"I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn't there more to life than the role I've been assigned?'" Moore is quote in a Disney press release. "In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds. It's unlike anything anyone's seen before, and I'm thrilled to be to creating it here at Walt Disney Animation Studios."
Funny people are lending their vocal talents too, including John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch. Reilly plays the bad guy Wreck-It Ralph, foil to McBrayer's good guy Fix-It Felix, struggling to become a hero. Here's the plot, straight from Disney, which sounds like a genre-hopping mix of Super Mario Bros., Call of Duty and Mario Kart.
...when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and [accidentally] unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph's only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking "glitch" from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it's "Game Over" for the entire arcade?
Sound interesting? Better than Disney's other game universe effort Tron, maybe? We'll find out late next year. Wreck-It Ralph is dated for a November 2, 2012 release.