By Megan Ruge, Managing Editor of Content
Disney dropped its new box office hit Thanksgiving weekend with the opening of “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” the second film in the “Wreck it Ralph” franchise.
The film opens six years after the first ends, showing us the progression of the relationships between the characters, and how they have fallen into routines with each other. When the first film concludes, Ralph learns the value and meaning of friendship and learns that a gold medal isn’t the only way to be someone’s hero. He and Vanellope spend the next six years growing their friendship, sharing root beers and watching the sunrise before work.
One night, Vanellope expresses a disinterest in her routine and Ralph looks to help her shake things up. His attempt to help causes an issue with Vanellope’s game, leaving it unplugged and the characters homeless.
To solve their problem, Ralph and Vanellope decide to journey into the internet. While there, the pair try their hands at new professions: Vanellope as a pop-up ad and Ralph as an internet star. The trip leaves both characters wondering if home is really where they are meant to be. The film references internet favorites; from Snapchat and Twitter to Google and eBay. We get to see a representation of activity inside of the internet from the imagination of the animators. People searching the web are represented through little avatars, much like in a video game. Each activity a user is virtually participating in is represented by a dramatic reproduction on the inside. For example, a bidding war on eBay is represented by an actual auction.
Though the film is as sweet and excitingly colorful as the first, this films theme’s seem to be much darker than the first, exploring insecurity and self-purpose.
A widely explored theme is the sense of belonging, a characteristic often explored in children’s films. In the film, Vanellope tells Ralph that she has started to get bored with her game, wishing for something new to make life a little more interesting. When Vanellope and her friends lose their home as a result, she says that she needed a change but didn’t want to be homeless. While spending time in the internet, Vanellope visits a game with constant changes and excitement that has her questioning if home is really her home at all.
This plot also leads to a sto-ryline with a dark tone involving Ralph. When Vanellope decides she doesn’t want to come home, Ralph fears what his life will be like without her. Acting irrationally, Ralph journeys to the dark web to look for a solution. Instead of bringing Vanellope home, Ralph exposes his inner insecurities, almost completely dismantling the internet in his wake. While trying to again save Vanellope from assured destruction, Ralph learns that no matter what, his friendship will survive.
Another interesting motif in this film is the hat tip to feminism. In the first film, we learn that Vanellope is actually a princess whose memory was erased by an evil video game character. When she discovers this is true, a gown magically materializes. As quick as it arrives, Vanellope ditches the gown for her classic sweatshirt and skirt, proving you don’t have to wear a dress or sit in a throne to be a princess.
In the second film, Vanellope becomes a pop-up on “Oh My Disney.” While there, she meets a hoard of Disney princesses who express to her their need to wear something other than gowns. While trying to figure out if she is really a princess, Rapunzel asks Vanellope, “Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big, strong man showed up?”
Toward the end of the film, the princesses see a big, strong man in need of saving and show the audience exactly how strong and independent princesses really can be. Through tropes of feminist princesses, outward expres-sion of insecurities and self-identity, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” gives audiences more than just a Disney dream. I give this film 5 out 5 stars.
