Wreck It Ralph Duology Review

Well, new year, a new set of movies, shows, and whatnot I can dig myself into if I so choose. But also more stuff that I tend to miss out on for a variety of reasons. One of them was Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph from 2012 (I’m awfully surprised that it took me 7 years to finally give notice to this movie). And given that the recent sequel was out for awhile in theaters, and soon to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray, I decided to give the Wreck-It Ralph Duology a shot.

Now I am certain from my own perspective that there are other people who have not seen Wreck-It Ralph. So I’ll break it down to you: it’s set in a world where video game characters have a life of their own beyond their programming. So when the a local arcade’s closed, the characters spring to life during after-hours and live out and socilaize like pretty much any other normal human being.

We are introduced to our main protagonist, Ralph, the villain of the fictional video game “Fix It Felix Jr.”, as he is tired of playing the villain and being treated as one beyond the game by its local populace. In an attempt to get on their good graces, Ralph goes beyond his video game world to seek out a medal as proof that he’s one of the good guys. This results in an unintended consequence of Ralph’s game being shut down, thus the danger of erasing that game’s world and its population, prompting Ralph’s rival Fix It Felix Jr. to look for Ralph and bring him home.

Ralph’s journey has him end up in another game called Sugar Rush, where he meets the movie’s secondary protagonist, a little girl named Vanellope von Schweetz. Together the two concoct a plan to help Vanellope win the race on Sugar Rush and present Ralph with the medal he needs. But Sugar Rush’s King Candy plots to ensure Vanellope doesn’t even get to finish the raise at all costs.

The main selling point of Wreck-It Ralph is its various references to video games throughout history, and is quite the nostalgia trip for someone like myself who has played games like Sonic The Hedgehog or Street Fighter II back in the day. It does gradually transition to the plot, and despite that there’s a lot going on, it’s still easy enough for younger viewers to grasp into. I in particular love the chemistry between Ralph and Vanellope, which is enhanced further by their respective voice actors, John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman.

In 2018, Disney released Ralph Breaks The Internet, the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph. As the name suggests, the sequel goes beyond the video game references and into the internet and social media. In this movie, Ralph causes a freak accident in Sugar Rush that resulted in the game’s steering wheel in the real world to end up broken. The game is thus shut down and its population forced to seek refuge in other video game worlds. Ralph and Vanellope learn that the only remaining Steering Wheel replacement is found on eBay. So the two journey to the World Wide Web to find the steering wheel, deliver it to the arcade, and put Sugar Rush back in order. Of course being two video game characters who don’t know a thing about the real world, let alone the internet, hilarious shenanigans are about to come their way – and my god there’s a ton of it.

Ralph Breaks The Internet is essentially its own version of Shrek 2. The latter gained fame in that its comedy is from the numerous pulp culture references you find throughout that film. In Ralph Breaks The Internet, the references are through internet culture. And given that the majority of the human population has experienced the internet at one point, you can easily spot the reference and have quite a laugh at it. This is added further later in the film when Vanellope encounters the Disney Princesses (all reprised by their respective voice actors) and poke fun at the tropes those films have. I’m also surprised the film delves into a bit of dark comedy in the mid-credits scene.

If there is one thing I do have an issue with the sequel is that it lacks an actual antagonist. Instead, the conflict this time is the characterizations of Ralph and Vanellope, which has an impact on their relationship that gradually results in the name of the title. Ralph does have a knack for causing a lot of trouble even with his good intentions, which makes him his own worst enemy. That said, the focus on character development for Ralph and Vanellope is executed very well, and the emotional resolve between the two near the end of the film is quite heart-warming, and also a coming-of-age progress so to speak for the two characters.

If I were to choose, I’d pick the 2nd film as it’s the funnier of the two. I just wished it had more references for me to look at. Regardless, these films are worth watching even if you’re not a fan of gaming or the internet. It’ll be another 6 or so years before we see a third film, but I don’t mind at all. The Wreck-It Ralph films are pretty fun and I can’t help but ask myself why I missed out on these films for so long. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give both films a 4 out of 5.

UNCONFIRMED Disney Movie Release Dates until 2023

So the Enterainment Hub Wordpress site released an article that laid out all of Disney's upcoming films untl 2023. The site itself is unfortunately locked, so the list here is from those who have claimed to have seen it. It's by no means a complete list and I'd take these with a grain of salt:

Gigantic - Nov 2018
5th Indiana Jones film
Rocketeer (different from the Disney Jr series)
Boba Fett solo movie
Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers - May 2022
Mulan - 2020
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3 - May 2020
Black Widow - July 2020
Doctor Strange 2 - November 2020
Black Panther 2 - May 2021
Spider-Man 3 (Sony) - July 2021
Ravagers - Nov 2021
Captain Marvel 2 - 2022
Antman 3 - 2022
5th Avengers moviie - 2022
Zootopia 2 - 2023
Moana 2 - 2023

Ducktales Reboot First Impressions

In case you missed it, the much anticipated reboot of the Ducktales series made its debut on August 12th on Disney XD in the US. Disney is so confident about the series that it aired the premiere all day for 24 hours on the network, then have it up on streaming services like Amazon Prime, all the way to being easily available on Youtube. Seriously, Disney REALLY wants you to pay attention to Ducktales. As you may or may not have already known, Ducktales is a reboot of the original series of the same name back in the 80s, itself a loose adaptation of the Duck Universe comics written by Carl Barks and later by Don Rosa.

The series premiere begins with Donald and his nephews pretty much behaving as they are best known for in the classic short films. When Donald has to go to a job interview and the boys getting rid of their babysitter, Donald reluctantly takes Huey, Dewey, and Louie under the care of his uncle, Scrooge McDuck. However, Donald and Scrooge have an estranged relationship that isn't explained as to why, though it's been noted they haven't had any contact with each other in 10 years.

As the richest duck in the world, Scrooge appears very cold towards his nephews and the latter do question what became of him as Scrooge was famous as an adventurer during his younger years. Nevertheless, the boys' attraction to trouble led them to dangerous situations that sparked the fire back inside Scrooge, which motivates him to bring them along on a expedition to find the Lost City of Atlantis and its treasures. Donald would unknowingly join them as his job application has him work as a sailor for Scrooge's rival, Flintheart Glomgold, who is also after Atlantis.

First off, I am very happy that Donald has a more active role in this series as opposed to the original Ducktales where he is a guest character. I mentioned it before that it's because of Donald, who is my all-time favorite Disney character that I was drawn into Ducktales, eventually warming up to Uncle Scrooge as the protagonist. Donald's larger role in the reboot is much needed indeed as he hasn't had a series with him in a major role since the failed Quack Pack series. Yes, there's the Mickey Mouse shorts, but he is mostly a supporting character there.

Storywise, as expected of Ducktales, it has a more adventure-based narrative. But it also has a bit of drama thrown in with Scrooge and Donald having a very tense relationship. As Don Rosa's "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" was said to be a required reading for all the staffers involved with the reboot, I'm very interested if this new Ducktales will contain the same amount of drama and seriousness as in the comic book. While Gravity Falls and the Goofy movies have similar themes at some points, the scale is smaller when compared to the Duck Universe comics. I'd give a huge respect to Disney if they did made the reboot give just as much an emotional impact as would the comics.

That's not to say Ducktales shouldn't have any light-heartedness. I do welcome the shenanigans it brings. While there isn't anything in the first two episodes that would make you laugh (I mean, Disney is NOT known for their comedy, but that's another story), it did gave me a few chuckles. My favorite is Huey giving Launchpad instructions and Launchpad follows through instantaneously even though he is taking orders from a kid whom he just met.

The 1-hour premiere reveals that Ducktales will have plenty of lore that's waiting to be discovered. Observant viewers will notice the show gives many references to previous Disney shows like Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop, among others. Of course, these could be just mere Easter Eggs, or it is possible that Ducktales is intended to create an animated, interconnected Disney universe, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The biggest lore that got many viewers interested in is with regards to Scrooge's past. In the reboot, Donald was Scrooge's companion when he was still an adventurer. But it turns out Scrooge has a 2nd companion - Della Duck, Donald's sister and the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Since then, there has been a lot of fanart and maybe a few fan fictions as well of Donald and Della together, painting them as incredibly close. You could say that the fans' interpretations of Donald and Della are similar to that of Dipper and Mabel in Gravity Falls.

In the comics, Donald became the legal guardian of the boys when Della met a tragic fate. It's unknown at this point if the reboot will follow through with that story, or just say Della went missing for several years. Regardless, the fate of Della Duck serves as the catalyst for the breakdown in relations between Scrooge and Donald, the latter becoming the nephews' legal guardian, explains his over-protectiveness to the boys, and the latter's troublesome behavior towards their uncle.

From what I've heard, a number of people who worked on the reboot have also worked on the Italian Disney comics. The Italian Disney comics are well known for further expanding the stories of the Disney characters and placing them in a number of genres and tones that are very popular. It does explain why the art style and animation of the Ducktales reboot seems a bit more in-tune with the comics.

Some people complained about the voices of the characters being not as good as the classic ones, especially that of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who are given much older voices even though they're supposed to be pre-teens. Honestly, after watching the first few minutes, I was already accustomed to their voices. What's surprising to me is that although Huey, Dewey, and Louie are played by three different voice actors, I still couldn't tell them apart from their voices because they all sound quite similar to one another.

Mrs. Beakley is another surprise. She's supposed to be an elderly housekeeper at the McDuck manor except she's far more than that. While we don't know exactly how old she is other than she is Webby's grandmother, the best way I could describe Beakley is she is Ducktale's counterpart to Brock Samson of the Venture Bros. with a cool British accent. Best guess is Beakley is a retired Secret Service agent whom Scrooge hired as housekeeper and secretary, much to Beakley's chagrin with regards to the latter.

As for David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck, he fits the role perfectly. This is mainly because Scrooge is supposed to be Scottish and Tennant is a native Scotsman himself. So the two blend so seamlessly you actually believe Scrooge is a native Scotsman.

Out of all the voices in the series, the biggest surprise is Donald. Tony Anselmo has been playing the character for years. But Donald's voice wasn't meant to be used when talking seriously, and it's always used as a gag. If you've seen the classic Donald Duck shorts, you know his voice is part of that gag. Imagine Donald as Michael Stevens from VSauce and explaining serious science subject, and it would sound awkward with that voice of his.

But Anselmo has somehow managed to get that part of Donald's voice to work. When Donald speaks to the boys, he speaks as a parent. And when he shows his disdain towards Scrooge, he legitimately shows it - all while in the classic Donald voice. When you hear it, it doesn't sound awkward at all, but more like Donald's voice just comes out naturally you wouldn't even think about it. Now I want to hear Anselmo doing Donald's voice in the Paperinik and Double Duck stories as those place Donald in an even more serious role than he is in Ducktales.

And to all the aspiring voice actors out there, take Anselmo's role as Donald in Ducktales as study material. If you could do Donald's voice while engaging in a normal conversation, or reading Shakespeare while maintaining character and not sounding too awkward, you'd be hired.

All-in-all, I am very very impressed with the Ducktales reboot and is definitely THE Disney show I will be devotiing my full attention to when the series returns in September. It does justice to both the original series and the comics and Donald Duck is given his proper due that fans and critics truly appreciate. I do recommend you check it out if you haven't so already. The first two episodes of the Ducktales reboot is easily available almost everywhere, even on Youtube, while the series will return with weekly episodes coming this September on Disney XD in the US.

Ginger Snaps Review

Ginger Snaps is an unusual cartoon, not because it's a show aimed at a mature audience, but it's a show from the ABC Network. Now for those not in the know, ABC is one of the major television networks in the United States, alongside NBC, CBS, Fox, etc.

What is unusual is that ABC is owned by the Disney company. While Disney is no stanger to producing content above the PG rating mark, to most people, Disney is associated with family-friendly content. So it is a surprise that ABC, ergo Disney, would have a cartoon like Ginger Snaps.

And unless I'm mistaken, this is also ABC's first attempt of making an animated series for mature audiences. When you think of cartoons for older audiences, you'd think The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob's Burgers, which are all under Fox. Or Metalocaplypse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Rick & Morty from Adult Swim. South Park from Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom, that also owns Nickelodeon and MTV. So I don't really recall ABC having an adult cartoon previously, let alone Disney.

The premise of Ginger Snaps is simply about Callista and her group of girl scouts selling cookies at their local school and neighborhood. Except this is done mafia-style. Imagine something like the cast of The Sopranos or Breaking Bad de-aged to little girls and instead of selling drugs, it's cookies. But everything else on mafia-themed shows and movies is intact in Ginger Snaps, with dark comedy thrown in for good measure.

And I was laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not a fan of dark comedies, but it's so well-written that even someone like me would laugh at it.  It doesn't stop there though. At 9 episodes with roughly 9 minutes each, Ginger Snaps has an ongoing arch thst does tend to get serious at times, but remain deeply interesting.

The mature rating in Ginger Snaps is due mainly to several sexual references found within the show. For the most part, despite all that, Ginger Snaps is mainly more within the content you would often see in Fox's lineup like Family Guy. So it tends to lean more in the TV-14 or PG-13 ratiing.

Now I hear it is the networks themselves that decide how to rate the shows instead of some review rating body or what have you. So ABC and Disney chose to give this a MA rating because it features school girls talking smack with sexual references and a bit of violence thrown in. It may seem obvious, but consider that in America, the stigmatism that cartoons are meant for kids still lingers, even with shows like South Park. So ABC and Disney wouldn't want to get complaints because people didn't get the memo that Ginger Snaps is absolutely NOT a cartoon made for children.

And for all those reasons not only is Ginger Snaps not airing on TV except on ABC's Video-On-Demand service, the show also doesn't get any kind of marketing or hype and the episodes are uploaded quietly. I haven't even heard of Ginger Snaps until just last week. It's kind of weird for ABC and Disney to wanting to make this series and have it out there, but also keep it niche and not get too popular so as to not stain their family-friendly reputation. Which is a shame becaue the show really is great and you should do yourself a favor and watch it. I guarantee you'll have a blast and hoping for a Season 2. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give ABC's Ginger Snaps, a 4 out of 5.

Disney Schedule February 2017

Like Nick, this will include sister network and live-action content. Info courtesy of Toon Zone.

Bunk'd on Disney Channel
Fri Feb 24 - ?:?? - 210 - Food Fight

Elena of Avalor on Disney Channel
Sat Feb 25 - ?:?? - 112 - Olaball

Liv & Maddie: Cali Style on Disney Channel
Fri Feb 17 - 5:30 - 410 - Tiny House-A-Rooney
Fri Feb 24 - 5:30 - 412 - Big Break-A-Rooney

Stuck in the Middle on Disney Channel
Fri Feb 3 - 8:00 - 201/202 - Stuck in the Waterpark (60 minutes)
Fri Feb 10 - 8:00 - 203 - Stuck in a Commercial
Fri Feb 17 - 8:00 - 204 - Stuck in the School Photo
Fri Feb 24 - 8:00 - 205 - Stuck in a Slushy War

Atomic Puppet on Disney XD
Fri Feb 3 - ??? - Atomic Weakness / Private Proton
Mon Feb 6 - ??? - Switch / Lacer Takes Over
Tue Feb 7 - ??? - Worm Boy

Guardians of the Galaxy on Disney XD
(No new episodes in February)

Kirby Buckets: Warped on Disney XD
Wed Feb 1 - 7:00 am - 312 - Orbed and Dangerous
Thu Feb 2 - 7:00 am - 313 - Yep, Still Happening

Star vs. the Forces of Evil on Disney XD
Mon Feb 6 - 7:00 am - 215A - Raid the Cave
Tue Feb 7 - 7:00 am - 215B - Trickstar
Wed Feb 8 - 7:00 am - 216A - Baby
Thu Feb 9 - 7:00 am - 216B - Running With Scissors
Mon Feb 13 - 7:00 am - 217A - Mathmagic
Tue Feb 14 - 7:00 am - 217B - The Bounce Lounge
Wed Feb 15 - 7:00 am - 218A - Crystal Clear
Thu Feb 16 - 7:00 am - 218B - The Hard Way
Mon Feb 20 - 7:00 am - 219A - Heinous
Tue Feb 21 - 7:00 am - 219B - All Bets Are Off
Wed Feb 22 - 7:00 am - 220A - Collateral Damage
Thu Feb 23 - 7:00 am - 220B - Just Friends
Mon Feb 27 - 7:00 am - 221 - Face the Music
Mon Feb 27 - 7:30 am - 222 - Starcrushed

Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD
Sat Feb 18 - 8:30 - 316 - Legacy of Mandaolore
Sat Feb 25 - 8:30 - 317 - Through Imperial Eyes

Walk the Prank on Disney XD
To be announced