Ralph Breaks the Internet

When Wreck-It Ralph was released in 2012, audiences were introduced to the loveable videogame villain and real-life good guy Ralph and the sweet, speed-racing sprite Vanellope von Schweetz. Both ostracised in their game worlds – Ralph because he’s the bad guy in an 8-bit arcade game, Fix-It Felix Jr., and Vanellope because her erratic glitching makes her game, Sugar Rush, unstable – the two form a friendship that propels them through Mr. Litwak’s arcade games on an adventure to accept themselves and win a friendship like no other.

Voiced by comedians John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman respectively, the two characters guided audiences through a neon nostalgia trip into the arcade era and helped the film score at the box office. Aside from the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Animated Film, Disney’s 52nd animated film won the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and led to one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ rare theatrical sequels (there are only five), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).

In the sequel, Ralph and Vanellope journey into the newly introduced internet on a quest to find a replacement steering wheel for Sugar Rush before the arcade owner, Mr. Litwak, retires the broken game and leaves Vanellope homeless. In their adventures, Ralph becomes a viral video sensation on BuzzTube, while Vanellope finds a hero in Shank (Gal Gadot), the tough-as-nails matriarch of gritty online racing game Slaughter Race.

In the pictured concept art, a digital painting by Ami Thompson, Ralph and Vanellope’s spirit of adventure and friendship is on full display, with Penelope directing Ralph onwards and upwards, but as the two adjust to the internet in Ralph Breaks the Internet, their friendship will be tested, evolve and they’ll once again learn more about themselves than they could’ve ever imagined alone.