I love the premise of Wreck-It Ralph, Disney’s animated comedy releasing next November. Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is a 9-foot tall, 650 pound bad guy in a Rampage meets Donkey Kong-style arcade game. When the arcade closes, all the characters from the different games start interacting with each other in their various worlds. It’s pretty much an acid trip’s best case scenario.
If you’re like me and you spent a lot of time at Aladdin’s Castle (or any number of long lost arcades) this is where it gets really interesting. Disney has been aquiring rights to include various characters in their film ala Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a movie that featured characters beyond the Disney wheelhouse. Disney presented some brief footage of Ralph at CinemaCon this week and the fine people at /film have already spotted the following characters:
- Bowser from Super Mario Bros.
- Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog
- Kano from Mortal Kombat
- A Ghost from Pac-Man
- Zangief from Street Fighter
- Coily the Snake from Q*bert
I think what really blows my mind is Kano from Mortal Kombat. I remember a time when Mortal Kombat could only be played when the ‘rents were looking the other direction. Senator Joseph Lieberman led senate hearings in ’93 where Mortal Kombat and its graphic depictions of gore and sexuality (those female characters had some boobs) were the main topic of conversation. Now it’s in Disney’s 52nd animated film.
These past few years have felt like a renaissance period for nerd entertainment*. If this isn’t the apex then I don’t know what is.
Indeed you have, good sir.
*That’s not a complaint, at least not always.
10 comments
Kano and Zangief, just two dudes sharing each others strength.
Sucker Punch. Paul. Kick Ass. Scott Pilgrim. Tron Legacy. It has indded been a renaissance period for all things nerdy. But none of those movies were any good. Hopefully this will change.
I wouldn’t limit it to just those films though. Think about comic book films in the 90s where Tank Girl actually was a big deal to some nerds. Because it HAD to be. Because that’s all there was aside from the occasional Batman film or Pyun’s Captain America. Now in one summer you’ve got Avengers, Batman, Spider-man, Men in Black. Marvel Films is a shared universe and Prometheus is an Alien prequel. Star Trek is cool. COOL! I could go on all day.
To your point it’s not all great, but it’s certainly the times.
You are fucking kidding about Kick Ass and Scott Pilgrim, right?
Tank Girl was a big deal to no one. Take it from me, I saw it in the theater. Yeah, I’M the one. Jesus, I just fucking remembered Barb Wire. Oh God, I saw THAT in the theater too. I don’t think that stuff appealed to the nerdy set as much as it just appealed to 17-year olds that would just see ANYthing. *scrubscrubscrub* Never clean…
Dark Horse had a run in the 90s. I wouldn’t say it was a great run, but it was a run nonetheless.
Everything had a run in the 90’s though. It’s very possible that I myself was putting out a comic in the 90’s by accident and didn’t even realize it. As badly as it did, “Sucker Punch” looks like it did “Titanic” numbers compared to comic/geek properties in the mid-90s.
I’m referring more to their films. You had Barb, Tank Girl, The Mask, Timecop. I feel like Madman and Grendel were in turnaround for a while as well.
That was precisely what I was about to say. Those films are near masterpieces that surprisingly lived up to almost every bit of hype.
MK’s boobs didn’t come out to play really until the Xbox/PS2 generation. Just sayin’.
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