This story has no news value whatsover. The production of all these movies have been reported before and all the images are old. Why even bother?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :) Such a big help!

SO did you actually sell any shows?

This is a reply to "Don (not verified)".

You make an excellent point, except that I did not write, "What's wrong with Wreck-It-Ralph?"  My editor at AWN did that.  A little back-story for this blog entry might help.  In addition to the AWN blog, I write a monthly Acting for Animators newsletter which goes to those who ask to subscribe.  My deadline for getting out my November newsletter - i.e. the last day of the month - came up on me rapidly because I had spent a chunk of the month teaching in Ireland.  I originally intended for the craft notes, "Is an animator REALLY an actor with a pencil?" to run exclusively in this AWN blog, but I had to borrow it from myself in order to meet my newsletter deadline.  My AWN editor saw the newsletter, liked the notes and suggested that he go ahead and run it in the blog, since that was my original intention.  I did not know he was going to include the Wreck-It-Ralph part at all.  It is cool with me that it has run the way it has, but I personally would not have used the words "What's wrong with Wreck-It-Ralph?"  There happens to be a lot that is RIGHT about the movie.  It is lacking substance, that's all.  Those who subscribe to my newsletter understand that, to me, substance -- story, theme, a reason for the telling -- is the most important thing.  If you do not know me except for this blog, I can see how you might conclude that I am a loose cannon, and I apologize for that.  If you check my next (December) newsletter, you will note that I am giving a prime spot to a very smart reader who totally disagrees with me about Wreck-It-Ralph.

The moral of this story, for me at least, is to meet my own deadlines so that my left hand does not borrow from my right.

Cheers -

Ed Hooks

Whoa! Hold the phone!  I welcome passionately held opinions, especially from those who disagree with me.  But let's not attack me personally, okay?  I get it that the people posting here so far really like Wreck-It-Ralph a LOT! 

I stand by my opinion that the movie is substantively digital cotton candy.  That said, Wreck-It-Ralph is the strongest animated feature to come from Disney in a number of years.  It looks terrific, moves like a house on fire and makes for good natured fun.  That has not stopped it from dropping like a lead weight at the box office, and I doubt that the Disney execs even care.  Wall Street and investors are interested in the grosses of Disney theme parks and merchandising.

In general, I prefer a movie that starts with a story, a theme of some kind.  This movie was from the start - even back when it was called Joe Jump and High Score - simply a set-up.  It never had a story.  Once Mr. Lasseter came on board and it was green-lighted, the story we see on screen was basically just welded onto the set-up, which is that arcade characters have a secret life when the humans aren't watching. If there had never been a Toy Story, that might be more impressive.  I just don't think that any of that matters to Disney.  The objective all along was to get those arcade characters on the screen by hook or by crook, and that objective was achieved in spades. Next stop - Disney World.

Thank you for speaking up.  This blog can use the action. <g>

I thank the visual artist that have worked too long in the "dark" and have designed to speak, out, speak up and stand up. Visual art has been taken for granted too long, but no more. Thank you, Visual Artist.

Ed Hooks is overrated. Another armchair critic who gets paid to spout his opinion.

I'm sorry but as I finished reading this article the first thing I asked myself is he didnt answer his own question of what's wrong with Wreck it Ralph?

So, you couldn't keep up with 188 characters, what 188 characters are you talking about? Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, Calhoun and King Candy where the main characters why were you interested in the other hundreds that were more like cameos as an ode to the video games most people remember?

In high school english they taught us about a conclusion pararagraph that summarizes your point, So if you're going to name an article about what's wrong with a movie, how does an animator not being an actor make Wreck it Ralph a bad movie?

VFX should be recognized as an equal to the actors.

I can't see what point this article is trying to make. I can take a guess, but that's that the same as a clear message.

You talk about how the movie doesn't have a story but never once mention the story outside of its basic premise. (Do any specific scenes strengthen your argument? Do you think more work was put into animating one Pac-man ghost than there was giving that character personality?) You mention several times that people are distracted by all the side characters on screen, but what about the main characters? What about Ralph and Vanellope and how they interact both animation wise and story wise? Using examples from the movie itself would make this a much stronger article. As it is now, it just sounds like a person complaining about a movie they've only heard about from a friend.

Seriously? You give this guy a blog? I guess anyone can write for awn, but obviously, this writer didn't sit through the same movie that audiences and critics all over the world have been raving about over the past month. Such a pedestrian view.

I work at a VFX company which is a direct competitor to DD for talent and I can tell you we have received tons of inquiries for employment. All DD will succeed in doing with these pay cuts is chase away their top talent to their competition. They're doomed quite frankly if this is their business strategy.

Digital Domain ownership is split between 70% Chinese and 30% Indian.
The pay levels in the USA are outrageous compared to what technicians are paid in either of those countries.
Welcome to the New Order.
We're all Chinese now.

Sincerely,

RIchard Edlund

Bravo! It needs to be said.. We're also making the movies!

that is right but the thing is that to become a great artist an be creative takes many years for some ppl.you gotta feel the world you wanna make and you must at first know your self very well....it's complicated it think.

maybe that's why we just have computer techincians.the dreamy world we talk about is in a high level not every one can reach.

tats true VFX artist should get recognized in someway

Perhaps the VFX artists can leak/publicize the actual greenscreen film plates as the "before" version to the press, and then the impact of VFX would be more obvious to the layperson. I think it would be the strongest argument, and should be done with EVERY tentpole, so that people can see the contribution of the VFX world in general.

Pete

Amen.