In this movie, the idea of being dirty, filthy, or “living in the trash” is mentioned often. But I want to explore: What is considered filthy and why?
Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is thrown off the roof into mud of a building daily and goes home to “a dump…where the garbage goes and a bunch of bricks and smashed building parts”.
After falling in the taffy swamp in Sugar Rush, Ralph is disgustingly covered in many kinds of candy. He is so coated that no one knows who he is.
King Candy (Alan Tudyk) is constantly referring to Ralph’s “halitosis [he] so obviously suffer[s] from”, aka bad breath. When trying to get information, Ralph sticks Sour Bill (Rich Moore) in his mouth. After he reveals all he knows, Sour Bill says, “Please don’t put me back in your filthy mouth again.” Everyone identifies him as dirty.
When making the cart, Ralph takes over for mixing “the [right] stuff, hold[ing] the perfect temperature, and decorating”. Although he thinks they made an ugly car, Vanellope is proud of it. She says, “I love it! …A work of art like this must be signed.”
Vanellope is not the cleanliest character herself. She lives in a forgotten mountain and “bundles [herself] up like a little homeless lady”. She is “by herself with all [the] garbage around [her]”. Vanellope and Ralph have a lot in common.
Not only does she live in the garbage, but “who doesn’t love a brat with dirty hair?” She is endearing to him and he is endeared to her so she makes him a homemade medal for him.
However, there is another reference to filth. Calhoun (Jane Lynch) wants to find the cy-bug in Sugar Rush “before they lay their filthy eggs”. She sees her enemy as filthy and dirty. Thus, I would argue, she and Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) are brought together because of the cy-bugs. If Ralph had not “barrel[ed] down into that sweet, little game like a crazy person”, Felix and Calhoun would not have found each other.
Filth, in this movie, brings everyone together.
It has been argued that Ralph could be compared to Satan in Paradise Lost. It’s a pretty interesting idea.
All movies have at least some kind of message: true love saves all, be a good person, friends are everything, etc. However, there is a surprising message a Huffington Post writer found in Wreck-It Ralph.
Thanks for reading!