Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet features a glaring continuity error in the timeline as established by Wreck-It Ralph, creating a plot hole. Released in 2012, Wreck-It Ralph follows the titular character – as voiced by John C. Reilly – the villain in the fictional ’80s arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr. as he attempts to prove he’s not a bad guy. To do so, Ralph ventures outside of his game to win a medal in another arcade game, but winds up losing it after crash landing in the candy-themed world of Sugar Rush. There he meets Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) and learns the true meaning of being a hero. The movie concludes with Ralph and Vanellope having become friends and Ralph returning to his life as the villain of Fix-It Felix Jr.
Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney’s sequel to the 2012 animated hit, picks up in real time six years after the events of Wreck-It Ralph. At the start of the movie, Ralph and Vanellope have established a routine in which they both work in their games while the arcade is open, then spend all night together, until watching the sunrise with each other. However, at the start of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ralph delivers a line of dialogue that completely – true to his character – wrecks the timeline of this Disney animated franchise.
Related: Screen Rant’s Ralph Breaks the Internet Review
Early on in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ralph makes a comment about how he was a villain for 27 years before meeting Vanellope and finding happiness in Wreck-It Ralph. While that’s technically true, it also seemingly forgets the fact that Wreck-It Ralph takes place around Fix-It Felix Jr.‘s 30th anniversary. In fact, the anniversary celebrations hosted for Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) are the inciting incident for Ralph’s journey in the movie. Because he isn’t invited to the party, he doesn’t feel appreciated, and decides to win a medal in another game in order to prove himself to the inhabitants of Fix-It Felix Jr. So if Wreck-It Ralph was set around the game’s 30th anniversary, why does Ralph say in Ralph Breaks the Internet that he was a villain for only 27 years?
Perhaps there’s some explanation to this comment that gets lost in Phil Johnston and Pamela Ribon’s script. Like, for instance, Ralph is referring to the time in which he was happy to play a villain, and he only became discontent in those last three years prior to the 30th anniversary of Fix-It Felix Jr. After all, the introduction of Wreck-It Ralph doesn’t establish an exact timeline of when Ralph starts to get tired of being the villain of Fix-It Felix Jr. Certainly, it could have been around 27 years after the game was installed in Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade.
However, that distinction isn’t made clear by the Ralph Breaks the Internet script nor Reilly’s delivery of the line. So instead the comment comes off as a jarring error in the continuity of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph series – one that seemingly forgets the milestone around which the entire first movie is based. Of course, Disney’s Ralph series may not be one that necessarily needs to stick to a strict continuity to be enjoyable. But considering how fans interact with movie franchises in the era of the internet – which is to say, they enjoy debating all the minutiae of a fictional world’s rules and timeline via online platforms – this plot hole in the Wreck-It Ralph timeline and continuity is especially glaring since the sequel is all about the world of the internet.
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Key Release Dates
Wreck-It Ralph 2
Release Date:2018-11-21
