Behind the scenes of Disney’s ‘Wreck-It Ralph’

Shopping Guides

Movies

Published on Friday, 15 February 2013 10:08

Last Updated on 26 November 2018

Jasmine Joynson

0 Comments

As Wreck-It Ralph storms the UK film charts we’ve got a special interview with the director, Rich Moore, and comedienne and actress, Sarah Silverman.

Q: Firstly, congratulations! Wreck-It Ralph has been nominated for an Oscar! You’re in the category ‘Animated Feature Film’. Are you planning to attend the ceremony?

RM: It’s a very strange thing. There’s nothing like an award show. You’re competing but you’re not. You have to dress up nice and go along to hear a judgement be handed down on something that was done months ago.

SS: I think if the movie teaches us anything it’s that winning a medal is not what’s important!

Q: If you won the Oscar would you wear it like a medal?

RM: I’d give it a go!

Q: Ralph is trying to win something for the very first time. What was the first thing that you both won?

RM: I won a ribbon for a cake contest when I was in the boy scouts. Mine came out so poorly that I just piled it up altogether and frosted it. I put a sign on it that said ‘Mount. Cake’. It won. I don’t know how.

SS: You took your short-coming and you made it into your superpower, just like in the movie! In high school, on the soccer team, everyone got a certificate for something positive they’d done. Mine was for ‘Least popular on the van’ because I wouldn’t let anyone sleep.

Q: What is your worst glitch? (If you’re not getting the reference go and see the film!)

SS: I was a bed-wetter until I was in my teens. It made stand-up not at all scary. I thought, what’s the worst that can happen? They boo me off the stage? I spent eight weeks at camp peeing my cot and making the bed over it. So my glitch was my bed-wetting but it made me brave.

Q: Sarah, was voicing a lead in a Disney film a long-held ambition and did your edgy stand-up persona perhaps make this a more unlikely dream?

SS: I grew up with Disney movies. I love them. I never imagined that I would get to be a part of one. It seems an unlikely fit at first but the dirtiest comic around when I was growing up was Eddie Murphy and he plays the donkey in Shrek. It amazes me sometimes, the lack of imagination that people in showbusiness have. When people like Rich Moore can picture me in wholesome movies I have a lot of gratitude.

RM: I thought she was perfect for the part. The part was tailored for her. I was inspired by Sarah’s memoirs, The Bedwetter. I loved the descriptions of how as a child she was naïve and inappropriate with adults. I thought that for the character of Vaneloppe, this kid that can stand her ground and put Ralph in his place, Sarah was perfect.

Q: Was there a lot of improvisation?

RM: Well, we would work from the page first.

SS: The script was perfectly written. We would do the lines from the page first and then we would go off and improvise off of them.

RM: Then we would always try to channel it back into the scene. It was great because no-one was precious with the material so the best ideas always won.

Q: Rich, you have a very impressive animation CV. How was it being given the keys to the Disney toy box?

RM: It was wonderful to be handed Disney’s take on videogames. There were moments when I would have to take pause. I approached the film wanting to make it the best it could be. I also had to decide not to be intimidated by the idea of making a Disney film. I was told near the beginning of the process, not to second-guess what Disney would want, just to make it how I thought it should be. That was wonderful advice to be given.

Q: How did you decide to pick which videogame characters had cameos in the film?

RM: I didn’t want to be the only one choosing characters that I liked. So we put up this big board in our coffee area in the studio and people would come and stick suggestions on. This meant we had this big pool of ideas and then we went through and picked.

Q: The soundtrack is very diverse. How did the collaboration with Henry Jackman come about because it sounds very different to stuff that he’s done before.

RM: Our music supervisor at Disney had worked with Henry on Winnie the Pooh. He came to me and told me he had the perfect guy for Wreck-It Ralph and that he’s just done Winnie the Pooh. I said ‘No!’ that’s not the right kind of score for this film. Anyway, he convinced me to meet with him and I really enjoyed speaking with him. He said it was a dream come true for him because the first paid job I had in music was writing the score for videogames when I was 15. As soon as I heard that I was like, ‘You are perfect for this movie’.

Q: Has being part of this children’s film made you feel at all broody?

SS: Um… I’m baby-crazy and l love kids but I still don’t feel ready. I want to have kids when it’s all I want. I know I’m old… I think I’ll have to adopt.

Q: This is a 3-D film. Where did you stand on 3-D originally and has you opinion changed now you’ve made this film?

RM: I wasn’t too keen on 3-D, especially the converted live action films. In preparing to make this film I knew the question would come up and it just seemed like, if not this film then what film would be perfect for 3-D? So we embraced it from early on. Normally the 3-D bit of the process happens at the end but I met the stereoscopic group early on to discuss what helps make 3-D good. I came to really enjoy working with this group of people and now I look at the film and I think the 3-D version is the definitive version of the movie.

SS: I don’t like the idea of those glasses they reuse. It’s like bowling shoes – so gross!

To read our review of Wreck-It Ralph click on the link below:
https://londonmumsmagazine.com/2013/review-of-disneys-new-animation-wreck-it-ralph

Watch the live interviews with Rich Moore, and Sarah Silverman at the London press conference on 6 February 2013. You’ll giggle and giggle at Sarah’s replies to journalists’ questions….