John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman Break the Internet

By: Lynn Barker

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, cutie Vanellope von Schweetz’s (Sarah Silverman) game “Sugar Rush” is broken and must be fixed. Her best bud, video-game destroyer Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) is onboard to find a replacement part. On their search, the duo leaves Litwak’s Arcade to enter the huge, uncharted world of the internet where they have to depend on the “Netizens”, the citizens of the net to help them navigate. Some are friendly and some have ulterior motives. Can “Sugar Rush” be saved? For that matter, can Ralph and Vanellope?

Coming back to voice Vanellope and Ralph are fun actors Sarah Silverman and John C. Reilly. The duo met with reporters to talk about their characters’ move to the internet, important social media issues tackled in the film, their own insecurities, life pre-internet and other cool stuff.

Ralph Breaks the Internet Trailer #3

Q: John, Ralph is a vintage arcade character, then he’s thrust onto the internet. How does that change things for him?

• John: Well, I’m a vintage human being. How does Ralph behave or how does any character behave in a game that’s not his own? And then the internet is this literally infinite landscape. The arcade is like the childhood arena of friendship and the internet represents this larger world beyond as they grow and mature. Ralph really worked so hard to get a friend and the first (movie) then Vanellope starts to grow and mature and realizes that she doesn’t belong in her candy game. I think a lot of people can relate to that.

Q: Sarah, did you get to improvise on your lines and did you two get to record together?

• Sarah: Yeah, we get to record it together and got to improvise. They gave us a lot of freedom. We collaborate a lot on the script itself. It’s fantastic. It’s really fun. I think they always book about maybe an extra hour of time than they need because we get real chatty.
• John: It was a real treat to get into the studio again with Sarah. In a way, our friendship has aged five years since the last film. It tracks, in a way, like Ralph and Vanellope. I think I was one of the first people to insist that we try to be in the room together as much as possible because I know the way improvisation works. It works best in real time, so there was a ton of improvised stuff. I think that’s what sets both of these movies apart; that feeling of heart and real emotion. It’s because we’re looking into each other’s eyes.

Q: The best stories have some commentary on social issues people care about. This one does. Can you talk about that?

• John: I realized that the internet is the central issue of our time. Our relationship to this technology, its power, and its effect on us, we don’t even quite understand yet. It’s as powerful as a nuclear bomb, but uses other means. (We talk about) its effect on people. Why do we crave the anonymous acceptance of people we don’t know? All this stuff, the way we’re bombarded with commerce on the internet. You come away from the film thinking about some of the most important issues of our time.

Q: The movie plays around with the word “insecurity,” from the security of the games, to Ralph’s own personal insecurities. So what are your insecurities?

• John: I’ve worked really hard not to let my insecurities slow me down. I think that’s one of the important things that every person has to do; learn not to judge yourself and be kind to yourself. Probably because my mom said it to me almost every time I left the house, ‘Don’t wear out your welcome.  Where are you going?’ ‘Over there.’ ‘Well, don’t wear out your welcome’, I’m most insecure about that because I spent most of my day wandering around the neighborhood going to different houses.
• Sarah: Grappling with my age. This is the youngest I’ll ever be. I worry about how I’m supposed to be. I have conversations with myself where I go, ‘See the cellulite on my back, Ooh’, but then I go, ‘I’m strong and my body works and I love these thighs. These thighs help me stand, walk and move’.

Q: Funny and true! The internet is twenty years old, right? What pre-internet things do you wish you had back?

• John: Even though it’s wonderful to have all these choices of what we focus our attention on, it was a very good thing to have one objective truth. This is what’s going on in the world. This is what we’re all dealing with, instead of all these versions of what’s going on in the world, depending on what site you visit. I think the human race could use a unifying way to communicate like that again.
• Sarah: Like when we all came together when baby Jessica was (stuck) down a well and everybody tuned in on T.V. Everybody was concerned. She was everybody’s kid.

Q: A lot of little girls would love to have their own Disney princess song. What was it like to get your own Disney princess song Sarah?

• Sarah: It was a dream come true. You know, the music was written by Alan Menken, and I got to meet him and work with him and rehearse with him and he played ‘Somewhere that’s Green’ for me to sing. He wrote ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ music; one of my favorites. It was incredible. We recorded with the whole orchestra like you see in old time movies. It was crazy. It was really a thrill of a lifetime.

Q: What does it mean to be a Disney princess in our current world? The movie addresses that.

• Sarah: This movie leans right into it. I love that Vanellope kind of shed light on these grown up princesses who are uncomfortable. (In my life), I would see young women in half shirts and sky-high heels and they’re freezing cold, shivering, and their feet hurt, coming out of the clubs. I just wish I could tell them they don’t have to be uncomfortable to deserve love. Boys are not raised to think that they ever have to sacrifice comfort to be loved. I would be in my hoodie and jeans and be like, ‘These girls don’t think that they can get love without this insane amount of physical discomfort’. That’s in the movie.

Q: What do you hope kids are going to take away from this movie?

• John: First of all, I hope kids are entertained and feel like the story relates to them and they recognize some of their own friendships in these characters but kids are also reaching out for acceptance from people they don’t know (strangers on the internet). That is ultimately kind-of an empty feeling. I hope that kids come away with that “a-ha” moment and ask themselves ‘Why do I do that? Why do I want to do that? Maybe I can do something differently’.

See Ralph Brekas the Internet in theaters now!

 

Weigh in With Your Opinion!

Did you enjoy the first Wreck It Ralph movie? Do you think this one will be fun? What would you do if you were stuck inside the internet? Do you enjoy the Ralph and Vanellope characters? Comment below or share your feelings on your Kidzworld profile page.