Ralph Breaks the Internet cinematically depicts the metaverse as a fully monetized brand space.

Evidence

In 2018, a sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, featured the owner of the arcade installing Wi-Fi, allowing Ralph and Vanellope to explore the internet as if it were an interactive physical 3D space. The film represents the internet as a city bustling with brands and avatars, thus amounting to a cinematic depiction of the metaverse before its popularization a few years later. It’s even more overstuffed with references and characters than the first Ralph film. Nearly a hundred film and television references are made, and over four hundred individual characters were designed, the most of any Disney film to that point. The referential economy of the franchise now included both technology companies and short-form viral video references in its depiction of a purely corporate internet designed for mindless consumption. Apple, Google, Amazon, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Spotify, IMDb, WhatsApp, Facebook, Pinterest, and Fortnite all make appearances. Payment processing apps, such as Fandango, Kickstarter, Venmo, and PayPal, are depicted as well, a fitting complement to the depiction of the internet as purely consumerist. eBay is central to the plot (they need to buy a rare part for Vanellope’s arcade machine), as is a Buzzfeed/YouTube parody, BuzzzTube, where Ralph will earn the money to buy the part from eBay. “There are much better ways to make money on the internet than stealing cars,” a new character exclaims, “such as becoming a BuzzzTube star.” Ralph proceeds to “go viral” copying popular user-generated internet genres such as makeup tutorials, unboxing videos, spicy-food eating, cooking tutorials, and video game streaming. Humans are seen briefly, sadly hunched over their screens, clicking the like button on Ralph’s videos on Buzzztube. … Disney’s mask is off in the sequel. The first film in the series is similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers in its desire to pay homage to the meaningful cultural artifacts of its creators’ youth and wrestle with its own status as commodity. The sequel doesn’t bother pretending to offer anything but a realistic depiction of the metaverse Disney is building all around us: a fully branded virtual shopping mall and arcade that dispenses with anything ­resembling public or communal space that isn’t monetizable. At one point, Vanellope visits “Oh My Disney” land, a space introduced with an establishing shot that includes all five of Disney’s key brands in a single frame (Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, Disney Animation, and The Muppets), all while soundtracked with a remix to the hit song “Let It Go” from Frozen. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 438

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to the reader’s stated aim of tracing ownership structure to formal features of a blockbuster: here corporate brand consolidation (Disney’s five key brands) becomes literal mise-en-scène in a single frame.
• SEED: A possible essay angle: how Disney’s sequel dropped the homage-with-ambivalence frame of the original for open metaverse-brand propaganda as its corporate strategy consolidated.