Wreck-It Ralph pioneered video-game nostalgia as a film’s referential economy

Evidence

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012) is the first to base its referential economy more on nostalgia for the video games of its viewers’ past than on film and television (though it still makes thirty-two film and television references). The film revolves around a cast of video game characters that can leave their in-game roles to interact within the arcade where their game cabinets are housed. The main characters are part of fictional games with obvious real-life counterparts (Rampage, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Halo, Call of Duty), while many of the secondary characters are licensed from real, often older games (Tapper, Pac-Man, Q*bert, Frogger, Paperboy, Pong, Dig Dug, Altered Beast, Street Fighter, etc.). Easter eggs in the form of sight gags, songs, and dialogue snippets are rife; at least forty-two video games are referenced. The narrative is similar to other brandscape blockbusters in that it reassures its older audience that the media of its youth, and the intellectual property that is continually rejuvenated and resold, is worth treasuring. “We haven’t been this popular in years,” Ralph says in the conclusion of the film, having rescued the damsel in distress. “The gamers say we’re retro, which I think means old, but cool.” — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 435

Categorization

• XREF: A concrete example for the reader’s finance-to-form project: nostalgic IP reference counts as a formal feature traceable to catalog ownership economics.