Wreck-It Ralph has so much soul and character, it would be easy to think it’s a Pixar film. You’d be wrong however as this is the latest creation of Walt Disney Animation and following the success of Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph shows that the studio is having a bit of a resurgence.

In the movie, much like Toy Story, there is a secret world inhabited by video game characters once their games are turned off. Ralph is the bad guy in the game Fix-It Felix Jr, and spends his day wrecking a building which in turn gets repaired by Fix-It Felix. The trouble is Ralph is really a nice guy at heart, and after 30 years of wrecking everything, all he wants is to be included by the other characters of the game. He spends his nights living in a garbage dump, lonely as the rest of the game’s inhabitants think of him as the “Bad guy”.

With his Bad Guy support group not helping him feel any better about himself, Ralph escapes from his game looking for a way to prove that he has what it takes to be a good guy. Jumping game to game he finally ends up in Sugar Rush, the setting for most of the movie. It is here that he meets Vanellope von Schweetz, and it is the gradual bond that Ralph has with Vanelope that is the heart and soul of this film.

Ralph is voiced by John C Reilly, who manages to convey the frustration and yet niceness that make him instantly likable. This coupled with Sarah Silverman’s overly adorable Vanelope, gives you a pair of protagonists that you really root for. Add in supporting characters voiced by Jane Lynch (Glee), Alan Tudyk (Fire Fly) and Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), and you have an ensemble that entertains through every step of the journey.

While the movie is set in the world of video games, the writers have been smart enough to not over-use in-jokes, allowing the casual viewer into the movie without having to get all the game references. The tech behind the animation is amazing, with the environments lush and varied, and the main characters exhibiting so much facial expression, it’s sometimes hard to remember that these are just animated characters.

At the end of the day the movie is all about not judging a book by its cover, with being happy with the person that you are, and conveys this message in a very effective manner, tugging at the heart-strings with the right combination of laughs, helter-skleter action and you might find yourself a little watery eyed in some of the more emotional scenes. If you’re a fan of animated movies, I urge you to check it out.

I can’t wait to see what other magic is going to be produced by Walt Disney Animation and I give the movie 9 out of 10.