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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: YEAP PHAY SHIAN
STUDENT ID NO: 0322243
FILMS SELECTED: WRECK-IT RALPH & CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALL
WORD COUNT: 1000 WORDS
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 1st
OCTOBER 2015
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Comparison of Two Animated Films
Animated films are films whereby individual drawings, paintings, or illustrations
are photographed frame by frame. This is known as cinematography. Animated films
are usually appealed to children but it is also adored by all walks of life. This essay will
be a comparison of two computer-animated comedy films namely Wreck-It Ralph &
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball. Wreck-It Ralph is about an imagination of a world
where arcade game characters have their own lives. Ralph is a video game villain who
wishes to someday be the hero. While on his quest, he accidentally unleashes a deadly
enemy that in turn threatens the arcade. As for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball, it is
about a local clumsy scientist that invented a machine that can make food fall from the
sky to save the town’s economy. Disastrously, his invention turned out to be a total
catastrophe. Both these movies share some similarities whereby the beginning of the
movies started off with a flashback, the way people feel towards the main characters,
the setting of the rising actions and the fact that something useless could turn out to
save the day.
First and foremost, the beginning of both movies started off with a flashback. In
the movie Wreck-It Ralph, the main character Ralph expresses what he has been doing
for the past 30 years in the arcade and mentioning that the games has come and go
throughout the years. Day in, day out, he has been the bad guy doing the same thing
in the arcade game, Fix-It Felix Jr. He may have the strength to wreck things but he
possesses a kind heart and soul. Ralph has always wanted to turn things around to be
the hero but it never happened. Identically, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball portrays
Flint in his tender age in class carrying out a project demonstration of his new
invention, spray on shoes. His uplifting spirit about the spray on shoes was later
dampened as his classmates teased him because the shoes could not be taken off.
Both the flashbacks in the movies gave the audience an insight of their past.
Another similarity shown in Wreck-It Ralph & Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball is
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that the people dislike both the main characters initially because they keep bringing
chaos to where they live. However, all they have within them are positive intentions. As
stated earlier, Ralph’s role is the wicked guy so everyone else sees him as the mean
and menacing. Having the title as the villain in the game, people automatically have a
negative impression of Ralph throughout the years. When the others are celebrating
the game’s 30th
anniversary, Ralph discovers that he wasn’t invited. Likewise, in Cloudy
with a Chance of Meatball, Flint has made many inventions which all ended up as a
failure. Despites his downfall, hopeful Flint has dreams of saving his community’s
economy. He invented a machine that causes food to fall from the sky. In spite of that,
his creation disappointed him once again and his community as the machine led to
numerous damages in the first half of the movie.
Furthermore, the settings of rising actions of these movies are located at a sweet
treat-like wonderland. Mostly pinky sweet treats blanketed and dominated the setting.
Both of the wonderlands look picturesque. The rising action of Wreck-It Ralph took
place at an arcade kart-racing game, Sugar Rush. Ralph accidentally ends up in that
game and this is where he meets a glitch character, Vanellope. Majority of Sugar Rush
is filled and dotted with various types of candies. In the same manner, Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatball exhibits Flint’s invention that has caused scoops of ice creams to
fall from the sky, making the whole community a dessert like wonderland. Both of these
locations created a lively and jubilant atmosphere.
Besides those similarities, Ralph and Flint underestimated a certain object in the
beginning. They never thought that the useless object actually turned out to lend them
a hand in the end. The object that became valuable towards the end in Wreck-It Ralph
is Vanellope’s go-kart. King Candy convinces Ralph that Vanellope brings danger to
everyone. Ralph destroys her cart and later witnessed her image on the side of Sugar
Rush and realizes she’s not the villain but the hero of the game. He heads back to undo
the damage he has done. For Sugar Rush to become a likable arcade game,
Vanellope’s go-kart must pass the finishing line so that it activates. Determinately,
Vanellope’s go-kart was reassembled and she became the star. Another interesting fact
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to add on is that Antonio Gaudi, the famous architect, inspired the buildings in Sugar
Rush. By the same token, Flint’s spray on shoes that was once made fun of by his
classmates became useful eventually. His food machine that somehow worked later on
went out of control and would not stop supplying endless food. That being the case, a
food avalanche attacked the community. In such a crucial moment, he thought of his
spray on shoes and used the formula to make the food machine stop.
As a final point, both these movies share similarities in terms of how the
beginning started off, how the people express their feelings towards about Ralph and
Flint, the location of the rising actions as well as how hopeless objects could become
the hero. These two movies left a valuable message where we can learn a thing or two.
Wreck-It Ralph and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatball conveys a message of how if
you believe that you can fulfill your goal and if you take the initiative to strive, your
effort would bring you to where you imagine. It is also a touching moment to see both
the movies with a delightful ending where the people finally appreciated their efforts. I
feel that this is something we can all apply to in our lives that is to have faith in our
capabilities and to be optimistic.
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References
1. Unknown author, (n.d.) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatball – Sony Pictures.
Retrieved September 11, 2015, from Sony Pictures website:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/cloudywithachanceofmeatballs/
2. Unknown author, (n.d.) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatball (2009) - Rotten
Tomatoes.
Retrieved September 11, 2015, from Rotten Tomatoes website:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1196077-cloudy_with_a_chance_of_meatballs/
3. Unknown author, (n.d.) Wreck-It Ralph-Disney Movies.
Retrieved September 11, 2015, from Disney Movies website:
http://movies.disney.my/wreck-it-ralph
4. Unknown author, (n.d.) Wreck-It Ralph (2012) – IMDB.
Retrieved September 11, 2015, from IMDB website:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/
