Summary

• "Ralph Breaks the Internet" focuses primarily on Ralph and Vanellope, leaving Fix-It Felix and Calhoun with small roles - a creative choice that raised questions.
• Co-director Phil Johnston explains that the decision to give Felix and Calhoun limited screen time was due to the film's 90-minute runtime and the need to focus on the main protagonists.
• Originally, there was a more substantial subplot for Felix and Calhoun in "Ralph Breaks the Internet," exploring their lives as parents and involving an anti-viral agent. The decision to exclude it was strategic but may be rectified in the sequel.

Ralph Breaks the Internet was a satisfying follow-up to the original movie, but the lack of screen time for Fix-It Felix and Calhoun was a strange creative choice. The highly anticipated sequel to Wreck-It Ralph catapults beyond the confines of Litwak's Arcade, plunging into the expansive and frenetic world of the internet. The narrative, ambitious and visually spectacular, shifts its focus primarily to Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz as they navigate this new digital universe. Their adventure finds them meeting a plethora of new characters and environments, reflecting the vastness and diversity of the internet.

Ralph Breaks the Internet characters Fix-It Felix Jr. and Tamora Jean Calhoun, central figures in the first movie, also return in the sequel. However, their roles are significantly and curiously reduced. In the original film, Felix, the good-hearted repairman, and Calhoun, the tough-as-nails sergeant from the game Hero’s Duty, played pivotal roles. Their dynamic and unexpected romance became the most endearing and hilarious part of the movie. Despite their popularity and the intriguing development of their relationship, Ralph Breaks the Internet relegates the characters to the sidelines, a creative choice that raised questions among the franchise's fanbase.

Fix-It Felix & Calhoun Have Small Parts In Ralph Breaks The Internet Because Of The Movie's Runtime

Co-director Phil Johnston’s comments shed light on the rationale behind this decision (via Cinema Blend). He expressed affection for the Felix and Calhoun segments, acknowledging them as some of his favorite parts of the film. However, the need to keep Ralph Breaks the Internet within a 90-minute runtime and focus on the main protagonists, Ralph and Vanellope, necessitated cuts. Below is Johnston's full comment:

The Felix and Calhoun stuff is truly some of my favorite bits in the movie, but simply because we needed to make a 90-minute film and also stay with Ralph and Vannelope, who are our protagonists, it was just getting to be too long and it was creating too many bumps in the story.

Johnston itted that incorporating more of Felix and Calhoun's storyline resulted in the film becoming overly long and disrupting the narrative flow. This decision highlights the challenges filmmakers face in balancing a tight runtime with a compelling story and character development. That's especially the case given that Ralph Breaks the Internet's runtime is one hour and 52 minutes. Even without the end credits, this is significantly longer than 90 minutes. In that respect, Johnston and co-director Rich Moore faced difficult choices about what should be edited out of the final cut.

Ralph Breaks The Internet Originally Featured An Entire Fix-It Felix & Calhoun Subplot

Interestingly, Phil Johnston revealed that there was originally a more substantial subplot involving Fix-It Felix and Calhoun in Ralph Breaks the Internet. This subplot delved into their lives as they adjusted to parenting the racers from Sugar Rush. Additionally, an early concept involved an anti-viral agent mistaking Ralph's actions as a prelude to a virus attack, leading to a lockdown of the arcade under martial law. This subplot would have showcased Felix and Calhoun's character development and provided a parallel storyline to Ralph and Vanellope's internet adventure. Below is the full outline for Felix and Calhoun's subplot:

We spent more time with Felix and Calhoun during the second act, kind of seeing how they were fairing with the racers as their children. There was, really way back, we had an idea where an anti-viral agent was following Ralph during the quest. And she went back to the arcade thinking that it was a sleeper cell of viruses that were going to attack the internet, and kind of put it under martial law. And we thought, 'Yeah, we can fit this all into 90 minutes. Simple!'

The exclusion of the Ralph Breaks the Internet subplot raises the question of whether the film benefitted from its absence. Its inclusion would have offered a deeper exploration of Felix and Calhoun's relationship and their new roles as parents. On the other hand, it might have overcomplicated the storyline and detracted from Ralph and Vanellope's journey.

Ultimately, the decision to omit this subplot seems to have been a strategic choice to maintain narrative focus and coherence, ensuring that the film stayed true to its core themes of friendship, change, and the challenges of navigating new worlds, both real and virtual. However, the choice might be rectified in the sequel, as Felix and Calhoun could have bigger roles in Wreck-It Ralph 3.

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Source: Cinema Blend