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Wreck-it Ralph (2012) vs. Toy Story (1995)

November 2, 2012 Joe Rassulo 3

When we Baby Boomers were kids, our toys had lives of their own to us. Now that our children are young, it’s their video game characters that seem real to them. So, having once cherished my Davy Crockett coonskin cap and toy rifle, it was easy for me to see poetry in Toy Story’s Woody, a child’s inanimate cowboy doll by day, and a fretting, insecure, full-blooded character, when no one was looking at night.

My 10-year-old son Jack never had a doll like Woody to play with, but he did grow up with video games and movie characters, including Mario and Luigi. So naturally, Disney, which teamed with Pixar to bring us Toy Story, has jumped into the breach with a similarly themed movie for the Millennials. The new film, Wreck-It Ralph is also about the secret lives of children’s play-things once humans are out of the way. And the same John Lasseter who skyrocketed to prominence as Toy Story’s writer-director is overseeing Ralph as executive producer. […]

Puss In Boots (2011) -vs- Shrek 2 (2004)

October 28, 2011 Adam Gentry 7

Hairball, anyone? When faced with the imminent completion of the saga of Shrek, the powers that be at Dreamworks Animation made the only possible decision they could to keep the peace among the masses begging, nay, clamoring for another installment. […]

The SuperMerger! Disney -vs- Marvel!

September 29, 2009 Stephen Bell 4

 A Smackdown so big  it takes two Smackrefs  to write it!    Written by Beau DeMayo and Stephen Bell The Smackdown. Disney owns Marvel (or soon will)!  Once complete, this means that Disney, responsible for […]

Up (2009) -vs- Wall-E (2008)

June 22, 2009 Stephen Bell 8

A year ago on this very site, a small, garbage-collecting robot named “Wall-E” dethroned the king of computer animation, Pixar’s beloved “Toy Story.” The film found gigantic success, being hailed by critics, winning the Academy Award for best animated feature and receiving a nomination for Best Screenplay. “Wall-E” transformed the genre and pushed the limits of innovation and creativity. Now, a year after its historical upset, “Wall-E” stands ready to defend its title against the newest of Pixar’s animated giants, the high-flying adventure story “Up.” Headlining opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, a feat never before accomplished by an animated feature (let alone an American one,) “UP” and its cast of elderly men, children and talking dogs (you heard me) have entered the world of cinema at full steam, their focus fixed solely on taking our favorite robot’s crown. Will “Wall-E” have enough strength to put down its first challenger, or will his reign prove a short one? Let’s find out!
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