Daily Dialogue — March 10, 2016
MARY: …and lemon for Lucy. Rum cake for Gene. And for Felix —
RALPH: Hey, Mary, umm, what…what’s the flavor of that mud that I’m stuck in there.
MARY: Hm? Oh, uh, chocolate.
RALPH: Never been real fond of chocolate.
MARY: Well, I did not know that.
RALPH: One other little thing, I hate to be picky but you know this angry little guy here might be a lot happier if you put him up here with everyone else. See that? Look at that smile!
GENE: No, no, no. You see Ralph, there’s no room for you up here.
RALPH: Well, what about this: we can make room. Here, we can take turns. Easy!
FELIX: How about we just eat the cake?
GENE: Hang on! Felix needs to be on the roof because he’s about to get his medal.
RALPH: Well, then how about we just take that medal and give it to Ralph for once. Would that be the end of the world, Gene?
GENE: Now you’re just being ridiculous! Only good guys win medals and you, sir, are no good guy!
RALPH: I could be a good guy if I wanted to, and I could win a medal.
GENE: Uh-huh. And when you do, come and talk to us.
RALPH: And then would you finally let me be on top of the cake with you guys?
GENE: If you won a medal, we’d let you live up here in the Penthouse! But it will never happen, because you’re just the bad guy who wrecks the building.
RALPH: No, I’m not.
GENE: Yes, you are.
RALPH: No, I’m NOT!
Ralph pounds the table, squashing the cake and spraying it over the crowd.
GENE: Yes, you are.
RALPH: Alright, Gene, you know what? I’m gonna win a medal. Oh, I am gonna win a medal. The shiniest medal this place has ever seen. A medal that will be so good that it will make Felix’s medals wet their pants! And good night. Thank you for the party.
NICELANDER: Is he serious?
GENE: Oh please, where is a bad guy gonna win a medal?
— Wreck-It Ralph (2012), screenplay by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee, story by Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Jim Reardon
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Argument. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: Unlike most animated films, the principal actors regularly recorded audio sessions together in the same room, a situation which led to a lot of improvising.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “Ralph is a character who feels limited by his role in the game. He’s always the bad guy who never wins the medal, or the praise or acceptance of the other game characters. It all comes to a head when they throw a party to celebrate the game’s 30th anniversary and don’t invite Ralph. This scene is the inciting incident. Ralph decides to get a medal because he thinks that the medal bestows respect and admiration, two things he desperately wants. And that motivation will send him on a long journey, eventually to return having learned an important lesson.”