Ralph Breaks the Internet is like an Easter egg hunt on a lawn made out of Easter eggs,
with references to pop culture of the past baked into the movie's very DNA.
If you've already seen the Wreck-It Ralph sequel at least once, here are a few callbacks
and inside jokes you might have missed.
Ralph Breaks the Internet doesn't spend much
time on human characters.
Beyond a few anonymous gamers and internet users, this movie is solely focused on its
digital creations — creatures of the arcade cabinet or the World Wide Web.
Any other approach would take precious screen time away from the denizens of Tapper.
There are still a few moments where the movie checks in with people on the other side of
the monitor.
If you noticed any conspicuous cutaways to carbon-based lifeforms, you were probably
noticing the some of the movie's cast of real YouTubers and internet personalities.
Among the stars making an appearance are comedian Colleen Ballinger (known for her character
Miranda Sings), actress Dani Fernandez, comedian Flula Borg, and streamer Tiffany Herrera,
better known as Cupquake.
Ralph Breaks the Internet also includes another nod to online video culture with the YouTube
Play Button visible in the office of Yes, the personified algorithm who runs the show
at Buzztube.
If you aren't familiar, YouTube Play Buttons are real-life physical plaques that the company
gifts out to content creators for passing milestones in their subscriber count.
There's a silver button for channels that exceed 100,000 subscribers, a gold button
for those that pass a million, and a diamond button for ones that go past 10 million.
The one in the background of the Ralph sequel looks like a gold one, indicating that the
fictional content company still has a ways to go before it gets to the top of the heap.
It's no surprise that there's an entire galaxy of references to the Star Wars universe in
Ralph Breaks the Internet — particularly once Ralph and Vanellope make their way to
Disney property.
There are obvious drop-ins like stormtrooper security guards and a cameo from C-3PO, but
there are also smaller touches that hearken back to the galaxy far, far away.
A couple of examples include an R2-D2-themed tie on one of the office workers, killing
time by sharing Ralph's viral videos.
You can also see some collectible-looking Star Wars-themed plates on display in Mr.
Litwak's office.
Fortnite Ralph goes through a few options while trying
to come up with content for his viral video scheme.
What trends should he be chasing?
Well, there are screaming goat videos, which are back in style, as well as bee pun videos
that never go out of style.
But there's also a clip from the mega-popular video game Fortnite, briefly focusing on the
floating battle bus full of players that kicks off every Battle Royale.
If that wasn't enough, the movie also shows Ralph indulging in a bona fide Fortnite dance
— specifically, the floss.
We hope you thanked the bus driver for this experience on your way home from the theater.
While Wreck-It Ralph presented a Toy Story-esque look at what happens at the arcade when no
one's looking, Ralph Breaks the Internet takes its heroes to the sprawling metropolis of
the World Wide Web.
In that sense, the sequel has less in common with Toy Story and more in common with Zootopia,
the 2016 Disney animated feature about a vibrant city in the animal kingdom.
The most obvious Easter egg is an appearance from shady protagonist Nick Wilde, who appears
near Disney's section of the internet.
But a smaller reference to Zootopia can be found in the online game Slaughter Race, as
evidenced by a sign for the Mr. Big Limo Service.
The fact that the reference is in Slaughter Race raises some head-scratching questions,
though.
Has Zootopia turned into an apocalyptic urban battlefield?
Or does Slaughter Race just have a gritty Zootopia level?
Either way, it's no version of the city we'd want to see Judy Hopps have to deal with.
During Ralph and Vanellope's first visit to
eBay, the two are presented with rows of different kiosks, each auctioning off some peculiar
item.
Most of the stuff isn't worth much, but at least one item in the online auction house
is treasure straight out of the Disney vault.
In the background, viewers can see the magic, genie-summoning lamp from Aladdin up for bidding.
We're not actually sure if the genie himself would be included.
Interestingly, Aladdin's Jasmine can later be seen wielding her own magic lamp as a weapon
when Vanellope intrudes on the princess lounge.
Maybe they're more common than we thought?
After Ralph and Vanellope arrive at the "Oh
My Disney" corner of the internet, they literally bump into a dearly-departed icon of comic
books and pop culture.
While the final version of the cameo is just a quick reveal of Stan Lee turning around
to look toward camera after Vanellope knocks into him, the surprising appearance wasn't
initially meant to be so fleeting.
Originally, Lee's cameo was going to be a more involved sequence.
Co-director Phil Johnston explained the details to The Wrap, saying,
"We had this thing called 'Marvelize Yourself,' where the human avatar is able to go through
what looks like a metal detector and turn into a Marvel character.
And as part of that scene, we had Stan Lee go through the Marvelizer.
But when we decided to lose that joke [...] we still wanted to have Stan Lee in the movie,
because we love Stan Lee."
In case you missed it, Ralph Breaks the Internet also features two post-credits sequences.
One, an extended riff on the Disney princesses scene, makes its appearance halfway through
the credits.
But another, more involved sequence doesn't kick in until the very end of the movie — and
it's an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.
The final moments of the movie are disguised as a sneak peek for Disney's hotly-anticipated
Frozen sequel.
Just as the sneak peek seems to be getting off the ground, the first look is abruptly
cut off by Ralph in the vein of a classic Rick Roll — a vintage internet gag centering
on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna GIve You Up.".
It's a move that shows some real moxie, teasing younger Frozen fans with an ice-cold joke
that only their parents are probably going to get.
It just goes to show you, the internet can be kind of a cruel place.