Subway Fresh Take Interview: Clark Spencer

What makes Wreck-it Ralph original?
The idea to me is very original, although the sense of putting a movie into the world of video games is something we've seen before I think we haven't seen it quite in this way. This is one of those movies where we tell the story behind the scenes, which is when the game is not being played these characters actually have lives.

I think one of the big challenges that hopefully will be exciting and surprising to people is the fact that we really distinguish these different worlds and we do it at all levels of filmmaker so everything from how the camera is placed, to the animation that's in the scene, to the lighting, to the effects, and even the shape language for the worlds Hero's Duty, Fix It Felix Junior, and Sugar Rush are completely different. So that when we go into that next world you feel it almost as if you've gone into another movie.

Creating an animated movie is a huge task and these are big movies that are hard to do, and so creating one believable world is a major thing and creating five – three game worlds, plus game central station, plus the arcade – just is that much bigger. And then, even there, you have to populate those worlds, so we have 188 unique characters in the movie and the most that has ever been done is around 60 by us and Pixar, that we know of, and probably almost by anybody, because it's just a daunting task in CG to build each one of these characters individually and rig them and figure out how you're going to animate them and put a look on them, because you have to do all of those components. It's wildly difficult, but to us if we were going to make the world of the arcade come to life you have to have it or it's not going to feel authentic.

What inspired you to produce this film?
I saw this idea being developed by Rich Moore, who is the director, and he who was working with Phil Johnston, the screenwriter at the time, and I thought I really want to be a part of it. I thought, "I think this movie is going to be a lot of fun to work on." I played video games as a kid so that intrigued me, but again the originality of the idea I thought was a phenomenally interesting thing to be able to work on, the ability to create all these worlds excited me, and partly because Rich was new to Disney animation, he came from the Simpsons and I'm a massive fan of the Simpsons, I thought "I want to know who this guy is, I want to understand how he makes his movies, I want to be a part of that process."

What about Ralph will resonate with viewers?
I think for us in animation, it's always important to think of the human story first and then set it in the world. This is set in the world of video games, but the human story is about a person who has done the same job for 30 years, wakes up one day and starts to wonder if there is something more to life. I think that is something everyone has experienced, even if you're age 7 or 10, I think there are moments where you wake up and wonder, "am I just going to wake up and go to school for the rest of my life, am I just going to be this, what else is there out there for me?" I think that's a very universal theme, but what I love about the move is instead of making it fell like it's all about "how do I be something else," Ralph is going to go on this journey and learn how to be comfortable within his own skin. I think that's a really great message in the world to say, "Be proud and honor who you are, don't feel like you need to become something that you're not."

How do you think modern kids will react to retro arcade games and what will kids find cool about the 8-bit, 2D world?
I think it's interesting, because video games have been around for about 35 years now, so I think there's a real nostalgia for 8-bit games, but it's not necessarily something that kids grew up with. But with today's technology, in terms of mobile games and people playing online games, all of these games have come back, so I think there's a lot more information that kids have, then we think. In other words, I think they're very aware of these characters, even if they haven't played them.

And I think in some interesting way, it's also a moment where adults who did play them as kids can talk about it to their kids, there's now this relatability, like I played Pacman and now I can talk to my kid, who is probably playing Halo or playing Mario Kart, and we can talk about what it was, because we now have something to relate to in terms of video games and what we liked about them. I'm hopeful that after this movie comes out that kids will actually start to gravitate towards some of these great 8-bit games, because there is something incredibly fun and addictive about them, almost in the nonsensical nature of them. Tit makes them fun and so the hope is that when the movie comes out that some of us can almost go back in time and embrace and enjoy that aspect of it too, because I think there is nothing that says that those games aren't as fun as today's games themselves.

There are a number of classic arcade avatars in the movie; are there any personal favorites that you just had to have?
Pong was a big one for me. When we were talking about the movie, we did this thing where we put out a board in the animation studio and told everyone to put in characters you remember as a kid playing that are important to you and let's make sure we populate this world with lots of characters from lots of different points of view not just from a small group. I put pong up there, because I'll always remember when my neighbors got it and I would go over there every day [to play]. I was fascinated by the idea that you could sit there, and at that time you're watching it on your TV screen, and just these little paddles going back and forth and this ball, and it was like you could spend hours doing it. So to me that was a huge one that I wanted to put in, just because it was the beginning of it for me, but Pacman was the game of choice for me. I wasn't the only one in the studio who loved Pacman so it was an easy one in terms of a lot of people put that up there and we were very excited to also get Pacman and Clyde into the film.

Do you think that going forward we'll do more of that type of thing?
I hope so. The tendency is going to be to want to fall back to the easier approach which is you don't have to worry about coordinating all of those schedules, because it is a production nightmare, [because] you end up having to hold up production to make sure the two can get in the room, but I think the benefit is huge. It does mean there's a lot of work on the other side of it, because they do give you something different in every single take so you have to really go through the material to find how you're going to craft that scene, but I think the value is so huge I hope people continue to do it.

Do you want to say a couple individual things about the cast?
The thing about John C Reilly that's so great is that he really gets into his character. He had a lot of influence into who this character was going to be and he would always come in and work with us on the scene and talk about if it felt like it was in the right zone of who the character was. He does the craft of acting because he loves it, but he wants to know who that character is; he doesn't want to come in and just act for the sake of acting, it needs to be something that he can feel in his soul as to who he is.

Sarah was amazing, because I think people think of her just as a stand-up comedian and they don't realize just what a great actress she is and there are some really deeply emotional parts of this movie and she goes to places that I think will surprise an audience in a huge way. Her ability to bring the heart into this film is unbelievably phenomenal and I think that will be a surprise for people.

Jack is one the funniest people you've probably met in your life and a large part of Jack is also his expressions. His expressions are unbelievable, so the animators really looked at his acting because he has so much expression in his body language and his face and his hand movement.

And nobody can deliver a line like Jayne Lynch can. She would come in and deliver to a whole different level. Her comedic timing and her way of saying something with authority is undeniable. She has this voice that is perfect for this type of a character.

Without giving anything away, what would you like kids to take away from this movie?
I think that the message of the film is there will be moments in life where you wonder if you're supposed to be somebody else, but really come to grips with who you are and be comfortable in that side of it and be proud of that. Ralph will go on this big journey, but he's going to learn a lot about himself and ultimately realize that he may be the bad guy, but it doesn't mean he's a bad guy.