Credit: DisneyAn iconic voice actor recently revealed that The Walt Disney Company cut a “race riot” gag from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film, Wreck-It Ralph (2012). At least one lead on the movie advocated for the scene, but executives struck it down.
Wreck-It Ralph got its start at Disney in the 1980s as the video game industry was booming worldwide. It took three decades for animators to welcome viewers into the world of “Sugar Rush,” where Ralph (John C. Reilly), the not-so-scary antagonist from “Fix-It Felix, Jr.,” arrives and forms an unlikely friendship with the outcast Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman)–a “glitch” character who isn’t allowed to participate in her game.
Alan Tudyk, a Disney icon who has lent his unique voice to films like Moana (2016), Wish (2023), Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), and Aladdin (2019), starred in Wreck-It Ralph as King Candy, who rules over “Sugar Rush” and forbids Vanellope from racing with the other characters because she is a “glitch.”
Earlier this year, Tudyk appeared on the podcast “Toon’d In! with Jim Cummings,” hosted by the iconic voice of Winnie the Pooh, Ray from The Princess and the Frog (2009), Ed the Hyena from The Lion King (1994), and more. In a clip Cummings shared on Instagram, Tudyk revealed that he improvised a controversial line for King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph:
Alan Tudyk and Jim Cummings talking Disney stories
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Tudyk ad-libbed the line during the monster chase sequence, when Ralph crashes into “Sugar Rush” and gets coated with sticky green taffy and sprinkles. He chases Vanellope, who stole his medal and tried to use it to enter her game’s race for the first time. As King Candy, Tudyk crafted a punny way to plead for the chaos to end:
“I said, ‘Please, everybody, stop! Everybody, calm down. I don’t want a race riot on my hands! …Because it’s a race…and you’re rioting. Never mind.'”
Rich Moore, who directed and worked on the story for Wreck-It Ralph, reportedly “loved the race riot joke.” Executives at Walt Disney Animation Studios, on the other hand, didn’t like it so much.
“Disney didn’t want a race riot joke,” Tudyk said.
“That’s hard to believe,” Cummings joked. “Are you sure this was Disney?”
Here’s the completed scene–without the “race riot” bit.
Should Walt Disney Animation Studios have left Tudyk’s joke in Wreck-It Ralph? Share your opinion with Inside the Magic in the comments!