I think it's more likely that they ultimatly just wanted the story to focus on Ralph and Vanellope's relationship without adding a villain into it. I'd be surprised if Disney chooses whether or not they do villains based on whether it would be too obvious or not.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Dec 12th 2018 at 7:37:31 AM
Granted, it's not out of the realm of possibility for the video game characters to know the address of the arcade center. They could easily see it written down if any human were to hold a label or statement in front of the arcade cabinet screens. The second answer, though, isn't in the script, as far as my memory tells me.
By making a movie centered around the internet, that as pretty much unavoidable. Every decade has its Unintentional Period Pieces. This is just going to be one of ours.
Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.Doug Walker did say something interesting in that it does functionally nothing new with the "visually realize the internet" premise that a lot of other works have done, such as Futurama nearly 20 years ago. He added that the PG rating meant they really couldn't go all-in with the idea, as it still had to be family friendly.
The most they got was negative You Tube comments, and the dark web was like going to an actual, real world hacker. But even then, neither Ralph or Vanellope have any concerns regarding how the real world views them, only with how their private world is impacted. Compare that to Toy Story, where the toys define themselves according to their owner AND each other, which is the underlying drama of each film.
I couldn't figure out who this was for. Could it be fore TINY kids who know nothing about the internet yet? I seen 3-year-olds operate an iPad with ease. I highly doubt they wouldn't know what poor comments on Youtube are. SO if it's not for tiny kids, it can't be for OLDER kids, because older kids have SEEN the internet turned into a World Of Adventure and have satirical jokes about them in other media by that point, and done better!
Edited by kyun on Dec 16th 2018 at 8:52:19 AM
Many movies (especially Disney movies, tbh) have things in them that one part of the audience understands more than another, and vice versa. That doesn't mean it's not "for" anybody.
Having seen movies that have no idea what they're doing and what its target audience is supposed to be, this is definitely not one of them.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Dec 16th 2018 at 8:54:54 AM
Agreed. Like, sure, small kids might not understand the intricacies of the internet and meme culture but the plot is still understandable as almost every plot point is explained as it comes up rather than relying on the audience to know what eBay or Buzz Feed are outside of the film.
The movie isn't confused about its target audience, that would suggest it includes some overt adult jokes and language in its attempt to appeal to adults. Kids will likely not get the pop up ad jokes or the Rick roll, but will still laugh at how silly the characters are while doing it. Likewise, adults will laugh at the contrast of Sugar Rush to Slaughter Race even though it is about as edgy as Death Rally meets Forza. If they threw in some GTA-esque "pay the hookers" type humor that would be skirting the line.
How many eight year olds would have unfiltered internet access and would find themselves in a situation to get Rick rolled? Not saying there are no examples, but I don't think their activity involves much with surfing You Tube. That's more in the twelve and older range, which is the edge of the key demographic of the movie.
The Rick roll itself is one of the earliest memes, such that it's a meme that it's an old meme.
Edited by KJMackley on Dec 17th 2018 at 4:19:14 AM
This is more of a silly personal aside than anything, but the oddest thing about Slaughter Race for me was how I knew it was supposed to be a GTA Online nod, but it kept reminding me of Burnout instead. It's basically Burnout Paradise, if Paradise City was even more of an over the top Wretched Hive.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Dec 17th 2018 at 5:09:25 AM

I want more Disney villains who are open about being villains so they can have Villain Songs and stuff. Surprise villains rarely get toys or screentime as villains. I think part of what made Turbo's reveal work so well is that he was already a villain before the reveal.
The Protomen enhanced my life.