Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet Home Video Release

Ralph Breaks the Internet arrives on Home Video in many formats including Digital HD, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD (Digital versions are now available, physical discs Tuesday 2/26).   There are a half dozen traditional bonus features including a behind the scenes set of featurettes, Easter Eggs, a handful of deleted scenes and a couple of music videos.   For more details and specifications on the offerings here is the original press release.

It has been 7 years since we first met Ralph and Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph.  This time around the duo leaves the arcade for the digital beyond on the Internet to find a part for Vanellope’s game.  For more on the film here is Maggie’s review from the theatrical release.

My quick takes on the bonus features:

• How We Broke the Internet – This is a very traditional set of featurettes taking you behind the scenes and looking at various aspects of creating the film including some of the technical and story challenges.     In total these have a running time over 30 minutes and I enjoyed hearing from the artists and creative team.
• Surfing for Easter Eggs (3:37) – The film features many obvious and quite a few not so obvious references to other Disney/Pixar films throughout.  This short featurette takes a look at several not so obvious items or characters you may have caught a glimpse of in the film.   I thought this was a fun collection of references, most of which I did not catch on my viewing of the film.
• The Music of Ralph Breaks the Internet (10:17) – A decent length featurette taking a look at the musical score and songs of the film.  It includes several interviews and some recording session footage.  Compared to most bonus features now a days having a single topic last 10 minutes was a nice change of pace and allowed for a deeper exploration than usual.
• Deleted Scenes – A handful of deleted scenes in various stages of production.  Each includes an introduction from the directors talking a little about them which is appreciated.
• BuzzzTube Cats (1:47) – A compilation of cat videos the animators created as tests and to fill the BuzzTube world.
• Music Videos–  Two music videos featuring songs from the film – “Zero” by Imagine Dragons and “In This Place” by Julia Michaels.
• Digital Only – Baby Drivers – Slaughter Racing School (2:14) – An extended look at the creative team’s driving experience research trip.

For an initial home video release this one features an above average selection and amount of bonus features.   I found the How We Broke the Internet collection to be the most interesting.  The UI was lacking again on MoviesAnywhere website.   For example the How We Broke the Internet collection is out of order and not well defined, where as on the disc it was accessed through a single menu then the option to play all or a specific chapter.    On the digital version other featurettes were jumbled into the mix with them and it jumps around when viewed digitally which I found annoying.

Overall adding Ralph Breaks the Internet to your home video library will be a plus if you enjoyed the film.  If you want to learn a little more about the film’s creation and the thought process that went into creating the world the bonus features will deliver.     I enjoyed being able to re-watch and slow down some of the scenes to see all that is happening since on the big screen in real time they fly by.