Meet the Cast of Ralph Breaks the Internet

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Meet the Cast of Ralph Breaks the Internet

By Erin

*I attended the press junket for Ralph Breaks the Internet for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own*

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” welcomes back to the big screen, video-game bad guy Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and best friend Vanellope (voice of Sarah Silverman) as they leave the comforts of Litwak’s arcade in an attempt to save her game. Their adventure takes them to the vast world of the internet, a world Vanellope wholeheartedly embraces—so much so that Ralph worries he may lose the only friend he’s ever had. Venturing into the uncharted, expansive and fast-paced world of the internet—which can be both incredibly exciting and overwhelming, depending on who you ask. You will have to see the film when it comes out this Wednesday, November 21st to see what happens, but first meet the cast and what they had to share with us!

The press conference took place on Saturday, November 3rd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. The talent in attendance included:

  • John C. Reilly (voice of “Ralph”)
  • Sarah Silverman (voice of “Vanellope”)
  • Taraji P. Henson (voice of “Yesss”)
  • Jack McBrayer (voice of “Felix”)
  • Director Rich Moore
  • Director Phil Johnston
  • Producer Clark Spencer
  • Co-Writer Pamela Ribon
  • Moderator: Dani Fernandez

Dani Fernandez started things off by asking a question we all had. “Wreck It Ralph took place six years ago. And at the end, it seemed like things were going pretty good for Ralph and Vanellope. I thought it was going pretty good. Why did you feel that you needed to revisit them?”

The filmmakers Rich Moore and Phil Johnston shared with us that they also thought the characters were on a good lace but then they took a look at the very last line of the first movie.  “We looked at the very last line of the first movie where Ralph says, after going friendless for the whole movie and then finally making a friend, he’s back home and says, if that little kid likes me, how bad can I be? And it seemed at the time, it’s so sweet. It’s a wonderful sentiment. But then as we continued to kind of pick at it, we said, that’s really, really dysfunctional. That this guy is defining himself by what his best friend thinks. And it’s a great best friend. But what if she were not to like him someday? What would that lead to? Knowing that he still had quite a bit of insecurity, he still had farther to go in his journey. Then we had only known Vanellope for like 35 minutes or 40 minutes. So she has a whole other story. We had to keep going with these characters.”

What about the famous princess scene? We all wanted to know the favorite moments from the princess scene and how that kind of changes with Vanellope being added.

Pamela  Ribon told us, ” It was amazing to be able to work with all the original voice actresses to come back and add everything that they bring to the characters. And what a dream come true to have Vanellope Von Schweetz now officially part of the Canon, which was the whole point the whole time. The hoody princess reigns supreme.”Then Sarah was asked, “Every little girl’s dream is to have their own Disney princess song. What was it like to finally get your own Disney princess song?”

Sarah Silverman enthusiastically told us, “It was a dream come true. I couldn’t believe it. When you guys told me I was going to have a song, we had already been recording for a while.  I couldn’t believe it. And the music was written by Alan Menken and I got to meet him and work with him and rehearse with him. And he played somewhere that’s green for me to sing from my favorite. He wrote Little Shop of Horrors, my favorite. And of course it’s like this Disney icon of iconic songs. It was incredible. Then we recorded with a whole orchestra. Like you see in old timely movies. He was crazy. It was really the thrill of a lifetime.”

SELFIE! – In “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Vanellope von Schweetz hits the internet where she encounters and then befriends the Disney princesses. Filmmakers invited the original voice talent to return to the studio to help bring their characters to life, including Sarah Silverman (Vanellope in “Ralph Breaks the Internet”), Auli‘i Cravalho (“Moana”), Kristen Bell (Anna in “Frozen”), Idina Menzel (Elsa in “Frozen”), Kelly MacDonald (Merida in “Brave”), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel in “Tangled”), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog”), Ming-Na Wen (“Mulan”), Irene Bedard (“Pocahontas”), Linda Larkin (Jasmine in “Aladdin”), Paige O’Hara (Belle in “Beauty and the Beast”), and Jodi Benson (Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”). ©2018 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

The conversation ended with this last one. There is one last scene in the movie where Felix and his wife talk about what the secrets of being a good parent are. The cast was asked,  “What is the secret to being a good parent?”

Tara started with sharing, “I’ll just say honesty and truth. Now with the Internet, you can’t shelter them much. You just have to be as honest as you can. Just tell them the facts and guide them. And hope they don’t run into a wall. John C. Reilly then added, “I think the secret, I mean, there’s many secrets that you can only know through your own personal experience with a child. But I would say the most important thing for me is seeing who the child is as opposed to who you want them to be or who you think they will become. But who are they? And that includes what kind of school does this kid need to go to? Not what kind of school does our family go to? What kind of school does this kid need to go to? And if you have more than one kid, it’s different for each one. So basically, recognizing the humanity of that person, the distinct identity apart from you. And accepting it.

Rich Moore thoughtfully stated, “Never talking down to my kids. Always talking to them as human beings. And not trying to aim them towards things. But really kind of responding to what they wanted very much like what John was saying. Phil Johnston said, “I won’t top any of those. I was not a terribly exceptional kid. I am not worried that my kids aren’t geniuses and aren’t… it’s what John is saying. I’m not going to shove them into something that they don’t want. I don’t care that they’re not the best at math right now. That I love them and I’ll help them. And they’re going to be fine. I will do my best to keep them safe and let them know that. They have enough pressure in the world. They don’t need it from me. So I think it’s all sort of saying the same things. Pamela Ribon ended it with this, “My mom very similarly, you’re not the most special one in any room. No. It worked out. Look at what room I’m in. It’s a great room. But you just try. I try to listen which I think really comes into that, too. So that you find out what kind of kid they are. You listen to the kid that they’re telling you they are. And listen because sometimes the first thing they’re saying to you isn’t the thing they really mean. There’s something in there that they’re struggling with because they’re new at saying it.”

Afterwards we had a chance to check out a lot of the awesome merchandise you will want to have for your own from Ralph Breaks the Internet!

Be sure to check out the trailer here too!

Like WRECK-IT RALPH on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WreckItRalph/

Follow WRECK-IT RALPH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wreckitralph

Follow WRECK-IT RALPH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wreckitralph/

Visit the official RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET website here: http://movies.disney.com/ralph-breaks-the-internet-wreck-it-ralph-2

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET arrives in theatres everywhere on November 21st! 

A Day at Disney Celebrating the Release of Ant-Man and the Wasp on Blu-Ray

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Celebrating the Release of Ant-Man and the Wasp on Blu-Ray

By Jessica Zadeh of LABABY Blog

I had the pleasure of attending the Ant-Man and the Wasp press event celebrating the release of the Blu-Ray disc that comes out October 16th, 2018 at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. I’ve lived in LA over ten years, but, I’ve never actually been to Disney Studios and it was such a treat!

Even though the studio is over an hour away from Disneyland, you can still feel the ‘Disney magic’ throughout the entirety of the studio; bike racks are in the shape of Mickey’s silhouette, the shrubbery is perfectly coiffed, even the squirrels are friendly, it’s like they came straight out of Snow White!

Besides my admiration of the beautiful grounds, we also had a great time at the press event! The event began at nine o’clock in the morning and we were greeted with a lovely magic and Mickey themed buffet! Abby Ryder Fortson who plays ‘Cassie’ in the movie as well as Blake Vogt, the professional magician who was behind all of Paul Rudd’s magic tricks in the movie. Abby and Blake couldn’t have been nicer or more gracious! Abby spoke about her past acting experience, which, besides the first installation of Ant-Man in 2015, Abby has extensive television credits including The Mindy Project, Miles from Tomorrowland and the Trolls TV show. Abby noted how much fun she had on set, especially working with Paul in the homemade maze scene and also learning some magic tricks herself!

Blake and Abby had a great rapport and essentially put on a magic show for us! Blake has quite the extensive background himself; he has created magic for David Copperfield, David Blaine, even Kanye West! One of Blake’s most popular tricks are splitting playing cards which we were lucky enough to see some of his famous tricks! Blake showed us the card trick from the scene in the movie in which Paul Rudd regurgitates the playing cards from his mouth (check out the video of this on the Instagram account for the LABABY Blog, @lababyblog) I still can’t figure out how he did it, it was literally MAGIC! Blake also invited members of the audience to join him and participate in some of his tricks. My favorite was a quasi mind reading trick he played with a few members of the audience; he asked each individual a different question, he asked one person to concentrate on their favorite color, to close their eyes and really visualize that color, another person he asked to visualize their favorite Marvel character in a specific scene and, again, close their eyes and concentrate on their thought. Then each person wrote down their visualization on a piece of paper and enclosed it in an envelope. Blake then collected the envelopes and ripped them up in front of us! He then stood next to each ‘contestant’ and asked them to recall their visualization and BAM he guessed each person’s secret thought! One girl was visualizing the color red, not any red but Cherry Red, and, you guessed it, Blake got it! The person whom he asked to think of their favorite Marvel character was imagining Thanos, specifically a scene with Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War and Blake even guessed that! I was completely blown away!

After the event wrapped up we were very graciously gifted some extra large playing cards and, of course, the new Ant-Man and the Wasp Blu-Ray disc, available October 16th!

We left with jumbo playing cards as well as a copy of Ant-Man and the Wasp on Blu- Ray

To continue the celebration, there is a special twitter party October 15th that you can join in on and for a chance to win some cool prizes! Be there!

*Jessica Zadeh is known for her blog and lifestyle site LA BABY as well as The #NOJUDGEMENT Podcast coming to iTunes October 16th.*

Knott’s Spooky Farm

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Knott’s Spooky Farm

By Erin

*We were given media tickets for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain our own.*

It’s that spooky time of year, are you ready for it? Enjoy the Spooktacular Halloween season at Knott’s Spooky Farm, a family-friendly Halloween celebration geared for kids ages 3-11. Families can join in on the ghoulish fun by participating in safe, interactive activities throughout the park. This year, new charming photo opportunities greet guests as they enter the Main Gate, a perfect way to ignite everyone’s Halloween spirit. Guests of all ages can learn about the creepy crawly critters occupying the livery stable in Ghost Town. Now with an expanded trick-or-treating experience, little ghouls can stop by the town’s shops and buildings to collect sweet treats from the friendly Ghost Town Ghouls. Calico Park offers families the opportunity to personalize miniature jack-o-lanterns or decorate a scrumptious cookie for a festive Halloween treat. Fun Halloween-themed shows are also in store as a friendly magician mystifies little ones with spell-binding magic tricks at Calico Saloon, or young gals and ghouls can participate in the interactive spooky story time offered at the Birdcage Theatre. The Camp Snoopy Theater plays host to the “Monsters are Coming” kids show where children are encouraged to brew-up their perfect Halloween costumes for the Knott’s Spooky Farm Costume Contest. Also at Camp Snoopy, families can hop aboard the Grand Sierra Railroad to experience a one-of-kind adventure as riders travel to Camp Spooky with the PEANUTS gang® and spot fun surprises along the way. The popular Halloween Hootenanny also returns as The Timber Mountain Log Ride transforms with spooky but family-friendly surprises to a park favorite. That’s a lot to take in I know, but it sure is a lot of fun!

You will find Charlie Brown, his best friend Snoopy and the beloved PEANUTS Gang all be celebrating the spooky holiday with their own Halloween costumes and will be available for special meet & greets and fun photo encounters in Camp Snoopy and Calico Park. Kids ages 3 -11 can participate in the newly expanded trick-or-treating experience found through Ghost Town and extending all the way to Mission Row. During trick-or-treating, kids will interact with an array of spooky but friendly Shopkeepers as little ones have the opportunity to show-off their festive Halloween costumes. In Ghost Town, Stanley Scarecrow has opened the Livery Stable for guests of all ages to get close and personal with the Creepy Critters of Calico.

Even the horses are ready for Halloween!

Whimsical jack-o-lanterns will adorn Calico Park’s surroundings as it transforms into an enchanting location for families to enjoy personalizing miniature pumpkins or decorating scrumptious Halloween cookies, for a nominal fee. As a part of the exclusive festivities, Knott’s Spooky Farm guests will also encounter new Halloween-themed shows with the arrival of a new friendly magician who will mystify little ones with spell-binding magic tricks at the Calico Saloon. The Spooky Story Time at the Birdcage Theatre is where kids will find more fiendish fun as they partake in interactive group storytelling with eerie tales celebrating the season.

At Camp Snoopy, families can hop aboard the Grand Sierra Railroad to experience a one-of-a-kind adventure with A Trip to Camp Spooky as riders travel with the PEANUTS Gang® and spot fun surprises along the trail. Then at the Camp Snoopy Theatre little ghouls and gals are encouraged to show off their Halloween costume at the Peanuts Costume Contest. Additionally, families can watch the Peanuts Gang in The Monsters Are Coming, Charlie Brown, where they’ll have guests of all ages singing and dancing along to classic Halloween tunes.

The residents of the Timber Mountain Log Ride will once again celebrate the Halloween Hootenanny which, adds a family friendly seasonal twist to a park favorite. Mysterious creatures of Timber Mountain that live out in the woods and caverns join the citizens as they honor the season at the Halloween Hootenanny. The ride’s interior will feature fun surprises as guests venture past the Calico Coffin Creeper band, the town’s green witch and splash down Skull Mountain through a labyrinth of jack-o- lanterns. The seasonal ride will also feature an original song performed by Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. It is the perfect family experience for all to enjoy this Halloween season and is one of our favorite rides to enjoy in the park!

Wandering around the park you will find all sorts of interesting people!

So many beautiful spots to take all of your fall photos!

A 2019 Season Pass is the best way to experience Knott’s Spooky Farm. With a 2019 Season Pass you will get to enjoy all of the Seasons of Fun next year but can also use your pass for one free admission to use in 2018. You can get your Season Pass now at the Best Offer of the Year! A Regular Season Pass includes unlimited admission in 2019 to Knott’s Berry Farm with no blackout dates, and a Gold Season Pass includes unlimited admission in 2019 to both Knott’s Berry Farm and the recently expanded Knott’s Soak City Waterpark with no blackout dates. Regular passes are just $95 or eleven easy payments of $7.50 after an initial payment and Gold Season Passes are $115 or eleven payments of just $9.00 after an initial payment. These offers end October 28, 2018. Applicable taxes and fees apply. Payment plans are only available at knotts.com.

Knott’s Spooky Farm runs weekends through October 28 from 9:00am to 5:00pm and on Halloween Day from 10:00am to 5:30 pm, and is included with regular park admission. For more information on all the exciting things that are going on at Knott’s Berry Farm, visit knotts.com and follow the conversation using #KnottsSpookyFarm. Cheers and enjoy this spooky season at Knott’s!