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Vanellope von Schweetz is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2012 animated feature film Wreck-It Ralph and its 2018 sequel. She is a young, sharp-tongued racer that originates from the candy-themed racing game Sugar Rush. Due to being a "glitch", Vanellope was forbidden to race by order of King Candy. She was nevertheless determined to become a real racer and sought to accomplish her goal by teaming up with a fellow misfit Wreck-It Ralph. Over the course of their adventure, Vanellope would unmask the truth behind her glitch, while also learning to use it as a "superpower" to overcome adversity.
Background[]
Vanellope von Schweetz was the central character of the video game, Sugar Rush. Not only was she the lead character, she was also the world's princess. However, at some point, an old video game character named Turbo, hijacked Sugar Rush, turned himself into a character named King Candy, and tried to delete Vanellope's code, turning her into a glitch. Once Vanellope became a glitch, King Candy was free to rule the kingdom, having all the inhabitants of Sugar Rush's memories of Princess Vanellope locked up. However, if Vanellope was to ever cross the finish line in an official race, her codes will be restored and the throne will be hers once more. To prevent this from occurring, King Candy had the citizens of the game believe having a glitch race could lead to the game being unplugged. Due to this lie, Vanellope was repeatedly tormented and ostracized by the game's citizens, most notably the racers, led by Taffyta Muttonfudge. Vanellope was able to find sanctuary within Diet Cola Mountain, where an unfinished bonus track is located.
As a result of her being a glitch, Vanellope was unable to leave the game and escape her tormentors. However, she also gained the unique ability to glitch, or teleport, from place to place in the blink of an eye, though she didn't have much control over it.
Official Description[]
Known as “The Glitch”, Vanellope is a pixelating programming mistake in the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush. With a racer’s spirit embedded in her coding, Vanellope is determined to earn her place in the starting lineup amongst the other racers. Only problem: the other racers don’t want her or her glitching in the game. Years of rejection have left Vanellope with a wicked sense of humor and a razor-sharp tongue. However, somewhere beneath that hard shell is a sweet center just waiting to be revealed.
Personality[]
Vanellope is an energetic child, filled with life and humor. Sadly, years of bullying has left Vanellope with a sour look on life and people, meaning she is often prone to heavy insulting and sassy remarks. Luckily, Vanellope was able to see the goodness in people through the friendship of Wreck-It Ralph. Though she was often bullied by the game's other young racers, Vanellope was apparently more than happy to attempt making amends, referring to the others as her "fellow racers". This shows that Vanellope is a very forgiving person. This is also seen during the scene where Ralph reunites with Vanellope after destroying her kart. It took no time at all for the young girl to forgive Ralph after the bad-guy admitted he was wrong for what he did. Another example is when Vanellope regains her throne and gladly accepts the citizens of Sugar Rush's apology for tormenting the girl once their memories of her rule were restored.
Vanellope's medal for Ralph.
Vanellope is also incredibly determined, strong-willed, and very loving. Even after fifteen years of torment and being told she could never race, the young girl always took the chance to live her dream should a chance come her way. Vanellope's loving ways are best expressed in the scene where Sugar Rush was invaded by Cy-Bugs, yet Vanellope was the only citizen unable to escape. Here, she calmy tells Ralph to go on without her, completely accepting the fact that she was about to die. However, Ralph's safety was far more important than her owns in her eyes, as the bad-guy was the only person to ever show her kindness at that point, which meant the world to her.
Another example is displayed when Vanelloe gives Ralph a gift for helping her create a real racing kart; a homemade medal that reads "You're my hero.", given to the bad-guy in case she didn't win his original heroes medal back at the end of the Random Roster Race, knowing how much earning a medal meant to him.
Physical appearance[]
From left to right: Vanellope's glitch outfit; Vanellope in her princess gown.
Vanellope is a 9-year old girl whose overall appearance is often described as adorable. Even by Ralph himself. Being a child, she is short in statute, and has raven-black, ponytailed hair with candy sprinkled over it. She has fair skin and hazel eyes that are rather large with an Anime influence. She noticeably has an overbite as well as a small, chipmunk-like nose, as do most of the Sugar Rush racers. As said before, Vanellope's design, as well as the other Sugar Rush racers, were inspired by Japanese/Anime influences, notably by the art style of Chibi.
Vanellope's signature "glitch" outfit is a mint green hoodie with a brown skirt, green, white and purple leggings, and small black boots. Her hoodie laces and stitches are red and resemble taffy candies. The red linings under Vanellope's boots also appear to be the same candy material. Vanellope also owns red racing goggles that were seen during the Random Roster Race's coin depositing. On the side of the Sugar Rush game cabinet, Vanellope can be seen in her royal racing attire which is a mint green and white jumpsuit with brown gloves. In the film's concept art, Vanellope's racing attire comes with a white helmet with a golden crown design detailed onto it.
As a princess, Vanellope wore a large, pink and glittery long-sleeved gown with white gloves. Her pink petticoat is noticeably covered in pink and red gumdrops. However, chocolate sprinkles can be seen on the lower end of the petticoat. Her gown was also given a pink, flowing cloak. She also wore a lace collar with various detailed designs over it. In this outfit, Vanellope's hair is wrapped up in a bun and is covered in sprinkles that are various shades of pink. She also wore red tiara. With the outfit, Vanellope also owns a pink, peppermint scepter with a noticeable a crown symbol over it.
Appearances[]
Wreck-It Ralph[]
Vanellope meeting Ralph in the Candy tree Forest.
Once upon a normal day, Vanellope is lounging about in the candy tree forest when she encounters a hulk-like man named Wreck-It Ralph, who claims to be part of the "candy tree department" and was doing some "candy tree trimming". However, the minute Vanellope notices a "gold coin" atop the tree, she becomes very excited and makes way for it, ignoring Ralph, who confesses to Vanellope, telling her that he is from a different game and desperately needs the medal that she has mistaken for a gold coin. After "winning" the coin from Ralph and taking it for herself, Vanellope instead runs off to the race track starting line, where the racers of Sugar Rush are prepared to pay their fees (one gold coin) to race in the Random Roster Race: a daily race that determines which racers will be featured in the game's roster on the following day. Vanellope disguises herself and sneaks into the lineup to insert the medal for her coin, putting herself in the race officially.
Unfortunately for Vanellope, she is a glitch, and glitches are not allowed to race by orders of the Sugar Rush ruler, King Candy. The moment the king notices the glitch, he orders his security guards, Wynchel and Duncan, to arrest her, but then Ralph (covered in taffy and other candy) arrives to reclaim his medal. The scene that follows distracts the king and his guards, allowing Vanellope to escape, and the excited 9-year old heads to the junkyard with her junky homemade kart. Vanellope is then confronted by Taffyta Muttonfudge (the best racer in the game, next to King Candy), Candlehead, Rancis Fluggerbutter and the other racing kids. They torment the girl, calling her "an accident waiting to happen" and destroys her kart to prevent her from racing. Ralph witnesses the cruel bullying and sympathizes with Vanellope after the kids toss her into the mud, then he charges out of hiding and scares the kids away. Vanellope, however, is far too upset and embarrassed to even thank Ralph, who reacts badly to her snappishness and calls Vanellope a thief for stealing his medal.
Vanellope teaming up with Ralph.
Vanellope explains that she will return the medal the moment she wins the race, but without a kart, both she and Ralph are out of luck. In anger, Ralph begins to wreck things, including a jawbreaker, something that is rock-solid. Witnessing Ralph's strength gives Vanellope an idea to have him break her into King Candy's kart factory in order to make a real kart so that she can really race. She convinces Ralph to help her by telling him that once she wins the race and the winner's prize (and all the coins along with it), she'll return the medal. Ralph reluctantly agrees and the duo sneaks into the factory. There, they build the kart together and bond during the chaotic process, while Ralph is amazed when he discovers that he can create as well as destroy. Because of how Ralph has mishandled the decorating part, though, the cart appears very different from what it is supposed to be. Disappointed, Ralph thinks the kart is broken and a let-down at first, but Vanellope is more than happy to have a real kart in her possession. To finish their newfound "masterpiece", Vanellope and Ralph sign the kart. Just then, King Candy, alerted by the security about the break-in, arrives with his minions and attacks Ralph and Vanellope. The duo try to drive away, but Vanellope has no clue on how to drive a real kart. Ralph instead gets the kart going and steers it by hand. King Candy, Wynchel, and Duncan are in hot pursuit until Vanellope glitches herself and Ralph into Diet Cola Mountain, where she secretly resides. Inside, Vanellope shows Ralph her home and explains to him that because she is a glitch, she is bullied and tormented by everyone in the game. Not only that, she cannot leave the game and escape her tormentors because glitches lack the ability to do so. She figures that if she wins the race, the others would stop treating her harshly and make amends.
Vanellope after her kart's destruction.
With Ralph having experienced a similar story wanting to become a hero as opposed to the villain he is, he feels badly for the young girl, and the bad guy decides to build a track in the mountain so Vanellope can learn how to drive. Before long, Vanellope turns out to be a natural, and the duo begin to make way for the race, but not before Vanellope runs back into the mountain to get something. During her absence, King Candy shows up to return Ralph's medal. King Candy then tells Ralph that he must not let Vanellope race, because if she wins and becomes a character in the game, the players will notice her glitching and think the game is broken, causing the game to be considered out of order and unplugged, with Vanellope (as a glitch) being the only one unable to escape to Game Central Station, being left inside the game to die. King Candy then leaves Ralph with these heavy thoughts. When Vanellope returns, she gives Ralph a medal she made just in case they didn't win. It reads "You're my hero", and Ralph is more than thankful, but he told Vanellope that racing might not be the best thing for her. Confused at Ralph's change of heart, Vanellope asks why, and Ralph tells her that he has been talking to King Candy. Before he can explain further, Vanellope notices Ralph's Hero's Duty medal around the former's neck and figures he has ratted her out to the king in exchange for said medal, and the two begin to argue. Vanellope decides to race without Ralph's help, but Ralph, refusing to risk Vanellope's safety, hooks her in a branch by her clothes and proceeds to destroy the kart. Vanellope tries to stop Ralph, but to no avail, as her kart has been destroyed, along with her dreams of winning the race and getting a better life. Heartbroken, Vanellope runs off in tears, and the downhearted Ralph returns to his game. After Ralph's departure, King Candy captures Vanellope and imprisons her in his fungeon.
Vanellope during the Random Roster Race, smugly passing King Candy.
Meanwhile, arriving at his own game, Ralph, finding out that it is about to be unplugged due to his game-jumping and everyone else having abandoned it in anticipation, throws a tantrum, during which he throws his medal at the glass of the cabinet which lets him see the side of Sugar Rush's cabinet, on which an image of Vanellope is featured prominently on it with her original white tracksuit and cart. Going back into Sugar Rush, Ralph interrogates King Candy's assistant, Sour Bill (who is sweeping the remains of Vanellope's kart), to find out why this is. He learns that she was a legitimate character in the game, but King Candy hacked the coding of the game to remove her and all memory of her previous status from it, causing her glitchiness, and only by having her cross the finish line in an official race would the damage be undone and the original coding be restored. Ralph then takes the pieces of the kart and goes to the fungeon to rescue his friend Fix-It Felix, Jr., whom he begs to fix the kart, the only hope for Vanellope. Ralph breaks into Vanellope's cell and rolls in her kart now repaired, confessing to her that he has been an idiot, a real numbskull, a selfish diaper baby, and a stink brain. Vanellope, along with Ralph and Felix, rushes to the Random Roster Race, which has already begun. Ralph instructs her to just cross the finish line to be a real racer as she does not have to win, but Vanellope, proclaiming herself to be real racer already, is determined to win the race. Luckily, Vanellope's glitching gets her in second place, behind King Candy, who then tries to destroy Vanellope's kart by ramming into it. As King Candy attacks her, Vanellope begins to glitch nervously, causing the king to glitch as well. King Candy is then revealed to be Turbo, a character from an old racing game who was supposedly killed when his game was unplugged and took over Sugar Rush as King Candy.
Vanellope trapped in Sugar Rush along with Felix and Calhoun.
The evil racer tries to murder Vanellope by ramming her into an oncoming stalagmite and reveals that he has reprogrammed the world while doing so. Vanellope is able to escape her death by glitching out of King Candy's grasp, and makes her way for the finish line. Suddenly, a swarm of Cy-Bugs from the game Hero's Duty, which have been breeding in the catacombs undernearth Sugar Rush, explode from the sides of the track. Vanellope's kart is caught in the explosion, which sends her falling off the track, prompting Ralph and Felix to come to her rescue, but the Cy-Bugs destroy the finish line. Sergeant Calhoun, the lead character in Hero's Duty, orders the citizens of the game to evacuate by heading for the Game Central Station. Ralph also tries to evacuate Vanellope, but Vanellope, still being a glitch, is unable to escape. Despite this, she accepts her oncoming death and tells Ralph to go without her, but Ralph refuses to leave her to die and desperately thinks of a way to save her. Ralph then overhears Calhoun telling Felix that the bugs cannot be stopped without a beacon and quickly comes up with an idea to erupt Diet Cola Mountain, hoping to have the erupting lava act as a beacon. With Vanellope being protected by Felix and Calhoun, Ralph hurries to the top of Diet Cola Mountain and begins to smash the crater of mentos, but is attacked by King Candy (who had transformed into a Cy-Bug after being consumed by one). Vanellope is forced to watch as King Candy flies into the air with Ralph in his grasp.
While this is occurring, a swarm of Cy-Bugs turn their attentions to killing Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun, and King Candy forces Ralph to watch the horrific scene from the air. Fortunately, Ralph is able to break free of Candy's grasps and plummets down to the mountain, sacrificing himself for Vanellope, and brings the whole crater down into the volcano with one forceful smash. When Vanellope sees Ralph plummeting, she glitches past the bugs, takes Crumbelina's (a racer in Sugar Rush) kart, and glitches into Diet Cola Mountain, where she is able to catch Ralph before he falls into the lava. Together, they escape the volcano just as massive amounts of mentos plunge into the lava, causing the mountain to erupt. The eruption of Diet Cola Mountain produces a beacon that attracts all the Cy-bugs, including King Candy, vaporizing them for good and saving Sugar Rush and the entire arcade.
Princess Vanellope regains her throne.
After Felix fixes the finish line, Ralph pushes Vanellope's kart, with Vanellope inside, across the line, and the game resets. Suddenly, Vanellope magically transforms into a princess, revealing her to be the rightful ruler of the kingdom. Taffyta, Candlehead, Rancis and the other racers, whose memories have been restored after being wiped during King Candy's reign, remember Vanellope's rank as a princess. Horrified about their mean attitudes toward her, they apologize to Vanellope, begging for her forgiveness, but Vanellope decrees that everyone who has bullied her to be executed.
This makes the racers react in horror and break down in tears about their impending death. However, Vanellope reveals that she is just kidding and accepts their apology. Ralph is surprised to see Vanellope as a princess and thinks that as her real self, but Vanellope, who glitches out of her princess attire to show her real self, explains that though the code may say she is a princess, she is really a racer with a greatest superpower: her glitching abilities that she decides to retain, as she feels thankful to have this power that has helped her and Ralph save Sugar Rush. However, she still accepts to lead the kingdom as "President Vanellope von Schweetz". At this time, the arcade is about to open, and as Ralph prepares to leave Sugar Rush, Vanellope hugs him and offers Ralph a private wing in the castle with her where he will be happy and loved. Ralph warmly turns down the offer and explains that her friendship makes him happy enough and that he has a job to do: playing the bad guy in his own game. Ralph and Vanellope bid farewell, after a few rounds of humorous name calling between the two. After Ralph leaves with Felix and Calhoun, the other Sugar Rush racers surround Vanellope as they reconcile with her, befriend her and accept her back into the game.
Vanellope waving at Ralph during the film's finale.
During the finale, Vanellope, seen in her princess attire, serves as the maid of honor at the wedding of Felix and Calhoun. It is also shown that, due to her glitching abilities, Vanellope has become a fan-favorite in Sugar Rush. Now that she's able to control her glitching, she uses it to pass by the other racers as a special ability. During the end credits, Vanellope and Ralph, along with Felix and Calhoun are shown constantly enjoying each other's company and also game-jumping into numerous games.
Wreck-It Ralph (video game)[]
Taking place not too long after the film, Vanellope is preparing for another race in Sugar Rush with Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun in the stands cheering her on. However, Ralph accidentally drops a Cy-Bug egg that rolls into the taffy lake. Later on, whilst in her castle, Vanellope witnesses the Cy-Bugs attacking Sugar Rush and heads to Game Central Station with the others while Ralph and Felix rids the arcade of the beasts. In the end, after the bugs are defeated, Vanellope celebrates Ralph's newfound success by creating a new holiday.
One Sweet Race[]
Artwork of Vanellope in One Sweet Race.
Rancis Fluggerbutter, one of Vanellope's former bullies and later friend, is in trouble, getting teased for not winning a race and has accidentally crashed the kart he was using to try and win the race. Vanellope decides to help him, and together they build a kart that Rancis names RV1 after both of them. In the next race, Vanellope cheers Rancis on and he wins the race. It's presumed that she developed feeling for Rancis.
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Double Stripe!"
- "What's your name?"
- "You're not from here, are you?"
- "Why are your hands so freakishly big?"
- "I guess you've really gotta watch your step in a game called Hero's Doody!"
- "What's that? Didn't hear ya. Your breath is so bad, it made my ears numb!"
- "As your merciful princess, I hereby decree that everyone who was ever mean to me shall be..... executed."
- "Everyone here says I'm just a mistake and that I wasn't even suppose to exist."
- "Racing's in my code!"
- "You really are a bad guy."
- "I'm already a real racer....and I'm gonna win!"
- "Well, unless you've got a go kart hidden in the fat folds of your neck, I can't help you!"
- "YOU'RE A RAT! I don't need you! And I can win the race on my own."
- "I'm not listening to you! GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! I'm going to that race!"
- "Sweet mother of monkey milk, I did it!"
- "You know, you could stay here and live in the castle. You'll have your own wing, where no one would complain about your stench or treat you bad ever again; you can be happy."
- "Well I guess you're going to have to step out of your comfort zone, Gladys."
- "Well, it's a mini game."
- "What a Moron."
- "Are you a hobo?"
Disney Parks[]
Vanellope von Schweetz as she appears in the Disney Parks.
Vanellope and Ralph are currently making appearances at some of the Disney theme parks. At Walt Disney World, Vanellope is present at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Magic of Disney Animation attraction and greets fans who walk through a making of exhibit in a Wreck-It Ralph themed area. In Disneyland, Vanellope is available in the Starcade in Tomorrowland.
Trivia[]
- According to Rich Moore and Sarah Silverman, Vanellope is 9 years old. However, according to John Lasseter, she is 12 years old.
- However, it is hard to tell, as she could have been inspired by the Chibi style (see below).
- Vanellope is the only main character that never called Ralph by his title 'Wreck-it'.
- It is apparent that Vanellope has no memories of being a princess. A possible explaination could be that when King Candy locked up the racers memories, her's were locked up as well.
- Vanellope's name is actually a portmanteau of "vanilla", a type of dessert flavoring, and "Penelope", a Greek-based girl's name (which means weaver). According to Greek mythology, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, who was constantly waiting for her husband to return from the battle of Troy and subsequently, his Odyssey. During Odysseus' Odyssey, many people thought that her real husband was dead and sent many suitors to try to marry her, but were ultimately driven out by Odysseus upon his return and proving them to be her real husband. Vanellope also sounds similar to "vanilla bean."
- Also, her title, "von", is actually German for "of", which is often used by German nobility.
- And plus, her last name is a pun, because is "sweet", but with a slightly German touch (Schweetz).
- Vanellope, along with the other Sugar Rush racers, are partly based on the Chibi style; a style used in anime that depicts characters as small, cute and, at most times, childish.
- Upon close inspection, you will see that Vanellope's skirt is made of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrappers.
- Although it is stated that Vanellope is unable to leave her game due to her being a glitch, at the end she can be seen attending Felix and Calhoun's wedding as Calhoun's maid-of-honor. In fact during the credits she can be seen traveling with Ralph, Felix and Calhoun to different video games, this is due to her reintegration after the game reset, leaving her "glitchy" (i.e. capable of teleporting within the game) but no longer a glitch.
- When creating Vanellope, she was described as having "a hint of Sarah (Silverman), a hint of Cindy Lou Who, combined with this grubby little Pippi Longstocking moppet kid."
- Despite having hazel eyes in the movie, posters, etc., Vanellope can clearly be seen with bright green eyes when she is shown on the side of the cabinet after Ralph throws away his medal.
- Interestingly enough, Vanellope is never shown racing in her white tracksuit after she resets the game, nor is she seen racing in her original cart which was stolen by King Candy. It's implied that the kart that she and Ralph created was eventually incorporated into the game and her supposed original (King Candy's) was presumably destroyed when King Candy transformed into a Cy-Bug and was killed.
- Vanellope is the only character in Sugar Rush who wears a hoodie, as the other characters wear jackets, and she is also the only one who does not wear a helmet or cap in her head, instead she wears red goggles.
- Supposedly, when Vanellope refers to Ralph as "Gladys", she is actually referencing the main antagonist of the Portal series, GLaDOS. However, if that is true, then she mispronounced the name, as it is most likely pronounced "Glah-Dos", and is actually an acronym (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System).
- When Ralph sees Vanellope on the side of the game console, she isn't wearing her dress like the scene where Vanellope gets her code back and finally becomes an actual game character.
- Vanellope's princess dress resembles the dresses worn by royal women during the 16th-17th century.
- Vanellope is strikingly similar to Princess Ozma from the Wizard of Oz books. Both of them were princesses who were usurped by someone from another world (the Wizard of Oz and King Candy), both were turned into something they were not (Ozma becoming a boy named Tip, Vanellope into a glitch), and have no memory of who they really are. Fortunately, both are eventually restored to their rightful place as ruler.
Similarities with other Disney characters[]
- Vanellope is the fourth main character Disney child to have black hair, the previous three being Pinocchio, Mowgli from The Jungle Book, and Lilo from Lilo & Stitch.
- Vanellope is the second princess to have hazel eyes, after Belle.
- Vanellope shares a few other similarities with Lilo from Lilo & Stitch. Both girls were picked on by a group of "popular girls", and they both made friends with unlikely characters who were deemed bad and deemed to destroy (Vanellope with Ralph, and Lilo with Stitch).
- Vanellope is somewhat like Princess Merida in several ways:
- Both Vanellope and Merida have somewhat messy hair (Vanellope's being covered in bits of random candy, Merida's being red and frizzy.)
- Neither Vanellope nor Merida have love interests, unlike most Disney Princesses.
- Vanellope and Merida both debuted in 2012.
- Both Vanellope and Merida are tomboys and prefer to do things their way rather than how others expect them to. (Vanellope would rather race than be reviled as a glitch, and Merida would rather do less ladylike things than be a stereotypical princess.)
- Both Vanellope and Merida change their fate in some way (Vanellope saves her game and Game Central Station as a whole, as well as redeems her proper place as princess, and a spell changes Merida's fate, turning her mother and brothers into bears, forcing her to try and figure out how to reverse the effects.)
- Vanellope and Merida are both princesses, but are unorthodox (Vanellope being a Glitch, Merida being tomboyish and rebellious.)
- Vanellope shares some similarities with Princess Rapunzel from Tangled.
- Both were Princesses, but were unaware. (Vanellope's mind was wiped by Turbo, whilst Rapunzel was kidnapped by Mother Gothel as an infant.)
- Both Rapunzel and Vanellope made a deal with those who were thought of a criminal (Ralph being a wrecker; Eugene being a thief.)
- The friendship between Vanellope and Ralph, is also similar to the friendship between Zugor and Tarzan.
- Vanellope is the second princess to move out of the princess title, after Kida. (Kida becomes a queen, while Vanellope becomes a president.)
- Vanellope's princess transformation resembles that of Cinderella's and the Beast's.