This is how the princess scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet came to be

Ralph Breaks the Internet’s co-director explains the inspiration for that one scene with all the Disney princesses, plus who got involved in creating it.

Definitely the most popular scene to come out of the trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet was the one with all of the Disney princesses together at a sleepover, including Vanellope. To be honest, this will likely be our favorite scene from the movie, and we’d watch it over and over just to see princesses hanging out in casual wear and talking about their lives.

Wreck-It Ralph included a bunch of pop culture references as well as tie-ins to past movies and video games, so we’re sure to see even in Ralph Breaks the Internet.

In the film, Ralph and Vanellope are on a mission to keep Vanellope’s game from ending. They venture to the internet to find a replacement part to fix the game. During this adventure, Vanellope ends up meeting many fellow princesses.

Co-director of the film, Phil Johnston, spoke with Screen Rant about the idea to bring back original voice actresses for many of the princesses. At first, the film planned to use temporary voices before but of course, original voices would be perfect. After the scene was planned out, Johnston says it was presented to actresses with high hopes they’d love the idea. Johnston said of the process:

"We thought, well, I hope everyone’s game to do something that’s part irreverent, but respectful of their characters at the same time. And every single actress that we went to loved the idea."

Johnston added that including the original voice actresses helped elevate that scene and make it more authentic and believable. He explains how some actresses even improvised lines.

"…When they came in, they helped to elevate the comedy as an actor does, or scene as an actor does, and would point out like, well, my character wouldn’t say it like that. She would say it a little bit more like that. And it just added that extra kind of layer of authenticity to the princesses. Because as we got to work with each one of them, it became really apparent to us that they really embody those characters.  There is a huge part, just, beyond the voice, that they provided, obviously. So much of the character is embodied by their personalities. It was amazing."

The input of the original princess voice actors went even further. Along with recording sessions, the actresses sat down with the animation department to offer background on their characters

"After each record session, [we] set apart a little time where the actress would sit with our animation department.  Just to kind of talk about the characters and the approach that they have when they played the characters. And it was great to watch, this new crop of animators who were inspired by, say like, The Little Mermaid or the movies from the 90’s to meet these actors that provided the voices. I mean these were the characters that inspired them to become animators."

Johnston also explained where the idea for the highly anticipated princess scene came from. Initially, Ralph and Vanellope were set to one of those BuzzFeed-style quizzes, something like “Are you an Anna or an Elsa?” The two would get into an argument, and then an idea was sparked —  Anna and Elsa could be there as well. The film’s co-writer, Pamela Ribbon, asked a pertinent question — is Vanellope a canon Disney princess. If she is, why not meet the rest of her princess crew?

And there you have it. A hilarious princess scene showing us so many of our favs, along with new princess recruit Vanellope von Schweetz!

We can’t wait to see Vanellope hang out with so many iconic and memorable princesses in Ralph Breaks the Internet, which comes out November 21.