Welcome to pop nirvana, a headlong rush through classic arcade games and Nintendo standards that's not too busy playing spot-the-reference to keep delivering plenty of laughs and heart. This film may deploy the Pixar formula shamelessly, but the world of video games — particularly for those who feel affection for them — is uniquely immersive and director Rich Moore employs equal parts sweetness and wit in this high-scoring joyride.

With relentless momentum, the story moves fluidly between several richly imagined gaming environments, all connected by a power strip that serves as Grand Central Station. Ralph's adventures eventually land him in Sugar Rush, a Candyland cart-racing game, where he teams up with Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a fluttering "glitch" who dreams of glory but lives in exile from the tyrannical Willy Wonka-type who lords over the circuitry.

Nominated for Best Animated Feature, Wreck-It Ralph soars by building carefully conceived, elaborately detailed video game worlds and imbuing them with nostalgia, friendship and the existential crises that come with age. As a villain and a glitch, Ralph and Vanellope come together as outsiders in their own homes, strangers to their peers and, really, who couldn't relate to that? D: Rich Moore, US, 2012, 108m