Disney’s upcoming animated comedy, Wreck-It Ralph, inspired by the old 8-bit video arcade games, got a great update last summer from the film’s director, Rich Moore, as well as an official synopsis that sounds rather excellent.

We’ve now got the first look at the film to share with you, courtesy of CineHeroes via Rope of Silicon, and they give us a terrific indication of some of the things we can expect from the film.

John C. Reilly is leading the cast as the eponymous Wreck-It Ralph, with Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer (best known for playing Kenneth in 30 Rock), and Sarah Silverman also lending their voices for what is looking like another instant Disney classic.

“Wreck-It Ralph (voice of Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidently unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade? “

Back last summer, Moore spoke a little bit about the film and his interest in the project, saying,

“I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn’t there more to life than the role I’ve been assigned?’ In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds. It’s unlike anything anyone’s seen before, and I’m thrilled to be to creating it here at Walt Disney Animation Studios.”

And these great first three images seem to show us at least two those visually distinct video game worlds that he mentions. (The third image I’m not entirely sure about. I can’t decide if it’s a world of its own, or if it’s the kind of map of all the levels available, but I’d guess that the three images correspond to the three worlds we can look forward to delving into.)

Wreck-It Ralph is due to be released in the US on 12^th November, and here in the UK on 26^th December, which puts it up against Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and quite possibly Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, both of which arrive in the US on Christmas Day. Naturally, each of the three films have a largely different audience (though of course many, like myself, will be in the centre of a three-circle Venn diagram), and should make for a fantastic end to 2012 in UK cinemas.

For now, here are your great first look images for your viewing pleasure. As usual, you can click to enlarge and enjoy them in even more detail. I love that first image of Wreck-It Ralph upon the hill, contemplating his lot opposite the building scalable by Donkey Kong-esque ladders.

Cast your mental browsers back exactly one year and one month to a little story on HeyUGuys which updated release dates for a couple of Disney films, namely Winnie the Pooh and a long gestating project which started out life as Joe Jump.

Sam Levine originally had the Joe Jump project, which was rumoured by revolve around a forgotten 8-bit video game character trying to ‘make his way’ in the modern world, but found itself on the shelf only to be dusted down and given a release date of the 22nd of March 2013 by Disney. Rich Moore was announced as the new director and barely anything of the Joe Jump Levine was working on made it through the change of director. The premise was rumoured to be roughly the same but 3D was mentioned for the first time and now we have an update with cast, crew and a decent synopsis.

Described in the  press release from Disney as “a hilarious, video-game-hopping journey in “Wreck-It Ralph,” the story of an arcade game Bad Guy determined to prove he can be a Good Guy” which actually sounds less u that I thought it would be. The director however goes on to explain a little bit more about what we’ll see in the film,

I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn’t there more to life than the role I’ve been assigned?’ In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds. It’s unlike anything anyone’s seen before, and I’m thrilled to be to creating it here at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Wreck-It Ralph (voice of Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidently unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade? 

We’ve seen a few teasers for Universal’s Super-Villain CG comedy Despicable Me, and now there’s a new trailer in town.

It’s a simple affair, with the army of lemon tic-tac inspired minions of super-villain Gru, and with the other trailers already seen the slightly silly world is building nicely.

There’s a whole plot to steal the moon, and a group of three orphans who plan to stop Gru, voiced by the always fun Steve Carell and the rest of the voice cast make this one to watch.

The Times had this trailer, via FirstShowing which is embedded below.

Here’s the brand new international trailer for Universal Pictures’ latest 3d animation fest, ‘Despicable Me’. We posted the domestic trailer a while back and we’ve just got our hands on the international version. Check it out below after the synopsis.

Despicable Me is directed by Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin and features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Danny McBride, Miranda Cosgrove, Jack McBrayer, Mindy Kaling, Jemaine Clement and Julie Andrews. It’s released 15th October 2010.

In a happy suburban neighbourhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbours, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world.  He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me.

Gru delights in all things wicked.  Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way.  Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen – a potential Dad.

The world’s greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.