The Best Pop Culture References From the 'Wreck-It Ralph 2' Trailer!

We’ve ONLY been waiting six short years to get a glimpse of what our favorite villain-turned-sweetheart Wreck-It Ralph has been up to since we were introduced to him in the first installment Wreck-It Ralph back in 2012! And while we have to wait a few more months until Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is released, we did get our Ralph and Vanellope fix with the release of this hilarious trailer for the second installment.

Because this is a product of the incredible Walt Disney Animation Studios, there are so many "easter eggs" and real-world references that appear in the trailer that have us excited for the whole film. Let’s break down -- but not break -- all the awesome references you might have missed.

1. UM hello, the title: “Break the Internet” refers to a commonly used phrase that quickly earned its cache after Paper Magazine photographed Kim Kardashian and pegged the spread as something that would in fact “Break the Internet.” The publication now has a series of “Break the Internet” covers.

2. The fact that when Ralph and Vanellope enter the Internet, some of the first things they see include Amazon, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Google. Really highlighting what Internet users are fixated on these days, huh Disney?

3. The mocking of the Internet’s SEARCHBAR… which is now “powered by KNOWSMORE!” This is a crack at how dependent we have become on this tool provided by the Internet… where we simply type in a question, phrase, or even a word and receive instant gratification with an immediate answer.

4. When Ralph and Vanellope make their way to the SEARCHBAR, they are asked by a little blob with a graduation cap about how they can be helped. Of course Ralph takes a moment to think and says “UM” to which the SEARCHBAR blob says “Umbrella, Umbrage, Umami” -- displaying how the auto-fill feature works on a SEARCHBAR. The whole exchange is immensely satisfying, and shows why people are usually frustrated by auto-anything (whether that be -fill or -correct).

5. After requesting she be taken to “a website that is super intense and really nuts,” Vanellope, much to her dismay, ends up at “OH MY DISNEY”, where she laments about being surrounded by princesses and cartoon characters. What she doesn’t realize is she is talking to Winnie The Pooh’s resident lonely boy (yes, "Gossip Girl" reference), Eeyore.

6. Within “OH MY DISNEY”, we see the following franchises or shows: “The Muppet Show”, Star Wars, Disney Animation, Marvel, and PIXAR.

7. Vanellope gets chased by Stormtroopers into the dreaded dressing room of Princesses. Literally her worst nightmare.

8. For the first time, we see the Princesses get a little violent -- as they are unsure of who Vanellope is -- when they grab objects that are paramount to their franchises (ex. Cinderella grabs her glass slipper, Jasmine grabs the Genie’s lamp, Moana grabs her oar) to defend themselves.

9. In an effort to evade any harm by the army of Princesses, Vanellope says that she is a princess as well! The Princesses ask her the following questions, taking a jab at the confining expectations that often accompany being a Disney princess: “Do you have magic hair?”; “Magic hands?”; “Do animals talk to you?”; “Where you poisoned?”; “Cursed?”; “Kidnapped or enslaved?” And then the kicker… “Do people assume all your problems get solved because a big strong man showed up?”

(*Reminder that Disney is behind this production…so they are totally owning their reputation that in their Disney Princess films, female protagonists are often saved by male heroes.*)

10. Vanellope, thinking of Ralph, says “Yes, what is up with that?” to which all the Princesses’ exclaim, “She is a princess!”

11. Cutting to a moment where Ralph and Vanellope are back together, Ralph is confused as to why it is not called “Wreck the Internet” since he is Wreck-It Ralph. He ponders the irony with a new character, Yesss, played by Taraji P. Henson.

12. The name Yesss for a character: a real-life reference to another colloquialism coined in the 21st century to show excitement and affirmation of something.

13. Finally, the end of the trailer says “LOADING IN THEATRES” but the ‘O” in LOADING is of course a “spinning wheel” representing the dreaded sign that something is buffering. Genius.

Let us know, did we miss any references that you may have seen? Are you excited that Ralph and Vanellope are exploring the internet? We can’t wait until Thanksgiving… which is right around the time when the movie is released!

(Image via Walt Disney Pictures)

- Caroline Thayer, YH Contributing Writer