Ten Things You May Not Know About Vanellope von Schweetz

1. According to her official Disney profile, Vanellope is determined to earn her place in the starting lineup amongst the other racers, despite her reputation as the “Glitch.” Her glitching was due to a pixelating programming mistake made during the fictional creation of Sugar Rush, though she has the spirit of a racer embedded in her coding. Years of rejection have left her with a wicked sense of humor, but somewhere beneath that hard shell is a sweet center just waiting to be revealed.

2. And what a sweet kid she is! Vanellope is the only feature character that never calls Ralph by his game persona “Wreck-it,” though that doesn’t stop her from calling him other “affectionate” nicknames such as “Diaper Baby,” “Gladys,” “Admiral Underpants,” and “Major Body Odor.”

3. Vanellope’s character design was inspired by the Japanese Super Deformed (SD) caricature style, popularly known in anime circles as chibi (which is Japanese slang for “small child”). This style is characterized by the use of smaller limbs and oversized heads, giving the character a child-like appearance. Additionally, Vanellope’s hair and facial features were designed to make her look like a younger version of her voice actor, Sarah Silverman.

4. Sarah Silverman also played the part of the restaurant greeter at Mel’s Drive-In in the 2011 live-action Disney film, The Muppets.  The film also starred Amy Adams, who played Giselle, the princess in the 2007 Disney film Enchanted .

5. Like Giselle, Vanellope is not an official Disney Princess, even though she is revealed to be a princess at the end of the film. So why isn’t she part of the official line-up? One can only speculate, but the “in-story” reason is that she abdicated her role as princess at the end of the movie, electing instead to be president.

6. Another proposed reason for Vanellope’s exclusion is the fact that she is too young. But how young is she? There’s a bit of confusion on this point. According to Executive Producer John Lasseter, Vanellope is twelve years old. However, Sarah Silverman and co-writer Rich Moore have stated that she is only nine.

7. Though Vanellope’s royal racing suit (as seen on the side of the Sugar Rush game cabinet toward the end of the film) is a teal and white jumpsuit, early concept drawings showed that she was originally going to have a white helmet with a golden crown on the side. Additionally, Vanellope’s skin was going to be grayish-green at one point to reflect her “glitchiness,” but it was quickly realized that she would look like a zombie!

8. In addition to becoming a champion racer, Vanellope was also nominated for a prestigious film award. In the 2012 Visual Effects Society Awards ceremony, Vanellope (and her animator Tony Smeed) was nomintated for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture. Unfortunately, she lost out to another Disney princess, Merida from Brave .

9. But don’t feel bad for her; Vanellope shares a peculiar characteristic with the one and only Mickey Mouse. Like Mickey, Vanellope only has four fingers (including her thumb). The majority of the other main characters in Wreck-It Ralph  have five. The only other characters with four fingers are her fellow racers in Sugar Rush and King Candy (though if you haven’t seen the film we won’t tell you why).

10. Though she mostly resembles a mint candy cane (in terms of her clothing), if you look closely you’ll discover that Vanellope’s skirt is made of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup wrappers. Mmmm! (However, the true Peanut Butter Cup champ in the Sugar Rush crew is Rancis Fluggerbutter.)