By the time The Incredibles hit theaters in 2004, Pixar was a powerhouse in its prime, so there were super expectations for their newest film. And the studio delivered another bonafide classic, introducing audiences to the Parr family, a.k.a. The Incredibles. With a focus on the family dynamics of a super-powered family forced into hiding, the Pixar action epic mines more emotion than most superhero films before or since.
I remember seeing the teaser for the film, an overweight Mr. Incredible trying and failing to buckle his old superset belt and worried the superhero in midlife crisis joke could get old. But of course, while the movie has fun with that premise, it always takes it seriously and deeply explores what happens when gifted people are forced to hide those talents. Syndrome is a great foil to the family, a wannabe superhero snubbed for his lack of supernatural ability while missing his obvious flair for technology (and dramatics). And Samuel L. Jackson notched another iconic movie moment with his “Where’s my supersuit?” line as Mr. Incredible’s incredibly cool partner in crime Frozone.
Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible kicks ass as a mom trying to give her kids a stable home while herself having a buried longing for the glory days. In The Incredibles, every character is an archetype—Violet is the shy, tortured teen girl, Dash is the hyperactive and brash young boy—and they have the powers to match. Elastigirl has to be flexible to handle being a mother and superhero, Mr. Incredible bears the burden of the family on his strong shoulders. But the archetypes make the Incredibles into an everyfamily (Parr/average) that most families can relate to while seeing how those characters can evolve and the way they can work together as a family unit.
A Super-Powered Leap for Pixar
The original Pixar brain trust—John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and the late Joe Ranft—had one of the most fruitful lunch meetings of all time in 1994, spawning the ideas for A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc., and Wall-E. Following the massive success of their original hit, Toy Story, the company went on to immediately make three of these four ideas, plus a Toy Story sequel. The first decade in Pixar’s history hinged on these film ideas direct from the very founders of the company.
But in March 2000, director Brad Bird approached the company to pitch his ideas, including The Incredibles, to Pixar and secured a multi-film contract with the studio. Bird would be the first outside voice to partner with the studio, and struck gold twice with Incredibles and Ratatouille bookending Lasseter’s disappointingly mediocre Cars.
The studio took a big risk not only in bringing Bird into the fold but also in committing to animate a film that focused on actual human beings. It wasn’t the studio’s first foray into animating people—Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monster’s Inc. all obviously include human characters in relatively limited roles. But the main characters of those stories lent themselves better to the animation restraints of the time—the shiny plastic of toys, the slick skin of fish, and the freedom of completely fictional monsters.
Animating humans for the bulk of a movie posed a real challenge for the studio to provide a consistent experience that didn’t slip into the uncanny valley.
It’s also notable that previous Pixar films had all been a team effort on the story, screenplay, and often direction. But Bird had a singular voice and vision for The Incredibles as the sole director and writer for the film.
An Original Superhero Blockbuster
While a few blockbuster superhero movies were coming out in the ’90s and early 2000s, it pales in comparison to what we have today. And the big-budget superhero movies available were reserved for only the most popular comic book heroes in existence: Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men.
And yet Pixar took a big bet and spent $92 million to make a film about a superhero family that had zero cultural cache, relying purely on the studio’s goodwill and a hope that the concept intrigued viewers.
That it did, garnering $631.6 million worldwide behind only Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Spider-Man 2.
The creative freedom for Bird to build his own superhero universe to tell the story of one super-powered family paid dividends. Without having to navigate years of history, Bird could craft his heroes and world to deliver the most compelling story possible. The backstories hint at a tantalizing world of heroes while keeping the focus firmly rooted on the family dynamic.
Incredible Bonus Material
Not only is The Incredibles an all-time great film, the DVD is loaded with some of the best and most creative bonus material ever. The big standout is “The Adventures of Mr. Incredible,” designed to parody the limited animation style of the low-budget Saturday morning cartoons of the ’50s and ’60s. This means mostly still images, with live-action human mouths superimposed on characters to show the characters speaking. The short includes Mr. Incredible and Frozone, along with rabbit pal Mr. Skipperdoo, and comes with a hilarious commentary from the “real” Mr. Incredible and Frozone watching it for the first time, to their dismay. That’s not the only cool feature, as the DVD also included a database of supers that we barely see in the movie, other than that they were killed by Syndrome’s omnidroid. The database fills you in on hero teams we never see and explains each hero’s powers and personalities, oftentimes for whatever makes the best punchline.
What The Incredibles Means to Us
My memory is terrible. I have seen maybe a million movies, but there are only a handful that I can remember specifically the first time I ever saw them. The Incredibles is one of those movies. I was in college, and I went to see it with my brother (you know, Billy Dhalgren) and my nephew, who was around 10. I don’t care that I was 22, I was absolutely enthralled by this movie. The plot is such a fantastic twist on the superhero genre and takes you through the entire gamut of human emotion. There were moments I nearly slid out of my seat laughing and times I probably had dust or something in my eye (I’m not crying, you’re crying!). The characters are fun, layered, and artfully voice-acted. The animation is amazing. Now, with my own 3 kids, it remains one of my favorites, and it’s one that no matter how many times we’ve watched it, I am always up for one more time.
–R.J. Matthews
I’m proud to be among the first generation of Pixar kids. Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo — I was the target demographic when these animated delights were first released. However, while I’m a sucker for the continuing adventures of Woody and Buzz, I don’t think a Toy Story movie will ever top The Incredibles. Noticeably more mature than previous Pixar outings, this is a film that is packed with action, comedy, and heart. I love the opening flashback scenes and the training montage, the sibling antics between Dash and Violet feel all too real, and don’t get me started on the DVD special features. Seriously, they’re so good. Before the MCU was even a twinkle in Kevin Feige’s eye, The Incredibles was the best superhero universe out there (even if half the heroes were killed off). Watching this on long car rides (those portable DVD players were something else), man, it just didn’t get any better than that.
–Marmaduke Karlston
What are your thoughts on The Incredibles? Favorite moment? Favorite character or quote? Sound off in the comments below!
