The Incredibles
| The Incredibles | |
|---|---|
| File:The incredibles poster.jpg | |
| Directed by | Brad Bird |
| Written by | Brad Bird |
| Produced by | John Walker |
| Starring | Craig T. Nelson Holly Hunter Samuel L. Jackson Jason Lee Eli Fucile Brad Bird Spencer Fox Wallace Shawn Jean Sincere Sarah Vowell Bud Luckey |
| Cinematography | Andrew Jimenez Patrick Lin Janet Lucroy |
| Edited by | Stephen Schaffer |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release dates | November 5, 2004 |
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Languages | English French |
| Budget | $92 million USD |
The Incredibles is an Academy Award-winning Pixar Animation Studios animated feature film. It was written and developed by Brad Bird, former director of The Simpsons and best known for directing the animated movie The Iron Giant. The Incredibles was originally developed as a traditionally animated movie, but after Warner Bros shut down its animation division, Brad Bird moved to Pixar and took the story with him.
The Incredibles is Pixar's sixth film. It was "presented" by Walt Disney Pictures and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 5, 2004, and in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland on November 26, 2004. It was released in a two-disc DVD (in both widescreen and full frame versions) in the U.S. on March 15, 2005. According to the Internet Movie Database, it was the highest-selling DVD of 2005 with 17.38 million copies sold.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Fifteen years ago, the "Glory Days" were interrupted when the world's supers were overwhelmed by lawsuits over the damage and injuries that sometimes resulted from their actions. In exchange for immunity from the suits, the "supers" retired from heroics, and the government relocated them with civilian identities. Now Bob Parr, formerly Mr. Incredible, lives a quiet suburban life with his wife Helen, formerly Elastigirl, and their two super-powered children (and their baby, whose superpowers are yet to be awakened). Bored with this life of mediocrity, he occasionally sneaks out with his friend Lucius Best (formerly Frozone) to fight crime and protect the innocent.
Upon receiving a mysterious benefactor's invitation to be a hero again, Mr. Incredible leaps at the opportunity. However, the "benefactor" turns out to be a villain named Syndrome who carries a grudge: as a boy, he had idolized the superhero, even going as far as inventing machines that would allow him to become "Incrediboy", but Mr. Incredible squelched that dream in an attempt to protect him. Thereafter he dedicated his life to eliminating superheroes while he perfects a destructive robot that only he will be able to defeat with his inventions; he plans on unleashing it on the people of Metroville for a while before defeating it so that he will be seen as a hero.
It's up to the rest of the Parr family to save Mr. Incredible and to stop the robot after Syndrome loses control of it.
Production History
Voice cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Craig T. Nelson | Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible |
| Holly Hunter | Helen Parr/Elastigirl |
| Sarah Vowell | Violet "Vi" Parr |
| Spencer Fox | Dashiell "Dash" Robert Parr |
| Jason Lee | Buddy Pine/Syndrome/Incrediboy |
| Brad Bird | Edna "E" Mode |
| Elizabeth Peña | Mirage |
| Samuel L. Jackson | Frozone/Lucius Best |
| Eli Fucile | Jack-Jack Parr (human) |
| Bud Luckey | Rick Dicker |
| Wallace Shawn | Gilbert Huph |
| Bret 'Brook' Parker | Kari McKeen |
| Kimberly Adair Clark | Honey Best |
| Lou Romano | Bernie Kropp |
| Wayne Canney | Principal of Dash's school |
| Dominique Louis | Bomb Voyage |
| Jean Sincere | Mrs. Hogenson |
| Teddy Newton | Newsreel Narrator |
| John Ratzenberger | The Underminer |
| Maeve Andrews | Jack-Jack Parr (monster) |
Main characters
Mr. Incredible
Robert "Bob" Parr, "Mr. Incredible" (6’ 6” (2 m), 350 lb (159 kg)). The "hero's hero", Bob possesses tremendous strength and heightened resistance to harm. He also has either a sixth sense that enables him to sense imminent danger, or enhanced senses. He's the strongest of the supers.
His supersuit, designed by Edna Mode, appears to have the same level of durability as Mr. Incredible himself. His strength and invulnerability are similar to those of Superman and the Thing from the Fantastic Four, while the possible "danger sense" is reminiscent of Spider-Man's "Spider-sense", or, as mentioned, he could have enhanced senses, like Wolverine of the X-Men among others. In the "glory days," Mr. Incredible drove in a gadget-laden car, "The Incredibile," not unlike the ones driven by James Bond or Batman (the silhouette of a newer version of the Incredibile for the entire family is seen in the ending credits).
Elastigirl
Helen Parr, "Elastigirl" (5’ 8” (1.73 m), 125 lb (57 kg)). Helen Parr is one of the more complex supers. She can stretch any part of her body up to 100’ (30 m) and can be 1 mm thin. She can also slightly reshape her body in a variety of ways; in the movie she becomes a parachute and a rubber boat, and has used her arms for swings and a slingshot. She is on one occasion in the movie called Mrs. Incredible. She is a dedicated spouse and parent and is frustrated with her husband's continuing dreams of glory.
Her powers show similarity to Mister Fantastic, The Elongated Man or, to a lesser extent Plastic Man (she lacks his additional ability to radically morph his body into non-human objects). The name "Elasti-Girl" also belongs to a DC Comics superhero. Her Edna Mode-designed supersuit is designed to stretch as far as she can without injuring herself and still retain its shape. It is virtually indestructible and can stand up to extreme heat or cold, yet it breathes like Egyptian cotton.
Dash
Dashiell "Dash" Robert Parr (4’ 0” (1.22 m), 65 lb (29 kg)). Dashiell aka Dash is a super-speedster (in fact, on Incredibles merchandise, he is called the "Fastest Kid on Earth"). While he is only as strong as the average 10 year old boy, he can run extremely fast and even discovered that he can run on water. Dash would like to go out for sports, but his mother Helen (a.k.a. Elastigirl) will not allow it because she thinks that he would show off his superspeed and blow the family's civilian cover. To vent his frustration, Dash uses his power to play pranks on his class teacher instead.
His supersuit is resistant to air friction and won't wear down when he runs in it. His powers are most similar to those of The Flash or Quicksilver, as well as many other comic speedsters.
Violet
Violet "Vi" Parr (5’ 3” (1.60 m), 90 lb (41 kg)). Stuck at the crossroads between girl and woman, Violet desperately wants to be like everyone else, to blend in with normal people, and to not stand out. Appropriately, her superpowers allow her to turn instantly invisible (which is why she is called the "Queen of the Unseen" on Incredibles merchandise) and to generate spherical force fields to protect herself, similar to Marvel Comic's Invisible Woman.
During the movie she and Dash combine their powers to create the Incrediball, where Violet generates her forcefield around herself and Dash, who runs so that they both move at an incredible pace and block out anything attacking them. Her character development constitutes a major side-story in the movie, despite the fact that Violet herself isn't shown in very many scenes (due to the extreme complexity involved in animating her long, flowing hair).
Violet's name alludes to "shrinking violet", which means a shy person (usually a girl) or as a reference to ultraviolet light, which is outside the visible spectrum. Edna Mode designed a supersuit that turns invisible when Violet does and will not disrupt her force fields.
Jack-Jack
Jack-Jack Parr (2’ 6” (0.76 m), 25 lb (11 kg)). Jack-Jack is the cute baby in the Parr family and he can barely talk, as evidenced when Lucius rings the doorbell ("Hello?") and when he is grabbed in midair by Helen—who had performed a fastball special alongside Bob ("Mama!"). According to a guidebook published by Dorling Kindersley, his hair never needs hair gel. Initially believed to be the only family member without any powers, he manifests a multitude of superhuman abilities at the end of the film, most of which involve some form of bodily transformation. He is the most versatile of the supers.
The short film Jack-Jack Attack included on the DVD, further reveals what happened during Jack-Jack's time with the babysitter. The film suggests that Jack-Jack's superpowers are awakened when the babysitter plays Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which she believes is beneficial for children's cognitive development. The Mozart CD also plays various other songs, which keep in time to the action and seem to give Jack-Jack even more powers with each new song. In this short, even more superpowers than the original film are demonstrated, and according to a collectible poster included with some Incredibles toys, still more powers are disclosed. In total, Jack-Jack's shown powers include:
- The ability to transform into virtually any shape and/or substance he chooses (similar to "The Impossible Man," an alien once faced by the Fantastic Four) and similar to Shang Tsung, a fighter from the popular Mortal Kombat series.
- Generating flames from his entire body without harm to himself, akin to the Fantastic Four's Human Torch.
- Bodily transforming into living metal (presumably iron or lead, as he is demonstrated to be very heavy in this form), similar to DC hero Metamorpho and X-Man Colossus.
- Bodily transformation into a physically strong, slightly larger red-skinned creature with somewhat demon-like features, perhaps vaguely inspired by the Incredible Hulk. Evidently, he is more speech-capable in this form, as evidenced by a threat to kill Syndrome and repeating his own name as he scrambles down Syndrome's leg.
- Either silent teleportation or superspeed (he instantly shifts from place to place by unknown means, but the poster says that it is the latter) similar to the X-Man Nightcrawler.
- Phasing (the ability to become intangible and pass through solid objects), coupled with a slow anti-gravitational floating effect, reminiscent of X-Man Shadowcat or the Avenger Vision.
- Possible invulnerability or feral transformation, as he apparently chews through the wooden bars of his playpen (much like DC's Matter-Eater Lad), although it is not shown exactly how.
- Ability to project destructive energy beams from his eyes, which can be deflected by a mirror, akin to Superman's famous heat vision or, to a lesser extent, X-Man Cyclops' optic force blasts.
- X-ray vision (the ability to see through many types of obstacles), akin to Superman's own X-ray vision.
- Superhumanly sharp senses (hearing and taste, for example), somewhat reminiscent of Daredevil.
- Powerful saliva, reminiscent of The Toad, an enemy of the X-Men.
- Superhuman agility.
- Considerable intelligence.
Although no individual classic superhero character possesses so many varied powers, the closest examples would (at a stretch) be the DC characters Metamorpho and, especially, the Martian Manhunter, who has many thematically unrelated abilities such as flight, super-strength, invisibility, morphing, telepathy, etc. Another possible inspiration could be the little known Marvel character, The Answer. Due to experimentation by the Kingpin, The Answer would develop whatever power was needed to defuse a particular situation (e.g. flight to evade an explosion or bulletproof skin when shot at), or Lifeguard, another Marvel character with similar powers.
There is also an undeniable similarity between Jack-Jack and Franklin Richards (the mutant child of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four) who could do practically anything (some examples being his creation of a world and his aging himself to about his mid-twenties).
Although Edna Mode did not know what powers Jack-Jack might develop, she covered her bases by making him a fire- and bulletproof kicksuit.
Creator Brad Bird explains on the DVD that Jack-Jack's varied abilities are a metaphor for how young children have infinite possibilities ahead of them in life.
Frozone
Lucius Best, "Frozone" (6’ 2” (1.88 m), 180 lb (82 kg)). A long-time friend of the family, Frozone has the power to emit ice or snow from his fingers, and has a number of gizmos that help him in skiing on snow and similar feats. He is limited by the amount of water in the air and the amount of water in his body. During the movie, it is suggested that he has adapted to civilian life much more easily than his long-time friend, Bob Parr, though he still possesses a command center of sorts, as well as his super suit and all of his old gadgets in working condition. His powers are similar to Iceman from the X-Men (although unlike Iceman he does not "armour" his body with a layer of ice).
Syndrome
Buddy Pine, "Syndrome." This misguided villain was once Mr. Incredible's "greatest fan." In an attempt to earn his hero's respect, Buddy Pine tried to aid him in fighting crime as "IncrediBoy", with gadgets he had invented in his spare time, as well as showing plenty of "gee-whiz" spunk. Instead of respecting him as the sidekick he wished to become or trying to dissuade him diplomatically, Mr. Incredible kicked him out on the curb—quite literally.
Out of bitterness, Buddy recreated himself as an evil genius that plotted revenge on his former idol. The DVD Directors' Commentary seems to point out that his complete lack of conscience (he allowed missiles that he shot at an airplane carrying Helen, Dash, and Violet to continue attacking after Helen revealed the children's presence on the plane, and later bet Mirage's life in a showdown when Mr. Incredible threatened her) is due to schizophrenia, making him a mad scientist. After his plans to become a superhero frandulently and replace the Supers that he killed off were foiled by the Incredibles (although he did save a far-sighted mother and her baby among a crowd of innocents in a crisis he deliberately created before throwing the tanker that threatened to fry them behind him), Syndrome planned to abduct Jack-Jack and raise him as a sidekick, but failed due to the baby's recently emerged powers. Syndrome's cape got caught in his jet's intake and sucked him in. If not for the engine's blades, the explosion immediately following seems to point towards the conclusion that he was killed, but recent events have generated speculation of otherwise (see below).
Syndrome has no physical powers, but he is incredibly intelligent, making him a Super in his own right. He has invented numerous weapons (including weapons exploiting zero-point energy, which today is only in the theoretical stage) and is rich enough to own his own island, a mansion on the island, multiple rockets, and guards (he received his money by selling the weapons on the black market to the highest bidder, while reserving his most formidable creations for himself). His lack of physical powers combined with intelligence and apparently vast resources can be compared to the villain Doctor Doom or the hero Batman, among many other comic book characters. The 1960s aesthetics of his lair as well as the portrayal of his henchmen and elaborate plan involving rockets and public deception are also highly similar to various early James Bond villains.
Syndrome's red hair, freckles (particularly when a child in the opening scenes) and bursting enthusiasm are strongly reminiscent of Superman's not-quite-sidekick Jimmy Olsen. Syndrome's spiked red hair perhaps bring to mind the Heat Miser from the 1974 TV movie The Year Without a Santa Claus. A guidebook published by Dorling Kindersley reveals that his "diabolical" hairstyle is due to the power that flows from his evil mind. He is also physically modeled after Brad Bird.
In Disney on Ice's presentation of Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure, an android replica of Syndrome threatens the Magic Kingdom area of the Walt Disney World Resort, capturing Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and seeking to replace the entire resort with "his" own idea of "The Happiest Place on Earth" (SyndromeLand), only to be congealed by Frozone. The assault of this "robot copy" has generated speculation that the real Syndrome managed to survive his cape/turbine episode through undisclosed means, but was apparently undaunted by the traumatic events, as the robot was also seen wearing a cape.
Halfway through the film, Syndrome declared himself to be Mr. Incredible's nemesis. Due to the actions of the rest of the Incredible Family, Syndrome has become their nemesis as well.
Mirage
Mirage is Syndrome's seductive right-hand woman and possible accomplice in the murder of many "supers". She appears to have extensive computer and espionage skills.
Despite several hints at a more intimate relationship between Mirage and Buddy Pine (Syndrome), nothing is explicitly stated in the movie. (There is a part in the film where Syndrome reveals his feelings for Mirage by trying to kiss her, though she refused.) It is not known whether or not she herself is a "super." Though seemingly at ease with Syndrome's casual regard to murder, she nonetheless does have a "line" which she refuses to cross. This line is apparently children, since in the movie, she doesn't show any objections to murder until she hears Helen (Elastigirl) screaming over the radio "There are children aboard!"
She subsequently helps the Incredible Family to escape the island and thwart Syndrome's scheme. Her ultimate fate remains undisclosed; but it is likely that after Syndrome's fortune had been confiscated, she was sentenced to jail, though for a lighter term for her service to the Incredibles.
Edna
Edna "E" Mode is an eccentric fashion designer who formerly designed the costumes for many members of the superhero community, saying that she "used to design for gods". To that end, not only does she take the aesthetics of the clothes into account, but also their practical uses such as protective qualities and accommodation to the powers of the wearer. Edna's no-nonsense personality and round glasses are a direct homage to Edith Head, the legendary Hollywood costume designer, perhaps with nods to Elsa Klench and Anna Wintour. Edna Mode also appeared with Pierce Brosnan to present the Academy Award for Costume Design at the 77th Academy Awards. Edna "E" Mode is also a definite parody of the gadget designer branch in the James Bond movies, the "Q" branch.
The film's creators originally couldn't find an appropriate actress to voice Edna. Finally, when asking actress Lily Tomlin to voice Edna, Brad Bird provided an example of what she should sound like. Tomlin told Bird that he had nailed the voice well, and she suggested that Brad should perform the voice himself — which he did (with its unique German/Japanese accent).
Rick Dicker
Rick Dicker (voiced by Pixar animator Bud Luckey) is a government agent who was once part of the NSA (National Supers Agency) and now oversees the Superhero Relocation Program; some feel he looks like Richard Nixon and sounds like Ronald Reagan. Others feel he bears a resemblance to Tommy Lee Jones and is a play on the Agent K character he played in the Men in Black movies (concealing supers as opposed to alien visitors). It is likely that he was the one or among those who froze Syndrome's assets after the Incredibles and Frozone trashed the tenth Omnidroid.
U.S. box office take
Its opening box office sales in the United States exceeded that of Pixar's previous animation films. At the time of its release, its opening-weekend attendance ranked fifth in 2004, behind Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Spider-Man 2 and The Passion of the Christ. It was ranked 14th among all opening-weekend results at that time.
All figures in United States dollars.
- Week 1: $70,467,623 (1st)
- Week 2: $50,251,359 (1st)
- Week 3: $26,523,852 (3rd)
- Week 4: $23,580,279 (2nd)
- Week 5: $9,015,796 (4th)
- Week 6: $5,036,631 (6th)
- Week 7: $3,120,541 (10th)
- Week 8: $2,417,039 (15th)
The movie grossed a total of roughly $259,000,000 in the United States, and $366,000,000 in foreign markets, making it the fifth- and fourth-highest-grossing movie, respectively, of 2004. It is Pixar's second-highest-grossing movie, after Finding Nemo, and the third-highest-grossing superhero movie, after Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.
DVD extras
The Incredibles two-disc Collector's Edition DVD set was released on March 15, 2005. Two versions of the set are available: one widescreen and the other full screen (this is unlike releases for other Pixar films, which often contained both versions in one set). Like many other DVD releases, there are various extra features available on the two discs including:
- Commentary by Brad Bird and animators
- "Jack-Jack Attack" - An animated short that involves a subplot of the main film that explains how Jack-Jack develops his newfound powers and uses them, to the terror of his babysitter Kari. Jack-Jack Attack was originally intended to be integrated into the film footage, but was removed for pacing reasons.
- "Incredi-Blunders" - Animation bloopers and outtakes.
- Various deleted scenes in the form of screenplay drawings with occasional computer-generated backgrounds, with original voicing.
- "Making of The Incredibles" featurette.
- A Pixar short film "Boundin'" (04:40) in which an avuncular Jackalope teaches a lamb how to live with himself. This short was played before The Incredibles in numerous theaters. The short was written and narrated by veteran animator, Bud Luckey and includes optional commentary.
- Top-secret NSA (National Supers Agency) files on all the Supers.
- "Mr. Incredible & Pals" cartoon which employs the use of Syncro-Vox, a cheap animation technique, and features an optional commentary supposedly by the "real" Frozone and Mr. Incredible.
- "Vowellet" - an essay by Sarah Vowell.
- Other hidden easter eggs. These can be accessed on Disc 1 by going to the commentaries menu. Wait for about 30 seconds, and a silhouette of Mr. Incredibile will appear in the lower right hand corner. Select it for an easter egg. On Disc 2, on almost every menu, after waiting for several seconds (waiting time varies per menu), an omnidroid will appear in the upper right hand corner. Select it for the easter egg.
Merchandising
Several companies released promotional products related to the movie. Dark Horse Comics released a limited series of comic books based on the movie. Kellogg's released an Incredibles-themed cereal, as well as promotional Pop Tarts and fruit snacks, all proclaiming an "Incrediberry Blast" of flavor. Furthermore, in the weeks before the movie's opening, there were also promotional tie-ins with SBC Communications (using Dash to promote the "blazing-fast speed" of its SBC Yahoo! DSL service) and McDonald's.
In Europe, Kinder chocolate eggs contained small plastic toy characters.
In Mexico, there has been a craze about the movie, literally hundreds of items are being sold there, with several of them being exclusive to Mexico. Already many stores around the country have been reporting being completely sold out of certain popular items.
In Belgium, car manufacturer Opel sold special The Incredibles editions of their cars.
In the United Kingdom, Telewest promoted blueyonder internet services with branding from the film, including television adverts starring characters from the film.
In all merchandising outside of the film itself, Elastigirl is referred to as Mrs. Incredible. This is due to a licensing agreement between Disney/Pixar and DC Comics, who previously had a character named Elasti-Girl and owned the license to the name. DC Comics claimed the name because of a character named Elasti-Girl in the series Doom Patrol. She was able to grow and shrink at will from microscopic size to thousands of feet tall.
Video games
The Incredibles
The Incredibles also spawned a video game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC and the Apple Macintosh. The game features 18 levels, and has five playable characters. They are:
- Mr Incredible: Used for most of the game, he spans 11 of the levels. While his techniques are the same, his clothes change:
- Young Bob Parr (two levels)
- "Keeping Identity Secret" Bob (one level; burning building)
- Old Bob Parr (three levels; old blue suit)
- Old Bob (four levels; new "i" suit)
- Elastigirl:
- Young Helen Parr (one level; original suit)
- Older Helen Parr (two levels; new "i" suit)
- Dash (two levels, both of which have a time limit). Two suits: secret identity and supersuit.
- Violet: Used once. She sneaks past guards invisibly; the supersuit is her only costume.
- Incredi-Ball: Dash and Violet together in a force field.
On the GBA version, Incredi-Ball is absent. However, the character of Frozone is playable.
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
Announced at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), there will be a sequel to the Incredibles video game, called Rise Of The Underminer. This game took place after the first movie/game and the basis is defeating the Underminer. From ign.com:
- "Following The Incredibles' defeat of Syndrome in the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of the Pixar Animation Studios film, a new threat emerges beneath the ground with a diabolical plot to pollute the major cities of the world and rule over humanity from below. Fans will be able to pick up from where the film left off and relive the glory days as Mr. Incredible and Frozone, superhero best friends who team up to tackle a new villain, The Underminer."
Trivia
- The plotline involving society legally forcing superheroes into retirement (although a few remain secretly active) and the mention of capes being a dangerous costume choice, among other details, are strongly similar to the acclaimed comic book Watchmen by Alan Moore.
- An appearance of the CalArts Animation School inside joke A113 appears in the middle of the movie, when Mirage tells Mr. Incredible to report to conference room A113.
- The street names in the first chase scene, like San Pablo, Adeline, Stanford, Christie, and Powell, are the names of actual streets in Emeryville, California, the home of Pixar Studios' headquarters.
- According to one of the extra features on the DVD, other Superteams in this "universe" are Beta Force, the Phantasmics and the Thrilling Three. The final is disbanded.
- Frozone's rant and line "Say what again!" is a reference to the character Samuel L. Jackson played in Pulp Fiction.
- The Incredibles has, by far, the most number of deaths, both implied and shown, of any Disney animated movie (although the Disney movie with the most deaths overall is Pirates of the Caribbean). This includes the supers killed by Syndrome, those killed by their own incompetence (the cape scene), Syndrome's henchmen, members of the army and police force who were killed by the Omnidroid, innocent people killed by the large number of explosions and other occurances, and quite possibly Syndrome himself. The amount of destruction in this movie is also record high. A high death rate is one of the many things that make this movie resemble films of the super spy genre, such as James Bond, as well as the generic superhero genre. Killings by a superhero are very rare in American cinema, but a killing by a teenage, child, or baby superhero is almost unheard of.
- Apogee, Blazestone, Blitzerman, Downburst, Gamma Jack, Gazerbeam, Hypershock, Macroburst, The Phylange, Psycwave, Stormicide, Tradewind, Universal Man, and Vectress are supers that were killed by an Omnidroid. Frozone was a target before Mirage's focus switched to Bob. The fate of Fironic and Plasmabolt is uncertain, not having appeared in Syndrome's database nor being listed among those KIA in the NSA files. Blitzerman, Fironic, Tradewind, and Vectress do not even have their own NSA files.
- Dynaguy, Meta-Man, Stratogale, and Thunderhead are supers (along with Splashdown) whose capes contributed to their deaths. Incidentally, all four are briefly seen during the Parrs' wedding; they are seated in the pew behind Gazerbeam, Edna, and Rick Dicker.
- Five of the aforementioned supers do not have audio files in the Special Features DVD and Rick Dicker gives the following reasons:
- "Macroburst audio file incomplete; damaged during mission. Audio file for Macroburst mission recovered, but determined incomplete by NSA (National Supers Agency) Division Delta."
- "Audio file for Meta-Man found missing. Assumed confiscated during surprise attack by Baron von Ruthless."
- "Audio file for Plasmabolt erased inadvertedly due to Plasmabolt's electromagnetic aura. See IGEL to re-record."
- "Splashdown audio file irretrievable due to water damage."
- "Stratogale's mission audio file deemed incomprehensible; suspect either faulty recording equipment or a high level of ambient wind noise."
- Some of the supers are named after figures in the gaming industry; in particular, Blazestone resembles Blake Stone, a game developed by Apogee.
- When Jason Lee's character, young Buddy Pine, is introduced onscreen, Bob struggles to remember his name. He initially calls Buddy "Brodie," a hat-tip to Lee's role in Mallrats.
- The costumes were also based on those of the musical superhero band The Aquabats, who had a television series in development with Disney years ago and wear similar costumes. One reason is that Brad Bird was in charge of their graphics and comic books in the last few years.
- In the world of The Incredibles one might drink Blert Cola (displayed on a billboard as Mr. Incredible and Frozone drive to the fire.)
- This is the first Pixar movie to be rated PG and the first Pixar film not to have lyrics to any of its scores.
- This is also the first Pixar movie in which multiple characters die.
- In the scene where Bob Parr accidentally breaks the car door and begins to mutter to himself, you can briefly hear him saying "Oh geez." It was a phrase of frustration commonly used by Craig T. Nelson's character on the TV sitcom Coach.
- Production of The Incredibles began in March 2000.[1]
- The score to the film was composed by Michael Giacchino. At Brad Bird's request, it is a stylistic tribute to the action scores of the 1960s, such as John Barry's scores for the James Bond franchise, which combined swinging big band and jazz lounge music with symphonic action scoring. The score was recorded in analog. Giacchino elected to forgo the standard practice of recording each soundtrack element separately, recording the orchestra, brass, and percussion simultaneously in the same room.
- The Incredibles suggest several similarities to the Marvel Comics group The Fantastic Four. Besides the various similar powers shared by both groups, the costumes are also simliar in theme (at least in regards to the more classic FF costumes). There is also the fact of both team leaders having a "Mister" in their names. Even the baby, Jack-Jack, who can effect a seemingly endless variety of powers, suggests a similarity to Franklin Richards (the mutant child of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman) who had virtually limitless power. Yet another similarity is seen between the Underminer (the villain who appears at the end of the film) and Fantastic Four's oldest foe, the Mole Man.
- Aside from the Fantastic Four, there are some similarities to other comic-book superheroes as well. Mr. Incredible recalls the Golden Age version of Superman, with some Batman thrown in (they ride high-tech cars, just like Mr. Incredible's Incredibile). Elastigirl may also be based on Plastic Man, and Dash is based on the Flash.
- A fourth villain, Baron von Ruthless, is mentioned when Bob and Lucius are recounting the old days. In Lucius' story, Von Ruthless is about to kill Frozone with a death ray when he starts "monologuing" (another name for villain speech; see deathtrap (plot device))—a classic villain mistake. Frozone recounts how Baron von Ruthless gives a "prepared speech about how feeble that I am compared to him, how inevitable that my defeat is, how the world will soon be his!" In fact, Lucius says that Von Ruthless "has me on a platter, and he won't shut up." In the special features disc, he is given the blame for the disappearance of an audio file for Meta-Man during one of his surprise attacks. The Incredibles popularized the term "monologuing."
- Baron Von Ruthless is also a name that was suggested when professional wrestler Steve Austin was searching for a new name that suggested evil and cold-heartedness, along with Ice Dagger and Chilly McFreeze. He chose Stone Cold instead.
- Veteran Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas have character and voice cameos at the conclusion of the final battle sequence. Brad Bird had them both appear in cameos previously in The Iron Giant. Unfortunately, Thomas did not live long enough to see the finished film.
- The DVD has a Hindi audio track. Bob Parr's Hindi voice is performed by Sharukh Khan.
- The movie has spawned a short comic book (Holiday Heroes) and a Disney on Ice show (A Magic Kingdom Adventure), both featuring original stories showing the Incredibles on vacation until a disaster happens (in the comic, it is a volcano; in the show on ice, it is a "robot Syndrome").
- The scene where Elastigirl warns her children that their opponents are a deadly threat who will not show mercy to anyone, regardless of age, was a deliberate attempt by Bird to subvert the typical atmosphere of Saturday morning cartoons of minimized jeoparady.
- The movie takes place no later than 1976. Several of the characters with capes are listed as having died in the late 1950s. Many anachronisms result from this, such as the existence of CDs, which didn't hit the retail market until 1983. Also, Mr. Incredible's lawyer(s) should have gotten the Sansweet lawsuit dismissed, as suicide was illegal everywhere in the late 50s. Therefore, Mr. Incredible was actually stopping a crime in progress.
- The plot of the movie is eerly similar to Alan Moore's controversial graphic novel, Watchmen. Some of the similarities are:
- Begins with superheroes being outlawed.
- The main character continues to fight crime outside of the law as a vigilante (e.g. Mr. Incredible or Rorschach).
- Syndrome becomes deeply disturbed in his childhood, similar to what happened to Walter Korvacs, aka. Rorschach.
- Portraying former superheroes in their civilian lives.
- Both Syndrome and Adrian Veidt are portayed as super-intelligent, have killed or discredited fellow superheroes, and have been responsible for a conspiracy.
- The conspiracy consists of a device of unstoppable lethality, seemingly extra-terrestrial.
- Both Bob Parr and Nite-Owl were portrayed as fit and athletic earlier, but are both presently overweight.
Awards
The film won the Academy Award in 2005 for Best Animated Feature as well as Best Achievement in Sound Editing. It also received nominations for Best Original Screenplay (for writer/director Brad Bird) and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, but didn't win.
Other use of the name
- The Boeing design team responsible for developing the Boeing 747 was known as "The Incredibles," because of the incredible speed with which they worked—only four years from proposal to finished aircraft—and because of the incredible risk that the company took on by undertaking such an ambitious project (which, if it failed, would have ruined the company).
External links
