My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: "The Incredibles" - The Superhero Movie From Pixar and Their First Human-Centered Picture

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.

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No, none of our costumes are fireproof ;)

This is what Al Hirschfeld
does to us :)

In many ways, superheroes has always been a perfectly suitable for animated movies. But it`s still very remarkable how there used to be few animated movies about them. It would`ve been tempting to wonder why there haven`t been made so many features about them, despite how most animated movies involves heroism in some way or another. But in 2004, Pixar broke the mold with their own superhero movie. And they did it a time long before Disney acquired Marvel.

I wanted to be Nemo for a
day :)

In the Fall of 2004, the sky was the limit for Pixar. They were coming off the heels of the successful juggernaut Finding Nemo. Who broke records and became the most successful animated of all time, even beating Disney`s own previous juggernaut, The Lion King. With that regard, it would`ve been tempting to wonder that Pixar would see it`s downfall after a string of successful movies. But fortunately they didn`t. Coming into a World where CGI had officially taken over and Hand Drawn Animation had officially disappeared Theatrically, Pixar was bound to have a new success. And that was with The Incredibles.

General Information About The Incredibles

Released November 5th 2004, The Incredibles was Pixar`s Sixth Animated Movie. But it was the first Pixar feature to be ever directed from Brad Bird, who`s of course helmed the animated gem The Iron Giant (and having Bird who was behind such a jewel is of course promising by itself). And Incredibles would become one of three movies that he would made at Pixar (his follower would be Ratatouille). Featuring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter (her first voice acting gig), Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elizabeth Peña. It was first Pixar film to be scored by Michael Giacchino. It had the short film, Boundin' (2003) preceeding it in Theaters.

And despite how it wasn`t the phenomenon that was Finding Nemo, it still was a success. Grossing $261,441,092 Domestically and $631,688,498 Worldwide. It had the second-highest opening weekend for an animated film, only behind Shrek 2. Incredibles opened as number #1 at the Box Office. It won Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing at the 77th Academy Awards, with two nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing. And it`s been included on many of best-of lists. Even Disney veteran animators as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston get their cameos in the movie.

Behind the Scenes Information

Since you`ve both stuck in
each ear, I`m (JackJack)
fortunate enough to be
untouchable :)

Brad Bird, who was Pixar's first outside director, developed the The Incredibles based of the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood. The concept dates back to 1993 during an hard point in his career. Personal issues was affecting the story. Approaching middle age and having high hopes for his career, Bird pondered whether his goals were attainable at the price of his family life. He pitched the film to Pixar after The Iron Giant and carried over much of its staff to Pixar. He initially wanted the project to be Hand Drawn. But after reconnecting with old friend John Lasseter in March 2000, Lasseter convinced Bird to come to Pixar, where it would be done in CGI. But Bird wrote the script without knowing the limitations or concerns of CGI. And yes, it made it the most complex film for Pixar (at the time). Incredibles was written and directed solely by Brad Bird, a departure from previous Pixar productions. Who mostly had many directors and screenwriters. Disney was reluctant to make the movie for it`s issues and rather wanted it to be a live-action. But Lasseter denied this.

This is my security check
prosedure when I`m entering
a train :)

The stock archetypes of the family (who were originally named the Smiths) was there from the get-go and Bird had based their powers on their archetypes: Strength for the father, stretch for the mother (who`s always pulled in a many different directions), invisibility for a shy teenager, speed for a frantic child and a unrealized potential for a baby. Originally everyone could fly, except Bob. Which was a burden to him. Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli visited Pixar and praised the ambition for the movie. After several failed attempts to cast Edna Mode, Bird took on her voice role himself. As a part of the Pixar tradition of voices who worked on scratch dialogue tracks. Tony Fucile (The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Iron Giant) designed the characters (and his son, Eli, voiced Jack-Jack). Mark Andrews (Brave) supervised the storyboarding.

Someone told me that a
superhero who has this pose
looks cool :) Don`t blame me
for the idea :)

The challenges with The Incredibles was how story was bigger, was longer in running time and more different locations. And too many characters, costume changes, effects and how it was too big. And yes, it was daunting for the crew, despite how they were excited. The lack of structure become a running joke to the team. There were at least 781 visual effects shots. Incredibles also showed Bird`s dislike for unrealistic, ineffectual, and non-threatening villains. Bird was looking for a retrofuturistic sound and also an an old feel. But Giacchino noted that recording in the 1960s was different from modern day recordings. So the score was recorded on analog tapes. As brass instruments sounded better on analog equipments.

How The Incredibles is Different and Similar From the Previous Pixar Fare

We (Frozone and Edna) didn`t
have any red outfits, so we
had to dress in our own
colors :)

In a way, The Incredibles was somewhat a break for Pixar. They were mostly known to deliberately portray anthrophomorized worlds from their point of view, before they expanded their horizions with their premises. But at least Incredibles were a part of that expansion. As it was their first feature that featured humans and starred an all-human world. Sure, humans had been present in Pixar`s previous properties, but Incredibles really took the leap with the human characters. Humans was a challenge to do in CGI, which was a reason why perhaps Pixar mostly reduced most of their human characters to secondary characters (and yes, the humans were harder to do than the effects). And Incredibles was challenging, cause it was filled with elements that were difficult to animate with CGI back then. It required creating new technology to animate detailed human anatomy, clothing, and realistic skin and hair. Pixar's animators filmed themselves walking to better grasp proper human motion. Although the team had animated hair and cloth in Monsters, Inc., there was more hair and cloth required for Incredibles. And Bird would tolerate no compromises for technical simplicity.

This is my way of flying with
my belly on the ground. It`s
not recommended :)

However, the designs of the humans in Incredibles doesn`t opt for total realism. As they come across as stylised as the regular Pixar human characters. The crew didn`t wanted them to look real, but feel real. They wanted a stylized look that were designy and fun-looking, but also wanted a convincing look. Still, what makes Incredibles comparable to Nemo is that it tells a story about a father. While of course both fathers are essentially different characters, it`s remarkable how it followed Nemo`s footsteps in that regard (and sure, it would`ve made it comparable to One Houndred and One Dalmatians and The Aristocats, since they are about parenthood, too). But while Pixar has always been synonymous with their buddy picture formula, at least Incredibles wasn`t such a picture. However, a remarkable thing about Pixar`s features is that they were becoming longer and longer at the time. And Incredibles was stretching the limits of length in a Pixar-movie.

The Storyline and Genre of The Incredibles

I will never loose a pin with
my gloves on :)

In reality, while

The Incredibles was never truly innovative with it`s plot, at least it was trying to do something interesting on it`s own right: Telling a story about a family of superheroes. But also a story about a retired superheroes who had their reasons to stay hidden (which why deliberately their introductory scenes are contradicting what`s happening with them). And how their retirement led to a midlife-crisis for the lead character. And yes, the Parr family are essentially serving the stock archetypes that are often seen in American, animated sitcoms. And while of course the children are given their superpowers, the superpower to the baby (JackJack), is the most extreme and frankly the least natural and therefore (in my opinion) the least satisfying.

I drank the juice from
Wonderland :) But since I`m a
baby, I couldn`t help it :)

But at least Incredibles was somewhat innovative for being a spy movie in animation. Which was rare for the medium at the time. And sure, it would`ve been tempting to compare it to Spy Kids, for being a movie about a family of superheroes and having a similar plotline. And sure, another shallow comparison would be Hercules. Who also was about actual heroism. But of course it`s a shallow one. As for other comparisons, many reviewers compared Incredibles to superhero comic books, like Powers, Watchmen, Fantastic Four, Justice League, and The Avengers. The crew of 2005`s Fantastic Four were forced to make script changes and add more special effects for not being too similar to Incredibles.

The Villains

I`m the current version of
Zeus :)

As for the villain of The Incredibles, Buddy/Syndrome is essentially one of the flaws of the film. For actually given a relatable and understandable reason to do what he does (after being rejected by his Idol). But his conflict is never resolved, as the screenplay just keeps him the sheer villain at the end. It`s essentially disappointing, as his motivations is also partly Bob`s fault and puts him in a bad light. But what`s even more less satisfying, is how Bob (despite giving a brief, but insincere apology) never truly mends his mistake. Nor even gets gets a closure with his nemesis. Which is essentially is one of the mistakes in the movie. Syndrome was originally a minor character who assaults Bob and Helen at the beginning of the movie and dying in an explosion that destroys the Parrs' house. And was a part of Bird's first pitch. But was so popular among the audience and was made the main villain. As the crew liked him more than his predecessor, Xerek, who was originally the villain. Xerek was going to be a short, decrepit criminal mastermind to taking down superheroes by using his army of henchmen and robots. And afterwards was as tall, dark and mysterious figure like James Bond villain. He was also going to be an obsessed ex-boyfriend of Helen and turn on the good side at the end. Syndrome was based on Brad Bird himself (Jason Lee also played his voice as younger, where his voice waas raised and speed changed).

I`m the Tim Burton version of
Susan from Monsters vs.
Aliens :)

In that regard, Mirage is also a remarkable character. For essentially being a femme fatale to the story. But also a character who could`ve been easily interpreted as a potential love interest for Bob. Of course Incredibles doesn`t go completely with this idea. But it still does comically play with it. But Mirage is remarkable for starting out as a character who tricks Bob and becomes on his side. In that sense, it would`ve been tempting to compare her to Helga in Atlantis The Lost Empire. For serving a similar role. Despite how Mirage`s arc is more obvious than Helga`s, as Helga was never truly given the chance to develop her redeemable sides. But at the end, Mirage is still a underwritten character. As her motives are never truly explored. Which is a pity, due to how the characters and especially Bob, are well-rounded, human and flawed and Mirage`s motives could`ve been explored more.

The Sequel

Yeah, we wanted to escape
from this window. Cause it`s
hard being stuck here :)

Despite how The Incredibles was among Pixar`s most beloved properties, it`s remarkable that it took so long before a sequel saw the light of the day. Fourteen years after it`s predecessor, The Incredibles 2 was released in June 2018. Also directed by Brad Bird and with most of the cast returning (with the exception of the voice actor for Dash), as well as the composer. The sequel takes place shortly after it`s predecessor (which was a conscious choice). While it`s not perhaps rehashing the storyline of it`s predecessor, it still does have a similar storyline. And frankly swaps Helen`s and Bob`s parts: As Helen is the one who gets to shine and save the day, while Bob steps in her shoes (which was a deliberate choice from Bird). And just as it`s predecessor, it has a villain (female one) who has a personal, relatable reason for doing what she does. And just like Syndrome, doesn`t get a redemption, despite that she has potential to have one.

I preceeded Elsa :)

Bird was open to an idea of a sequel, but only if it would be better than the original. A challenge in writing Incredibles 2 was to deal with the amount of superhero films and TV show that`s been released since the first film. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The interesting thing for Bird was never the superhero part. But the family dynamic and how the superhero things play into that. To try to differentiate the sequel, Bird wanted to avoid tropes to the superhero genre. And wanted to include unused ideas from the first film. The Incredibles 2 received positive reviews and was a commercial success, too. Grossing $608,581,744 Domestically and $1,243,225,667 Worldwide. As for myself, did I like it? Yes. Sure, it felt similar to it`s predecessor and felt like it came from the same cloth. But it`s not a bad thing, as the sequel was a entertaining and fun movie. Whether it`s equal or superior to it`s predecessor, it`s not particularly relevant. As it`s a good movie on it`s own right.

Epilogue

I`m the red and
modern version of
Hercules :)

At the end, The Incredibles is a worthy and cherished entry into Pixar`s pantheon of animated movies. And it`s certainly one of the movies that belongs to Pixar`s golden pantheon of string of successes. And it`s always going to be heralded with it`s high position and have it`s league of fans. However, regarding my own personal opinion of the movie, the truth is that while I`ve enjoyed it, it`s never been a movie that I`ve actually loved. Frankly, I consider Incredibles a good and fun movie, but not a great one. While there`s nothing lackluster about it, it still lacks the spark and mojo of Pixar`s very best works. And sure, it`s somewhat of a letdown from the brilliant, iconic masterpiece that was The Iron Giant (sorry, Brad Pitt and his fans).

This was my best
way of looking
cute :)

However, while some of the animation has not aged particularly well (sorry, animators) and it`s a little too long and some storypoints could`ve been more tighten up, it`s still a engaging and entertaining movie. It`s funny, edgy and even somewhat adult-oriented in some ways. And since this entry was written to synergize with it`s 20th Anniversary (yes, it`s hard to believe that someone who was 20 years old when this movie was released, that this movie is now the same age), there`s nothing left than to wish The Incredibles Happy 20th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.