THE INCREDIBLES (2004)

Nothing makes one feel old like seeing their childhood movies reach milestones like being released decades ago. The Incredibles is one of those for me. Five years after releasing his first animated feature, the underrated The Iron Giant (1999), writer-director Brad Bird surprised almost everyone with the release of the tongue-in-cheek superhero caper, produced by Pixar (and the studio’s first-ever PG-rated film).

It had been a long time in the making: Bird had the idea 11 years before the film’s release. He also reportedly had difficulty convincing Pixar to make the movie: studio executives were worried about the production cost and whether the movie would be successful enough to profit. Despite the rise of The Iron Giant to cult-classic status, it had bombed at the box office, making it hard for Bird to leverage it as proof of his ability to deliver a profitable feature. He compromised with the studio to convince them, for example by using the studio’s less popular animators, who were frustrated and likely to leave, to work on the film and experiment. It worked out, as the film, Pixar’s first to feature human main characters, showcased innovative animation technology developed to bring the characters to life. Human movement, as well as hair, skin, and fabric textures, hadn’t been 3D-animated to this extent before.

The Incredibles follows a family of super-powered individuals, in a society where superheroes have been declared illegal. Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), a.k.a Mr Incredible, possesses super-strength, while his wife Helen (Holly Hunter), a.k.a Elastigirl, can stretch and shapeshift her body like rubber. They met during the golden age of superheroes, sometime in the 1950s. Shortly after their wedding, Mr Incredible is sued by multiple civilians, including one saved by the hero from committing suicide. The lawsuits lead to the outlawing of superheroes and the start of a relocation programme, giving the heroes new civilian identities and helping them blend into normal society.

We catch up with Bob and Helen, and their three children, 15 years later. The oldest, Violet (Sarah Vowell), is an angsty teen who can turn invisible and generate force fields. The middle child, Dashiell ‘Dash’ (Spencer Fox), is aptly named: he can run at incredible speeds, making it easy for him to pull pranks, but hard to blend in at sports meetups. The baby, little Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews), is still too young to have demonstrated any superpowers yet. Helen is a stay-at-home mum, while Bob works a humdrum job at a local insurance company. When he gets fired, he secretly jumps back into superhero life working for a mysterious woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Peña). She recruits him on a mission for her secretive client, who then turns out to be Mr Incredible-fanboy-turned-villain Syndrome (Jason Lee).

The film’s casting included both well-known actors and surprising newcomers. Sarah Vowell, who voices Violet, had never acted before; Bird listened to her on her show This American Life on Public Radio International and thought she would be perfect for the role. Fun fact, two Pixar employees were also cast, in what are their only credited voice-acting roles. The first, an animator and production designer on the Pixar team named Maeve Williams, lent her voice to Jack-Jack in addition to the young Eli Lucile. The other is human resources employee Kimberly Clark, who landed the role of Lucius Best’s wife, Honey, a character who remains off-screen for the whole franchise. In the secondary role of Lucius, aka Frozone, an old superhero friend of Bob and Helen, Bird and Pixar managed an exciting high-profile casting for The Incredibles, snagging Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) in his first animated role.

The Incredibles manages to be many things at once: it threads the line as an ode to classic spy movies like James Bond, a spoof of comic book superheroes (and a surprising precursor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe hype), and a clever children’s movie appealing to all ages. The character of super-suit-maker and fashion designer Edna Mode (hilariously voiced by Brad Bird himself) is probably the character who best embodies those different facets. Her minuscule size, distinctive haircut and oversized glasses make her a striking character, and her rapid-fire dialogue is witty and will be enjoyable for older viewers. Nicknamed “E”, she’s a clear equivalent to Bond’s “Q”: the suits she designs are tricked out with a fun variety of gadgets and features, as she demonstrates to Helen in her lab. Finally, her monologue on the dangers of capes in superhero costumes is one of the funniest sequences in the film, highlighting just how impractical a cape is in high-stakes situations and making the audience rethink their favourite heroes’ costumes. She remains a popular internet meme to this day, which is just one proof of the lasting impact The Incredibles had on pop culture. The choice of Bird as Edna’s voice was accidental, as Lily Tomlin had initially been considered for the role; Bird only recorded the lines temporarily, and when Tomlin heard it, she said she wasn’t needed as it was perfect as is.

While Bird voiced Edna, another character is modelled after his facial features: the villain Syndrome. Syndrome is another character whose role is mainly to spoof classic spy movies and comic book heroes. His lair is ridiculous, set on a remote island with part of it built inside an active volcano, and is reminiscent of some of James Bond’s villains’ dens (SPECTRE’s volcanic lair in You Only Live Twice (1967) and Scaramanga’s island in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) come to mind specifically). Syndrome himself makes a petulant remark throwing shade at the Bond villains’ tendency to monologue when exposing their nefarious plans and the events that led up to their becoming evil. When Mr Incredible has him talking in the hope of distracting him, he stops and says: “You sly dog, you almost got me monologuing.” While this piece of dialogue will fly over most kids’ heads, adult viewers will immediately understand.

The original score is another element that emphasises Bird’s spy movie influences. The soundtrack, composed by Michael Giacchino, is heavily influenced by the works of The Pink Panther (1963) composer Henry Mancini and James Bond composer John Barry. Moreover, because of Bird’s insistence on the sound having an old-timey feel to better those classic soundtracks, Giacchino and sound engineer Dan Wallin decided to record the jazz-orchestra score with analogue recording methods from the 1960s.

The Incredibles achieved major box office success, grossing $631.7M internationally, and was both critically acclaimed and loved by the public. It was nominated for several awards and won two Academy Awards, for ‘Best Animated Feature’ and ‘Best Achievement in Sound Editing’. The open-ended conclusion led many fans to hope for a sequel, and Incredibles 2 (2018) was belatedly made. It was Pixar’s longest gap between sequels, as the long-awaited second instalment took 14 years to come to screens. I know I’m not the only millennial who felt giddy excitement at having the opportunity to dive back into the super family’s story after so many years. The franchise also spawned a few of Pixar’s classic shorts and some video games. Overall, The Incredibles had a major impact on 3D animation as a technology, but it can also be seen as a precursor to the superhero craze that would sweep pop culture not long after with the rise of the Marvel Universe.

USA | 2004 | 115 MINUTES | 2.39:1 • 2.35:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH • FRENCH • GERMAN • PORTUGUESE • RUSSIAN • ITALIAN

Cast & Crew

writer & director: Brad Bird.
voices: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson & Elizabeth Peña.