The Incredibles (2004)
Description: Bob Parr (A.K.A. Mr. Incredible), and his wife Helen (A.K.A. Elastigirl), are the world’s greatest famous crime-fighting superheroes in Metroville. Always saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. But fifteen years later, they have been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs where they have no choice but to retire as superheroes to live a “normal life” with their three children Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack (who were secretly born with superpowers). Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment. He soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction.
Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter
Photos
Trivia
Jason Lee (Buddy/Syndrome) recorded his vocals in four days, while Craig T. Nelson (Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible) recorded his vocals over the span of two years.
Lily Tomlin was considered for the part of Edna Mode, but turned it down when she heard Brad Bird’s vocal performance, saying, “What do you need me for? You got it already.”
Helen’s use of radio protocol while flying is exceptionally accurate for a movie. In the director’s commentary, Brad Bird tells that Holly Hunter insisted on learning the lingo and its meaning. The terminology used hints that Elastigirl has had military flight training. “VFR on top” means she is flying in the regime of Visual Flight Rules “on top” of a cloud cover. She requests “vectors to the initial”, directions how to get to the initial landing approach. “Angels 10” is her altitude call, ten thousand feet, this is a military term. Civilian flights use the term “flight level”. “Track east” is her direction of travel. “Buddy spike(d)” is a U.S. Military brevity code meaning “friendly anti-aircraft radar has locked on to me, (please don’t shoot).” “Transmitting in the Blind Guard” is a call on the emergency frequency where two-way communication has not been established. “Abort” is also a military brevity code, a directive meaning “stop the action/mission/attack.” It should be noted that the term “angels”, while popular for the first half of the twentieth century, is outdated.
Samuel L. Jackson was cast as the voice of Frozone because Brad Bird wanted the character to have the coolest voice.
Clothing, with its textures, weaving and stitching, is notoriously difficult to achieve in computer animation. Given that there are over ninety-five different outfits worn by the characters in the film, a tailor was brought in to the studio to explain the intricacies of clothes design. Because of the complexity of calculation the vast number of polygons plus the lighting and translucence, the weave of fabrics are only seen up-close, with lower resolution solid shapes are used for clothing in medium-distance and long shots.
Syndrome’s unusual way of walking was supposedly inspired by a Pixar employee who someone had noticed had a very strange walk and commented on it. His or her attempts to curb the strange walk were the basis of Syndrome and his purposeful walking style.
Brad Bird got the idea for this movie in the early 1990s, basing the story on his own experiences trying to balance a career with family.