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''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elizabeth Peña. Set in a
retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...
version of the 1960s, the film follows Bob and Helen Parr, a couple of superheroes, known as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, respectively, who hide their powers in accordance with a government mandate, and attempt to live a quiet suburban life with their three children. However, Bob's desire to help people draws the entire family into a confrontation with a vengeful fan-turned-foe. Bird, who was Pixar's first outside director, developed the film as an extension of the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and personal family life. He pitched the film to Pixar after Warner Bros.' box office disappointment of his first feature, ''
The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was publish ...
'' (1999), and carried over much of its staff to develop ''The Incredibles''. The animation team was tasked with animating an all-human cast, which required creating new technology to animate detailed human anatomy, clothing, and realistic skin and hair. Michael Giacchino composed the film's orchestral score. ''The Incredibles'' debuted at the El Capitan Theatre on October 24, 2004, and was released in theaters in the United States on November 5. It earned $632million worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2004. ''The Incredibles'' received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise for its animation, screenplay, action sequences, sound design, humor, voice acting, themes, music, and appeal to different age groups, and is frequently considered to be one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. The film won
Best Animated Feature This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and
Best Sound Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...
at the 77th Academy Awards, with two additional nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing, as well as the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the first entirely animated film to win the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. A sequel, '' Incredibles 2'', was released in June 2018.


Plot

On the day of his wedding with Helen Truax (alias Elastigirl), superhero
Bob Parr Robert "Bob" Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, is a fictional superhero who appears in Disney/ Pixar's 6th animated film ''The Incredibles'' (2004) and its sequel and 20th animated film ''Incredibles 2'' (2018). He is a superhuman that has sup ...
(alias Mr. Incredible) thwarts a civilian's attempted suicide by tackling him through a skyscraper window. Bob then discovers supervillain Bomb Voyage robbing the building, but is interrupted by his devoted fanboy Buddy Pine, who wants to be his sidekick. Bob rejects Buddy, and Voyage clips a bomb onto Buddy's cape; Bob manages to get the bomb off, but it destroys part of an elevated train track, forcing Bob to abruptly stop an oncoming train. After his wedding, Bob is sued for collateral damage by the suicidal civilian and the injured train passengers. Similar lawsuits create a negative public attitude towards superheroes, so the government initiates the Superhero Relocation Program, banning all "supers" from using their powers in public and forcing them into hiding. Fifteen years later, a now-overweight Bob lives with Helen and their children,
Violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...
,
Dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, and baby
Jack-Jack The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Walt Disney Pictures, Disney/Pixar Animation Studios, Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibl ...
, in Metroville. Although he loves his family, Bob misses his superhero days and resents his mundane job as a claims adjuster,
moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
as a vigilante with his best friend Lucius Best (alias Frozone). One day, Bob's supervisor, Gilbert Huph, stops him from preventing a mugging. Bob injures Huph in frustration and is fired as a result. The same day, a woman named
Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...
secretly offers Bob a mission to subdue a giant "
Omnidroid The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...
" robot loose on Nomanisan island. Bob succeeds by tricking the machine into ripping out its own power source. Rejuvenated by the action and higher pay, Bob improves his relationship with his family, trains to get back into shape, and asks superhero costume designer Edna Mode to fix a tear the Omnidroid made in his old suit. Incorrectly assuming Helen knows of Bob's new job, Edna makes new suits for the entire family. Summoned back to Nomanisan, Bob discovers Mirage is working for Buddy, now calling himself "Syndrome" after being embittered by Bob's rejection. Syndrome has become wealthy by inventing weapons that mimic superpowers. He also has been perfecting the Omnidroid by luring supers to fight it until it kills them. Syndrome intends to send an Omnidroid to attack Metroville, then defeat it publicly with secret controls, thereby gaining "hero" status. He then plans to sell his inventions to the world to make the term "super" irrelevant. Helen visits Edna and learns what Bob has been up to. She activates a beacon Edna built into the suits to find Bob, inadvertently causing Bob to be captured while infiltrating Syndrome's base. Helen borrows a private plane to fly to Nomanisan; Violet and Dash stow away, leaving Jack-Jack with a babysitter. Despite knowing that there are children on the plane, Syndrome shoots it down with missiles, but Helen and the kids survive and make it to the island. Disillusioned by Syndrome's callousness, Mirage releases Bob and informs him of his family's survival. Syndrome's guards pursue Dash and Violet, who fight them off with their powers and reunite with their parents. Syndrome imprisons the family and follows the Omnidroid to Metroville. The Parrs escape to Metroville as well with Mirage's help. Syndrome's plan backfires when the Omnidroid's artificial intelligence recognizes that Syndrome's remote control wristband is a threat; it shoots the remote off of Syndrome, who is knocked unconscious as he tries to flee. The Parrs and Lucius fight the Omnidroid; Helen and the kids retrieve the remote control, allowing Bob to destroy the robot's power source. The Parrs and Lucius are hailed by the public just as Syndrome awakens to see their victory. Returning home, the Parrs find Syndrome retaliating by abducting Jack-Jack to raise as a sidekick. As Syndrome flies away, Jack-Jack's superpowers manifest, and he escapes Syndrome's hold. Helen rescues the falling baby, and Bob throws his car at Syndrome's plane; Syndrome is sucked into the plane's engine, killing him and causing the plane to explode. Three months later, the Parrs witness the arrival of supervillain the Underminer. They don their masks and suits, ready to face the new threat.


Voice cast

* Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible, the patriarch of the Parr family who is Helen's husband, possessing superhuman strength and endurance. * Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl, Bob's wife who has the ability to
shapeshift In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...
her body like rubber. * Sarah Vowell as
Violet Parr Violet Parr is a fictional character in Pixar's computer animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' (2004) and its sequel ''Incredibles 2'' (2018). The eldest child of Bob Parr, Bob and Helen Parr (The Incredibles), Helen Parr (Mr. Incredible an ...
, the Parrs' eldest child who can become invisible and generate
force fields Force field may refer to: Science * Force field (chemistry), a set of parameter and equations for use in molecular mechanics simulations * Force field (physics), a vector field indicating the forces exerted by one object on another * Force field ( ...
. * Spencer Fox as Dashiell "Dash" Parr, the Parrs' second child, possessing
superhuman speed A Speedster is a character, primarily in superhero comics, whose powers primarily relate to superhuman speed (also known as superspeed). Primary abilities shared by all speedsters include running at speeds far in excess of human capability (to va ...
. * Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews as
Jack-Jack Parr The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...
, the Parrs' infant son who demonstrates a wide range of superhuman abilities. * Jason Lee as Buddy Pine / IncrediBoy / Syndrome, Mr. Incredible's obsessed fan-turned-supervillain who uses his scientific prowess to give himself enhanced abilities. * Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone, Bob's best friend who can form ice from humidity. * Elizabeth Peña as
Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...
, Syndrome's right-hand woman. * Brad Bird as Edna "E" Mode, the fashion designer for the Supers. *
Teddy Newton Teddy Newton (born March 3, 1964) is an artist at Pixar Animation Studios. He has worked as a storyboard artist for ''2 Stupid Dogs'', ''The Iron Giant'', and '' Dexter's Laboratory''. Newton co-wrote ''Jack-Jack Attack'' as well as did the voic ...
as Newsreel Narrator, heard narrating the changing public opinion of the Supers. *
Jean Sincere Jean "Sinny" Sincere Zambello (August 16, 1919 – April 3, 2013) was an American film, television, theater and voice actress. Her credits included the films '' Roxanne'', ''The Incredibles'', and the musical television series, ''Glee''. Early ...
as Mrs. Hogenson, an elderly lady to whom Bob pretends to deny an insurance claim. *
Bud Luckey William Everett Luckey (July 28, 1934 – February 24, 2018) was an American animator, artist, cartoonist, composer, illustrator, musician, singer and voice actor. He worked at the animation studio Pixar, where he worked as a character designer ...
as
Rick Dicker The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...
, a government agent responsible for keeping the Parrs undercover. *
Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...
as
Gilbert Huph The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...
, Bob's demeaning boss. * Lou Romano as Bernie Kropp, Dash's teacher. * Michael Bird as
Tony Rydinger The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...
, Violet's love interest. * Dominique Louis as Bomb Voyage, a French supervillain who uses explosives. * Bret Parker as Kari, Jack-Jack's babysitter. * Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey, Frozone's wife. * John Ratzenberger as
The Underminer The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios ...
, a mole-like supervillain.


Production


Development and writing

''The Incredibles'' as a concept dates back to 1993 when Bird sketched the family during an uncertain point in his film career. Personal issues had percolated into the story as they weighed on him in life. During this time, Bird had signed a production deal with
Warner Bros. Feature Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1 ...
and was in the process of directing his first feature, ''
The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was publish ...
''. Approaching middle age and having high aspirations for his filmmaking, Bird pondered whether his career goals were attainable only at the price of his family life. He stated, "Consciously, this was just a funny movie about superheroes. But I think that what was going on in my life definitely filtered into the movie." After the box office failure of ''The Iron Giant'', Bird gravitated toward his superhero story. He imagined it as a homage to the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and he initially tried to develop it as a 2D cel animation. When ''The Iron Giant'' became a box office bomb, he reconnected with old friend John Lasseter at Pixar in March 2000 and pitched his story idea to him. Bird and Lasseter knew each other from their college years at CalArts in the 1970s. Lasseter was sold on the idea and convinced Bird to come to Pixar, where the film would be done in
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
. The studio announced a multi-film contract with Bird on May 4, 2000. ''The Incredibles'' was written and directed solely by Brad Bird, a departure from previous Pixar productions which typically had two or three directors and as many screenwriters with a history of working for the company. In addition, it would be the studio's first film in which all characters are human. Bird came to Pixar with the lineup of the story's family members worked out: a mom and dad, both suffering through the dad's midlife crisis; a shy teenage girl; a cocky ten-year-old boy; and a baby. Bird had based their powers on family archetypes. During production, Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli visited Pixar and saw the film's story reels. When Bird asked if the reels made any sense or if they were just "American nonsense," Miyazaki replied, through an interpreter, "I think it's a very adventurous thing you are trying to do in an American film." Syndrome was originally written as a minor character who assaults Bob and Helen at the beginning of the movie, only to die in an explosion that destroys the Parrs' house (in this version, the Smiths), but he was made the main antagonist because the filmmakers liked him more than the character of Xerek, who was intended to fulfill that role. The Snug character that Helen talks to at the phone in the final film was intended to fly Helen to Nomanisan Island and to die, but he was removed from that position when Lasseter suggested having Helen pilot the plane herself.''Finding Nemo'', 2004 DVD, commentary Syndrome was based on Brad Bird himself.


Casting

Holly Hunter, cast as Helen Parr/Elastigirl, never voiced an animated character before and saw the role as an exciting opportunity to expand her repertoire. She was also drawn to the film by its unique and "unconventional story about family and human dynamics". Bird considered Hunter "one of the finest actresses in the world", capable of playing a "sensitive" character who also has "a very sturdy center". Spencer Fox was cast as Dash Parr, which was also his feature film debut. Brad Bird wanted to give Dash a realistic out-of-breath voice in certain scenes such as the jungle scene so he made Fox run four laps around the Pixar studio until he got tired. Samuel L. Jackson was cast as Lucius Best/Frozone, Bird cast him because he stated that he wanted the character to have the coolest voice. Lily Tomlin was originally considered for the role of Edna Mode, but later turned it down. After several failed attempts to cast Edna Mode, Bird took on her voice role himself. It was an extension of the Pixar custom of tapping in-house staff whose voices came across particularly well on scratch dialogue tracks. Sarah Vowell was offered the role of Violet unexpectedly; Bird wanted to cast Vowell as Violet after hearing her voice on the National Public Radio program, ''
This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...
''. Bird stated that she was "perfect" for the part and immediately called her to offer her the role.


Animation

Upon Pixar's acceptance of the project, Brad Bird was asked to bring in his own team for the production. He brought up a core group of people he worked with on ''The Iron Giant''. Because of this, many 2D artists had to make the shift to 3D, including Bird himself. Bird found working with CGI "wonderfully malleable" in a way that traditional animation is not, calling the camera's ability to easily switch angles in a given scene "marvelously adaptable." He found working in computer animation "difficult" in a different way than working traditionally, finding the software "sophisticated and not particularly friendly." Bird wrote the script without knowing the limitations or concerns that went hand-in-hand with the medium of computer animation. As a result, this was to be the most complex film yet for Pixar. The film's characters were designed by Tony Fucile and
Teddy Newton Teddy Newton (born March 3, 1964) is an artist at Pixar Animation Studios. He has worked as a storyboard artist for ''2 Stupid Dogs'', ''The Iron Giant'', and '' Dexter's Laboratory''. Newton co-wrote ''Jack-Jack Attack'' as well as did the voic ...
, whom Bird had brought with him from Warner Bros. Like most computer-animated films, ''The Incredibles'' had a year-long period of building the film from the inside out: modeling the exterior and understanding controls that would work the face and the body—the articulation of the character—before animation could even begin. Bird and Fucile tried to emphasize the graphic quality of good 2D animation to the Pixar team, who had only worked primarily in CGI. Bird attempted to incorporate teaching from Disney's Nine Old Men that the crew at Pixar had "never really emphasized." For the technical crew members, the film's human characters posed a difficult set of challenges. Bird's story was filled with elements that were difficult to animate with CGI back then. Humans are widely considered to be the most difficult things to execute in animation. Pixar's animators filmed themselves walking to better grasp proper human motion. Creating an all-human cast required creating new technology to animate detailed human anatomy, clothing, and realistic skin and hair. Although the technical team had some experience with hair and cloth in ''
Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American computer-animated Monster movie, monster comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, B ...
'' (2001), the amount of hair and cloth required for ''The Incredibles'' had never been done by Pixar up until this point. Moreover, Bird would tolerate no compromises for the sake of technical simplicity. Where the technical team on ''Monsters, Inc.'' had persuaded director
Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer, voice actor, and chief creative officer of Pixar. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated feature films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001) ...
to accept pigtails on Boo to make her hair easier to animate, the character Violet had to have long hair that obscured her face; in fact, this was integral to her character. Violet's long hair, which was extremely difficult to animate, was only successfully animated toward the end of production. In addition, animators had to adapt to having hair both underwater and blowing through the wind. Disney was initially reluctant to make the film because of these issues, thinking that a live-action film would be preferable, but Lasseter denied this. Not only did ''The Incredibles'' cope with the difficulty of animating CGI humans, but also many other complications. The story was bigger than any prior story at the studio, was longer in running time, and had four times the number of locations. Supervising technical director Rick Sayre noted that the hardest thing about the film was that there was "no hardest thing," alluding to the amount of new technical challenges: fire, water, air, smoke, steam, and explosions were all additional to the new difficulty of working with humans. The film's organizational structure could not be mapped out like previous Pixar features, and it became a running joke to the team. Sayre said the team adopted "Alpha Omega," where one team was concerned with building modeling, shading, and layout, while another dealt with final camera, lighting, and effects. Another team, dubbed the "character team," digitally sculpted, rigged, and shaded all of the characters, and a simulation team was responsible for developing simulation technology for hair and clothing. There were at least 781 visual effects shots in the film, and they were quite often visual gags, such as the window shattering when Bob angrily shuts the car door. Additionally, the effects team improved their modeling of clouds, using volumetric rendering for the first time. The skin of the characters gained a new level of realism from a technology to mimic " subsurface scattering." The challenges did not stop with modeling humans. Bird decided that in a shot near the film's end, baby Jack-Jack would have to undergo a series of transformations, and in one of the five planned he would turn himself into a kind of goo. Technical directors, who anticipated spending two months or even longer to work out the goo effect, stealing precious hours from production that had already entered its final and most critical stages, petitioned the film's producer, John Walker, for help. Bird, who had himself brought Walker over from Warner Bros. to work on the project, was at first immovable, but after arguing with Walker in several invective-laced meetings over the course of two months, Bird finally conceded. Bird also insisted that the
storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
s define the blocking of characters' motions, lighting, and camera movements, which had previously been left to other departments rather than storyboarded. Bird admitted that he "had the knees of
he studio He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
trembling under the weight" of ''The Incredibles'', but called the film a "testament to the talent of the animators at Pixar," who were admiring the challenges the film provoked. He recalled, "Basically, I came into a wonderful studio, frightened a lot of people with how many presents I wanted for Christmas, and then got almost everything I asked for."


Music

''The Incredibles'' is the first Pixar film to be scored by Michael Giacchino. Brad Bird was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film's
retrofuturistic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...
design – the future as seen from the 1960s. John Barry was the first choice to do the film's score, with a trailer of the film given a rerecording of Barry's theme to ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to: * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel ** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...
''. However, Barry did not wish to duplicate the sound of some of his earlier soundtracks; the assignment was instead given to Giacchino. Giacchino noted that recording in the 1960s was largely different from modern day recording and Dan Wallin, the recording engineer, said that Bird wanted an old feel, and as such the score was recorded on analog tapes. Wallin noted that brass instruments, which are at the forefront of the film's score, sound better on analog equipment rather than digital. Wallin came from an era in which music was recorded, according to Giacchino, "the right way," which consists of everyone in the same room, "playing against each other and feeding off each other's energy." Many of Giacchino's future soundtracks followed suit with this style of mixing. Tim Simonec was the conductor/orchestrator for the score's recording. The film's orchestral score was released on November 2, 2004, by Walt Disney Records, three days before the film opened in theaters. It won numerous awards for best score including
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...
, BMI Film & TV Award,
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
Film and Television Music Award,
Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desi ...
, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award and Online Film Critics Society Award and was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, Satellite Award and
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
.


Themes

Several film reviewers drew precise parallels between the film and certain superhero comic books, like ''
Powers Powers may refer to: Arts and media * ''Powers'' (comics), a comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming ** ''Powers'' (American TV series), a 2015–2016 series based on the comics * ''Powers'' (British TV series), a 200 ...
'', '' Watchmen'', ''
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'', '' Justice League'', and ''
The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...
''. The producers of the 2005 adaptation of ''Fantastic Four'' were forced to make significant script changes and add more special effects because of similarities to ''The Incredibles''. Bird was not surprised that comparisons arose due to superheroes being "the most well-trod turf on the planet," but noted that he had not been inspired by any comic books specifically, only having heard of ''Watchmen''. He did comment that it was nice to be compared to it, since "if you're going to be compared to something, it's nice if it's something good". Some commentators took Bob's frustration with celebrating mediocrity and Syndrome's comment that "when everyone's super, no one will be" as a reflection of views shared by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche or an extension of Russian-American novelist
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
's Objectivism philosophy, which Bird felt was "ridiculous." He stated that a large portion of the audience understood the message as he intended whereas "two percent thought I was doing '' The Fountainhead'' or ''
Atlas Shrugged ''Atlas Shrugged'' is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. It was her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her '' magnum opus'' in the realm of fiction writing. ''Atlas Shrugged'' includes eleme ...
''." Some purported that ''The Incredibles'' exhibited a right-wing bias, which Bird also scoffed at. "I think that's as silly of an analysis as saying ''The Iron Giant'' was left-wing. I'm definitely a centrist and feel like both parties can be absurd." The film also explored Bird's dislike for the tendency of the children's comics and Saturday morning cartoons of his youth to portray villains as unrealistic, ineffectual, and non-threatening. In the film, Dash and Violet have to deal with villains who are perfectly willing to use deadly force against children. On another level, both Dash and Violet display no emotion or regret at the deaths of those who are trying to kill them, such as when Dash outruns pursuers who crash their vehicles while chasing him, or when both of them witness their parents destroy several attacking vehicles with people inside, in such a manner that the deaths of those piloting them is undeniable. Despite disagreeing with some analysis, Bird felt it gratifying for his work to be considered on many different levels, which was his intention: "The fact that it was written about in the op/ed section of '' The New York Times'' several times was really gratifying to me. Look, it's a mainstream animated movie, and how often are those considered thought provoking?"


Release


Marketing

A teaser trailer of ''The Incredibles'' premiered on May 30, 2003, and was attached to the screenings of ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was writ ...
''. Several companies released promotional products related to the film. In the weeks before the film's opening, there were also promotional tie-ins with
SBC Communications The history of AT&T dates back to the invention of the telephone. The Bell Telephone Company was established in 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell, who obtained the first US patent for the telephone, and his father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Bell ...
(using Dash to promote the "blazing-fast speed" of its SBC Yahoo! DSL service) Tide, Downy,
Bounce Bounce or The Bounce may refer to: * Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface Books * Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books Broadcasting, film and ...
and McDonald's. Dark Horse Comics released a limited series of comic books based on the film. Toy maker Hasbro produced a series of action figures and toys based on the film.
Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...
released an Incredibles-themed cereal, as well as promotional Pop-Tarts and fruit snacks, all proclaiming an "Incrediberry Blast" of flavor.
Pringles Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based crisps. Originally sold by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1968 and marketed as "Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips", the brand was sold in 2012 to the current owner, Kellogg's. As of 2011, Pri ...
included potato chips featuring the superheroes and quotes from the film. In July 2008, it was announced that a series of comic books based on the film would be published by BOOM! Studios in collaboration with Disney Publishing by the end of the year. The first miniseries by BOOM! was ''The Incredibles: Family Matters'' by
Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...
and
Marcio Takara Marcio Takara is a comic book artist known for his work on books such as ''Incorruptible'', '' The Incredibles: Family Matters'' and ''Dynamo 5''. Career Takara has named Stuart Immonen and Jim Lee among his artistic influences. From 2010 to 2 ...
, which was published from March to June 2009 and collected into a
trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...
published in July of that year.


Theatrical

''The Incredibles'' was released theatrically in the United States on November 5, 2004. In theaters, ''The Incredibles'' was accompanied by a short film, ''
Boundin' ''Boundin'' is a 2003 American computer-animated short film, which was shown in theaters before the feature-length superhero film ''The Incredibles''. The short is a musically narrated story about a dancing sheep, who loses his confidence after bei ...
'' (2003). The theatrical release also included sneak peeks for '' Cars'' and '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''. While Pixar celebrated another triumph with ''The Incredibles'',
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
was embroiled in a public feud with the head of its distribution partner, The Walt Disney Company. This would eventually lead to the ousting of Michael Eisner and Disney's acquisition of Pixar the following year. In March 2014, Disney CEO and chairman
Bob Iger Robert Allen Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and the President and Ch ...
announced that the film would be reformatted and re-released in 3D. ''The Incredibles'' was re-released and digitally re-mastered for
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...
theaters (alongside its sequel, '' Incredibles 2'') using their DMR Technology in a double feature on June 14, 2018. As part of Disney's 100th anniversary ''The Incredibles'' was re-released between September 1 to 14, 2023 in the United States and October 5 to 11 in Latin America.


Home media

The film was first released on both VHS and a two-disc collector's edition DVD set on March 15, 2005. The DVD set was
THX THX Ltd. is an American company that develops the eponymous high fidelity audio/visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, car audio systems, and video games. Founded ...
certified, consisted of widescreen and a pan and scan fullscreen versions and included two newly commissioned Pixar short films, '' Jack-Jack Attack'' and '' Mr. Incredible and Pals'', which were made specifically for this home-video release, and ''Boundin, a Pixar short film that premiered alongside the feature film in its original theatrical release. The VHS release only featured the short, ''Boundin'.'' It was the highest-selling DVD of 2005, with 17.38 million copies sold. The film was also released on UMD for the Sony PSP. Disney released the film on Blu-ray in North America on April 12, 2011, and on 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 5, 2018; this marks Disney's first 4K Blu-ray reissue on the format.


Reception


Box office

''The Incredibles'' earned $261.4million in the United States and Canada and $370.1million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $631.6million. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2004, behind '' Shrek 2'', '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' and '' Spider-Man 2''. ''The Incredibles'' was released with '' Alfie'' on November 5, 2004. It debuted earning $70.7million from 3,933 theaters. This made it the second-highest opening weekend for an animated film, trailing only behind ''Shrek 2''. The film opened in the number #1 spot at the box office, dominating '' Saw'', '' The Grudge'', '' Shark Tale'', ''
Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...
'', '' Ladder 49'' and other films. Despite its opening, the overall Hollywood revenues fell, continuing a box office slump that had lingered for most of the fall season. The top 12 movies took in $136.1 million down to 5% from the same weekend the previous year, just after the openings of ''
The Matrix Revolutions ''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following ''The Matrix Reloaded''. The film stars ...
'' and '' Elf''. For 15 years, ''The Incredibles'' had the biggest November opening weekend for an animated film until it was dethroned by '' Frozen II'' in 2019. It continued to rule the box office while staying ahead of '' The Polar Express''. Its second weekend earnings dropped by 28% to $51million, and followed by another $26million the third weekend. ''The Incredibles'' completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on April 14, 2005.


Critical response

Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, making it Pixar's fourth film to receive this grade (after '' Toy Story 2'', ''
Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American computer-animated Monster movie, monster comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, B ...
'', and ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was writ ...
'').
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of four, writing that the film "alternates breakneck action with satire of suburban sitcom life" and is "another example of Pixar's mastery of popular animation." Peter Travers of '' Rolling Stone'' also gave the film three-and-a-half, calling it "one of the year's best" and saying that it "doesn't ring cartoonish, it rings true." Giving the film three-and-a-half as well, '' People'' magazine found that ''The Incredibles'' "boasts a strong, entertaining story and a truckload of savvy comic touches." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of '' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' was bored by the film's "recurring pastiches of earlier action films", concluding that "the Pixar whizzes do what they do excellently; you just wish they were doing something else." Jessica Winter of '' The Village Voice'' criticized the film for "playing as a standard summer action film", despite being released in early November. Her review, titled as "Full Metal Racket," noted that ''The Incredibles'' "announces the studio's arrival in the vast yet overcrowded Hollywood lot of eardrum-bashing, metal-crunching action sludge." ''The Incredibles'' was included on a number of best-of lists. It appeared on professional rankings from '' The Guardian'' based on retrospective appraisal, as one of the greatest films of the twenty-first century. Travers also named it as number 6 on his list of the decade's best films. Several publications have listed it as one of the best animated films, including: '' Entertainment Weekly'' (2009), ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' (2010), '' Insider'', '' USA Today'', '' Elle'' (all 2018), '' Rolling Stone'' (2019), ''
Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
'', '' Complex'', '' Time Out New York'', and '' Empire'' (all 2021). ''The Incredibles'' appeared on several lists of the best superhero films, by outlets including: '' Time'' (2011), '' Paste'', '' Vulture'', ''
Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...
'' (all 2019), ''IGN'' (2020), ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', '' The Indian Express'', and ''Parade'' (all 2021). In December 2021, the film's screenplay was listed number 48 on the Writers Guild of America's "101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (So Far)". Others have named it one of the best conservative films, best action films, and best political films.


Accolades

''The Incredibles'' led the 77th Academy Awards season with four nominations (including Best Original Screenplay and Sound Mixing). It received two Oscars:
Best Animated Feature This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and Sound Editing. Joe Morgenstern of ''The Wall Street Journal'' called ''The Incredibles'' the year's best picture. ''Premiere'' magazine released a cross-section of all the top critics in America and ''The Incredibles'' placed at number three, whereas review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes cross-referenced reviews that suggested it was its year's highest-rated film. The film also received the 2004 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and the 2005
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
for
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
, and it was nominated for the 2004
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It also won the
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
for
Best Animated Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. The
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
included it as one of the top 10 films of 2004. It was included on Empire's 500 Greatest Films of All Time at number 400.


Video games

It has received several game adaptations: '' The Incredibles'' (2004), '' The Incredibles: When Danger Calls'' (2004), and '' The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer'' (2005). '' Kinect Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure'' (2012) features characters and worlds from five Pixar films, including ''The Incredibles''. ''
Disney Infinity ''Disney Infinity'' is an action-adventure sandbox toys-to-life video game series developed by Avalanche Software. The setting of the series is a giant customizable universe of imagination, known as the Toy Box, populated with toy versions of i ...
'' (2013) includes ''The Incredibles'' playset featuring the film's playable characters. ''
Lego The Incredibles ''Lego The Incredibles'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by TT Fusion, based on both ''The Incredibles'' and ''Incredibles 2'' films. The game was released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment o ...
'' was released in June 2018.


Sequel

A sequel, titled ''Incredibles 2'', was released on June 15, 2018 and was once again a critical and commercial success.


Notes


References


Citations


Works cited

* *


External links

* * * * *
''The Incredibles'' production notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Incredibles 2004 computer-animated films 2004 action comedy films 2004 films 2000s American animated films 2000s animated superhero films 2000s superhero comedy films 2000s English-language films American action comedy films American computer-animated films American superhero films American animated feature films Animated action films Animated films about families Animated superhero comedy films Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners Best Animated Feature Annie Award winners Best Animated Feature Broadcast Film Critics Association Award winners Boom! Studios titles Child superheroes Fictional families Films scored by Michael Giacchino Animated films set in the 1950s Animated films set in the 1960s Films set on fictional islands Film superheroes Films directed by Brad Bird Films produced by John Walker Films that won the Best Sound Editing Academy Award Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form winning works Midlife crisis films Pixar animated films Superhero teams Termination of employment in popular culture Walt Disney Pictures animated films Films with screenplays by Brad Bird 2004 comedy films American children's animated superhero films Fiction about discrimination Animated films set on islands Animated films about prejudice