Incredibles

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***The Incredibles*** is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers after they arouse public concern. It is Pixar's sixth animated feature film. It was written and directed by Brad Bird and was produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

A sequel to *The Incredibles* was released on June 15, 2018.

## Plot

"Supers", humans gifted with superpowers, were once seen as heroes, but collateral damage and injuries from their various good deeds led the government to quietly create and initiate a Supers Relocation Program, forcing the Supers to fit in among the civilians and not use their superpowers in exchange for anonymity.

15 years later, Bob and Helen are supers and formerly known to the world as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Mr. Incredible has super strength and Elastigirl is able to stretch such a long distance to reach places nobody else could. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl get married and raised three children, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack, in the suburbs of Metroville. Since Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl have superpowers, Violet and Dash also have innate superpowers; Violet being able to create force fields and turn invisible, and Dash able to run at a very fast speed, but the baby Jack-Jack has not yet to show any. Bob, stuck in a white-collar job at an insurance agency, berated unfairly daily by his boss Mr. Huph, reminisces of his former days as Mr. Incredible, and sneaks out on Wednesday nights with his Superfriend, Lucius Best, aka Frozone (having the ability to freeze the moisture in the air), to fight street crime.

One day, Bob loses his temper with Mr. Huph, who refuses to let him foil a mugging, and hurls him through five walls and into a locker, exposing his super strength and losing his job as a result. Returning home whilst trying to figure out what to tell Helen, he finds a message from a woman named Mirage, who asks for Mr. Incredible's help to stop a rogue robot on a distant island for an incredible reward. Bob, claiming that he is going on a business trip to Helen, takes up Mirage's offer, and travels to the island of Nomanisan in a jet with Mirage. She explains to him that the robot is called an Omnidroid, a top-secret prototype battle robot, able to solve any problem it is confronted with. The only unfortunate problem was its intelligence reached a point where it wondered why it was taking orders, and now it is wreaking havoc in the dense jungle.

Mr. Incredible is then airdropped into Nomanisan, explores around and then encounters the Omnidroid. After a fight, Bob emerges victorious by tricking it into ripping out its own power source. On his return to Metroville, Bob spends his days working out, improving his family relationships with Helen and the kids, and getting back into shape. He takes his super suit, torn in the battle with Omnidroid, to Edna Mode, the fashion designer to the Supers, and asks her to repair it. She does so, and also insists on creating a new, better super suit for him. She refuses his request to add a cape, though, highlighting how the accessory doomed several other Supers in the past by getting caught on a variety of things, such as the fin of a missile and a vortex.

Mirage soon contacts Bob with another job on the island. On arriving, he finds an upgraded Omnidroid who starts to attack him. While trapped by the robot, he meets its creator, the technology-savvy supervillain Syndrome. Bob recognizes him as a young fan, Buddy Pine, an enthusiastic and eccentric young inventor who wanted to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick 15 years prior to the present day, but Mr. Incredible embarrassed him when sending him back to his home. Syndrome vowed revenge for this shunning, and as he brags about how he has won, Mr. Incredible throws a log at him. Syndrome dodges the log and immobilizes Mr. Incredible with his zero-point energy ray. After throwing using the zero-point energy ray to throw Mr. Incredible around in order to show his power over the superhero, Syndrome accidentally throws him over a waterfall and into a river. Syndrome sends a bomb to kill Mr. Incredible and sends a probe to ensure that Mr. Incredible has been killed.

Mr. Incredible manages to avoid the explosion and, discovering the bones of former Super and friend Gazerbeam, fake his death by hiding from the probe behind them. In the process, he discovers that Gazerbeam used his powers to inscribe a dying message into the cave wall: "KRONOS". Determined to discover Syndrome's plans, Mr. Incredible breaks back into his facilities, finds a computer and, using "Kronos" as the password, discovers a plan to systematically eliminate Supers. Each super thus far was pitted against increasingly advanced models of Omnidroid, and if not terminated by one model, they would be terminated by the next or by Syndrome himself. He also discovers that, although Lucius/Frozone's location is known, Helen's is not. As he browses the database further, he discovers that Operation Kronos's final stage is to unleash an Omnidroid on Matroville via rocket deployment.

Meanwhile, Helen has become suspicious of Bob having an affair. After discovering Bob's repaired suit, she talks to Edna and learns she created suits for the entire Parr family, each outfitted with a tracking device. Helen triggers Bob's, identifying the remote island but inadvertently revealing Bob's presence to Syndrome and causing him to be captured. Helen borrows a private jet from an old friend and travels to the island, disappointed to learn that Violet and Dash have stowed away while leaving Jack-Jack at home with a babysitter. As they near the island, Syndrome gives an order to terminate them by hitting the plane with missiles. Elastigirl uses her superpower to save her children from the exploding jet, and they safely make it ashore.

Elastigirl, Violet, and Dash take shelter during that night in a cave and Elastigirl (after giving them masks to protect their identity and making them promise to use their powers if threatened), runs off to Syndrome's lair. She sneaks in and after prowling around (one point being that she found a massive rocket) rescues Mr. Incredible from his cell. Violet and Dash meanwhile then find out that the cave they are in is, in fact, an exhaust tunnel for the rocket launch and have to spend the night in the jungle.

The next morning they encounter a talking bird, which is, in fact, a robotic alarm, this attracts the attention of the guards and they pursue them on high-speed Velocipods. Violet and Dash manage to defeat all of them (combining Violet's powerful force field with Dash's super speed), and they soon reunite with Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. The family works together to face off against and defeat several guards that had been chasing Dash and Violet. They are soon captured by Syndrome, who immobilizes Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl with one zero-point energy ray and simultaneously immobilizes Violet and Dash with another. Syndrome sees that the family is wearing matching super suits, and is then surprised to find that Mr. Incredible married Elastigirl and had kids with her, remarking that he had hit the jackpot by capturing a whole family of Supers.

Upon imprisoning the whole family in his containment unit in order to keep them from interfering with his plan, Syndrome explains that he has launched the perfected Omnidroid to Metroville, which has sent the city into chaos, upon which he will appear and using a control band, "subdue" the robot and become the city's hero. Then once Syndrome has become an old retiree, he plans to sell his advanced inventions to everybody, making them Super and thereby making the term obsolete. He departs in his aircraft to stop the Omnidroid. After his departure, Violet discovers that her force field can sever her magnetic bonds and frees the rest of the family, and with Mirage's help, they board a second rocket bound for the city.

In Metroville, the Omnidroid has started a path of destruction, and Syndrome enacts his plan, first saving a woman and her baby from a petrol tanker tossed by the Omnidroid, then faking a punch whilst pressing a button to detach one of the robot's arms, much to the people's cheers. However the Omnidroid is still a learning robot: it identifies where the external control source is, observes the control band and fires it off Syndrome's arm, then shoots at Syndrome's in-built rocket boosters, sending the villain flying into a building and knocking him unconscious while the robot continues to wreck the city.

The Incredibles and Frozone, who starts seeing the ensuing attack, work together to destroy it: the robot attempts to flatten Violet and Dash but Mr. Incredible just manages to save them, though he is thrown into a building afterward. He then charges back and tackles the Omnidroid with Frozone helping as well. He then finds Syndrome's wristband, realizing that it controls the robot, and (after being clawed in by the robot but being released upon pressing a random button) throws it to Dash, who races to get it with the Omnidroid firing at him and trapping him amongst burning cars. Elastigirl slingshots a manhole cover and destroys the laser, whilst Frozone rescues Dash. The robot then vaults itself into the air and nearly crushes Frozone and Dash, but he manages to freeze the air around them and cushions their fall. The remote is then knocked away; Mr. Incredible runs to get it only to be trapped in the Omnidroid's fired pincer. Violet then recovers it whilst invisible and after much confusion, Mr. Incredible soon realizes from remembering his battle with the first robot that the only thing that can penetrate it is itself. He directs Elastigirl to use the right controls and releases the powered-up pincer, which surges through and comes out the Omnidroid with its power source. It falls mundanely into the river and explodes, which causes the city welcomes the Incredibles and Frozone as heroes. As they are driven back to their home, Elastigirl anxiously calls the babysitter and learns that Syndrome, having regained consciousness, has abducted Jack-Jack.

Arriving at home, Syndrome immobilizes the Incredibles with his zero-point energy ray, explaining that he plans on kidnapping Jack-Jack and raising him as his sidekick so that Jack-Jack can fight the Incredibles someday. As Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl launch a rescue attempt, Jack-Jack reveals his powers of transformation, forcing Syndrome to drop him into Elastigirl's waiting arms. Bob hurls his sports car at Syndrome, causing him to fall in the aircraft turbine, where his cape gets caught in the engine, killing him. The ruined plane crashes into the Parrs' home, but Violet is able to protect the family from harm. Three months later, the Parrs have re-adjusted to normal life, but when a new villain, the Underminer, appears, the Incredibles, including Jack-Jack, don their masks, ready to battle the new foe.

## Cast

* Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible
* Holly Hunter as Helen Parr/Elastigirl
* Spencer Fox as Dash Parr
* Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr
* Jason Lee as Buddy Pine/Incrediboy/Syndrome
* Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best/Frozone
* Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews as Jack-Jack Parr
* Elizabeth Peña as Mirage
* Brad Bird as Edna Mode
* Bud Luckey as Rick Dicker
* Wallace Shawn as Gilbert Huph
* John Ratzenberger as The Underminer
* Teddy Newton as Newsreel Narrator, Tablet, Jet's Automated Captain
* Dominique Louis as Bomb Voyage
* Michael Bird as Tony Rydinger
* Jean Sincere as Mrs. Hogenson
* Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey Best
* Bret Parker as Kari McKeen
* Lou Romano as Bernie Kropp
* Wayne Canney as John Walker

### Additional Voices

* Mark Andrews as Radio Voice, Police Officer #2
* Nicholas Bird as Rusty McAllister
* Louis Braga III
* Mary Elizabeth Clark
* Pete Docter
* Louis Gonzales
* Elizabeth Greenberg as Citizen #2
* Juliet Greenberg
* Billy Guardino
* Dennis "DJ" Jennings as Man #2, Robotic Security Bird
* Ollie Johnston as Ollie
* Brad Lewis
* Ted Mathot as Citizen #3
* Jazzy Mahannah as Woman
* Randy Nelson as Police Officer #1
* Bob Peterson
* Jeff Pidgeon as Man #1
* Juliet Pokorny
* Joe Ranft as Crowd Member
* Lori Richardson as Street Woman
* A.J. Riebli
* Katherine Ringgold as Citizen #4
* Stephen Schaffer
* Bob Scott as Phone Voice, Citizen #1
* Peter Sohn as Mugger
* Andrew Stanton as Street Man
* Frank Thomas as Frank
* Pamela Gaye Walker
* Patrick Walker
* Deirdre Warin as Squeaker's Owner

### Uncredited

* Jack Angel as Firefighters, Guard #2
* Bob Bergen as Firefighters
* Bill Farmer as Oliver Sansweet's Lawyer
* Rodger Bumpass as Firefighters
* Mickie McGowan as Citizen Mother
* Patrick Pinney as Oliver Sansweet, Firefighters
* Phil Proctor as Firefighters, Guard #1
* John Walker as Reverend

## Production

### Writing

*The Incredibles* as a concept dates back to 1993 when Bird sketched the family during a period in which he tried to break into film. Personal issues had percolated into the story as they weighed on him in life. During this time, Bird had inked a production deal with Warner Bros. Animation and was in the process of directing his first feature *The Iron Giant*. Bird, who was then in his late thirties, began to wonder, with a measure of fear, about the conflict between career and family responsibilities.

Approaching middle age and having high aspirations for his film-making, he pondered whether these aspirations were attainable only at the price of his family life. He felt that he would completely fail at one if he focused too much on the other. 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 was heartsick and gravitated toward his superhero story.

> The dad is always expected in the family to be strong, so I made him strong. The moms are always pulled in a million different directions, so I made her stretch like taffy. Teenagers, particularly teenage girls, are insecure and defensive, so I made her turn invisible and turn on shields. And ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls. Babies are unrealized potential.
>
> Brad Bird, writer and director of *The Incredibles*

He imagined it as an homage to the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and he initially tried to develop it as a traditionally animated film. When *The Iron Giant* became a box office bomb (due to poor marketing on behalf of Warner Bros.), he reconnected with an old friend from college 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. The studio announced a multi-film contract with Bird on May 4, 2000.

This broke Pixar's mold of having directors who had all risen through the ranks, and Bird became the first outside director to be hired. In addition, it would be the company's first film in which all characters are human. Bird was a departure from other Pixar directors in many more ways, bringing an auteur approach not found in their earlier productions. Where Pixar films typically had two or three directors and a battalion of screenwriters, *The Incredibles* was written and directed solely by Brad Bird.

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. 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. 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."

## Appearances

Main article: Incredibles 2

Incredibles 2