Pixar's The Incredibles

***Pixar's The Incredibles*** is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy superhero adventure film, directed, written by Brad Bird, released by Walt Disney Pictures, and the 6th film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was released on November 5, 2004. The story follows a family of superheroes living a quiet suburban life, forced to hide their powers due to public concern about the damage Supers cause. Bird, who was Pixar's first outside director, developed the film as an extension of 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and personal family life. He pitched the film to Pixar after the box office disappointment of his first feature, *The Iron Giant* (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 film premiered on October 28, 2004, at the BFI London Film Festival and had its general release in the United States on November 5, 2004. The film performed highly at the box office, grossing $631 million worldwide during its original theatrical run. The Incredibles was met with high critical acclaim, garnering high marks from professional critics and audiences, and provoking commentary on its themes. Many critics called it the best film of 2004, receiving the 2004 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, along with two Academy Awards. It became the first entirely animated film to win the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It was released on DVD on March 15, 2005, and Blu-Ray on April 12, 2011.**

## Plot

Set in a world where "supers", people gifted with superpowers and abilities, are commonplace, the film opens up with three superheroes, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone, being interviewed. They talked about the subject of what being a superhero means to them, such as the importance of a secret identity, the burden of always being vigilant to protect the world from one threat after another, and the importance of superhero individuality. **Bob Parr is seen driving in his Incredibile when he intercepts the police transmission and switches his car to battle mode, and himself to Mr. Incredible, a superhero with unparalleled super strength and durability. While racing to merge with the police pursuit, he pulls over to help an old lady get her cat out of the tree, using the same tree to stop the bandits just in time. Another police report from his car sends him on his way to hunt down a tour bus robbery, and in his car's shotgun seat waiting for him is Buddy Pine, a boy who wants to join Mr. Incredible in his crime-fighting efforts, to which he uses the seat's booster function to get Buddy out of the car, and drives off.** Upon confronting the robber on a rooftop, Elastigirl, a superhero with super-stretching abilities, shows up and knocks him out before he can. After romantic, playful banter, Elastigirl leaves to prepare for a previous engagement. Mr. Incredible proceeds to handle the robber, when Frozone, his closest friend who can create ice from the moisture in the air, reminds him to get ready for his wedding with Elastigirl, a.k.a. Helen Truax. **Mr. Incredible then sees a man jump from the top of a skyscraper in a suicide attempt, and catches him, with both crashing through a window into the building. Mr. Incredible then hears ominous beeping coming from the hallway and when he gets closer to investigate, the wall explodes. And from the smoke emerges Bomb Voyage, a French supervillain who specializes in explosives, walking out with two duffel bags of money. Buddy shows up in the shattered window where Mr. Incredible entered the building. Mr. Incredible orders him to go home, but Buddy insists that he should be his sidekick. Mr. Incredible refuses, to which Buddy claims it is due to his lack of powers. To prove his worth, he rushes to get the police, unaware that Bomb Voyage stuck a bomb to his cape and set the timer. Mr. Incredible has no choice but to release Bomb Voyage and go after Buddy. He removes the bomb from buddy's cape, which lands on the Metroville Monorail. The timer then runs out and destroys a portion of the track as a train approaches. Mr. Incredible succeeds in stopping the train just in time before it crashes and hands Buddy to the police for compromising his mission and ensuring Bomb Voyage's escape. The cops ask for his help in going after him, but Mr. Incredible looks at his watch and realizes he is running late for his wedding. After he arrives, they formally get married. It was revealed that Mr. Incredible was sued by both by the victims of the train accident and by the man that attempted suicide, despite Mr. Incredible saving their lives in both instances. This led the way for a raft of lawsuits against supers, which then led to the government banning supers altogether.** Fifteen years later, Bob and Helen Parr (formerly known as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) are a suburban family and have three children with superpowers. Violet, the eldest, is able to manifest near-impenetrable force fields and turn completely invisible; Dash, the middle child, is a breakneck speedster; and Jack-Jack, the infant, oddly shows no sign of powers. Bob dislikes the mundanity of suburbia and his white-collar job at a corrupt insurance company called Insuricare. His mean boss Gilbert Huph berates him for helping customers get access to their insurance money. However, Dash has been shown to feel the same when he gets sent to the Principle's office for secretly using his powers to pull pranks on his teacher, but gets off scot-free. At dinner, Dash teases Violet about her middle school crush, Tony Rydinger, which starts a fight between them, but is broken up by the arrival of Lucius Best, Frozone's civilian identity. Bob leaves with Lucius, as they do every Wednesday night. Helen tried to reprimand Dash for pulling pranks on this teacher, but is cut off by Violet, who says Jack-Jack is the only 'normal' family member. **Bob and Lucius secretly relive the 'glory days' by moonlighting as vigilantes as they do every Wednesday, but tell their wives they are out bowling. Lucius expresses his reluctance to continue their moonlighting on account of the risks that come with it. While listening to the police scanner, they intercept a report of a fire nearby and proceed to the rescue. They narrowly escape with all the people still alive before it collapses, but wind up in a jewelry store next door and are cornered by an officer due to their disguises making them look like bandits. Lucius gets a drink from a water cooler which gives him just enough water to petrify the cop so that they can slip away undetected. The only person who sees them flee is a mysterious woman who was spying on them before they departed, and reports that Frozone, who she was spying on, was with Mr. Incredible, who her boss wants. When Bob gets home, he finds Helen waiting for him and questions exactly where he was. When she finds rubble on him, Bob tried to cover the thing up by saying it was a "workout", which Helen hates because of how risky that is to their civilian cover. However, Bob accidentally reveals that a burning building collapsed, which he heard about because he was listening to a police scanner 'again'. A full-blown argument erupts, which the kids secretly listen to. Bob and Helen find them and assure them that everything is fine, telling them to head off to bed.** The next day, Bob is at work when he is called into Mr. Huph's office, who is angry about Bob helping customers find loopholes in their insurance contracts so they get their payments, thereby reducing profits for Insuricare. Bob tries to rationalize his actions by saying the whole point of their company is to help people, but Mr. Huph says the only people they need to concern themselves with are their stockholders. During their conversation, Bob notices a mugging going on outside, but is in no position to go help due to Mr. Huph threatening to fire him. Bob angrily watches the mugger getting away scot-free and Mr. Huff's smug remark causes Bob to lose his temper and throw him through several walls, exposing his super strength and costing him his job. **As Mr. Huph recovers at the hospital, Bob meets with an old friend, the laid-back yet gruff NSA Agent Rick Dicker, who operates the Super Relocation Program. Dicker is frustrated because this is not the first incident involving poorly using his powers, which have blown his cover multiple times. Every time, Dicker has had to come to his rescue by relocating his family, erase everybody's memory of the incident, and repair whatever damage has been done, which is very expensive. He tells Bob he cannot keep doing this, but before he leaves, he offers to relocate Bob and his family again for old time's sake, but Bob declines since he can't do this to his family again after just getting settled into their current home, and bids Rick farewell.** After returning home, Bob empties his briefcase and finds a message from the mysterious woman spying on him and Lucius last night, revealing her name to be Mirage and her knowledge of his superhero identity. She explains herself to be a representative of a top-secret organization that specializes in the research and development of experimental technology and recently, their latest creation has broken out of their control and is now rampaging through the island of Nomanisan where the organization is based. Bob's mission, should he choose to accept, is to hunt it down and neutralize it before it causes incalculable damage to itself and millions of dollars worth of equipment. After reminiscing about the glory days and covering it up with Helen as a business trip, he calls Mirage and accepts. **Bob 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. His mission is to hunt down the Omnidroid v.8 and neutralize it without completely destroying it. Before he departs, Mirage warns him that the Omnidroid's artificial intelligence makes it exceptionally dangerous in combat because every moment it remains active only increases its knowledge on how to achieve victory.** Upon landing on the island, Mr. Incredible begins his search for the robot through the jungle. He notices trees with slash marks in them and a giant X on the ground. The Omnidroid emerges through the trees right behind him and the fight ensues. He assumes victory, hurting his back in the process, when he tricks it into falling into a lava pit, but it rises from the lava unscathed. Seeing no other way to fight it, he tries to escape on a floating rock, but the Omnidroid catches him and tries to tear him in half. But all it does is realign his back and he tears off one of its claws. Mr. Incredible finally gains the upper hand when he hides in its blind spot directly beneath it, and finally sees a way to defeat it. He tears out one of its optical clusters and climbs inside of it. In trying to attack Mr. Incredible, it repeatedly skewers itself Mr. Incredible pops right out the top and tricks it into ripping out its own power source, destroying it for good. After the battle, a surveillance drone disguised as an island parrot reveals that Mirage and her boss have been watching, and Mr. Incredible rejoins with Mirage for dinner. **Upon returning home, Bob finds the action and higher pay rejuvenating. He improves his relationship with his family and begins rigorous training to lose weight while awaiting more work from Mirage for the next two months. Discovering a tear in his suit, he visits his old friend, superhero costume designer Edna Mode. However, instead of fixing the suit, Edna agrees to make him a brand-new suit before his next assignment and send him on his way while begrudgingly agreeing to fix the old suit for sentimental reasons. Back home, Helen spots a silver hair on Bob's business suit and eavesdrops on a secret call for him when Mirage summons him for a new assignment. Suspecting there may be someone else eyeing for her husband, Helen confronts Bob about who the call was from and nervously wishes him love and luck on his "business trip". After donning his new super suit and getting settled into his new hotel room on Nomanisan, Mirage instructs him to meet in the conference room by 2pm. Back home, while vacuuming in Bob's private office, she notices the sewn-up tear where Edna fixed the old suit and calls her, and Edna tells her to visit.** Back on the island, Mr. Incredible makes his way into the conference room, only to discover it was a trap and is ambushed by the upgraded Omnidroid v.9. While trapped by the robot, he meets its creator, the technology-savvy supervillain Syndrome. Bob recognizes him as Buddy Pine, an enthusiastic and eccentric young inventor who wanted to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick 15 years prior, but Mr. Incredible rejected him. Syndrome vowed revenge for this shunning, and as he brags about how he has won, Mr. Incredible throws a log at him. However, Syndrome dodges it just in time and traps Mr. Incredible using his zero-point energy. 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 the 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' location is known, Helen's is not. As he browses the database further, he discovers that Operation Kronos' final stage is to unleash an Omnidroid on Metroville 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. However, when she questions whatever reason she could have for making them, Edna makes her question whether or not she really knows what Bob has been up to. Helen calls Insuricare and they reveal he has been unemployed for 2 months. Edna, knowing that Helen does not know where Bob is, offers her a chance to find his exact location. Helen activates the tracking device built into her husband's suit so she can find him. Just as he was about to leave the computer room and set about stopping Operation Kronos, Mr. Incredible hears his suit make a beeping noise, leading to his capture by being surrounded by big blobs of black goo trapping him. **Helen borrows a private plane to head for Nomanisan island, but Violet and Dash have stowed away wearing their own suits, leaving Jack-Jack with a babysitter. Syndrome interrogates Mr. Incredible about the transmission from a plane requesting permission to land, but to no avail, since he had no idea about his suit's homing device. When the transmission reveals it to be Helen's plane, Syndrome sends missiles toward their way. Helen uses her exceptional piloting skills to evade the missiles for a while, but due to Violet not being able to produce a force field large enough to shield the plane, the plane is shot down, with Elastigirl grabbing her kids so they can safely land on the water. Mirage reports that the target was destroyed and its passengers presumed dead. Enraged by the presumed death of his family, Mr. Incredible tries to force Syndrome into releasing him by threatening to kill Mirage. However, Syndrome smugly calls his bluff and leaves him crestfallen at the apparent loss of his family.** Helen and Dash use their powers to help themselves and Violet get to the island. They take refuge in a nearby cave and Elastigirl prepares to head out to look for her husband. Before she departs, she tells Dash and Violet to use their powers to escape the bad guys and she apologizes to Violet for what happened on the plane. Meanwhile, Mirage tells Syndrome that valuing life is not weakness, and angrily tells him to gamble his own life next time, before storming off, leaving him mystified. Elastigirl sneaks in and after prowling around, finding a rocket on her way to finding Mr. Incredible. Back in the cave, Violet practices with her force bubbles while Dash walks through the cave. Dash discovers that the inside of the cave ends with a huge metal tunnel. Syndrome initiates the launch command and the rocket blasts off, with the Omnidroid v.10 onboard. The cave Dash and Violet are in is revealed to be an exhaust vent for the rocket's lift-off. Dash uses his super-speed to get himself and Violet out just in time and witness the rocket launching from the volcano in the center of the island. Back inside the fortress, Elastigirl locates the control center for the containment unit's cellblock matrix and finds out exactly where Mr. Incredible is. All the while, the rocket reaches optimum position, and the glider carrying the Omnidroid is released and sent toward the city. **The next morning, Dash and Violet are in the jungle, waking up to a talking parrot, only to reveal itself as the same security drone from Mr. Incredible's previous battle with the first omnidroid prototype, and it signals a security alert. Meanwhile, Mirage arrives after having her change of heart, releases Mr. Incredible, and informs him of his family's survival. At the same time, Elastigirl arrives and races off with him to find their children. Dash and Violet are spotted and chased by a number of Syndrome's guards, but fend them off with their powers. While Violet uses her invisibility to hold her ground, Dash races the Velocipods through the jungle, while in the process discovering his super-speed comes with the benefit of being able to run on water. Violet hides in a pond to escape capture, but is found by a guard by throwing dirt in the water. Dash stops the guard from shooting Violet, then she returns the favor with a large force field. Dash runs inside the force field, mowing down any guard in their way.** After reuniting with their parents, the entire family engages in a showdown with the guards. However, Syndrome captures them, and imprisons them. He reveals his overall plan for the Incredibles. He intends to save Metroville from his own Omnidroid and thereby become a hero. He intends to sell his gadgets to the world once his career is finished, making everyone super and the possession of superpowers no longer unique, meaning that 'no one will be super'. He departs for Metroville, leaving the Incredibles imprisoned on Nomanisan Island. After his departure, Mr. Incredible vents his grief about being the cause of all of this, claiming that he's been so afraid of being undervalued, he undervalued his own family. Violet meanwhile uses her force field to 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 public's delight. However the Omnidroid, being a learning robot, identifies Syndrome's remote as being its control source, and fires it off his arm, then shoots at his in-built rocket boosters, sending the villain flying into a building and knocking him unconscious while the robot continues to wreck the city.** Back in Metroville, Lucius searches for his suit that was hidden by Honey, his wife, while the Omnidroid continues its rampage. The Incredibles arrive in Metroville, but Mr. Incredible orders everyone to stay behind while he handles the monster. After a brief argument, Mr. Incredible reveals that he doesn't want anybody getting hurt, or worse during the fight, considering he already thought he lost his family once. However, danger finds them anyway when the Omnidroid sees them and tries to flatten them. Violet's shield protects them until the Omnidroid sits on the shield, rendering her unconscious. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl get them out of the way and team up with Lucius, now in his Frozone suit, to fight the Omnidroid. **The battle is indecisive until Mr. Incredible comes across the remote that was supposedly destroyed in the battle. Bob recovers the remove and 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. Violet obtains the remote while invisible and everyone tries to figure out how to operate it. Remembering his battle with the Omnidroid v.8 back on the island, Mr. Incredible concludes that the only thing that could penetrate it is itself. The claw launched at him before is exactly what they need to bring the robot down for good. He directs Elastigirl to use the right controls and releases the powered-up claw, which pierces the Omnidroid and its power source. It falls mundanely into the river and explodes, and the city lauds the Incredibles and Frozone as heroes. Syndrome awakens, only to discover his plan foiled, and is very angry that the six supers are being celebrated.** In a limousine on their way home, Dicker is proud of the Incredibles for defeating Syndrome. Syndrome's assets are frozen and a warrant is issued for his arrest, while everything regarding collateral damage will be handled personally. During the ride home, Elastigirl is listening to messages left by Kari, Jack Jack's babysitter, who appears to be very stressed. Things go from bad to worse when she mentions a replacement, which Elastigirl did not call. Upon returning home, the Incredibles find Syndrome with Jack Jack, who he plans to kidnap and raise as his own sidekick to exact revenge on the family. As Syndrome is flown to his manta jet, Jack Jack's superpowers manifest and he escapes from Syndrome mid-air. Jack-Jack falls but is saved by Elastigirl. When Syndrome announces that he will be back, Mr. Incredible decides to throw his sports car at the manta jet and Syndrome is pushed backward by the resulting explosion. Syndrome is killed when his cape gets him sucked into the jet turbine and the manta jet explodes as a result. The Parrs' house is destroyed by the jet when it plummets to the ground but, they are happy that they survived it, courtesy of Violet's force field. **Three months later, the Parrs are watching Dash racing at a track meet. Violet arranges a movie date with Tony and Dash finishes second to avoid detection as a Super. They witness the arrival of a new villain named the Underminer. The Incredibles put on their superhero masks, ready to face a new threat.**

## Cast

### Major Characters

* Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible
* Holly Hunter as Helen Parr/Elastigirl
* Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr
* Spencer Fox as Dash Parr
* Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best/Frozone

### Minor Characters

* Jason Lee as Buddy Pine/Incrediboy/Syndrome
* Elizabeth Peña as Mirage
* Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews as Jack-Jack Parr
* Brad Bird as Edna Mode
* Bud Luckey as Rick Dicker
* Wallace Shawn as Gilbert Huph
* Michael Bird as Tony Rydinger
* Lou Romano as Bernie Kropp
* Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey Best
* Jean Sincere as Mrs. Hogenson
* Bret Parker as Kari McKeen
* Dominique Louis as Bomb Voyage
* John Ratzenberger as The Underminer
* Patrick Pinney as Oliver Sansweet
* Bill Farmer as Oliver Sansweet’s Lawyer

## Reception

The film received universal acclaim, with a 97% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 8.3/10, based on 233 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Even though *The Incredibles* is more violent than previous Pixar offerings, it still a witty and fun-filled adventure that almost lives up to its name." Rotten Tomatoes rates the film as the fifteenth highest-rated animated film of all time. Metacritic, another review aggregator, indicates the film received "universal acclaim", with a 90 out of 100 rating.

## Trivia

* *The Incredibles* was the first Pixar movie where the music wasn't composed by a member of the Newman family, instead of being the first Pixar film composed by Michael Giacchino.
* Syndrome's design is based on Purge from *Space Channel 5: Part 2*, released 4 years before *The Incredibles*.
* Near the end of the film, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, the last of the legendary group of Disney animators called the "Nine Old Men", make an appearance after the Omnidroid v.10 is destroyed. On September 8, 2004, the day that Brad Bird and producer John Walker recorded the commentary for the DVD, Thomas passed away at the age of 92 from a cerebral haemorrhage. Four years later on April 14, 2008, Johnston passed away at the age of 95 from natural causes.
* The Incredibles have a few similarities to the Fantastic four, being Mr. Incredible to The Thing, Elastigirl to Mr. Fantastic, Violet to the Invisible Woman, Dash to the Human Torch with his movement power and the same youthful recklessness, and Jack-Jack has a wide variety of shapeshifting powers like the young son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman: Franklin Richards.
* This is the first Pixar film to be rated PG by the MPAA.
* The sequence where Frozone is kept at gunpoint by a nervous rookie cop is a direct homage/parody of a similar sequence in *Die Hard with a Vengeance*. In both films, the threatened character is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Even the police officer's facial design is recognizably similar.
* This is the first Pixar film to center on mostly all-human characters. This may have been the result of Pixar eventually developing technology to get around the infamous "uncanny valley" when it comes to animating humans, compared to the humans seen in the *Toy Story* films.
* This is the only major Pixar film where the Pizza Planet delivery truck from *Toy Story* doesn't make an appearance. It does, however, appear in *The Incredibles* game in the *Late To School* level multiple times as the player runs past 4-way intersections, and in the final level.
* The deleted scenes reveal what Bob meant by "workouts" and why Hellen was so against them: Secretly wrecking sites scheduled for demolition with brute strength, and they're such a risk because they're out in the open and someone could see him.