It was they, this dramatic family of superheroes, that were in charge of breaking with the established molds, since never before had the animators of Pixar faced the challenge of making lifelike animated humans
There's no one better than Bob, Helen, Dash, Violet and the small and seemingly helpless Jack-Jack to face a fast-paced plot full of obstacles and occasional setbacks in the feature film that, until Lightning McQueen arrived at the wheel of 'Cars' Was the longest film of the company with a length of 115 minutes. With selfless characters (some of them, anyway), and a trip through a damned island to fight the antagonist; Brad Bird, director of 'The Incredibles', fulfilled his childhood desire to make a parody of the old superhero films and comics
Undoubtedly, this tribute to his childhood in the form of a feature length film has known success, especially after winning his first Oscar for Best Animated Film, accompanied by the golden statuette for Best Sound Editing. Over the years, 'The Incredibles' has managed to age extremely well despite being the last animated film that the Pixar factory launched on VHS, a mythical format in which some will continue to keep the Parr Family safe.
Now we are much closer to the sequel, 'The Incredibles 2'. We have recently learned that it will premiere a year earlier than planned, in June 2018, and it's a perfect time to recall one of Pixar's most beloved titles, because behind the Brad Bird film lies a lot more than what we think you know, for example, did you know that it is the animation film that has the most changes of set and scenery? Or that his classification recommends the company of an adult with children because of that scene in which they are persecuted as thieves and they dodge the gunfire? If you want to discover more trivia about 'The Incredibles', please, no capes and keep reading!
1 Pixar's first Humans
The fact that 'The Incredibles' were for the first protagonists of flesh and blood caused more than a slight headache to the animators in charge of making the family of superheroes as realistic as possible. Because of this, a completely new technology was developed with which to simulate the muscular system in the best possible way, configuring an initial musculature that would fit the physical characteristics of each character.
2 The Motion of Animated Characters
The challenge was not only to be especially meticulous with the body of each character, but to make every movement, each contortion or each stretch a mirror of reality. The team of animators and digital designers had no choice but to pour over pictures of the human body, and short clips of people performing basic motions.
In fact, they took it so seriously that in order to get Dash Parr to have an agitated tone whilst speaking due to his super-fast power, his voice actor, Spencer Fox, ran around the recording studio before reading his lines.
3 Similarities to 'The Fantastic 4'
'The Incredibles' not only spoofs the genre of superheroes, but also their soundtrack and an atmosphere reminiscent of the James Bond films, which Brad Bird was also a lover of during his early years.
However, the biggest film reference is 'Fantastic Four', because like them, Pixar superheroes have suits suited to their abilities and super powers in tune with their personality. Bob's great strength reminds us of the Thing, Elastigirl is as flexible as Mr. Fantastic, while Violet shares the same psychic powers with the invisible woman. Finally, the little one in the house, Jack-Jack, shows us for a brief moment at the end of the film the same capacity as the human torch.
4 Problems with the Comic book industry
Most of the superheroes that Edna Moda named during her manifesto against the layers were a trademark of DC Comics or Marvel, the two companies in charge of the top blockbuster of our favorite comics. For this reason, and to avoid some other legal inconvenience, the scriptwriters had to invent new names never before used. Gazerbeam, Thunderhead, Elastigirl and Meta-Man were born.
Not even Helen Parr got rid of the sieve, because her superheroine nickname is practically the same as Elasticgirl, a female character owned by DC Comics. During the merchandising of the film, Elasticgirl had to be Mrs. Incredible.
5 A Map of Pixar
In the opening sequence of 'The Incredibles', we follow Bob in his car while he follows his GPS. Most streets in Metroville, where the family lives, are real and are based in the streets surrounding the Pixar headquarters in Emeryville, California. From there arise streets like Stanford Ave, Adeline St, Market St or St. Paul Ave.
However, the city of our protagonists is nothing more than another cinematic tribute to the genre of superheroes, mixing the term "Metropolis" with "Smallville" in honor of Superman.
6 A Fashion Icon
Edna Moda's wonderful and squeaky costume designer Edna Moda was born as a tribute to Edith Head, an eccentric and imaginative designer with a long run in the film industry and eight Academy Awards under her belt For his work in films such as 'The Sting', 'Sabrina' and 'Rear Window'.
However, part of her physique is the responsibility of the actress Linda Hunt, known for her participation in 'NCIS: Los Angeles' or for being the voice of Grandma Willow in one of the main animation classics, 'Pocahontas'.
This time, the director of 'The Incredibles' himself was in charge of doubling to Edna Moda, dragging his son to lend his voice to the boy of the tricycle that stays flipando with the outbursts of wrath of Bob Parr against his car. The unforgettable Emma Penella dubbed the designer in the Spanish version.
7 The Similarities between Brad Bird with Syndrome
We met the villain of 'The Incredibles' as Incrediboy at the beginning of the film, when Buddy was a staunch follower of Mr. Incredible. However, 15 years later... he became a the supervillain: Syndrome, capable of controlling the deadliest technology to kill all the superheroes on the planet.
Syndrome's face was designed based on the facial features of Brad Bird, the film's director. So, according to Lou Romano, director of art of the feature film, the face, eyes and intensity of the antagonist of 'The Incredibles' are very similar to the one responsible for 'Ratatouille'.
The 'bad' news does not end here, because in the original script two villains were contemplated for the plot, although they finally stayed with Syndrome.
8 Jack-Jack's potential
With little to do nothing throughout the feature film, Jack-Jack manages to captivate us with his tender touch. But let's not forget that looks can deceive, and that's something the Parr baby made clear right at the end of the tape, where we could see its immense potential.
Now, although Brad Bird has confessed little to the sequel to 'The Incredibles', he did not hesitate to say that the same characters would return, but in another direction. What will happen to the little Jack-Jack? Don't tell me that a older version would not be a perfect villain for 'The Incredibles 2'.
9 Childhood Nostalgia
When it first occurred to Bird to take these superheroes to the big screen, he was just a first-time father, so he wanted to turn the film into the duality between family life and realization of your dream. That is why he created a family father who is forced to turn away from his desire to save the world to protect his family.
In addition, one of the characters that supposes a small stone in the way of the Incredibles is an old acquaintance of Brad Bird. Professor Bernie, who tries to uncover Dash above all things, is a tribute to his sixth grade teacher, Bernie Kroop.
10 Samuel L. Jackson, again?
Before arriving 'Iron Man' and 'Captain America: The First Avenger', Samuel L. Jackson made his first superhero movie lending his voice to Frozone, a character similar to the Silver Surfer from 'Fantastic Four'. Although it was a new challenge for him, there was a scene in which Jackson already had some experience. The moment the police hunt Bob and Frozone inside a building that has just been looted is a lot like that other scene from 'Die Hard with a Vengeance' in which the actor must answer a phone call, despite having a pistol pointed at him.
To correctly represent the way Frozone moves when skiing on the ice to save Dash, the production team took the style of skater and Olympic medalist Shani Davis as a reference.