British postcard by Arcard Cards promoting Toshiba's Qosmio AV Notebook PC, no. 683. Image: Disney / Pixar. in The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004). Caption: Frozone. HT: 1.88m. WT: 81.6kg. Powers: Freezing Ability. Lucius Best used to be known as Frozone - the coolest Super of them all. His style, wit, and ability to create ice from moisture in the air (not to mention his special multi-function boots) made him the envy of every gadget-loving little boy. The best friend of Mr. Incredible. Lucius knows the old days are done and doesn't try to relive the past. But he knows Bob still wants to and tries to help him chill out in any way he can.
The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004) is an American computer-animated superhero film, and the sixth feature-length animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Set in a fictitious version of the 1960s, the film follows Bob and Helen Parr, a couple of superheroes, known as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, who hide their powers in accordance with a government mandate and attempt to live a quiet suburban life with their three children. Bob's desire to help people draws the entire family into a confrontation with a vengeful fan-turned-foe. Although the film was not as successful as its predecessor Finding Nemo, it still received 27 awards and the film's DVD was the best-selling DVD of 2005, selling 17.4 million copies.
The story of The Incredibles begins with a still young Mr. Incredible a.k.a. Bob Parr who, like any superhero, performs his daily heroic deeds. He is unexpectedly visited by Buddy, a young fan eager to become his helper. Buddy turns out to be more of a nuisance than a help, despite his self-invented gadgets, and Mr. Incredible sends him away. Later that day, he marries the superheroine Elastigirl (Helen). Then, suddenly, things go wrong. After Mr. Incredible saves a man who was about to commit suicide, the man sues him. This leads to a chain reaction of lawsuits against superheroes. The government decides to help the superheroes by setting up a special programme that will pay for all their lawsuits and provide them with new identities, on the condition that they never do heroic work again. 15 years later, Bob and Helen have settled into a quiet little town. They now have three children: teenage Violet, 10-year-old Dashiell ("Dash"), and baby Jack-Jack. Violet and Dash each have superpowers, but Jack-Jack is apparently normal. Bob, who now works at an insurance company, is frustrated that he can't help anyone anymore. He still tries to be a "hero" by pointing out loopholes in the law to his clients so they can get their benefits. He also regularly goes out at night with his old friend Lucius (also an ex-superhero called Frozone) to help people. He is unknowingly shadowed by Mirage, a mysterious woman. After Bob loses his job, Mirage contacts him. She offers him a large sum of money if Bob will take out a runaway robot, the Omnidroid 9000, on an island. Bob accepts the job and defeats the Omnidroid. After this, Bob gets more and more assignments. He starts training again to get in shape and has the fashion designer Edna Mode make him a new suit. Two months later, Mirage calls Bob again. When Bob arrives on the same island again, he is attacked by an enhanced version of the Omnidroid. He is captured by the mastermind behind the Omnidroid, a man called Syndrome. This Syndrome is none other than his old fan Buddy. He has made a fortune over the past 15 years inventing and selling weapons. He has kept the best weapons in order to become a hero, despite his lack of superpowers. Later, when Mr. Incredible escapes and looks into Syndrome's computer, he is horrified to discover that Syndrome has already killed dozens of superheroes to prepare his Omnidroid for battle with Mr. Incredible. At home, Helen discovers Bob's absence. When she sees that his old superhero suit has been repaired, she immediately goes to Edna. Edna shows the superhero costumes that she has made for all the members of the family. From Edna, she hears that Bob was fired months ago and has started working as a superhero again. Thanks to a transmitter Edna fitted into Bob's suit, Helen discovers Bob's location and immediately jets off to the island. Dash and Violet come along as stowaways. Unfortunately for Mr. Incredible, the transmitter also gives his location away to Syndrome and he is captured again.
Brad Bird originally conceived the screenplay for The Incredibles for a traditional, animated film for Warner Bros. According to his own account, he got the idea from a drawing he had made in 1993. He developed the film as an extension of the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and personal family life. After the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action became a flop, Warner Bros. closed its animated film division, and the project for The Incredibles was cancelled. When Bird later talked to his friend John Lasseter about the film, Lasseter convinced him to give Pixar a try. Bird and Lasseter knew each other from their college years at CalArts in the 1970s. Pixar accepted Bird's script but changed the animation to computer animation. This made it the first Pixar film to feature only human characters. At his request, Bird was allowed to put together his own crew. He approached people he had worked with on The Iron Giant (1999), among others. Bird's idea contained many scenes that were difficult for the computer animation to do. Among other things, new techniques were needed to realistically depict human anatomy, clothing, and skin. Among other things, Violet's long hair was technically difficult to draw. The film was largely treated as if it were a live-action production. John Barry was the first choice for the composer because of his music for the trailer of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, Barry did not want to recreate his old soundtracks for the film, so Michael Giacchino was approached. The music in the film is entirely instrumental. Critics' reactions were very positive. Critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and wrote: "The Pixar Studios, which cannot seem to take a wrong step, steps right again with "The Incredibles," a superhero spoof that alternates breakneck action with satire of suburban sitcom life. After the "Toy Story" movies, "A Bug's Life," "Monsters, Inc." and "Finding Nemo," here's another example of Pixar's mastery of popular animation." The film is generally regarded as one of the best Pixar films. One point that many critics noticed was that the film had a much more serious and mature undertone than previous Pixar films. However, this was also a point of negative criticism. The film clearly contained more and more realistic violence than previous Pixar films. The film won the Academy Award in 2005 for the best animated film (the second Pixar film to win this award) and the award for best sound effects. The film was also nominated for the award for best screenplay and best sound. The Incredibles made $70,467,623 in its opening week, more than any Pixar film has ever made in its opening week. The film even (just) beat Finding Nemo's revenue of $70,251,710. The film brought in a total of $261,441,092, making it the second most successful Pixar film ever, and the fifth most successful film of 2004. Worldwide revenue was $631,436,092. A sequel, Incredibles 2, was released in 2018.
Sources: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.
December will be Pixar month at EFSP! In the coming weeks, Bob, Truus & Jan Too! will share our collection of Pixar postcards with you at Flickr.
