The Incredibles

The Incredibles is Pixar Animation Studios' sixth animated feature film, released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 5, 2004 and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 26, 2004. It was released in a two-disc DVD (in both widescreen and full frame versions) in the U.S. on March 15, 2005.

Themes

"The Incredibles" is set apart from other Disney and Pixar films by its adult themes. This is the first Pixar film to use only human characters, and also the first to receive a PG rating (though in the United Kingdom it received a lower U rating).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Australia, Disc 1 of the Incredibles received a PG certificate for Medium Level Violence, Mature Themes, Low Level Coarse Language (If you listen closely you hear Bob Parr cursing in the family dinner scene after he breaks Dash's plate.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Family

Early in the film, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl share playful and somewhat suggestive banter in a scene that takes place prior to their getting married. Years later, Bob and Helen are shown in a variety of domestic and passionate moments. One montage shows Bob and Helen playfully pinching one another in the derrière as each passes by the other in the hallway of their home; and later after they exchange an off-to-work kiss, Helen pulls him back into the home. Bob is clearly happy to be a costumed hero once again; Helen is happy for her husband also, because she believes he has moved up in his job.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the other hand, Bob seems to alienate himself from his family. He holds on to the glory days; when he puts on his super suit, his attention seems more on becoming the center of attention he once was. Bob becomes somewhat distant, and his distraction with his heroics leads Helen to think he is having an affair.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob realizes how important his family is, once he believes they died by Syndrome's hand. Furthermore, as Bob and his family look to overcome the villain, all their abilities come together to win.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Violence and death

The Incredibles features an unusual amount of death and destruction for a Disney animated production. In fact, the directors and animators had a phrase they liked to use which plainly refers to this fact: "No sequence left unexploded."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a black-humor montage showing the death of supers who perished because of their capes getting caught in doors, jet plane engines, etc.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In an intermediate scene, Bob finds the skeletal remains of a fellow super, Gazerbeam, who had gone missing (presumably having taken the same offer Bob did to relive the glory days of being a super again). Bob later learns that many other supers suffered the same fate and that these deaths are an indirect result of his having rejected Syndrome years earlier.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob briefly believes that his family (Helen, Dash, and Violet) were killed by Syndrome as they rushed to the island to save him. In anger, he threatens to kill Syndrome's assistant, Mirage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Helen warns Violet and Dash to defend themselves because life is not like the cartoons and the "bad guys" will not hesitate to kill them just because they're children. When they are separated from their mother, they must protect themselves by hitting or indirectly (perhaps accidentally) killing Syndrome's henchmen. Bob and Helen are more active in incapacitating or killing their enemies. Killing by superheroes is a rare occurrence even in adult-oriented comic books; killings caused by teenage heroes are almost unheard of.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Further along in the film, as Syndrome's deadly Omnidroid attacks a populated city, Bob and the family encounter a trailer full of henchmen who are cheering at the mayhem the Omnidroid is causing and drinking shots of liquor for every civilian who runs screaming.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the airplane scene was originally written, Elastigirl's friend Snug (whom she called before flying the jet) piloted the plane and was killed when the missiles hit. However, the narrative demands of establishing audience rapport with the character, to provide emotional impact for his death, threatened to extend an already unusually long animated film (as Brad Bird explains in the commentary on deleted scenes). The scene was rewritten with Elastigirl piloting the plane, which had the additional benefit of showing her skills and her coolness under fire. Nonetheless, the scene is harrowing to watch, with Elastigirl using real-life military transmission jargon (such as the term "buddy spike") in order to try and prevent what she believes to be a friendly fire incident.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Importance of role models

Buddy Pine, who later becomes the deadly Syndrome, seems to look up to Mr. Incredible as a big brother or father figure. He has been warped so much by Mr. Incredible's rejection to having a partner, that he holds a grudge for 15 years in order to get revenge on all supers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Objectivism

Some viewers claim that the plot contains elements of Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophy, especially her political theories of individual rights.http://www.objectivistcenter.org/mediacenter/articles/dkelley_rff-the-incredibles.asp The desire of the government and Syndrome to quash the powers of the "supers" is seen as a reflection of the "tyranny of the majority" (or ochlocracy) rejected by objectivists and libertarians. The disdain for mediocrity voiced by Dash ("Everyone's special ... which is another way of saying that nobody is") and echoed by Syndrome ("...when everyone's super, no one will be.") amplifies this plot point. Near the end of the film, when Frozone is searching for his superhero suit so he can join in the climactic fight against the Omnidroid, he is thwarted by his wife who doesn't want him going out because she has made plans. Frozone protests that his actions are for the greater good, to which his wife responds that she "is the greatest good he's ever going to have". Notably, the character dynamic in the Incredibles is structurally similar to Ayn Rand's own works: the heroes are exceptional, naturally gifted individuals resented and attacked by ordinary society, while the villain is a weak, pitiful individual who failingly attempts to emulate greatness though he does not naturally possess it (via Syndrome's use of ingenuity and technology in order to give himself "super"-like abilities).

Related Topics:
Ayn Rand's - Objectivist philosophy - Ochlocracy - Libertarian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In interviews following the Academy Awards, Director Brad Bird denied that the movie was inspired by objectivist philosophy. In an interview with IGN, he said...

Related Topics:
Academy Awards - Brad Bird

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think it got misinterpreted a few times. Some people said it was Ayn Rand or something like that, which is ridiculous. Other people threw Nietzsche around, which I also find ridiculous...Some people said it was sort of a right-wing feeling, but I think that's as silly of an analysis as saying The Iron Giant was left-wing.

Related Topics:
Nietzsche - Right-wing - Left-wing

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~