We should team up more often

by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

In 2004 Writer/Director Brad Bird (Toy Story) brought us perhaps one of the most welcomed stories that Pixar has ever produced, at least from a comic book fan’s perspective. A Pixar movie about super heroes? Flame on.

The Incredibles tells a story we’ve heard before and since, but somehow seems freshest when told by Pixar: Super heroes rose to popularity, then a terrible accident. This is still Disney, so this isn’t terrible like DC’s Kingdom Come or Marvel’s “Stanford Tragedy” that lead to their Superhero Registration Act, but instead serves to illustrate how unchecked litigation can obstruct true justice.

Soon, all the superheroes had to go into hiding provided by the government (thanks for that, at least), but years later, some heroes could not keep being heroes just because it was not against the law. Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson – Poltergeist, Coach), aka Mister Incredible, a tank of a man with invulnerability and strength powers settled down and married Helen (Holly Hunter – Crash, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) aka ElastiGirl, who not surprisingly has powers similar to Mister Fantastic and Plastic Man. After the heroes go into hiding, the Parrs have three kids, Violet (invisibility and force fields like The Invisible Woman), Dash (speed powers), and baby Jack-Jack.

The main plot arc of The Incredibles involves Bob conspiring with his old hero buddy Lucius, aka Frozone, an Iceman-type hero (Samuel L. Jackson – Star Wars, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America) secretly returning to his Mister Incredible life behind his family’s back. How does he do this? How does his family eventually find out and end up in costumes matching his new one? Watch it!

There are a host of other colorful characters involved as well, many of them strangely resembling other celebrities:

• Jason Lee (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, My Name Is Earl) plays Syndrome, a technology-based villain who looks more like Jack Black (but is actually modeled on Brad Bird)
• Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Toy Story) plays Bob Parr’s civilian boss, who looks a lot like Stephen King.
• Brad Bird (the Writer/Director) voices Edna “E” Mode, whose likeness is based on famed costumer Edith Head.

Wish fulfillment? Not inconceivable.

Audio

As with all Disney Blu-ray releases, we get the best in sound with The Incredibles. From the retro jazzy Michael Giacchino score to the voice acting, to the effects, it all comes alive in just the right mix in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio.

Video

And as with all Disney releases, we also get the best in video with The Incredibles as well. You may not see the Pizza Planet truck, but you will appreciate every particle, hair, and surface at 1080p resolution.

Extras

Disc 1 is the Blu-ray Feature, and Disc 2 includes The Following All-New Bonus Features Plus All The Classic DVD Features:

• The Incredibles Revisited – A roundtable discussion with Writer/Director Brad Bird, Producer John Walker, Story Supervisor Mark Andrews, Supervising Technical Director Rick Sayre, Production Designer Lou Romano, Character Designer Teddy Newton, and Supervising Animator Tony Fucile.
• Paths To Pixar: Story Artists – Continuing the popular bonus feature series that viewers have seen on many other Disney•Pixar releases, this exciting new feature showcases multiple Pixar story artists giving viewers exciting insight into their work, their inspiration and the personal paths that eventually led them to a career at Pixar.
• Studio Stories: Gary’s Birthday – Trying to make a movie when there are not enough work days and too many birthday parties?  This feature showcases how The Incredibles crew solved that problem.   
• Ending With A Bang: Making The End Credits – Interview with Director of Photography Andy Jimenez and Character Designer Teddy Newton about the process of creating the end credits for the film.
• “The New Nomanisan” Island Redevelopment Plan – A guided tour of Nomanisan Island, post-Syndrome, pitching the island as a vacation resort paradise.

Disc 3 is the Classic DVD and features:

The Incredibles feature film
The original short film Jack-Jack Attack  
Pixar’s Academy Award®-nominated short film Boundin’ (2003 Best Animated Short)

Disc 4 is the Digital Copy.

Overall

The Incredibles may be Pixar’s most underappreciated film. It’s got familiar themes (Season 10 of Smallville didn’t write itself this year!), likeable characters, great voice acting, sharp humor, easter eggs galore, and SUPERHEROES! I understand why Toy Story gets sequels, but Cars gets a sequel before The Incredibles? If you want an Incredibles sequel as much as I do, you should really buy this new release. Also say so on every Disney forum you can find. Chant it with me: “BRING BACK JACK-JACK!”

ComicsOnline gives The Incredibles 4-Disc Combo Pack 5 out of 5 Super-Films for the whole family.

Get your copy of The Incredibles now at Amazon!

Stretch, dash, or ice-skate your super-self back to ComicsOnline.com for more Blu-ray reviews and EVERYTHING geek pop culture.