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Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Bird
Runtime: 115 mins.
2004
Only just now am I realizing that The Incredibles is the only Pixar movie with a single credited writer/director. Typically these movies have at least one co-director and a laundry list of story and screenplay contributors. Bird taking the reins unsupported on the entire creative process is unheard of for such a collaborative organization, but I suppose it's thematically in keeping with the message of the film.
The Incredibles, after all, is a story of Supers. Following in the medium-shattering footsteps of Alan Moore, Brad Bird takes time to set up a world in which superheroes are popular, potent, and praised by police and populace--only to shatter that world with a government edict that makes superheroism illegal, told in slick newsboy-style spinning newspapers and black and white clips. Thereafter we jump ahead to today, and find that our hero Mr. Incredible has become regular old Bob, wage slave at an insurance company and lackluster family man at home. His wife Helen (Holly Hunter), the former Elastigirl, is desperately trying to keep their marriage alive by putting the past firmly in the past. This includes heavy restrictions on their children Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Spencer Fox); they are never to use their powers in public. Life is dull for Bob, but this all changes when his secret latenight heroism sessions with old friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) transition into something more involved when he receives a secret message about a secret mission from a secret source.
