The Incredibles


The Incredibles is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elizabeth Peña. Set in a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, the film follows Bob and Helen Parr, a superhero couple respectively known as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, who hide their powers in accordance with a government mandate that outlawed superheroes, and attempt to live a quiet suburban life with their three children. However, Bob's desire to help people draws the entire family into a confrontation with a vengeful fan-turned-foe.
Bird, who was Pixar's first outside director, developed the film as an extension of the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and personal family life. He pitched the film to Pixar after Warner Bros.' box office disappointment of his first feature, The Iron Giant, and carried over much of its staff to develop The Incredibles. The animation team was tasked with animating an all-human cast, which required creating new technology to animate detailed human anatomy, clothing, and realistic skin and hair. Michael Giacchino composed the film's orchestral score.
The Incredibles debuted at the El Capitan Theatre on October 24, 2004, and was released in theaters in the United States on November 5. It earned $632million worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2004. The Incredibles received widespread acclaim from critics, with praise for its animation, screenplay, voice acting, action sequences, sound design, humor, and music. The film won Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing at the 77th Academy Awards, with two additional nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing, as well as the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the first entirely animated film to win the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. A sequel, Incredibles 2, was released in June 2018, while a third film is in development.
In January 2026, The Incredibles was announced as one of the 25 films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress for the list of 2025 for being considered, “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” becoming the third film from Pixar to be inducted.

Plot

During the glory days of superheroes, Bob Parr thwarts a civilian's attempted suicide by tackling him through a skyscraper window. Bob discovers supervillain Bomb Voyage robbing the building, but is interrupted by his devoted fanboy Buddy Pine, who wants to be his sidekick. Bob rejects Buddy, and Voyage clips a bomb onto Buddy's cape. Bob gets the bomb off, but it destroys an elevated train track, forcing Bob to stop an oncoming train. After his wedding with Helen, Bob is sued for collateral damage by the suicidal civilian and the injured train passengers. Similar lawsuits create negative public image on superheroes, and the government initiates the Superhero Relocation Program, banning "supers" from using their powers in public and forcing them into hiding.
Fifteen years later, Bob lives with Helen and their children, Violet, Dash, and baby Jack-Jack, in a quiet suburb of Metroville. Bob misses his superhero days and resents his mundane job as a claims adjuster, moonlighting as a vigilante with his friend Lucius Best. One day, a frustrated Bob injures his supervisor Gilbert Huph after being prevented from stopping a mugging, and is consequently dismissed. That evening, a woman named Mirage secretly offers Bob a mission to subdue a giant "Omnidroid" robot loose on the island of Nomanisan. Bob succeeds by tricking the machine into ripping out its own power source. Rejuvenated by the action and higher pay, Bob trains to get back into shape, and asks superhero costume designer Edna Mode to fix a tear in his old suit. Incorrectly assuming that Helen knows of Bob's new job, Edna makes new suits for the entire family.
Summoned back to Nomanisan, Bob discovers Mirage is working for Buddy, now calling himself Syndrome after being embittered by Bob's rejection. Syndrome has become wealthy by inventing weapons that mimic superpowers. He has been perfecting the Omnidroid by luring supers to fight it until it kills them. Syndrome intends to send an Omnidroid to attack Metroville, then defeat it publicly with secret controls, thereby gaining "hero" status. He intends to then sell his inventions to the world, thereby rendering superheroes meaningless.
Helen visits Edna and learns what Bob has been up to. She activates a beacon Edna built into the suits to find Bob, inadvertently causing him to be captured while infiltrating Syndrome's base. Helen borrows a private plane to fly to Nomanisan; Violet and Dash stow away, leaving Jack-Jack with a babysitter. Despite knowing that there are children on the plane, Syndrome shoots it down. Helen and the children survive and make their way to the island. Disillusioned by Syndrome's callousness, Mirage releases Bob and informs him of his family's survival. Syndrome's guards pursue Dash and Violet, who fend them off with their powers and reunite with their parents. Syndrome captures the family before following the Omnidroid to Metroville. Violet uses her powers to free her family, and Mirage helps them reach Metroville.
Recognizing Syndrome's remote-control gauntlet as a threat, the Omnidroid disarms and knocks him out. The Incredibles and Lucius fight the Omnidroid; Helen and the children retrieve the remote control, allowing Bob to destroy the robot's power source. The family and Lucius are publicly appreciated just as Syndrome awakens to see their victory. Returning home, the Parrs find Syndrome abducting Jack-Jack to raise as a sidekick for revenge. As Syndrome flies up, Jack-Jack's superpowers manifest, and he escapes Syndrome's hold. Helen rescues the falling baby, and Bob throws his car at Syndrome's plane, sending him into one of its engines.
Three months later, the Parrs witness the arrival of supervillain the Underminer. They don their masks and suits, ready to face the new threat.

Voice cast

  • Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible, the patriarch of the Parr family who is Helen's husband, possessing superhuman strength and endurance.
  • Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl, Bob's wife who has the ability to shapeshift her body like rubber.
  • Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr, the Parrs' eldest child who can become invisible and generate force fields.
  • Spencer Fox as Dashiell "Dash" Parr, the Parrs' second child, possessing superhuman speed.
  • Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews as Jack-Jack Parr, the Parrs' infant son who demonstrates a wide range of superhuman abilities.
  • Jason Lee as Buddy Pine / IncrediBoy / Syndrome, Mr. Incredible's obsessed fan turned supervillain who uses his scientific prowess to give himself enhanced abilities.
  • Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone, Bob's best friend who can form ice from humidity.
  • Elizabeth Peña as Mirage, Syndrome's right-hand woman.
  • Brad Bird as Edna "E" Mode, the fashion designer for the Supers.
  • Teddy Newton as the newsreel narrator, who can be heard narrating the changing public opinion of the Supers.
  • Jean Sincere as Mrs. Hogenson, an elderly lady to whom Bob pretends to deny an insurance claim.
  • Bud Luckey as Rick Dicker, a government agent responsible for keeping the Parrs undercover.
  • Wallace Shawn as Gilbert Huph, Bob's demeaning supervisor.
  • Lou Romano as Bernie Kropp, Dash's teacher.
  • Michael Bird as Tony Rydinger, Violet's love interest.
  • Dominique Louis as Bomb Voyage, a French supervillain who uses explosives.
  • Bret Parker as Kari, Jack-Jack's babysitter.
  • Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey, Frozone's wife.
  • John Ratzenberger as the Underminer, a mole-like supervillain.

    Production

Development and writing

The Incredibles as a concept dates back to 1993 when Bird sketched the family during an uncertain point in his film career. Personal issues had percolated into the story as they weighed on him in life. During this time, Bird had signed a production deal with Warner Bros. Feature Animation and was in the process of directing his first feature, The Iron Giant. Approaching middle age and having high aspirations for his filmmaking, Bird pondered whether his career goals were attainable only at the price of his family life. He stated, "Consciously, this was just a funny movie about superheroes. But I think that what was going on in my life definitely filtered into the movie." After the box office failure of The Iron Giant, Bird gravitated toward his superhero story.
He imagined it as a homage to the 1960s comic books and spy films from his boyhood and he initially tried to develop it as a 2D cel animation. When The Iron Giant became a box office bomb, he reconnected with old friend John Lasseter at Pixar in March 2000 and pitched his story idea to him. Bird and Lasseter knew each other from their college years at CalArts in the 1970s. Lasseter was sold on the idea and convinced Bird to come to Pixar, where the film would be done in computer animation. The studio announced a multi-film contract with Bird on May 4, 2000. The Incredibles was written and directed solely by Brad Bird, a departure from previous Pixar productions which typically had two or three directors and as many screenwriters with a history of working for the company. In addition, it would be the studio's first film in which all characters are human.
Bird came to Pixar with the lineup of the story's family members worked out: a mom and dad, both suffering through the dad's midlife crisis; a shy teenage girl; a cocky ten-year-old boy; and a baby. Bird had based their powers on family archetypes. During production, Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli visited Pixar and saw the film's story reels. When Bird asked if the reels made any sense or if they were just "American nonsense," Miyazaki replied, through an interpreter, "I think it's a very adventurous thing you are trying to do in an American film."
Syndrome was originally written as a minor character who assaults Bob and Helen at the beginning of the movie, only to die in an explosion that destroys the Parrs' house, but he was made the main antagonist because the filmmakers liked him more than the character of Xerek, who was intended to fulfill that role. The Snug character that Helen talks to at the phone in the final film was intended to fly Helen to Nomanisan Island and to die, but he was removed from that position when Lasseter suggested having Helen pilot the plane herself. Syndrome was based on Bird himself. Bird had different ideas for the film's ending, and had one developed in mind which he described it as "kinda half baked", until he decided to do the family preparing for future challenges.