Twenty Years Of Pixar’s The Incredibles. A Real Super Hero Family.

Two decades ago, the world was introduced to the very bizarre yet relatable superhero family dubbed The Incredibles. Inspired by various Silver Age comic books, namely ones from Marvel like The Fantastic Four, the film follows a retired hero who is now a husband and father wishing to relive the glory days. However, he gets in a little bit over his head and his whole family ends up getting dragged in on the adventure. 

Pixar’s The Incredibles trailer

The concept was originally created by director Brad Bird in 1993 but didn’t come to fruition until years later when, in 2000, he reconnected with his friend John Lasseter, who loved the idea. The story continued to be fleshed out with an emphasis on the characters and their relationships with each other. The father was the strong Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), the mother was the elongated Elsatigirl (Holly Hunter), the daughter was the shy yet protective Violet (Sarah Vowell), the son was the energetic Dash (Spencer Fox) and the baby was the weird and wild Jack-Jack. 

Many of the characters’s powers are inspired by real-life traits different family members tend to have. In the words of Bird himself, he stated:

“The dad is always expected in the family to be strong, so I made him strong. The moms are always pulled in a million different directions, so I made her stretch like taffy. Teenagers, particularly teenage girls, are insecure and defensive, so I made her turn invisible and turn on shields. And ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls. Babies are unrealized potential.“

Other characters include Mr. Incredible’s old co-worker and close friend Frozone (Samual L. Jackson), the eccentric and persnickety superhero fashion designer Edna Mode (Brad Bird), the mysterious femme fatal Mirage (Elizabeth Peña), and the villainous revenge-fueled evil mastermind Syndrome (Jason Lee).



The film was released on November 5th, 2004, and, like many of Pixar’s other films of the time, became a huge success, earning $631.6 million at the box office against a $145 million budget. The family of heroes became as iconic as the fish in Finding Nemo and the Monsters of Monsters Inc.

Following the film’s release, two video games based on the film were developed by Heavy Iron Studios. The first game was based on the movie itself while the second game, The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer, has become a cult classic among fans as it continued the story right as the movie ended where Mr. Incredible and Frozen team up to battle the Underminer (John Ratzenberger).

However, the story was later retconned following the release of The Incredibles II in 2018.

The Incredibles franchise is one of Pixar’s oldest and most well-known, with multiple video game appearances, a ride at Disney’s California Adventure, and a third film now in development. The series will continue to grow as long as there are those who wish to fight the forces of evil. Hopefully, the future of heroes will be a bright one for this family.

What was your favorite moment from the movie? Do you remember when you first saw it? Did you see it in theaters when it was first released? Let us know.