The Incredibles Saga — The Very Best & Worst of Pixar

A deep dive into one of my favorite movies of all time.... and its sequel.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:53 The Incredibles
20:27 Incredibles 2

♫ MUSIC
The Incredibles OST — Michael Giacchino
Incredibles 2 OST — Michael Giacchino
Stuff We Did — Michael Giacchino

[Ghostdog]

this scene from the first film has stuck with me for awhile:

Lucius: “Remember Gazerbeam? he had trouble adjusting to civilian life too.”
Bob: “have you seen him at all?”
Lucius: “I haven’t seen anyone from the old days. just you.”
they haven’t seen anyone from the old days cause they were being wiped out including Gazerbeam.

[thomasspongeconductor]

Syndrome is such a well written villain. While his motives sound lame on paper, it’s twisted and utilized into a wonderfully written character.

[cerberusmutt]

Not a plot hole. Edna knows the kids sizes because she is exceptionally thorough at her craft. She's a passionate wildcard with connections across the globe. Of course she knows the family's sizes. Do not fuck with Edna Mode, she knows where you live.

[jeremypayne]

Something I noticed rewatching Incredibles recently is that when Helen tells the kids, "These aren't like the bad guys on TV. They will kill you, " they're learning something we previously saw about this world when Bomb Voyage put a bomb on Buddy's cape.

[Dr.Oofers]

The sequel is definitely a result of Disney meddling with the product.

The deleted scenes show a whole different plot/aspect, that it’s clear what we got was *not* what the director wanted, but what the *execs* wanted/approved of. Damn it Disney.

[X-SPONGED]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the superhero interviews in the setup and payoff section. Early in the movie, the superheroes are interviewed individually. Mr. Incredible said that a civilian life would be ideal for him, when in reality, Bob resents every second of it. Frozone said that he will never settle because he doesn't want to be tied down when in the end, Lucius ends up married anyways. Elastigirl told the interviewer how she won't be settling down anytime soon when in reality, Helen's probably the most well adjusted super in hiding. Every single bit of this movie is setup and payoff and I love it.

[thomasspongeconductor]

The first Incredibles is just like Classic Thomas. Not speaking down to kids, and understanding their intelligence and emotions. Absolutely brilliant.

[SpaceDecio]

i just love the "fast paced" in the first movie, the characters are not just waiting for their lines to speak, they are actually answering what comes to their minds, and the way their voices comes out, is like they are in an actual room, not just voice actors records put in sequence of each other, a master piece, not to talk about the enemies or danger scenes, where u actually fell kinda scared, u can sense the adrenaline the family is on, it's overwhelming and u start to ask yourself how are they gonna pass through it

[rainzowirmano]

something i really like about the incredibles 1 is that bob is shown like a smart person, when he recieved the message of mirage he inmediately start looking for a pen to write down what he is hearing, is a small detail but adds a lot to the character.

[L.Keml]

I think a BIG problem between these two films is this... They lost the spy flair.

You go back and watch the movie and you realise it's both a superhero adventure and a spy thriller, much like classic James Bond.

From Syndrome's volcano island lair, to Helen's sequence for sneaking in, to even the soundtrack. Its all there, whilst the sequel lacks this element.

[AlexPBenton]

One thing I love about the parents’ argument scene is that if you listen to the literal words they are saying, it’s not quite connected. That’s because the characters have had this conversation many times, and they’ve developed a shorthand for talking about the real issues without actually bringing up certain things. Bob complains that dash isn’t getting the attention and respect he deserves for his abilities, and what does Helen say? “This is not about you”. Bob isn’t talking about Dash, really, he’s using Dash as a stand in for himself, and propping his son up as an example because deep down he feels that if his son gets what he himself wants, then he can get what he wants too.

[blademadlabs]

I will say, as a kid, bob and Helen’s fight was something I remember being genuinely upsetting, frightening even. I didn’t remember that till hearing Helen shout gave reminded me of just how strange and scary it was as a kid to see two adults legitimately angry at each other like that.

[TheRealTrampy]

they really wrote the best scenes in incredibles 2 only to cut each of them out

[undercooked_spaghettios]

The Incredibles struck gold with my dad. Growing up, whenever me and my sister put on an animated film, he was completely disinterested, either falling asleep or leaving the room. He was very much under the impression that animation was "kids stuff". But when he saw The Incredibles, he was floored. To this day it's the one animated movie he will actively gush about and always sit down to watch, even buying the soundtrack on CD! He wasn't very impressed with the second film, but this alone showed me that animation CAN work for ALL audiences! The Incredibles deserved all the praise it got. Thank you Brad Bird!

[Mr.Gnomebody]

The first film felt a lot smarter (and more genre aware) than the second. Like Bob and Frozone talking about the cliche of villains monologuing, or how breaking down the walls of a burning building will bring down the whole structure, or watching Bob sneak around the facility on the island. They really felt like people who had been around the block as supers and knew what they were doing.

The sequel lost that. It seemed to rely on the same tropes and cliches that the first movie subverted (or least used more inventively). The sequal almost felt like a Flanderization of the first movie (and the characters). Like it was trying to mimic the intelligence and "adult" themes of the first movie, but couldn't do so substantive way.

[Dyno_]

Also something I don't see a lot of people mention, the superhero costumes and styles in the first movie (specially the old suits) had this sort of "retro" vibe to them. Maybe they were generic, yeah, but they perfectly matched the art deco and retro futuristic style they were going for.

The new superheroes in The Incredibles 2 are all over the place. They look like Cartoon Network shows rejects, straight out of Tumblr. They don't match at all what we've seen other superheroes in the setting look like

[CrystallineFoxCF]

Honestly, the idea that Bird was basically forced to make the sequel doesn't sound that far fetched at all considering this is Disney we're talking about... based on the deleted scenes, I strongly agree with that theory.

[quaest]

In the documentary they also stated they cut the pilot out because the mother piloting and pleading over the radio with the attackers and bringing up her children is so much more intense than if it was just some random pilot.

[thewillofabeast]

I just noticed this not that long ago but it really goes into depth about how rather insane Syndrome is. In the beginning of the movie, when Mr. Incredible confront and restrains Bomb-Voyage, he tells Buddy “Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.” You can just take in how dire the situation is for Bob trying to control Bomb-Voyage while also telling Buddy to leave.

But later, when Mr. Incredible confronts Syndrome on the island and we see the flashback to before, you only see Mr. Incredible, with dramatic lighting over his head, looking down at Buddy, telling him “Fly home, Buddy. I work alone”. And leaves.
You can tell, that that was from Buddy’s perspective, meaning he was only interested in being Mr.Incredible’s sidekick and wasn’t interested in the danger that could happen.
I never noticed that until a little while ago, it just shows how corrupt Syndrome had become.

[Goferf]

You forgot about the one scene where a guy tried to commit suicide, and Mr. Incredible saying, "With counseling and think you'll come to forgive me.". You don' see that in any old kids movie.