Brad Bird
Gli Incredibili

Fair warning, this won't be brief.

Brad Bird was (artistically) born and raised at Warner Studios, where in the mid-'90s he had this idea, plain and simple: a family of superheroes inspired by the comics of the '60s and '70s, which he avidly consumed in his youth. At Warner, they read the script (let's call it that), more of a draft really. They nod their heads but put into production "The Iron Giant" (1999), directed by Brad Bird. A masterpiece, by the way. In 2000, Bird, having since refined that script, pitches it to John Lasseter, Grand Vizier of Pixar (which had three feature films to its credit, "Toy Story"; "A Bug's Life"; "Toy Story 2"). Lasseter likes it, or at least finds it intriguing. In 2000, "The Incredibles" goes into production and will be released (only) in 2004, after the killer (in a good way) double feature of "Monsters, Inc." (2001) and "Finding Nemo" (2003).

The plot, in brief (for those few who might not know it): Bob, Helen, Dash, Violet, and Jack-Jack (in order: dad, mom, son, daughter, baby son) seem like a normal lower-middle-class family like many others. In reality, in the past, mom and dad were two superheroes. I know, it doesn't seem like it: he has a belly and works a dead-end job, she seems like an anonymous, bored housewife. But heck, they were Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. A mysterious guy calls them and wants them back in service; they accept, happily he, hesitantly she, but there's a bitter surprise linking back to the exhilarating pre-credits sequence.

It's the first digital animation product from Pixar, and it's an outright masterpiece. Maybe not as huge as "Monsters, Inc.," but close; they are the two best and most consistent works of Pixar (because "Wall-E" was gorgeous but not at all consistent). With its lightning-fast pace, nonstop for 115 minutes (it's one of the longest under the Pixar banner) and technically light-years ahead of any other animation product released that year (the entire final battle is technically out of this world), what stands out most is what Brad Bird tells and how he tells it. I mean, it's a superhero movie, but it's got everything: Ken Adam-like set designs, references to '60s comics, parody of the 007 saga and "Fantastic Four." Some even saw a bit of "Watchmen," the comic, I mean; the film would come five years later.

Interspersed under the adventure blanket for families is a ruthless portrait of a conformist, sleepy America that believes (and deep down hopes) it no longer needs heroes, ready to sink into mediocrity and complacency, eager to appear as something at any cost, no matter what, even nothing, but at least it's something. The jabs at American bureaucracy are priceless and all hit home (gray bureaucracy, the office where Bob works looks more like a camp than a workplace) and full-blown whiplashes against the myth of media popularity and being, in this case, the film's most ingenious character must be mentioned (and one of the most ingenious in the Pixar Universe, only rivaled by the malevolent critic in "Ratatouille"): the superhero costume designer Edna Mode (brilliantly dubbed by Amanda Lear in Italy), a cross between Cruella De Vil and Anna Wintour, highly successful, by the way. She lives in a sort of hyper-technological manor and has dressed superheroes for a lifetime, gladly revamping Mr. Incredible even after just returning to the US from Milan's Fashion Week (as she claims in the original version).

A marvel of intelligence and speed, a masterpiece of visual ideas to outshine any product that tried, poorly, to compete on the same ground. Just Elastigirl’s high-altitude rescues would suffice; the villain's revelation and the surprising protean nature of little Jack-Jack, who, quietly, will prove to be a volcano of "special effects." So much so that he earned a 5-minute short, titled "Jack-Jack Attack," where the mischievous toddler wreaks havoc on his defenseless babysitter.

It was an overwhelming success, and in 2019 a sequel came out, past its prime and rather dull. 2 Oscars (Best Animated Feature; Best Sound Editing) and a title that made history.

Characters and voice actors (original/Italian): Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson/Adalberto Maria Merli); Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter/Laura Morante); Lucius Best (Samuel L. Jackson/Massimo Corvo); Buddy Pine (Jason Lee/Christian Iansante); Edna Mode (Brad Bird/Amanda Lear).