The Incredibles

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

Over the last several years, Pixar has wonderfully presented us with

the lives of toys, ants, monsters, and fish, and now it has provided us

with a fabulous glimpse at the lives of superheroes. As my MousePlanet

colleagues concurred in their reviews back in November at the theatrical

release of The Incredibles, this movie pushes the Pixar envelope

a bit and features a different feel and far more action than its past

films, yet it maintains an unrivaled balance of charm, wit, and stunning

visuals. While it is not a movie for toddlers, it does make for great

family entertainment, and there is something in it for everyone to connect

with.

Because Alex and Lisa did a great job reviewing the movie a few months

ago, I will not belabor the plot. If you are unfamiliar with the movie,

be sure to read their review (link).

Suffice it to say that this movie has a great plot and flow, eye-popping

animation and visuals, a great soundtrack, and an awesome voice cast.

I find it a great way to spend 115 minutes. Now, for the rest of you just

waiting to see what else is on the set, I will delay you no further.

© Disney.

The Goodies

True to Pixar tradition, this two-disc DVD is brilliant. Disc 1 primarily

contains the movie and a couple of commentaries, which is pretty standard,

and Disc 2 contains all the other cool stuff.

The first of the two commentaries on Disc 1 features Writer/Director

Brad Bird and Producer John Walker. Given that these two were the pulse

of the movie, they provide a fairly loose, humorous and interesting running

dialogue. They trade all sorts of stories about their thoughts on developing

a scene, changing a character, or how difficult a particular scene was

to animate, and it comes across as pretty entertaining. They also do a

good job of mentioning all the contributions that their staff made to

bring this movie to life.

The second commentary features a whole bunch of animators, including

the three lead animators and about 10 other animators. It has a bit more

technical feel to it, and while it lacks a little bit of the charisma

of the other commentary, it does a great job of describing the hard, tedious

work that the animators endured to put the movie together. It also provides

a lot more detail about how the characters or a set were designed and

digitally constructed, and it gives you a better appreciation for how

a director’s vision gets converted into reality through the animator’s

artwork.

Put together, the two commentaries provide a comprehensive, interesting,

and generally entertaining behind-the-scenes look at The Incredibles.

I know some of you are not all that crazy about commentaries, but give

these a try. At the very least, find a scene or two that catches your

eye, and alternately listen to the commentaries to get the two different

perspectives. Even if you do not listen to both commentaries in their

entirety, do not neglect or miss out on this wonderful resource.

Disc 2 is just about the ideal complementary disc to the movie and commentaries.

There is a ton of stuff on this disc, and all of it is well worth watching.

Some of the highlights include the following:

The all-new “Jack-Jack Attack” animated short is a fun and

odd look at what happened to baby Jack-Jack and Kari the babysitter while

Helen, Violet, and Dash are traveling to the island to find Bob. It is

funny and quirky, but it nicely explains how the end of the movie comes

about.

The collection of deleted scenes totals over 30 minutes, and each of

the scenes features an introduction by Brad Bird. What is particularly

cool about these scenes is that they are computer animatics—partially

animated storyboards—that show the action and camera positions, but

the characters are pencil sketches from storyboards. Even though they

are very rough compared to a final scene, they clearly show the intent

of the piece. One of the more interesting cut scenes is the alternate

movie opening, which more directly introduces you to Syndrome and the

Parrs.

The very short—only about 2 minutes long—“Incredi-Blunders”

featurette includes a lot of the computer rendering errors that were encountered

during production. Like many similar featurettes, some of the goofs are

funnier than others, but they are interesting to watch nonetheless.

The two gems on the disc are “The Making Of The Incredibles”

and the “More Making of The Incredibles” featurettes.

Totaling over an hour, you get a bunch of interviews, personal video,

behind-the-scenes video, studio antics, artwork, and in-process animation.

These two together enhance all of the verbal stories told on the commentaries,

but here you get to see the visuals that go along with them. I have seen

an untold number of making-of featurettes, and it never ceases to amaze

me how much work these folks pour into these films. For me, it is one

thing to appreciate the movie for what it is, but seeing and hearing from

the people that put it together adds to the appreciation for their work.

© Disney.

There is also a very quirky “Mr. Incredible and Pals” short

that is produced in “retro-style lip-o-vision,” where human

lips are superimposed on still drawings (a method similar to what Conan

O’Brien uses in his show, for you late-nighters). Starring Mr. Incredible,

Frozone and their rabbit sidekick, Mr. Skipperdoo, it is pretty darn corny

and tongue-in-cheek, but the commentary with Mr. Incredible and Frozone

kind of makes up for it.

The one featurette that surprised me the most was “Vowellet –

An Essay” by Sarah Vowell. Vowell is the voice of Violet Parr, but

she is also a writer and staple of National Public Radio’s weekly program

This American Life. Recruited by Brad Bird—who heard her distinctive

voice one Saturday on the radio—her dry, odd sense of humor comes

across wonderfully as she describes herself and her on-screen alter ego.

Both my wife and I found it pretty entertaining, but I do not think that

younger children will catch on to the eccentricity of it.

Then, there is Pixar’s latest Academy Award-nominated short film “Boundin’,”

which just has a great charm to it. If you have not watched this short,

do yourself a favor and give it a viewing. Written, designed, directed,

and sung by Pixar’s Bud Luckey, this short features some great animation

and characters, and it will leave you smiling in the end. The short also

has an optional commentary by Luckey, and there is a short biographical

featurette on this Pixar legend. These are great additions to the set.

Finally, be patient… be very patient with most of the menus

on Disc 2, as you do not want to miss any of the “easter eggs.”

I won’t divulge the secret here if you want to find them yourself. But

for those of you that want to find out where to look for them, just go

to the end of the review and highlight the text.

The Video, Audio, and Interface

The video and audio transfer for the movie is quite simply one of the

best I have ever seen, and in fact, I see more details and hear more audio

surround effects at home on the DVD than I remember experiencing on the

big screen. Maybe it was the theater, but even on my rather modest home

theater setup, I thoroughly enjoy watching this movie at home. The beautiful

and subtle textures on fabrics, hair, water, skin, and other objects just

shine on this transfer taken from the original digital files, and the

colors, shading, and shadows are amazingly dimensional. Likewise, the

Dolby Digital 5.1 audio envelopes you in the sound field, and it feels

much more intimate, alive, and fun than I remember at the theater. This

is a gorgeous presentation of the movie, and it will look and sound fantastic

on any home theater or PC.

As for the interface, it is perfect for the content. The interface on

Disc 1 features cool, angular, and simple character and background animation

and clips of the great jazzy film music throughout the entire interface.

It really gets you into the mood as soon as the menu fires up, and that

is what I look and hope for when I pop a disc in the player. Disc 2 is

less stylized and adopts a more technical look and feel to it, but it

works well for the material. They are all well laid out and easy to navigate,

and just about everyone in the family should be able to find their way

around to their favorite scene or goodie.

The Final Evaluation

Oh, just go get it. It simply doesn’t get better than this.

…Well, what are you waiting for?

Easter egg hint

An “easter egg” is a secret message or screen buried in a

program. Easter eggs are created by the developers, usually to display

a humorous message or credit to the development team. To see an easter

egg, you need to know a special procedure or sequence of keystrokes.

To read how to get to the easter eggs in The Incredibles DVD,

click and hold down your mouse button over this black box: