99 Fun Facts About The Incredibles

Who wrote and directed both The Incredibles and Incredibles 2?

Brad Bird. Hired from outside Pixar, he asked the studio for its 'black sheep', frustrated artists with ideas nobody was listening to, and built the film with them.

In Incredibles 2, Jack-Jack first shows his powers to his dad by fighting which backyard animal?

A raccoon. Jack-Jack sees a masked robber on TV, spots the bandit-faced animal raiding the bins and attacks; the fight was first drawn for the 2004 film, which had no room for it.

What is Helen Parr's superhero name?

Elastigirl. The director matched each Parr's power to a family role, and a modern mum, he said, 'has to stretch in hundreds of different ways each day.'

What are Violet Parr's superpowers?

Invisibility and force fields. The director chose them because teenage girls, as he put it, are insecure and defensive, so Violet can vanish and throw up shields.

In The Incredibles, who refuses to tell Frozone where his super suit is?

His wife, who is heard but never seen. She has hidden the suit to protect a dinner planned for two months, and when he pleads the greater good she says she is the greatest good he will ever get.

What is Frozone's real name?

Lucius Best. He was best man at Bob and Helen's wedding, and his power has a catch: he can only freeze the moisture around him, so dry air or dehydration leaves him without ice.

Which actor voices Frozone in The Incredibles?

Samuel L. Jackson. The filmmakers wanted a voice cool enough for a hero who puts his enemies on ice, and the director's verdict was simple: 'Nobody sounds cooler than Sam Jackson.'

Who provides the voice of Bob Parr, better known as Mr. Incredible?

Craig T. Nelson. The Coach star had never voiced a cartoon before, and called matching the exact delivery the director had in mind one of the more difficult things he had ever done.

Which Oscar-winning actress voices Helen Parr?

Holly Hunter. She had never done animation, and the director chose her to play a mother who is sensitive yet has, in his words, 'a very sturdy center' that would never crack.

What is Syndrome's real name?

Buddy Pine. As a boy he begged to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick, IncrediBoy, and was told the hero works alone, a rejection that turned his biggest fan into his nemesis.

Which actor voices Syndrome in The Incredibles?

Jason Lee. Jack Black was offered the villain first but said no, calling the part one-dimensional and asking for rewrites; he has since called it the biggest regret of his acting career.

Who composed the jazzy, brassy scores for both Incredibles films?

Michael Giacchino. Veteran composer John Barry was tried first but did not want to go back to his old style, so the job went to a newcomer then best known for the TV series Alias.

Sarah Vowell was cast as Violet after the director heard her on which public radio show?

This American Life. The director was driving when he heard her on the show and thought 'That's Violet'; when he rang, she told him she had never done voices before.

In The Incredibles, the Parrs hide out in a quiet suburb of which city?

Metroville. Syndrome later launches his Omnidroid at the city so that he can defeat it in public with a hidden remote and be hailed as a hero.

Syndrome's secret base is on which island?

Nomanisan. Say it with 'Island' and you hear 'no man is an island', a sly name for the hideout of a villain who lures heroes there one at a time to die.

What is Bob Parr's dull day job at the start of The Incredibles?

Claims adjuster. He quietly tips customers off about loopholes so their claims get paid, and loses the job when he hurls his penny-pinching boss through several walls.

Which actor voices Gilbert Huph, Bob's tiny and demeaning boss?

Wallace Shawn. His Huph orders Bob to stay put while a mugging happens outside the window, and is hurled through several office walls and into hospital for it.

Which item does Edna Mode absolutely refuse to put on any super suit?

Capes. 'No capes!' she snaps, listing heroes killed when theirs snagged on a missile, an elevator or a jet engine, and the film's villain later meets exactly that end.

The Incredibles won two Oscars: Best Animated Feature and one for which craft?

Sound Editing. Winner Randy Thom was competing against himself: two of the three nominees were his, and his work on The Polar Express lost to his whooshes and blasts for the Parrs.

Which feature of an Incredibles character was so hard to animate that it was finished only near the end of production?

Violet's hair. A short cut was ruled out, since hiding behind it is who she is, so it was cracked only late in production and Sarah Vowell recorded for a Violet who was still bald.

Which Pixar short about a dancing sheep played before The Incredibles in theaters?

Boundin'. A passing jackalope teaches the shorn, mocked lamb to bounce back, and veteran animator Bud Luckey wrote, narrated and sang the whole short himself.

Which short film played before Incredibles 2 in theaters?

Bao. A lonely mother raises a steamed bun that springs to life as her little boy, and the short went on to win the Oscar for best animated short film.

In Jack-Jack Attack, what is the name of the teenager Rick Dicker questions?

Kari McKeen. In the short she tells a government agent how the baby floated, burst into flames and fired lasers on her watch, and he then wipes her memory of the whole night.

In Jack-Jack Attack, which composer's music is the baby played for 'neurological stimulation'?

Mozart. His Rondo alla Turca is put on as brain food for the baby, and the plan backfires: the music is what sets off Jack-Jack's hidden powers.

In Jack-Jack Attack, what does Syndrome claim the 'S' on his suit stands for?

Sitter. He is posing as the replacement sent to mind the baby, and explains that calling himself 'Babysitter' would have meant going around with BS on his chest.

In Incredibles 2, who turns out to be the real Screenslaver?

Evelyn Deavor. She blames her parents' deaths on blind faith in supers: her father was shot by burglars while he waited on the phone for heroes who never came.

Which comedy actor voices Winston Deavor, the superhero-loving telecom boss in Incredibles 2?

Bob Odenkirk. His Winston, a superhero fan like his father before him, picks Helen to front the supers' comeback because she causes the least property damage.

Which actress voices Evelyn, DevTech's tech-genius designer, in Incredibles 2?

Catherine Keener. Evelyn and her brother Winston recruit Helen for secret missions that are filmed and broadcast, hoping to win back the public's trust in supers.

In Incredibles 2, which school subject drives stay-at-home dad Bob to despair when he helps Dash with homework?

Math. 'Why would they change math? Math is math!' he fumes, defeated by the new methods in his son's textbook.

Which Breaking Bad actor took over the voice of government agent Rick Dicker in Incredibles 2?

Jonathan Banks. He took over from Bud Luckey, the Pixar veteran who helped design Woody and voiced the agent in 2004; Luckey died months before the sequel opened, and it is dedicated to him.

By the end of 2018, only which earlier animated hit had out-grossed Incredibles 2 worldwide?

Frozen. Its $1.28 billion kept it just ahead of the Parrs' $1.24 billion, but neither held its place for long: Frozen II passed them both in the first days of 2020.

Incredibles 2's $182 million US opening weekend smashed the animated-film record held by which earlier Pixar sequel?

Finding Dory. The fish sequel's $135 million had stood for two summers; Disney's own forecast for the Parrs topped out at $140 million, and they opened more than $40 million above it.

Incredibles 2 opens with the Parrs fighting which foe from the first film's ending?

The Underminer. Fourteen years separated the two releases, yet the sequel starts moments after the original ends, so nobody has aged and Jack-Jack is still a baby.

Incredibles 2 lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to which film?

Into the Spider-Verse. The Sony film also beat it at the Golden Globes, and ended a run of six straight Oscar wins for Disney and Pixar, the first outsider to take the prize since Rango.

The box-office failure of which earlier film pushed its director to pitch The Incredibles to Pixar?

The Iron Giant. Critics loved it, but Warner Bros. barely marketed it and it lost money; its director then took much of the crew with him to Pixar.

Edna Mode's round glasses, black bob and blunt manner are widely believed to echo which Hollywood costume designer?

Edith Head. The art team did borrow her fringe and glasses, but the director insists E is nobody in particular: every country he toured was sure she was one of theirs.

Edna Mode's accent is a blend of which two nationalities?

German and Japanese. The director reasoned that super suits need an engineer, thought of German engineering and Japanese cars and cameras, and imagined a tiny half-and-half powerhouse.

What is the name of Mr. Incredible's gadget-packed car?

The Incredibile. Bob was told it had been destroyed after the ban, so in Incredibles 2 he is stunned to see it on TV in a rich collector's garage, and digs out the remote he still owns.

Which actor voices the mole-like villain the Underminer in The Incredibles?

John Ratzenberger. The Cheers star voiced a character in every Pixar feature from Toy Story to Onward in 2020; the run ended with Soul, which gave a character his face but not his voice.

When Dash is finally allowed to race at the end of The Incredibles, where does he make sure he finishes?

Second. With his parents yelling at him to slow down, he reins in his super speed just enough to take a believable silver without giving the family away.

Which Grace and Frankie star turned down the part of Edna, telling the director to voice her himself?

Lily Tomlin. He taped all of Edna's lines as a guide for her; a week later she told him she could never be as funny and that he should simply keep the part.

How did the director get Spencer Fox to sound truly out of breath as Dash?

Made him run laps around Pixar. The director sent the boy four times round the studio, jogging the first lap with him, so the panting in the jungle chase is real.

Helen's first mission in Incredibles 2 is to stop a runaway what?

Hover train. Saving its packed carriages in New Urbem is how Helen first learns of the Screenslaver, a hacker who hypnotises people through their screens.

In The Incredibles, what does Dash slip onto his teacher's chair, too fast for a hidden camera?

A thumbtack. His teacher plays the tape in the principal's office as proof, but Dash moves too fast to show up on it, so he walks free.

What is the name of Violet Parr's school crush in The Incredibles?

Tony Rydinger. He asks her out once she finds her confidence, but in the sequel he sees her without her mask and has his memory wiped, forgetting both her and their date.

Which Japanese animation legend, shown early Incredibles reels at Pixar, called the film 'a very adventurous thing'?

Hayao Miyazaki. The Spirited Away director was shown the story reels on a visit to Pixar and asked what he thought, at a time when the film's sheer scale had the studio's knees trembling.

The Incredibles joined the National Film Registry's class of 2025 as the third Pixar feature, after Toy Story and which film?

WALL-E. The class of 2025 was not named until January 2026: a federal government shutdown the previous autumn had delayed the announcement.

The Incredibles pays homage to 1960s comic books and to which screen genre?

Spy films. Hence the villain's island lair, the gadget-packed car and the brassy score, all set in the future as the 1960s imagined it.

Which sitcom did the director work on for eight seasons before making The Incredibles?

The Simpsons. He designed Sideshow Bob and directed 'Krusty Gets Busted', the episode in which the villain first speaks, and pushed the show's artists to stage every episode like a little film.

In The Incredibles, what turns the public against superheroes and drives them all into hiding?

A wave of lawsuits follows Bob Parr's rescues, starting with a man who sues because he never wanted saving, and the government orders every hero into a secret life.

In The Incredibles, which hobby do Bob Parr and Frozone claim as cover for their secret hero nights?

Bowling is the story both men give their wives every Wednesday, and the illegal outings stop only once Helen catches Bob.

In The Incredibles, what does Bob Parr do to his boss that gets him fired from his desk job?

Bob hurls him through walls after being forbidden to stop a mugging outside the office, and the government has to keep the incident quiet.

In Incredibles 2, why is Helen Parr picked ahead of her husband to front the campaign for superheroes?

She causes the least damage of the heroes on offer, so Bob stays home with the children while her missions are filmed to win back public trust.

In Incredibles 2, who is found behind the Screenslaver's mask when the villain is first caught?

A pizza delivery driver, dazed and baffled at being arrested, is behind the mask, the first sign that someone else is pulling the strings.

In Incredibles 2, which backyard animal does baby Jack-Jack battle with his newly discovered powers?

A raccoon gets more than it bargained for in the backyard, at a point when the rest of the Parr family still has no idea the baby has powers.

Which comedy star turned down the role of Syndrome in The Incredibles, calling the villain one-dimensional?

Jack Black said no to the part and later admitted that he had come to regret the decision.

Incredibles 2 arrived years after The Incredibles, but when does its story begin?

Where the first film ends is exactly where the sequel starts, which spared the director from having to turn Violet and her brother into adults.

Incredibles 2 was Pixar's highest-grossing film worldwide until which other Pixar release finally overtook it?

Inside Out 2 took the record in 2024, six years after the Parr family's return had become the first animated film to pass $600 million in US cinemas.

Why did cinemas showing Incredibles 2 post health warnings about the Screenslaver fight scene?

Rapid flashing lights in the scene can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, so Disney asked every theater to warn its audiences.

In The Incredibles, what is the name of the learning battle robot Syndrome builds to kill superheroes?

The Omnidroid was rebuilt after every fight, with retired heroes lured to an island so each new version could learn to beat whoever broke the last one.

In The Incredibles, which white-haired woman recruits Bob Parr for a secret mission on a faraway island?

Mirage works for Syndrome, but she changes sides and frees Bob after watching her boss fire on a plane he knows is carrying children.

How does Syndrome meet his end in The Incredibles, moments after snatching baby Jack-Jack?

Pulled into a jet engine of his own plane, Syndrome is finished when Bob throws the family car at him, while Helen catches the falling baby.

In The Incredibles, what does Syndrome intend to do with baby Jack-Jack after kidnapping him from the Parr home?

Raise him as a sidekick is the revenge he has in mind, the very role Syndrome begged for as a boy and was refused.

In The Incredibles, where does Bob Parr tell Helen he is going when he leaves for his first secret mission?

A business conference is the cover story, which is doubly false because he has already lost the job that would have sent him to one.

In Incredibles 2, which wearable device does the Screenslaver clamp on superheroes to keep them hypnotized?

Goggles that hypnotize the wearer keep the heroes obedient, and it is baby Jack-Jack who pulls a pair off his mother to break the spell.

In Incredibles 2, which crowded runaway vehicle does Helen Parr stop during her first clash with the Screenslaver?

A hovertrain full of passengers is her first big save, and she follows it by saving an ambassador whose helicopter the villain tries to bring down.

In Incredibles 2, which school subject does Bob Parr struggle to help his son with as a stay-at-home dad?

Math defeats him because the methods have changed since his own school days, one of three home crises alongside a heartbroken teenager and a baby with powers.

In Incredibles 2, what happens to Violet's would-be boyfriend after he sees her in costume without her mask?

His memory of her is wiped by a government agent who meant to erase only the one incident, so the boy never turns up for their first date.

What change in the law do the superheroes finally win at the end of Incredibles 2?

Supers become legal again around the world, thanks to the good publicity when the heroes stop a runaway yacht from ploughing into the city.

In The Incredibles, which mime-styled French villain is robbing a bank vault when Mr. Incredible stumbles upon him?

Bomb Voyage was first pitched as Bomb Pérignon, until the makers of the champagne that inspired the pun refused to allow it.

In The Incredibles, Bob Parr answers to the tiny, profit-obsessed Gilbert Huph at which fictional company?

Insuricare cares more about its stockholders than its customers, so Bob quietly teaches clients which loopholes will get their money paid.

In The Incredibles, which government scheme gives outlawed heroes new civilian identities and keeps them hidden?

The Superhero Relocation Program is shut down in the sequel after one costly battle too many, leaving the Parr family without government help.

What is the name of Frozone's wife, whose voice is heard in The Incredibles though she is never seen?

Honey knows all about his superhero past and does not share his public-spirited ideals, and the audience only ever hears her voice.

In The Incredibles' opening, which milestone does Mr. Incredible reach on the day he tackles a bank robber?

His wedding to Helen comes at the end of a day of rescues, and the best man is his ice-powered friend Frozone.

In The Incredibles, what does Syndrome plan to do with his gadgets once he has faked a heroic victory?

Sell them to the public is the endgame, because once anyone can buy superpowers the real superheroes stop mattering at all.

In The Incredibles, which device do the Parrs grab during the city battle to turn Syndrome's robot against itself?

Its remote control had been on Syndrome's wrist until the machine decided the gadget was a threat and blasted it off him.

In Incredibles 2, what kind of home does a superhero-loving tycoon lend the Parr family during his campaign?

A luxury mansion is quite a step up, since the family had been down to two weeks in a room arranged as a parting favour by a retiring agent.

Which feature of Violet Parr proved so hard to animate that it was only finished late in making The Incredibles?

Her long hair had to hide her face because shyness is the point of the character, so the director refused the easier pigtails Pixar had used before.

Before Pixar took it on, in which older style did the creator of The Incredibles first try to make the film?

2D cel animation was the plan until the project moved to Pixar, which meant many of its hand-drawing artists had to retrain for computers.

Which veteran composer was first choice to score The Incredibles but declined to repeat his earlier spy-film sound?

John Barry was wanted so badly that an early trailer used a re-recording of his theme from the Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Which 2005 superhero film had its script reworked because it looked too similar to The Incredibles?

Fantastic Four also had to add more special effects, after Pixar's super-powered family reached cinemas a year ahead of it.

Which DreamWorks hit kept The Incredibles from being the top-grossing animated film of its release year?

Shrek 2 was the only animated release to earn more that year, and it also kept the superhero family from the record for an animated opening weekend.

Only two films out-earned Incredibles 2 in US cinemas in 2018: Avengers: Infinity War and which other release?

Black Panther and the Avengers sequel were the only films ahead of it, yet the Parr family's $608 million was then the most an animated film had made in America.

Incredibles 2 reached cinemas a year early after swapping release dates with which other Pixar film?

Toy Story 4 took over the 2019 slot because the superhero sequel was further along, a swap its director later said cost him a full year of production.

Which Disney film ended The Incredibles' 15-year reign as the biggest November opening for an animated film?

Frozen II took the record in 2019, fifteen years after the superhero family opened at number one in nearly 4,000 theaters.

The Incredibles was the first fully animated film to win which science-fiction prize for Best Dramatic Presentation?

The Hugo Award went to the film in 2005, and a year later its spin-off short about babysitting the Parr baby was nominated for the short-form prize.

The creator of The Incredibles pitched it to Pixar's John Lasseter, an old friend from which West Coast art school?

CalArts is where the two met as students in the 1970s, and the pitch came in 2000, after the director's first feature had flopped at the box office.

Which Pixar film did the director of The Incredibles make next, long before he returned for Incredibles 2?

Ratatouille, which he took over at Pixar's request, brought him a second Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Which R&B singer has a voice cameo in Incredibles 2 as a chauffeur who is a huge fan of Frozone?

Usher's chauffeur is such a small part that the character never gets a name, only a moment of hero worship.

Which actress voices the ambassador rescued from a helicopter in Incredibles 2, and also dubbed the role in Italian?

Isabella Rossellini's character is named Henrietta Selick, a nod to the stop-motion director Henry Selick.

Which toy brand released an Incredibles video game on the same day Incredibles 2 opened in US cinemas?

Lego The Incredibles retells both films in bricks and lets players roam two of their cities, with Pixar guests such as Woody and Lightning McQueen.

The Incredicoaster in Anaheim, rethemed to The Incredibles in 2018, opened in 2001 under which name?

California Screamin' closed in January 2018 and came back that June with scenes of the Parr family chasing a teleporting baby Jack-Jack through its tunnels.

In Incredibles 2, what was the Screenslaver's father doing instead of hiding when burglars shot him?

Phoning for rescue from superheroes who had just been outlawed, and who never came, is why the villain argues that relying on heroes makes people weak.

In the short film Jack-Jack Attack, a flashcard showing what makes the Incredibles' baby burst into flames?

A campfire card sets him alight, and the babysitter has to carry him to a bathtub with fireplace tongs to put him out.

In the spoof cartoon Mr. Incredible and Pals, what kind of animal is the heroes' cute helper Mr. Skipperdoo?

A rabbit in glasses who does nothing but hop, he mocks the cute animal helpers that cheap old television cartoons added to please children.

The 2021 meme in which Mr. Incredible's face grows ever more disturbing is called Mr. Incredible Becoming what?

Uncanny was the word, and by 2022 the joke had grown a cheerful sequel called Becoming Canny, in which the same face rises to ever greater bliss.

In The Incredibles, which mythological name does Syndrome give the secret operation whose database Bob Parr hacks?

Operation Kronos is the file Bob opens to learn that many heroes he once knew have been killed testing earlier versions of the robot.

In Incredibles 2, which city is the setting for Helen Parr's first encounters with the Screenslaver?

New Urbem is a separate city from the Parr family's home town, and its mayor is one of the sequel's small speaking parts.

Which substance was baby Jack-Jack meant to become in a transformation cut from The Incredibles to save months of work?

Goo was one of five changes planned for the finale, and the director gave it up only after two months of arguments with his producer.