Ever since The Incredibles was released in 2004, fans have been clamoring for a sequel. Now, in just a couple short months, they’re going to get one. Incredibles 2 will see Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) staying home with the kids while Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) heads out to fight crime and redeem the good name of the supers.

A couple weeks ago, I went to Pixar to learn about the Incredibles 2 and learned 85 cool things about the upcoming sequel. During my visit with other journalists, we went from various stations learning about aspects of the production from costume design, production design, anatomy of an action scene, a conversation with director Brad Bird, and more. In addition to talking with the crew behind the movie, we also saw over 20 minutes of footage from the film.

Footage

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Image via Disney-Pixar

We saw the first 22 minutes, and the film picks up directly after where the first film left off. They have 5 ½ weeks to go on production, but the voice work is finished. The film kicks off with a big set piece where the Incredibles have to stop the Underminer (John Ratzenberger), who is about to rob a bank. However, they all keep passing off Jack-Jack because they want to do hero stuff instead of looking after a family member they still don’t know has powers (he was too high in the air for them to see his powers in the last movie). The Underminer escapes, huge damage is done to the city, and the Incredibles (and Supers as a whole) are back in the doghouse.

Enter the Deavor Siblings (Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener), who have a PR plan to get the Incredibles and Supers at large back in the game. Their plan involves a focus on Elastigirl, who creates far less collateral damage than Mr. Incredible. Mr. Incredible reluctantly decides to stay at home and raise the kids, especially since they no longer have Rick Dicker (Jonathan Banks) helping them out since he’s retired. They have no choice but to have Elastigirl go out and save the day while Mr. Incredible is at home with the kids, but he hopes that she’ll fix things quickly so he can get back out there and show her how it’s done.

We also got a few brief scenes like the family visiting one of the Deavor’s houses where they get to stay while they look for a new place but which Dash wrecks a little bit by playing with all of its features, an incredibly action scene where Helen tries to stop a runaway monorail while riding the Elasitcycle (a cool vehicle that breaks apart in the center so that Helen can use her elasticity), and a fight between Jack-Jack and a raccoon that we’ve been asked to keep under wraps. I’ll simply say that it was incredibly fun to watch and it will probably be a highlight of the movie for most viewers.

Production Design

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- The Look of the film hews to the same mid-century vibe as the first film.

- They use costumes, textures, and lighting as a starting point when building the sets.

- They had three years to work on this movie as opposed to the typical four.

- The name of the main city is Municiberg.

- The Safari Motel, where the Parrs stay before moving into the Deavor mansion, was built around iconic textures like grass cloth and sleek, simple shapes.

- The initial designs for the new Parr home where “Arrow Up” redesign, having the shape of the house reflect the family’s upward mobility.

- They built an entire first house that needed to be tossed because the story necessitated a bigger house.

- It took 8 ½ months to build the first house; they had 2 ½ weeks to redesign.

- They wanted the new house to be a bit like James Mason’s from North by Northwest.

- It has larger elements, but it’s also fairly neutral.

- There are also some great mosaics you’ll never see.

- Ultimately, it was fun to design, but making it work was a pain.

- The graphics department helped set the tone along with the Douglas Sirk-inspired cinematography.

Previs

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- They start with storyboards, and try to bring it all together.

- Previs (short of pre-visualization) is meant to be quick and rough, a “flexible asset” that can be scrapped and redone quickly.

- It provides maps to follow the action.

- Story can use previs for things like backgrounds.

- Helps produce models for packets and lighting studies.l

- Previs can also be reused and repurposed.

Sets Supervisor

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- The team of about 50 people is tasked with turning the previs into the final product of props, architecture, and vehicles.

- There are five areas they work in: modeling, set dressing, shading, set extensions and skies, and tech.

- Modeling was to make sure they disrupted straight lines since those so rarely occur in this world, although it is a fairly sleek, straightforward architecture.

- They have to do this for every single thing, but all of it has to be disconnected so that there’s no repetition.

- Set dressing arranges all the things in the rooms where they have to be.

- Shading gives a bit of texture and reflexiveness to all the objects.

- Terrazzo flooring is a complex surface, and they had to work with a lot of it to make it work correctly.

- Set extension and skies show that cities are daunting prospects and they had to have a huge 3D city.

- The skies borrow tech that was created for The Good Dinosaur.

- Going from assets to shots, shot by shot, and fine-tuning everything right down to some dead leaves in a motel swimming pool.

- They had to tackle 2200 shots for this movie.

Creating a Super

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- They start by creating characters by using distinctive shapes and thinking about their superpower.

- They look at the concept art and get the feeling of the character.

- Then that’s turned into a digital model.

- Brad Bird is always warning about “lemon mouth”, which has the computer perfectly providing a way of talking and disrupting that pattern.

- It needs to be disrupted and distorted in order to be organic, so one example they used was Tom Petty.

- They tend to use “triangle legs” (legs that end in a point rather than a foot), gloves, masks, etc.

- Hands also become tiny triangles in the concept phase.

- They try to stick to two or three colors at this basic stage.

- You can see how these concepts have developed in the "wannabes" (pictured above), who want to be part of the next generation of Supers.

- Here’s what my creation looked like, The Opinionator, who dishes out scalding hot takes:

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Anatomy of an Action Scene

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- The scene we focused on the runaway monorail scene we saw in the footage. the early version worked from plenty of storyboards and trying to find the most interesting way to for Elastigirl to use her power and the Elasticycle. A lof of questions about how can they take the basic idea and improve it.

- Up the stakes with more participants for example like cop cars and a phone call from Dash asking a banal question, continuing to combine the super with the mundane.

- She uses her power to come up with different ways to stop the train. An original concept had her just breaking into the control room and pulling a lever, but they decided that didn’t make good use of her powers.

- The layout department translates the boards into a 3D space, and they keep working to come up with solutions to how to make the scene as exciting as possible.

- They designed the chase against a 100mph train, and letting Elastigirl try to keep up to speed.

- This means adding more time to sequence like new stunts and showing her comfort with the bike while still adding bike wobbles from when she hits jumps while trying to catch the train.

- Then the animation department takes over and they work on the concept and design for the Elasticycle.

- In building up the scene, they wanted to slowly reveal its features rather than just show right from the get-go what it can do.

- Then the question becomes what should the bike do when it splits in two? It requires a unique language from a unique vehicle, and differnet ways to use the bike.

- They used sports as references including waterboarding, motocross, etc.

- They also want to sell the physics and build believability.

- They also wanted to show that it was super, but not infallible, hence the wobbly landings.

- The effects animation then adds visual elements like fire, water, smoke, etc.

- They also needed sparks, destruction, and the need to feel the impact.

- Elements like smoke are “supporting effects” where as something like an explosion is a “hero effects.”

Costume Design

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- Vintage costuming was a starting point.

- Costume design for animation is similar to live action.

- Trying to convey abstract thinking through storytelling.

- They obviously used the first film as a reference, but also wanted to use fashion to express an idea.

- The “now” of the film is mid-century and reinvented.

- They also looked at what Edna says with her clothing line: bold, powerful, and designing for gods.

- So her fashion line is celebrating super and expressing their superpowers.

- They also wanted to be clever and efficient with the costume design.

- Background characters also have toe be clothed, but you don’t want them to draw focus away from the leads.

- Background men, women, and children have to be clothed plus given accessories, and given hair and grooming.

- In addition to the super-suits for the supers, they also needed everyday wardrobe for the family.

- They used mid-century actors as reference.

- More rebellious outfits this time for Violet.

- Kids look like normal kids, so Dash is just a t-shirt and jeans.

- Evelyn Deavor’s loose outfits were based on Laurie Anderson and Patti Smith. It’s meant to be rebellious, indie, and bohemian.

- They also know that outfits that worked in one Pixar movie won’t work in another. Technology develops and body shapes change. A sweater from Up won’t work for Incredibles 2.

Press Conference with Brad Bird and Co-Producers

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Image via Disney-Pixar

- Disney moved up the release date because they were ready before Toy Story 4.

- Pixar is three times bigger than it was during the first movie.

- The family aspect is what’s interesting to Bird.

- The powers represent personality of the family members.

- He’s not interested in a college-age Jack-Jack.

- They were looking to stick with what worked from the first movie.

- The family aspect is what makes Incredibles 2 feel unique in a crowded superhero genre.

- Although putting Helen as the working hero coincides with current events, the pace of animation can’t respond to current events, so it’s more of a coincidence.

- They designed Frozone’s wife Honey, but decided it was funnier to leave her as a voice, and gave the design to another character.

- Incredibles 2 will probably be about as long as the first movie.

- They made a sequel because there was a story they wanted to tell.

- They wanted to stick with the late-50s/early-60s aesthetic.

- This means you’ll have fun gadgets, but there are no cell phones.

- Bird is the only Pixar director who works along because he’s so controlling (and on this one they had to move very fast).

- He doesn’t like to talk about themes because he doesn’t lead with those. His primary mission is to entertain. However, there are certain themes that get more attention.

- Being controlled by screens is a theme.

- There’s also the theme that parenting is a heroic act.

- Two ideas Bird had as the first movie was finishing was a role swap between Bob and Helen, and exploring Jack-Jack’s powers. Those ideas remain in the finished movie.

 

Incredibles 2 opens June 15th.