Issue Date: June 1, 2012
City: Orlando, FL
Quantity: 25,000,000
Printed By: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Color: multicolored

Pixar’s superhero movie, The Incredibles, was inspired by writer-director Brad Bird’s real-life conflicts balancing work and family. He even modeled the main characters after people in his life.

 

Bird first developed the film as a traditionally animated movie for Warner Bros. Once they closed their animation division, Bird shared his idea with John Lasseter, who convinced him to come to Pixar.

 

The Incredibles was Pixar’s first all-human movie, which posed several new challenges for animators. They had to develop all-new technology to animate the detailed human anatomy, clothing, skin, and hair. Bird also tasked the animators to create characters with comic book qualities rather than looking realistic or plastic. They achieved this by designing a program that made their skin subtly glow from within. The film also had more sets than usual – while Monsters, Inc., had 31, The Incredibles had 89. Much of the film’s architecture and style were modeled after 1960s design, while the music was inspired by early James Bond films.

 

Set in Metroville (Metropolis and Smallville were cities in Superman), The Incredibles was rich with comic book lore. Die-hard fans will note hidden gems, such as the Captain Marvel and Superman logos, as well as one scene where the Incredible family briefly re-creates the cover of the first Fantastic Four comic.