What Makes Incredibles 2 Super | Interviews with Incredibles 2 Film Makers

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During my recent visit to Pixar Animation Studios, we had the chance to interview filmmakers Nicole Grindle, Brad Bird, and John Walker. To say the interview was incredible is putting it lightly. I’ve always loved the movie Incredibles but hearing the filmmakers provide their insight into the characters, the movie, and the plot lines made me an even bigger super fan!

Incredibles 2 Producer Nicole Grindle, Director Brad Bird and Producer John Walker as seen on April 3, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

It also brought up a number of things I’d never thought about that seem so obvious now that I heard them. Here are my favorite moments and insights from our interviews with the filmmakers!

Incredibles 2 Insights from Filmmakers Interviews

What Should People to Get Out of Incredibles 2?

Just like Taika Watiti’s answer when we asked him during the Thor Ragnarok interview about his goal for the movie, Brad Bird said that he just wanted to entertain the crap out of people. He wants people to walk out of the movie with a smile on their faces and being entertained.

Producer Nicole Grindle, Director Brad Bird and Producer John Walker during a press conference at Incredibles 2 Long Lead Press day, as seen on April 4, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Why Now?

One of the biggest questions for Brad Bird was why now, why wait so long and do Incredibles 2 now? His response was that it’s not smart to do a sequel right after the original movie. It has always been in his mind that he wants to do a sequel but the timing just wasn’t right and he was busy with other Pixar movies.

And funny enough, Samuel L. Jackson said that there would be a sequel to Incredibles during an interview, which gave Brad the kick in the pants he needed to get moving on the sequel. It was easy to pick right back up because it’s been in the back of his mind really since the first movie came out.

How Does This Movie Stand Out in a Super Saturated Superhero World?

I loved Brad Bird’s answer to this question. Incredibles and Incredibles 2 aren’t superhero movies first, they are family movies first. It’s a movie about a family of superheroes, not a movie about superheroes. It’s hard to do a unique superhero movie, but it’s not as hard to do a unique family movie.

Another mind-blowing tidbit that Brad shared that I should have put together before but didn’t was that the Incredibles’ superpowers are all tied to a typical role in a family.

Bob is the dad, the strong one who protects the family.

Helen can stretch just like every woman and mom feels like they are stretched in every direction in life. Truth!

Violet is the teenager who wants to fade into the background, be invisible, while still being noticed. She’s a bit rebellious and keeps a force field about her feelings and heart.

Dash is a ball of energy like every young boy.

And Jack Jack is Jack Jack. The family doesn’t know he has powers, Jack Jack represents the unknown and uncertainty of babies. You just never know what’s going to happen with them.

Brad also mentioned that one of the boldest things about this movie is that instead of jumping years in the future, they’re starting a movie right where the last one left off!

How Do You Explain the Differences Between the Two Films?

As I mentioned in my post about Pixar animation in Incredibles 2, the characters in this film look a little bit different than the original Incredibles and Brad Bird confirmed that the characters in Incredibles 2 are much more like what he originally envisioned.

He also mentioned that technology has changed so much that now they can make good fire, good hair, and even good water. It’s not that they didn’t want to do amazing things back then, they just didn’t have the ability too!

There are also a couple of different voice actors in this movie. The actor who originally voiced Dash grew up and his voice matured along with him making it impossible to voice the young Dash again this time around.

And sadly, the actor who originally voiced Rick Dicker passed away so rather than trying to match Rick’s voice (impossible), they decided to cast him as if Rick was never cast in the first place. They tried to match the character rather than the voice and feel that they found two actors that fit the characters perfectly.

What Were The Filmmakers’ Favorite Scenes?

Nicole’s favorite part of the movie is pretty much anything that includes the new superhero Voyd who is voiced by Sophia Bush who I absolutely love!

Producer Nicole Grindle and Director Brad Bird during a press conference at Incredibles 2 Long Lead Press day, as seen on April 4, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

John’s favorite scenes were pretty much any of the scenes with Bob and Jack Jack! The role reversal in this movie is going to be so great to watch!

And last but not least, Brad said that he loved all of the Helen action scenes. He loved the dynamic between Helen being this strong role in this movie and Bob’s strength and self-esteem taking a hit by Helen being the necessary one. He also loved all of the Violet scenes in this new movie!

I feel like all of those are going to be my favorite scenes but honestly, maybe the Sophia Bush ones. She’s one of my favorite actresses every since One Tree Hill, and I’m excited to see her take on some superhero voice work!

About Incredibles 2

In Incredibles 2, Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell), Dash (voice of Huck Milner) and baby Jack-Jack—whose super powers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Incredibles don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible.