The Incredibles. Pixar made it. That' pretty much all you have to say. I mean, it's friggin' Pixar, the guys who brought Disney out of their slump. Before, Disney was stuck with their tired formula of good vs. evil, where both were clearly defined concepts embodied in characters as flat as their animation cells. Then Pixar came along, and with the 3d graphics came 3 dimensional characters. Yes, I know I'm just making generalizations, but if you compare any Pixar film to any later era Disney film (Let's say, Chicken Little), you'll see a much greater attention to character development and personal challenges in Pixar's works.
Alright, so on to The Incredibles. Here we have a world full of Superheros in hiding, who can't save the day under threat of frivolous lawsuits from anyone hurt during their heroics. Forced to live the lives of “ordinary” people, they essentially have to hide what makes them special. This is a struggle that the Incredible family faces every day. Dash, the son, acts out in school because he isn't allowed to compete in sports (in which his incredible speed would give him away). Bob, the father, works each day at an insurance company, where he's rewarded for preventing people from getting help.
The message of the movie is “It's alright to be good at something,” which is a little non-traditional for a kids movie. Usually Barney will just pop up and tell everyone to feel good about themselves, but that's not what this movie does. At least, not exactly. Don't get me wrong, the movie is about feeling good, but it's about feeling good about the things you're good at, not just because you're different. The film makes the distinction several times through a repeated line: “If everyone's special, no one is”(paraphrased, of course).
This movie is just a great movie because so much attention is payed to the characters and their personal problems. I really, really like Pixar.
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