Animated movie relies on incredible story

Pixar Animation Studios might be known for shattering box office
records with their family-friendly films. But part of the success
of films such as “Toy Story,” “Monsters,
Inc.” and “Finding Nemo” draws from their
continual appeal to young adults.

“The Incredibles,” which opens nationwide Nov. 5,
has even more potential to attract older audiences as it pushes
traditional Pixar boundaries of action-adventure while still
retaining Pixar-quality storytelling.

“The notion that animation is just for kids is a long-held
bias,” said director and screenwriter Brad Bird, known for
bringing sophisticated storytelling to animation. His 1999 animated
feature “The Iron Giant,” while not a commercial
success, was one of the best reviewed films of the year and is a
bit of a cult favorite among animation fans.

“Some people ask me how I like working in the
“˜animation genre,'” Bird said. “I tell them
animation is not a genre ““ it’s an art form that can
encompass any kind of genre.”

The filmmakers of “The Incredibles” do not
categorize the movie solely as a computer-animated film. Bird sees
it, rather, as an action movie about a family of superheroes that
happens to be animated. With this perspective in mind, they hope
the film will attract not just families, but all varieties of
film-goers.

Bird was involved with “The Simpsons” for eight
seasons, starting in 1989. He credits the show with helping to
change public perceptions and for showing that animation could be
for adults.

“We tried to get the show to be eligible for (the)
“˜Best Comedy’ (Emmy) instead of competing against
“˜Muppet Babies’ and “˜Garfield,’ but there
definitely was a prejudice against us because we were an animated
series,” said Bird. “We probably weren’t as funny
as “˜Seinfeld,’ but we surely deserved to be in the top
five.”

With “The Incredibles,” Bird wanted to raise the art
form of animation to a new level of dramatic achievement. He
brought his story about superheroes, mid-life crises and family to
Pixar, where he was sure they would understand his vision.

Although “The Incredibles” breaks new ground in
techniques of computer-generated animation, Bird insists that what
is required to make a good live action film is the same that is
required to make a good animated film ““ a good story. Story
supervisor Mark Andrews explains that upholding the story was the
most important part of the process.

“Throughout the film, there is a continual flip-flop from
the fantastic to the mundane. It’s easy just to show
superpowers and have the scenes be action-driven,” Andrews
said. “What’s hard is keeping the human element of the
characters present during the action.”

“The Incredibles” definitely kicks the action up
several notches, enough to garner a PG rating. While the rating is
a departure for Pixar, whose entire repertoire is rated G, producer
John Walker insists that Pixar is always for everybody. “If
“˜Toy Story’ is the benchmark,” said Walker,
“then “˜Monsters’ skews a little younger and
“˜Incredibles’ skews a little older.”

In addition to the story-writing challenges, the film, which
features human main characters in a Pixar film for the first time,
proved to be a monumental challenge for the animators. Supervising
animator Steve Hunter explains that the difficulty of creating
humans is that audiences really understand human movement.

“Because people spend their whole lives watching each
other move,” said Hunter, “it’s fairly easy to
look at humans in animation and tell when something is
off.”

To overcome the challenge, they developed new methods of
animating humans that built upon the skeletons and muscles of the
characters. In addition, this film also pioneered new methods in
the animation of skin and hair.

All this innovation in CG animation begs the question of whether
classical animation is a dying art form in film. Bird emphasizes
that the audience is interested in the story, not the technology.
As with any medium that finds success in Hollywood, studios will
inevitably overdo CG films. And when such films fail, the
foreseeable headline, “Audiences lose interest in CG
films,” will be incorrect.

“It’s easy to blame a film’s failure on its
technique,” explains Bird, “but the problem won’t
be solved by buying computers.”