It’s Time to Stop: An ‘Incredibles 2’ Rant

First thing’s first… This is not a rant about the existence of Pixar’s Incredibles 2. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel to one of my all-time favorite films. Sorry if the title gave you a near jolt!

No, this is more a rant about something that happens almost every time a popular Pixar film gets a follow-up. Something that I think needs to stop…

It started with the release of Toy Story 3 back in 2010. Once people outside of the animation sphere got wind of the threequel, you heard it just about everywhere. Something along the lines of:

“Move out of the way kids, I’ve been waiting 10+ years to see Toy Story 3!”

“I’m pushing every kid out of the way in line, because I’ve been waiting 10+ years to see this!”

Some even go as far as saying kids shouldn’t be allowed to see these movies. As if these millennials are entitled (!) to these movies, that they deserve them first. If you’re one of those folks, I’m going to CRUSH all of that for you.

So… Why did Pixar wait so long to make a sequel to The Incredibles in the first place?

Incredibles 2 is being released on June 15, 2018. The original Incredibles will be 13 1/2 years old by the time this film comes out. The reason why it took this long would require an essay, but in simple terms, writer/director Brad Bird had no solid plans for an Incredibles sequel. Bird had always said in interviews that he would only make a sequel to The Incredibles if he had the right story. He had ideas over the years, but ideas are ideas. You need a strong story structure that suits its characters in order to make all the ideas fall nicely into place.

Bird instead moved on to other projects. He took control of a troubled Pixar production called Ratatouille, saving a sinking ship and delivering a critical/commercial smash in 2007. Then he turned his attention to live-action, directing Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol for Paramount and then directing the divisive Tomorrowland for Walt Disney Pictures. At one point, he was going to direct a live-action film called 1906, but it didn’t pan out. In early 2014, during a Disney shareholders meeting, the sequel to his 2004 superhero hit was officially announced. Presumably, he began work on it around this time. You can also suggest that Disney forced him to get to work on Incredibles 2 because of how poorly Tomorrowland did at the box office, but Tomorrowland came out in May 2015, Incredibles 2 was announced in March 2014. Maybe Disney already knew Tomorrowland would fail and had Incredibles 2 lined up for Bird just in case.

Either way, Incredibles 2 is finally a thing.

So… Were you truly waiting 10-15 years for all these Pixar sequels?

Did you “grow out of” animation when you hit, say, age 12? Did you heed what your peers in middle school and high school were telling you? Did you leave animation behind like a moldy sandwich? Did you never return to it all throughout your high school and college years? I know I sure DIDN’T.

I loved animation all throughout my life, I never “grew out of” it or considered it a kiddie thing. As a kid, I already knew that animation is an art form and that hundreds of artists work their rears off to make these films happen. It’s also a fact that Pixar’s animated films aren’t aimed at a target audience. The Incredibles is not a “kids’ film,” it’s a family-friendly feature that kids can watch, but it’s not made specifically for them. A “kids’ movie” is something like the Barney the Dinosaur movie, not a Pixar film, not a Disney animated film, not most G/PG films being made…

I was 12 when The Incredibles came out. I was in seventh grade. Most of my peers thought The Incredibles was lame, childish, g*y, ret*rded, this, that. Yeah, some of my fellow classmates actually said those things. I was probably the only person in my entire grade that loved the movie. I had a few friends who said, “Eh, it was okay.” Most of my peers preferred DreamWorks’ then-new movies Shrek 2 and Shark Tale, as both of those were hip, had attitude, innuendos, “adult” jokes, and stuff. Not me, The Incredibles was the top of the line. At age 12, I knew it was better than those two other films.

Many things I liked at age 12 haven’t held up, but The Incredibles does. You know why? Because it’s a good quality film! It’s not some schlocky nostalgic kiddie thing that you dust off every once in a blue moon for a good laugh. No, The Incredibles is fantastic animated cinema, no different from other Pixar films like Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and Toy Story.

Also… Not only are you implying that films like The Incredibles are just kids’ things, you’re also implying that today’s kids – who were too young to see the original in theaters or were born after it came out – aren’t worthy of these movies. The Incredibles isn’t a kids’ film, yes, but it is a film that has delighted many kids over the years. Who are you to tell them that they gotta move out of the way? The Incredibles and Incredibles 2 aren’t your movies, they’re for everyone. This is not dissimilar to how toxic fandom is, claiming things are “theirs” and being terrible jerks to people they wrongfully disapprove of, a.k.a. new fans of things that may not be as learned.

Now I know some of these “move outta da way” things are probably in jest, but they still imply that these great animated movies are “kids’ films” and that only 90s kids are entitled to them. As if they’re the “true fans” of the thing, because they grew up with it. I see so many people my age go and see these movies and say “I’m a kid again!” Sometimes they see it just for that reason. They don’t go to see these films to get good storytelling out of them, instead they just go in and pretend they’re 6 again or whatever. I see animated movies because I love the medium and I love good stories, I have no need to feel like I’m 6 years old again. Enough of this “inner child” stuff already, go see and enjoy a great animated story! Stop confusing “being a boring person with little-to-no taste” with “being mature.” Go out there and like all the things!

So did you truly anticipate a second Incredibles all those years? Or did you all of a sudden get nostalgic when you heard a sequel to a film that you wouldn’t touch with a 39 1/2-ft pole your whole life was being made? Be honest.

My side of the story… As an animation fan, I didn’t know whether or not Pixar would even make an Incredibles 2. You see, The Incredibles was released in late 2004. Back then, Pixar was willing to break away from The Walt Disney Company after their contract was up. (Cars would’ve been their final feature for Disney, then they would’ve sought out a new distributor like Universal or Warner Bros.) Disney executives were treating Pixar terribly, angering Steve Jobs, and threatening them. At the time, an Incredibles sequel *could* happen, but it wouldn’t be made by Pixar.

It seems shocking, but yes, at one time, Pixar was looking to end their partnership with The Walt Disney Company. However, Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner played hardball. Pixar could leave, but Disney technically had the rights to all the movies they had made up until that point. That meant, if Pixar did break away, then Disney could do whatever they wanted with that first batch of films… They knew it very well, and took complete advantage. In 2004, Disney-made sequels to Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo were announced. Scripts were prepared, copyrights were locked. It was really just a way to get Pixar to renegotiate with the mouse…

After a grueling year, all of this came to a stop. Eisner was ousted, Bob Iger took his place as CEO and know exactly what Disney was about to lose… So the company, under his rule, bought Pixar. Pixar got to make their sequels, Pixar would no longer be greeted with the agita Eisner and co gave them, so on, so forth. Of course, the sequels that Disney got close to making had to be made, so that took up some time, as did other original productions… And again, Brad Bird not wanting to make a sequel until he had the right story.

I was aware of what was going on in the animation industry. I knew of the issues Pixar was having with Disney, and I remember the day they announced that they would buy Pixar, all big stuff. I remember the relief sighs when Toy Story 3 began active development at Pixar. I was of the mindset, “Nah, we don’t NEED an Incredibles 2.” I thought this way up until it was officially announced in 2014, then I said, “Well, if Pixar/Brad Bird want to make, then I’m all for it!” I have the same attitude towards sequels in general. I didn’t want a Finding Nemo 2, but when Pixar announced Finding Dory, I was like, “Okay, let’s see what happens!” Ditto Cars 3, Monsters University, and to a much lesser extent, Toy Story 4. I don’t ask for them, but I’m not entirely against them.

Some folks out there genuinely wanted an Incredibles 2 ever since the release of the first film, and that’s fine and dandy. Sometimes we want to see the characters we love return to the silver screen, but I’m wary of how sequels can turn out. No one wants a great original to be somewhat tainted by a dodgy follow-up, it doesn’t feel good, though it’s ultimately a minor offense in the grand scheme of things. Still, it’s a strong feeling everyone gets and I can understand that. For me, yeah, I sometimes thought “It’d be cool to revisit that world,” but I never outright clamored for a full-blown Incredibles sequel.

Lastly, it actually kind of frustrates me that every other Pixar sequel is “unnecessary,” but Incredibles 2 isn’t.

I never bought the argument that the ending explicitly set up a sequel. I think, more than anything, the whole ending with the Underminer was just a loving poke at old pulpy serials that regularly ended on cliffhangers. The Incredibles draws on a lot of older influences, actually. The look of the film suggests that it’s set in an alternate timeline where the aesthetics and futurist ideals of the late 50s/early 60s carried on into the coming decades (note the appearance of things like VCRs, VHS was invented in 1976.), a staple in most of Brad Bird’s work. There are also plenty of nods to 60s spy films and all those aesthetics, among other things… See, if The Incredibles truly set up a sequel, Bird would’ve had a firm plan in place before November 5, 2004. The day the movie went into general release. He didn’t, he intended his film to be a standalone picture.

That doesn’t say that an Incredibles sequel should’ve never happened. If anything, the film just has an open-ending, an ending that suggests “a sequel can happen.” The Underminer coda was never meant to be a small taste of what was to come, just a fitting close to a very stylized, retro superhero action-adventure. A sequel was just as unnecessary as Toy Story 2, Finding Dory, Monsters University, and Cars 2 were. Sacrilege, I know!

I bring this up because usually Pixar is jabbed for making sequels, that they sold their collective souls or whatever. I’ve had it with the sequel whining since the day Cars 2 came out, and while Finding Dory seemed to be greeted with open arms, Monsters University was scorched for not being perfection, and the Cars series already gets enough guff as it is. Pixar gets guff for making original movies that aren’t perfection. (See Brave and The Good Dinosaur.) Again, I just love how every other Pixar sequel was unnecessary, but not this. I argue that Incredibles 2 was never a thing that absolutely HAD TO happen, but it was also never unnecessary. My way with sequels is usually, to reiterate: If the creator wants to make it, then I’m on board.

Incredibles 2 is a thing, I love the first film, loved it my whole life, I love animation, I love Pixar, I’m ready!

Are you?