Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1011494
6 cgw | e d i t i o n 3 , 2 0 1 8 I n real time, Disney•Pixar's Incredibles 2 takes place 14 years aer the first film, but in "Incredible" time, it's only a few months later. Superhero stunts are illegal in Municiberg, the Parr family's hometown, so Mr. Incred- ible/Bob (Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl/ Helen (Holly Hunter) have been lying low, raising their kids Violet, Dash, and baby Jack- Jack, and hiding their superpowers. Violet seems almost like a normal high school kid. Dash plays video games. Jack-Jack has a few teeth now. "I thought about aging [the Parr family], and then I thought, 'That sucks,'" says Brad Bird, who wrote and directed both films. "That's about as deep as it went." Instead, he switched up the family dynamic. The film opens with a wild action scene as Mr. Incredible (primarily) tries to stop the villain Underminer, who is attacking the city. But havoc ensues, and the government de- cides to completely shut down the program that protected "supers." The Parrs have two weeks le in a subsidized motel room and no way to pay the bills. Fortunately, the Deavors, a rich brother and sister team whose father loved superheroes, want to bring back the supers. Rather than pro- moting Mr. Incredible, though, they choose Elastigirl – Helen – as their super star. Bob must stay home and take care of the kids. And, what a home. The Deavor siblings have given the Parrs a futuristic home with sliding floors above a swimming pool, a rain curtain, and other inventions. There, Bob does his best to be a doting father, even though Violet suffers teenage angst, Dash is determined to be a superhero, and Jack- Jack . . . well, Jack-Jack has more superpow- ers than any of them, powers unleashed by the toddler's random whims. A hilarious fight with a raccoon demonstrates Jack- Jack's ability to replicate himself, shoot laser beams from his eyes, become invisible, walk through walls, set himself on fire, and, later, become a demon baby. Bob tries to control him with cookie bribes. "He's still a baby," Bird says. "He has only limited control over his powers. What inter- ests him is what interests a baby." Meanwhile, Helen has her first superhero assignment – to save a runaway train – a train running away in reverse. And with that, back to real time. Four- teen years aer the first film, technology has advanced, artists have become more proficient, and the result – complex visuals, spectacular effects, and amazing animation – is on screen. "We'd been gone a few years," says pro- ducer John Walker, who had worked with Bird on The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and the live-action film Tomorrowland. "I was surprised by the level of competency and artistry that the crew exhibited. Pixar has always been a great place, but it is stun- ning how great the people have become. And they're so young. They're embarrass- ingly good." "Humiliatingly good," Bird says. Take that runaway train sequence, for example. RIDING THAT TRAIN Evelyn Deavor has invented an elastic motorcycle for Helen that she uses to fly, flip, and race through the city to catch the runaway train. "Ryan Heuett [layout artist] designed the city according to Helen's ability to move through traffic," says Mahyar Abouosaeedi, camera and staging supervisor. "Brad kept saying, 'Faster, faster.' Once she's on the rooops, she has to hop from building to building, and things felt haphazard. So, we spread out the buildings to give her longer jumps less oen." The bike stretches apart and comes back together magnetically. She sends it ahead and uses her elasticity to parkour through the buildings to catch up. Sometimes, liter- ally through. Six effects artists created the tire smoke, glass destruction, sparks, and explosions for the sequence. Effects technical director Michael Cat- alano was responsible for the tire smoke, effects TD Ferdi Scheepers shattered the glass in a building, effects TD Amit Baadkar was the artist on sparks, and Michael Hall handled elasticycle explosions as it crashed THE PARR FAMILY OF SUPERHEROES: HELEN (ELASTIGIRL) HOLDING BABY JACK-JACK, VIOLET, BOB (MR. INCREDIBLE), AND DASH.