'Incredibles' creator eyes superheroes' home lives

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The superhero-team concept melds with the importance of the family in the Nov. 5 release of Disney-Pixar's animated epic "The Incredibles."

The movie relays a tale in which the golden age of costumed heroes has passed, forcing Bob Parr and his family to turn to the superhero relocation program to inconspicuously blend into the suburban population.

However, when a new opportunity arises 15 years later for Parr's alter ego, Mr. Incredible, to return to the glory days, he unknowingly becomes part of a diabolical plan that puts his family and city in serious peril.

Created from the fertile mind of famed "Iron Giant" director Brad Bird, the film mixes his fondness for sequential-art entertainment with a passion for the art of animation in a computer-generated masterpiece.

Mr. Bird recently talked to The Washington Times about his influences, the genesis of "The Incredibles" and the work involved in making the film.

Origins of the Incredible family's powers: "In any prototypical family, the dad is expected to be strong and show no pain, so Mr. Incredible is super strong. The mother in the family is always juggling a million things and pulled in a million directions, so I had Elastigirl's power be stretchability.

"Teenage girls are very self-conscious and do not want to be looked at, so I gave the daughter Violet the powers of invisibility, and they are also kind of defensive, so I gave her a protective shield. Ten-year-old boys are energy balls and spinnings tops, so I gave the son Dash super speed."

Origin of costume designer Edna Mode: "I've seen a lot of superhero films and television shows, and they always have these flamboyant costumes, and I always wondered, 'Who made them?' Every once in a while, they would have kind of an awkward scene with a muscle-bound hero who would be in the basement sewing very sensitively, and I never really bought it.

"So I figured that if you had a world that was populated by superheroes, then somebody would have to be designing their costumes, and that somebody could not just be a fashion designer, but she would have to be something of a scientist, also."

Favorite comic strip: "I started getting into the Spirit after reading an interview with William Friedkin and was amazed by how cinematic the character was. My first love has always been movies, and it struck me as a comic-strip version of 'Citizen Kane.'