Abstract:
In the animated film The Incredibles (2004) a dysfunctional family of superheroes is
forced to go undercover and to refrain from practising heroic deeds and demonstrating
their special powers. In an attempt to give it the image of normalcy this fictional family is
placed within a stylishly designed modernist home filled with 1950s furniture, futuristic
appliances and pastel colours and located in suburbia somewhere in North America.
Deprived of doing what they really love this imposed lifestyle becomes quite frustrating
for them. Inevitably, behind closed doors, in this fashionably designed domestic
environment their special powers are occasionally expressed in mundane situations such
as doing the housework, attending school or participating in the family dinner. This paper
examines the design and animation process involved in the construction of this private
living space and its links to the imaginary world of comic books and superheroes. The
thinking on animation and design theorists such as Cholodenko, Clark, Furniss,
Buchanan, Margolin and Csikszentmihalyi is applied to this scenario in particular and to
animation in general and a wider argument for the placement of animation within Film
Studies is also enunciated.
