When I first saw the movie The Incredibles, it was down the street from us at my friend’s house. I fell in love with the film. The charm, wit and sense of humor captured my imagination making me want to be a kid again. I thought, if I ever could have been part of a movie so wonderful, The Incredibles would have been that movie.
Today’s Women Who Wow Wednesday salutes the women of The Incredibles. Not only is this the first time an animated character made the cut, but also, much like the post I had written about Charlie’s Angels, I will feature three women who wow!
Elastigirl—Married to Bob Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible), Helen Parr maintains her illusive identity as a middle-aged housewife (sorry—homemaker, uh, stay-at-home-mom) in an inconspicuous suburban neighborhood. True to fact, though, she’s a super. Years ago, she and her husband had to go into hiding because of the lawsuits. They destroyed half the city. The ungrateful citizens whose lives they saved turned around and sued them for all sorts damages. Okay, so maybe the supers went a little overboard, destroying a few buildings in the process of their heroic escapades, but that shouldn’t be a reason to litigate.
What is the big deal with Elastigirl? She can stretch. As far as her body will allow. She can also become objects such as parachutes in order to save those who hang on for dear life when a plane explodes. If someone needs a boat, she can become one. Hop aboard! Elastigirl wows with her awesome, stretchy skill sets.
Violet—Daughter to Elastigirl, Violet Parr may just as well remain invisible. The boys at her school don’t notice the teen. Her shyness keeps her from having friends. Self-confidence? Next to nothing. But why is she so special? The one cool thing Elastigirl or any of the other supers can’t do is create a force field. I’m talking about force fields that can wrap everyone in its grasp and protect them from screaming bullets. Violet can do that.
Is there more? Of course. Remember how I said she might just as well consider remaining invisible? Well, guess what. She can become invisible. One of her superpowers gives her the ability to disappear and reappear at will, anywhere. The other supers may have super strength, speed and flexibility, but the most important abilities Violet possesses. How’s that for irony. The introvert gets the cool stuff. Who doesn’t want to become invisible to listen in on what people really think of others?
Kari McKeen—The baby sitter. It’s like Carrie, only with a K instead of a C, and an “ah” instead of an “a”, only one R, and an I instead of an I-E. Kari. Featured in The Incredibles’ short film Jack-Jack Attack, Kari has all she can do to keep the Parr’s baby from getting into all sorts of trouble. For one thing, she saves the baby from falling off an ornament ledge. This is when the little tike’s supposedly primed for some neurological stimulation. Then there’s the cognitive development phase, Kari saves him after he bursts into flames, igniting the whole house on his way to toddle from room to room.
The greatest respect I have is in her ability to stay up all night battling the boy’s accidental spontaneous combustion episodes and laser-eyed hiccup sessions. It takes a true hero to look after a little one and remain sane the next day. That’s Kari with a K.
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Have you seen The Incredibles? What do you think of the women in the movie?
Looking to God 
No Edna tho?
Ha, I wanted to include her, but I also wanted to keep the post at ~500 words. The space constraint won!
Good post. The Incredibles makes my Top 10 All-time favorite list.
I love the Incredibles!!!!
Incredibles is a perfect triple-whammy of women who wow!
The mom was ace in that and the babysitter so funny.
I like The Incredibles a lot! The whole crew is fantastic and Violet was totally awesome! 🙂
The Incredibles is a great movie, and all these ladies distinct and fun. I would argue The Incredibles actually treats its female characters better than in Brave – the women are more distinct, more driven, and all have their independent moments – even the terrorized baby sitter.
Pixar, man. They have storytelling on lock.
The Incredibles women truly are just that: incredible. So fun to watch Violet realize the kind of power she has and Helen’s maternal instincts are endearing. Kari is hilarious, and definitely made of stronger mettle than it seems at first. Jack-jack is a terror, and just surviving a night with him sans super powers makes her a “super” baby sitter. See what I did there?
😉
Pixar is one of the most inventive companies in the world. They are geniuses.
It’s funny, no matter how many times I watch The Incredibles, I always find something else interesting I’ve never seen before. What an incredible movie! Do YOU see what I did there? 😉
I haven’t seen that movie in ages – and I used to love it too (I mean, my son used to love it…) I think it may be time to resurrect it from the video cabinet!
I LOVE Kari! And the Jack-Jack short. We Dvr’d a Pixar short films movie that features that short and the kids love it (we do too). I love Kari’s dialogue at the table after her babysitting adventurers when she’s explaining how she believed the bad guy was legit, “the baby was exploding!”
I love the whole script that Jack-Jack Attack. Who can forget this: “It stands for… sitter! Yeah, sitter. I was originally going to have the initials for babysitter but then I’d be going around with a big BS and you can understand why I couldn’t do that.” Hilarious fun!
Sarah Vowell who voices Violet also writes some great and quirky historical books.
And who can forget Edna Mode she is like ‘M’ with style.
I watched her on the DVD talking about her character involvement. She truly was a fascinating individual.
Interesting- I’ll try to track one down! Thanks for that.
I love The Incredibles! Pixar makes me happy on so many levels. One of the things I think they do really well is the casting. Our heroine Mrs Parr aka Elastigirl, is voiced by Holly Hunter, right? I think that was brilliant. She’s so warm and maternal sounding – but totally tough at the same time!
Such a great kids movie that I actually re-watched it about a year ago. This is gold and pretty much a must see for all families and I loved the humor in the movie too!