An Incredible Quiz!

Answer: Boundin'

'Boundin' was an optimistic short dealing with our ability to 'rebound' and make the best of unfortunate occurrences, and it was released along with 'The Incredibles'. 'Geri's Game' was Pixar's short before 'A Bug's Life', and was about a man who played himself in chess. Both the Academy Award-winning 'For the Birds' and 'Mike's New Car' came from 'Monster's Inc'. (One was before the film, one was an extra.)

Answer: Lifting his desk inside his cubicle, much to the amazement of his client, a loveable old woman

Mr. Incredible doesn't actually lift his desk - it's likely the old lady would have fainted! In addition to the three other choices, Mr. Incredible does lift his boss while he's at work, during the culmination of a great scene resulting in the loss of his job!

Answer: Violet - Elizabeth Pena

The answer was Violet, who was voiced by Sarah Vowell, who you might know from her work on the public radio broadcast 'This American Life'. Elizabeth Pena (who played Tania the Demolitionist in 'Rush Hour') did Mirage, while the other three answers are correct. One has to admire how Pixar even gets high quality voice-actors for their minor roles, including Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, and Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey Best (Frozone's wife) and Wallace Shawn as the boss, who you may remember as Vizzini from "The Princess Bride". (Inconceivable!)

Answer: Bomb Voyage

Bomb Voyage was the French-speaking villain who Mr. Incredible found inside the building, after he prevented the civilian from committing suicide. I hope the other choices didn't throw anyone off; as you may have expected, I made them up.

Answer: Cape

You may recall the scene where the superheroes were foiled by their capes when they became snagged on something or caught in the turbine from an airplane; in fact, the cape even became the downfall for Syndrome! It's that kind of imaginative perspective which all Pixar's films contain that makes them successful.

As usual, I just threw the other three in there from elsewhere, although the movie does include some subtle self-parody about the actual effectiveness of an eye-covering mask.

Answer: Jason Lee

You may recall Jason Lee from films like 'Almost Famous' or 'Vanilla Sky' - here he provided the voice for Syndrome, as well as for his alter-ego earlier in the film, Buddy Pine. Nelson played Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible while Spencer Fox was Dash. I used Jason Schwartzman (Albert from 'I Heart Huckabees') because he kind of looks like Jason Lee.

Answer: One Family. Four Heroes. One Fate

"Save the Day", "Expect the Incredible", and "No Gut, No Glory" were all used on various posters for 'The Incredibles'. "No Gut, No Glory" explains how Mr. Incredible became out of super-hero shape and put on a few pounds, which slightly hindered his ability to fight evil. "Expect the Incredible" is more vague, but the main thing it probably refers to is how the deeds of the superheroes when they worked together as a family were indeed incredible. "Save the Day" simply tells how the Incredibles managed to come out of hiding when they were truly needed and combat the forces of evil. "One Family. Four Heroes. One Fate." was me switching up the tagline for one of the greatest films of all time, 1991's 'Raise the Red Lantern', which was "China, 1920's. One master. Four wives. One fate." Doesn't that just sound too serious for 'The Incredibles'?

Answer: He pulled triple duty by directing, writing, and voice-acting.

Bird did all three; he wrote the script and directed the picture, while also giving a hugely enjoyable faux-designer voice to Edna Mode, the designer of the super suits. Some may remember that he wrote and directed 1999's 'The Iron Giant', although the script there was adapted from a book by Ted Hughes.

Answer: He tries to steal Jack-Jack

Animated films often include subtle parodies of other films, and it's possible that Syndrome stealing Jack-Jack mimicked what happened in 'The Mask of Zorro', when Montero steals Zorro's child. In addition, Syndrome's island base was deceptively close to that from 'The Man with the Golden Gun' - the epitomy of a villainous lair.

More astute viewers may even recall a forest chase scene involving copter vehicles that may even be reminiscent of the speeder bikes in 'Return of the Jedi'.

Answer: All of these

Naturally Brad Bird is a strong enough director that he knows how to create films that are more than just films. In addition to the above points (which are all correct), the film also has social commentary about frivolous lawsuits and mid-life crises. I hope you enjoyed the quiz! My congratulations to Pixar as well, who is now batting six for six. Well done!