INCREDIBLE Moms Taking The Lead:Interview With Brad Bird, Nicole Grindle And John Walker #Incredibles2Event
I was invited to an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles courtesy of Disney to attend the #Incredibles2Event in exchange for my coverage. No other compensation was provided. All views shared are completely my own.
After a full day at Disney Pixar Animation Studios touring the facility, meeting the team, and experiencing the amazing culture of Pixar we sat down with Producers Brad Bird, Nicole Grindle, and John Walker for an interview. I felt as if we were in a Disney Pixar planning meeting about the INCREDIBLES 2 movie….it was fabulous!
The conference room overlooked the “living room” if you will of the Disney Pixar Animation offices, and there we sat hearing all about INCREDIBLES 2. Everyone’s favorite family of superheroes is back in Incredibles 2 but this time Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is in the spotlight, leaving Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell) and Dash (voice of Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of normal life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that the family is still unaware of baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to work together again which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Awesome right? One of the things that we did while visiting Pixar was watch about 30-40 or so minutes of the movie. So when we sat down with the producers, I was looking forward to hearing about their favorite scene…and someone asked. All of the answers were pretty cool, but Brad’s stuck with me. He said, “
Yeah. I have the worse soundbite because at any given moment I can love any part of the movie. It’s all stuff that I love. I love action scenes. I think that I enjoy putting Helen through action scenes just because her power’s uniquely suited to a certain approach to action scenes, which is fun. I loved dealing with Bob kinda having his self-esteem undercut a little bit by not being the first choice, which he’s never dealt with in his life before. And that just made me giggle while I was writing it.
Because, you know, there is a part of men that always assumes that we’re the best ones for the job. And there’s something funny about that. There’s something — it’s fun to poke a hole in that. And, you know, it’s like men hate not — asking directions. And it’s just a thing. It’s a primal thing that goes back to the beginning of time. And we’re deathly afraid of looking like we don’t know what we’re doing. And I think that because of that, because it’s deep in our DNA, it’s just right for comedy.”
I loved Brad’s answer so much. Not because I enjoy men being undercut by not being the first choice, but because he is revealing the truth about so many everyday families. Moms like Helen (Elastigirl) all over the world are stretching themselves and evloving. They are taking the lead role of their own lives and showing that they too can be the best person for the job.
You’ve seen the trailer, I love the story line with Helen taking the lead as the breadwinner. As I said, it is very common – I mean, it may even be your story. So when the question was posed “You said that Helen working is a new idea, but it fits perfectly into this new moment where women claim for more. Does this new movement have influence into the story?” Brad said,
“No. I mean, the Incredibles had its strong women characters 15 years ago or whenever it was. And, I grew up with three sisters and a mom who was a strong person. I’m married to a strong woman. So, that’s always felt just sort of normal to me. So, this idea was not geared towards any particular thing in the news, and if it’s happening, then, I guess it’s about time. I don’t know.”
So you all already know that I was overjoyed to hear his response. My favorite part was “that’s always felt norman to me.” Strong women are normal. It’s not a fad, it’s not just our time, it is simply who we are. We are strong and have always been. My grandmother was the strongest woman I knew. I am positive that she felt that way about her mother and/or grandmother.
As moms we are not always recognized for our lead roles, but we are constantly taking the lead. We take the lead with our children, in our homes, and our communities. We are doctors, counslers, chefs, and teachers. Everyday, I feel like Elastigirl, stretching myself to limits that allow me to be super. A super wife, mom, friend…woman!
What’s your super power? What did you takeaway from the responses from Brad? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Remember INCREDIBLES 2 will hit theaters everywhere on June 15th. Follow along using hastag #Incredibles2Event and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
[latoyia]
