DivaLea: The Incredi-Nerd

The Diva's husband and kids got her The Incredible 2-disc widescreen set for her birthday. (Which was March 11.)

That's a LOT of candles! © Pixar/Disney

The Incredibles 2-disc set is chock-full of geeky goodness, I'm floundering for a starting and stopping point to talk about it, so here's a free-association list:
Side-by-side comparison of Syndrome and his animator's video reference. (So close, it funny and scary.)
Ref video of Kari's animator. Sharp watchers will peg her before this point just by her voice and looks.
Meandering documentary of the making of TI.
Secret Supers files with hilarious sound clips.
Jack-Jack Attack--surprisingly sinister!
Mr. Incredible and Friends--IT BURNS MR. SKIPPERDOO IT BURNS.
Sarah Vowell's video essay, with a brand-new animation of Violet, using the soundtrack of Vowell's "This American Life" story about her dad's cannon.
Bird giggling at Mirage getting punched in the face. One of the great falls, he calls it, and he's right. It never fails to make me laugh.

Now, THIS is animation! © Pixar/Disney
Incredi-blunders: not animated outtakes ala' Toy Story, TS 2 and A Bug's Life, but rendering mishaps and weird and disturbing interim animations with a cheesy laugh track and Candid Camera sound effects. (Well, okay, there aare two animated outtakes, very low-res ones.)

Peruse the secret files of the supers on Disc 2, and listen to the sound files AND read all the text. You backstory nerds will be delighted.
My favorite commentary moment so far is Bird comparing giving up Helen's pilot friend Snug as a character (other than in a photo and a voice) to passing a kidney stone. As a writer, I relate to that--it HURTS to give up a scene you love.
I haven't had a chance to watch the whole film with Bird's commentary, and none of the animator's, so there's still treats to be had, even after a day of watching.

Of course, there's the movie itself, which delights me with its attention to detail. I'm not talking props or costumes here (but those are handled masterfully, too), I'm talking the teeny-tiny things that make these characters alive, little gestures like Helen pointing Jack Jack's hair during his bath, eyes darting, subtle changes in expression, Helen's mussed hair at dinner, Syndrome tossing his remote when he prances around making fun of the victims of his Omnidroid--just bloody every little thing about the acting the animators did.
The story works, too: it's as solid as any I've ever encountered. Questions are answered, every action has a payoff, everyone's motivations are clear, and they make sense.
I care about these characters, too, because there are consequences in their world, both human and superhuman. Mr. Incredible winces just before the train hits him. Bomb Voyage thinks nothing of attaching a bomb to a child for a distraction. Syndrome's henchminion doesn't even think before pushing Dash off a flying vehicle (never mind the minions who were perfectly okay with shooting at him and Violet, trying to crush him, and run him over). Helen flopping exhausted onto the beach at Nomanisan Island, looking like something that's just grown its first set of legs. Violet smacking the hell out of Dash when he bedevils her (and it's clear from Dash's howl of "No force fields!" it's not the first time). Bob is manipulated shamelessly by Mirage, and he buys it, and you wince every time because, let's face it, the chick is a procurer for a serial killer and Bob is nothing but "the fat guy" (and a huge fool) until he beats the Omnidroid. He's a bigger fool after, trying to play the smoothie to Mirage, and that part always makes me wince like I'm about to be hit by a train of shame, myself.
I love that every character shown (more than told) to have feelings, without being beaten over the head with it until I feel like I'm at some weird "getting in touch with yourself" peepshow.

The Incredibles is the best animated film I have ever seen, and arguably one of the best ever made. There are others that are prettier, that have a message, that don't have the "explosions and hugs" ethic of The Incredibles, but not a single one is so well-done, so tight on every single level.

I'm not sure how much this DVD set will delight anyone who was not studying every bit of The Incredibles with my intensity, but for me, it is Nerdvana.

Yep, I love this movie. © Pixar/Disney