And babies are unknown-they may have great powers, they may have none.īarrier: Had you even heard of Powers before?īird: No, no. Ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls, so I had him be speed. Teenagers are insecure and defensive, so I had her be invisible and have protective shields. Moms are always pulled in a million different directions, so I had her be elastic. The father is always expected to be strong, so I had him have strength. I tried to base the powers on family archetypes. The part that I'm interested in is all the personal stuff. That's not the part of the story that I'm interested in, anyway. I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more. If there are similarities, it's simply because the same thoughts that occurred to other people also occurred to me. I'm perfectly willing to believe that I'm not the first to come up with certain ideas involving superheroes it's probably the most well-trod turf on the planet. When fans ask if I was influenced by issue 47 of Whoeverman, I have no idea what they're talking about. I got my heroes secondhand, from television and movies, to a certain extent. I read a few, when I was little, but I was really much more into things like 'Peanuts' and 'B.C.'-funny strips. What kind of feedback have you been getting from fans about these supposed influences, and how have you been responding?īird: I was not a big comic-book reader. I gather from other interviews, though, that you really haven't been that much of a comic-book reader, and really haven't been consciously influenced by these comic books.

He had heard of Watchmen but never read it, he hadn't even heard of Powers, and what he knew of Fantastic Four was through occasional exposure.īarrier: I've been astonished by how precise the parallels have been that some people have drawn between the film and certain superhero comic books, like Powers, Watchmen, and Fantastic Four. Brad Bird has stated quite clearly that he hasn't read - or even was unaware of - many of the works that are commonly thought of as an inspiration for The Incredibles.

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