When I think of animation, I still think of frames upon frames of paper images that are then turned into painted cels placed on a painted background. I grew up visiting the working animation studios at what was then MGM Studios at Walt Disney World and had aspirations of being an animator some day.
Then things changed.
Animation had changed and so had I. Doing art for a living no longer appealed to me because it was my love and I never wanted it to become a job. And animation was turning to a new digital life, one I didn’t want anything to do with.
When I learned that actual designers who are interested in fashion work at Pixar to design costumes and fashion for the characters in the films in which they play, I was admittedly a little shocked. While at Pixar, we were greeted by a beautifully dressed 50’s style Deanna Marsigliese who is a Character artist there. She was specifically brought into the project because of her impeccable sense of style that matched up with the decade in which Incredibles 2 is set.
I wanted to kidnap her and take her home and have her dress me, but I’m sane.
Deanna explained how every shape had to be considered while designing the costumes for Incredibles 2. Certain shapes are left for menacing characters while others are meant to show weakness, strength, and femininity.
Apparently they used my shape to design Mrs. Incredible, because have you seen her curves?
Deanna used her own closet to think up fashions for background characters in Incredibles 2. It’s like a Wiz Kahlifa song: Erryone’s tailored. They used the same fashions for all of the background characters but changed designs up and used muted tones. You never want the background characters to overwhelm the main characters.
Edna Mode’s Sense of Style
Edna Mode is a revolutionary designer and longs for the days she outfitted superheroes. Her own fashion sense is bold, daring, dramatic. The designers pulled from Sciaparelli Designs as a big inspiration for her costuming, as well as from nature. My favorite of her costumes is this one where the arms of the dress are modeled after a pangolin !
The first thing I noticed while watching the first 22 minutes of Incredibles 2 was how different everyone’s hair looked. I had just watched the original movie before leaving for this trip so it was fresh in my mind. The detail and color of everyone’s hair is beautiful. Technology has come a really long way in the last 14 years and it shows.
Shading Art Director Bryn Imagire did the costuming on the original Incredibles. For Incredibles 2, they felt the need to respect the original movie, but wanted to utilize new tech to make things look even better than they did in 2004. Computer animation is so different from the animation of “old” in that every little detail has it’s own rig. It is no longer just about drawing something and then animating it on a computer.
One way CGI has changed in 14 years is that in the original Incredibles, the clothing was the character’s skin. Advancements in technology has made it so that clothing is it’s own layer. This allows the animators to make clothing move on its own, sway, and “feel” like it exists on its own plane, because it does. It also causes less distortion with costuming.
Purchase Incredibles 2 Tickets Now on Fandango and be among the first to see the Parr family take on new villains!
Watch the brand new trailer for Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2, coming to theatres in 3D June 15!
Nicole says
I am absolutely obsessed with this post. I haven’t been this excited for a movie, in ages and Edna is my EVERYTHING. I’m so happy you got to do this. What an “incredible” opportunity!
Summer says
I am SO excited for you to see the movie. I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!