Shrek 2 and The Incredibles : Family Fun For Adults

By Frank Beaver

I saw 2004's top blockbuster family films twice. I went to Shrek 2 and The Incredibles first as a filmgoer-critic, and then I revisited them with my two granddaughters aged 6 and 8.

Children were led in droves to these pictures because of their appeal as animated fantasies designed to entertain one and all. Indeed, any adult who has seen Shrek 2 and The Incredibles confronts screen fare that engages viewers at many different levels of comprehension. First off, both are state-of-the-art exercises in “three-dimensional” character animation unlike the older Disneyesque Cinderella/Bambi school of hand-drawn cel animation.

I don't know to what degree children are aware of the stylistic, rhythmic and tonal differences of three-dimensional animation, such as that displayed in Shrek 2, but I am a great admirer of its dramatic power. Shrek and his new bride are “different” from others in physical appearance, and she's also a princess who has married outside her class. As the two share their new lives together, the animators create lovely, nuanced, action-reaction moments that, along with psychologically sound dialogue, suggest very human, even poignant, self-awareness.

I was conscious of an unusual depth of emotional substance in characters who not only flatulated in glee while enjoying a mud bath together but also experienced an entwined wave-wash-of-love right out of From Here To Eternity. Shrek 2's screen play is rich in cinematic and cultural references incorporated to appeal to mature filmgoers.

The Incredibles, too, contains a multilayered narrative. On the surface it's an action film about a super-heroic family: a mom, dad, son, daughter and high-chair-bound baby boy, all possessing unusual talents for doing in evil guys who are a threat to society. But undergirding all the thrilling animated heroics is a narrative in which family issues and tensions abound.

The appeal of seeing kids as part of the screen heroics is an obvious attraction for young filmgoers; yet, the script offers subtextual elements that are more common to modern domestic drama.

Mr. Incredible is struggling within a stultifying job that leads to mid-life crisis, waist-line spread and loss of sexual appetite. Mom/wife, the former Elastigirl, is trying to deal with the ins and outs of suburban parenting that will be recognized as all-too familiar by adult filmgoers: gender roles in family responsibilities, the uncertainties of young adulthood for teenage daughters, school and community social pressures to “do the right thing,” sibling rivalries.

My granddaughters' responses to these two films were “fun,” “cute,” “exciting,” “funny.” For them, baby Jack-Jack in The Incredibles stole the show. I couldn't agree more with their critique. It is mine, too—but with an additional nod to the filmmakers for including us adults in the on-screen experience.

Film historian and critic Frank Beaver is professor of film and video studies and professor of communication.