The Best Toys For Boys

The Incredibles soars on DVD in a super two-disc set that does full justice to Pixar's Academy Award-winning triumph. The production segments included on Disc 2 offer a fascinating glimpse into the creative process and, if nothing else, convey that Pixar must be an absolutely awesome place to work! Included among the deleted scenes -- presented in animated-storyboard form -- is the abandoned original beginning, in which the Parrs meet their neighbors, uncomfortably, before their superhero pasts are revealed to the audience. Exclusive to DVD are two fun new cartoons. The first is the computer-animated "Jack-Jack Attack," which shows what prompted those frantic phone calls to Helen from the babysitter in The Incredibles. The second is a retro blast from the past, a "lost" cartoon done in the Sycro-Vox style of Clutch Cargo and starring Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and their hopping rabbit sidekick, Mr. Skipperdoo. The characters share their shocked reactions to seeing this 1950s relic for the first time in a hilarious (optional) commentary. Fans of Sarah Vowell's contributions to the National Public Radio series This American Life will be delighted with her video essay, in which she talks about, among other things, her affinity for her outcast character, Violet Parr, and her love of Abraham Lincoln (children may find this incredi-boring). The movie itself, presented in either widescreen or reframed full-screen versions, continues Pixar's own incredible streak, which rivals Walt Disney's original run of animated masterpieces. Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter give voice and heart to Bob and Helen Parr, formerly Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, who have been forced to hang up their capes in a world in which, Bob complains, "they keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity." Not so, say director Brad Bird and his Pixar brethren. "This is going to be so awesome if we get it right," an enthused Bird tells his staff in one of the "making of" segments. They did, and it is.