I can think of no more joyous a collaboration than that of Pixar and Brad Bird. Of Pixar, what more needs to be said? They have yet to cease in exceeding themselves (readers may recall me noting in my Finding Nemo review that I thought A Bug's Life was superior; I ask that I be allowed to ratify that statement). Of Brad Bird, not enough can be said, nor has it; his animated masterpiece, The Iron Giant, one of the best American animated films ever, flopped upon release in 1999, a victim of its distributor's disinterest. It has a devoted following now, made up more of children at heart than actual children; but those that love it know that Bird understands things about storytelling that Pixar also understands - and that other companies making animated films, like Dreamworks and, ironically, Disney itself, can't quite figure out.

So here are the minds behind some of the best animated films of all time, joining forces for a film about super heroes. The results, as any logical person might expect, are spectacular. The film was written and directed by Bird, and it bares few of Pixar's usual conceits - such as the buddy element that's been prevalent in every one of their films - but it's been brought to life by artists who have cut their teeth with a company that fosters creativity and warmth and intelligence. Like all other Pixar films, The Incredibles will appeal to all audiences not because there are jokes lodged specifically for adults or pop culture references included to approximate some sort of relevance, but because it deals with themes

Imagine a film with all the substance of Spider-Man 2 with none of the baggage mandated by it being a Spider-Man film, and you might have an idea of what this The Incredibles is like. The film takes place in an unspecified time, in a world where super heroes are commonplace - the same world that comic books, with their hundreds of super powered characters who all seem to exist in the same city, take place in, and the characters that fill it are archetypes. Thus, we don't need an origin story for Mr. Incredible or Elastic Girl or Frozone; they are classic heroes and they embody all the strengths and foibles that are inherent to people who have bizarre natural abilities but are, of course, still just people.

That's precisely what they are relegated to when a sudden string of lawsuits brings about the end of the heroic days of yore; the government puts into action a Superhero Protection Plan, and Mr. Incredible and his comrades are given new identities and are forced to join the workforce. And here is the genius of the film; it becomes a story about a family and their domestic issues, rather than one about heroes fighting villains. Even when the plot escalates to action and adventure, Bird makes sure that the same character dynamics prevalent at the dinner table are just as obvious during chases and fights and feats of daring do.

The family consists of Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), who is 15 years into his job as an insurance salesman at a firm presided over by Wallace Shawn; Elastic Girl (the invaluable Holly Hunter); their teenage daughter Violet, son Dashiell, and baby Jack Jack. The parents' powers, it turns out, are genetic, and so it is that Violet can turn invisible and create force fields and Dash can run at the speed of sound, powers that happen to be very indicative of their personalities. Jack Jack, though, seems to be a normal little human. This is something Elastic Girl is thankful for - she has trouble convincing her older children that they can't use their powers in public. Dash has his heart set on joining the track team, and Violet finds her invisibility handy when confronting the boy she likes at school.

Eventually, a clever deception on the part of a mysterious villain draws Mr. Incredible out of retirement, and his whole family follows suit. The action and adventure that ensues is all incredibly exciting, but, like Spider-Man 2, it's less about what's happening than the family it's happening to. And how wonderful it is to see a family that does all they can to stand by each other and make sacrifices for their own well being! To see Mr. Incredible slave away in a cubicle to keep food on his family's table is sad, because Mr.Incredible doesn't like it one bit; funny, because it creates the opportunity for all sorts of pratfalls; and inspiring, because here's a guy doing what's right for his family's sake, even though he hates it. Talk about a real superhero.

Of course, doing what's right usually pays off, and that's why the family finds themselves outfitted in their supersuits once more and facing off against giant tentacled robots and henchman in buzzsaw hovercraft. Bird knows exactly how to utilize the possibilities of animation in just the right way, so that nothing seems so outlandish as to make us lose our suspension of disbelief (he also understands that just because a film is animated doesn't mean we won't believe in it). There's an inherent understanding of cinema at work here that a certain sequel starring a green ogre who coasted along on gags that won't be funny this time next year was missing in spades; there's a balance of humor and drama in the writing that's of the same sort of wonderful style as the Indiana Jones films, and a sense of pacing that is indeed comparable to Spielberg (a suitable comparison, since The Iron Giant shared more than a few qualities with E.T.). It's notable that the film has two cinematographers listed in the credits - something that CGI films, which involve no actual photography, usually don't seem to bother with.

That's a trend that will probably continue in all the CGI films that are being rushed through production by various studios who are convinced that the technology is the reason Pixar films make such massive amounts of money and are beloved by so many. I'd wager, though, that The Incredibles could have been made with traditional cell animation - as could have Finding Nemo and the rest of the Pixar canon - and they'd still be big hits. As technologically amazing as a film may be (and this film certainly is - pay particular attention to the characters' hair, if you're interested in advancement of CGI capabilities), it's nothing without the characters and stories that Pixar and Bird have both previously proven they can deliver. Decades from now, when The Shrek films aren't much more than financial footnotes, The Incredibles will still be cherished - and maybe The Iron Giant will gain a bit more stature, too.