5 Ways the Incredibles 2 Costume Design Will Blow Your Mind – #Incredibles2Event

Thanks to Disney Pixar for inviting me to join their press day to learn all the incredible details about the process behind the animation of Incredibles 2. I keep saying how impressed I was during my trip to Pixar Animation Studios. You can imagine how much goes into designing an animated film but learning specifically about the fashion was mindblowing. Below are 5 ways the Incredibles 2 costume design is… INCREDIBLE.

Edna Mode = Bold. Dramatic. Practical.

Research

My level of appreciation for the work that goes into creating an animated film was grossing lacking. My family loves watching animated movies together and we have been counting down the days until Incredibles 2 opens in theaters. However, our love for the films does not compare to the level of appreciation I now have after seeing how much work goes into the creation process.

When I thought about someone making an animated film, I pictured them doodling in their sketchbook – drafting up designs with their personal creativity. It always seemed like such a fascinating job, all fun. I assumed each animation designer was inspired by different things and they came together to create a movie our families love. I never imagined how much research goes into a project.

When creating the costume designs for the Incredibles 2 film, they researched styles from various decades. They looked at fashion icons from the mid-century such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Paul Newman (handsome and robust family man). The team browsed old magazines, fashion ads, and fashion shows to get a feel for the bold statements they wanted to incorporate into the Incredibles 2 costume designs.

So Many Animated Details

With each main character having a different personality, their fashion choices needed to reflect upon that. Evelyn Dever’s styles were inspired by Patty Smith and Diane Keaton. Bold and striking feminine patterns while presenting a strong appeal. Blurring gender lines in the eyes of fashion to show her stepping into a man’s world and taking charge.

The animated details are beyond amazing! When the team creates the costumes, they do not replicate the same fabric for each piece. If the character is wearing silk, it will have a different texture than cotton. Each article of clothing has a texture that is uniquely created to match the design. These textures were created specifically for the Incredibles 2 movie and not duplicated from another film.

The faux fur coat was given animated hair fibers to make it look realistic. This tedious task took hours of work and attention to detail. The costume design team is so passionate about their project.

Bring to Life Incredibles 2 Characters

Character artist, Deanna Marsigliese has collected mid-century design for her own wardrobe. This made designing costumes for the Incredibles 2 a dream job for her. She was able to help bring to life the characters we will see on the big screen.

To assist with creating authentic designs for our favorite characters, she brought several pieces of her own clothing to the office at Pixar Animation Studios for demonstration. 

Not only did the costume design team use Deanna’s clothing as examples for inspiration, Deanna also put on the clothes to model so they could better understand how each garment flowed and laid against the body. The costumes in Incredibles 2 were not just drawn by hand or on a computer from personal inspiration, they were crafted to be as realistic as you would see on a live-action film.

Unique Animated Fashion Designs

The costume designs for Incredibles 2 were uniquely crafted for this movie. They could not just duplicate the costumes from the Pixar film Up, it wouldn’t work. When they started animation on Incredibles 2, they started from scratch and took no shortcuts. After lots of research and all the tiny details coming to life, they began custom tailoring each costume to specific characters. This requires manually shading the costumes for each character by hand.

They had to create 3D sculptures of the costumes to tell the animation how to stretch for movement without losing the appropriate shading or density of the material.

This is important when Elasticgirl does high-performance athletic moves. Her costume needs to stretch with her body without losing color.

Background Characters Matter

Just as much thought and effort goes into creating the background characters that the audience does not pay much attention to. The key to keeping a scene in an animated film realistic while holding the audience’s focus on the right point in a scene is by making the background characters blend appropriately.

The background characters need to be creative, yet practical. There are so many men, women, and children walking around in the city during a scene in Incredibles 2, that they need to be varied without making a statement. They must represent the mid-century ascetics and give the nostalgic feeling with clean silhouettes without being eye-catching or dramatic.

The costume design team creates these simple but iconic and stylish costumes for the background characters that complement the action without distracting from it. If the background was empty, the scene would not be realistic but the animation needs to hold your focus on the action and main characters.

If the main character wears red and yellow plaid, you will never see a background character with the same color or pattern. Most background characters wear muted hues.

Incredibles 2 in Theaters June 15th

I cannot wait to see Incredibles 2 in theaters on June 15, 2018. I am going to pay extra close attention to the details of the costume designs and each character throughout the film. I have the utmost appreciation for the Pixar Studios team. Their talent and dedication are truly mind-blowing.

Purchase your tickets to see Incredibles 2 in theaters June 15th on Fandango now!

For a limited time only, if you purchase advance tickets to Incredibles 2 via Fandango, you can get a free movie poster.