Production for the first film The Incredibles as a concept dates back to 1993 when Bird sketched the family during a period in which he tried to break into film. Personal issues had percolated into the story as they weighed on him in life. After the box office failure of
The Iron Giant, Bird gravitated toward his superhero story. He imagined it as a homage to the 1960s comic books and
spy films from his boyhood and he initially tried to develop it as a
2D cel animation. In addition, it would be the company's first film in which all characters are human.
Production for the second film Following the first film,
Brad Bird directed his next film for Pixar,
Ratatouille, which was released in June 2007. Near its premiere, Bird said he was open to an idea of a sequel to
The Incredibles, but only if it could be even better than the original. He stated, "I have pieces that I think are good, but I don't have them all together." In a May 2013 interview, Bird reiterated his interest in a sequel: "I have been thinking about it. People think that I have not been, but I have—because I love those characters, and love that world." He added: "I am stroking my chin and scratching my head. I have many, many elements that I think would work really well in another
Incredibles film, and if I can get 'em to click all together, I would probably wanna do that." While publicizing the first film, Bird had already conceptualized the eventual approach where Bob and Helen would switch roles, and Jack-Jack would develop multiple powers yet known by the family. Pixar announced in November 2016 that both
Holly Hunter and
Samuel L. Jackson would return to reprise their roles, and at the July 2017
D23 Expo that both
Craig T. Nelson and
Sarah Vowell would also return with them.
Spencer Fox, the original voice of Dashiell "Dash" Parr, was replaced in the sequel by younger newcomer Huck Milner. Also that July, Brad Bird and
John Ratzenberger were confirmed as reprising their characters from the first film. In November 2017, Pixar announced that
Bob Odenkirk and
Catherine Keener had been signed to the cast, after his death in 2018, the film was dedicated to Luckey's memory. ==Health concerns==