The Incredibles arrived in the early years of the superhero movie boom, and 14 years after its release, it still remains both a popular story from this genre and a classic Disney/Pixar entry. No doubt one of the reasons for the movie's enduring appeal is its timeless feel, as The Incredibles is set in an anachronistic world that blends the old-school with modern flair. Still, many fans have wondered over the years specifically what year the sixth Pixar theatrical movie takes place in, but if you look closely during the scene where Bob Parr, a.k.a. Mr. Incredible, is reading his newspaper at home, you'll see that the present day events of the story are set in 1962.
In case it's difficult of you to make out the exact date on that newspaper, Bob Parr learns about Gazerbeam's disappearance on Monday, May 16, 1962. In a way, Bob coming across that article was indirectly the first domino to fall that led back to his return to superheroics, outside of his evening jaunts with Frozone listening to the police scanner to see if they can help people. While there are elements of post-1960s technology infused into The Incredibles, like Dash's teacher recording security footage on a VHS tape and Helen using a cord phone with buttons on it, the overall aesthetics definitely feel 1960s, from fashion to car models, as seen below.
It turns out that the 1960s feel in The Incredibles that director Brad Bird was going for was meant to emulate the ideas of what the future would look like back in that decade, as revealed by producer John Walker (via Oh My Disney). Walker said:
Brad [Bird]'s watchword for the whole movie was that it should seem like the early-sixties vision of the future---TV's Jonny Quest and Walt Disney's original Tomorrowland. So we have things like the monorail on the island, which feels like it was designed in the early 1960s...
It's also worth noting that since the present day events in The Incredibles are set in 1962, that means that the opening of the movie, where we see Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone in action before the government initiated the Superhero Relocation Program, is set in 1947. Both those years are fall within important periods in comic book publication history, as 1947 was one of the final years of the Golden Age of Comic Books, while 1962 was right in the middle of the Silver Age of Comic Books' heyday. In any case, since Incredibles 2 will take place immediately after the events of the first movie, that means we'll be spending a lot more time in this 1960s-set, superpowered world later this year.
Incredibles 2 opens in theaters on June 15. To learn what other movies are coming out this year, scan through our 2018 release schedule.
