Helene Parr, also known as Elastigirl or Mrs. Incredible, is a fictional character who appears in Pixar's animated superhero filmThe Incredibles and its sequel Incredibles 2. Voiced by actress Holly Hunter, the character is a superhero who possesses superhuman elasticity, granting her the ability to stretch any part of her body to great proportions. Helen is introduced in the first film as an accomplished superheroine forced into retirement with her husband Bob after superheroes are outlawed.
Development
When designingthe Incredibles family, Brad Bird wanted each of their superpowers to be related to their personality. He felt that as a mother, Helen was required by society to be pulled in many different directions, which led to her being given an elastic ability. Regarding the choice to make Helen the star of Incredibles 2, Bird insisted that it was unrelated with the #MeToo movement, and was instead a choice that came naturally with how the writers wanted to progress the story.
Appearances
In The Incredibles, Helen is seen as Elastigirl in the time before superheroes are banned. She married Bob Parr and starts a family: Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack. She gives up her vigilante job to become a housewife while her husband worked. When Bob starts to act sneakily, Helen suspects an affair and confronts him. Later, when she discovered her husband is in trouble, she pilots a jet to rescue him, accompanied by Violet and Dash. In Incredibles 2, the main plot of the film involves Helen becoming the face of a campaign to make superheroes legal again by giving them good public relations through successful missions that don't cause collateral damage to the city. Although she ends up becoming Evelyn's victim, she is then rescued by her children, with Helen finally learning of Jack-Jack's first of 17 superhuman abilities. Following that was a showdown on a plane between Elastigirl and Evelyn which resulted in a humiliating defeat, and almost death for Elastigirl.
Powers and abilities
Elastigirl's primary superpower is elasticity, which allows her to stretch various parts of her body to many different sizes. This ability can extend to shapeshifting, as she can use elasticity to change her form and density, as when she morphed into a boat and a parachute. She can achieve superhuman levels of strength, durability, and agility using her elasticity powers. In addition to her powers, Elastigrl is a capable pilot, operative, and tactician, as well as an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant.
Critical reception
Syfy Wire praised the sequel for making its hero a "kickass mom". Upon the release of Incredibles 2, there was some discourse surrounding the sexualization of Helen's character. Hundreds of fans on social media described the character as "thicc", a slang term referring to having large buttocks combined with a narrow waist, while The New Yorker likened the character to Anastasia Steele from Fifty Shades of Grey.
