One of these students, junior Wayne Mak has been anxiously waiting for the release for the past six years after hearing rumors that Pixar would produce another “Incredibles” movie. He found those stories to be true just recently, after he watched the trailer for the sequel, which is scheduled to be released on June 15, 2018.
The fond memories senior Megumi Pennebaker made when watching animated films such as “The Incredibles” as a child makes her especially excited for the sequel’s 2018 release. Because her father’s friend worked at Pixar as a producer, Pennebaker’s family has regularly gone to the theaters to watch the movies.

“There was that one kid that was like, ‘That was totally wicked’ at the end [of the movie], and me and my brother and my sister loved that line,” Pennebaker said. “We would say it all the time.”

In addition to the hilarious dialogue, Pennebaker remembers loving the simple storyline and vibrant cartoons of animated movies such as “Cars” and “The Incredibles” as a child. As a teenager, she still appreciates the movies, but for different reasons.

For example, although “Finding Nemo” is a story about fish and may not seem applicable to children, Pennebaker has found that she is now able to look past the childish aspects and focus on its focus on family, along with the sounds and music incorporated into the film.

“Even now, I still relate to [the movies] because they have the older jokes in there too and also the messages are still relatable,” Pennebaker said.

Although now a member of an older audience compared to when he watched the first movie, Mak still believes that he will feel the same emotions and level of excitement as he did when he watched the film at the age of four, especially because of the attachment he has had to the characters.

“Other than Mr. Incredible, I felt attached to his wife Helen. Mr. Incredible wanted to be a superhero and [couldn’t] let go of his past, while she has to help move on,” Mak said. “So while watching the movie, I realized that that was a pretty hard struggle for her. So I kind of sympathized with her about that.”

Senior Malikah Nathani also remembers feeling an attachment to the characters, particularly Edna Mode, the superhero suit designer known for her bangs, circular-rimmed glasses and bold attitude.

“I just found her to be so sassy and so confident and that was what I wanted to be like when I was growing up,” Nathani said. “Especially at the time, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I’m excited to see her in the sequel.”

Aside from the characters, Nathani also holds nostalgic memories about the experience of watching the movie itself. Although she hadn’t quite understood the movie the first time she watched it as an elementary schooler, she remembers laughing and enjoying the film with all of her friends the second time when she was older. Nathani believes that the movie allowed her and her friends to connect with each other over Disney.

“I think Disney-Pixar movies are able to bond people of all ages,” Nathani said. “It’s just so fun for everybody.”

Watching animated movies like “The Incredibles” allows Pennebaker to rediscover her love of Pixar and Disney. What particularly draws her to these movies is their animation. While she remembers the initial human characters from “The Incredibles” having an eerie aura to them due to the more rough, older animation, she noticed that the new animation portrays the characters more realistically and with more detail. But she also acknowledged that there is more to Pixar than its animation.

“Their stories are really good and I saw they’re different from Disney [because] they don’t have a main villain who brings the conflict. There’s antagonists, but they’re not the really the reason the conflict is there,” Pennebaker said. “There’s never really a love story going on too, it’s just real stories — and a lot of them you can relate to.”

Pennebaker is planning on watching the premiere show of the new “Incredibles” movie, as she usually does. Whenever there is an earlier screening time for a Pixar movie release, Pennebaker makes sure that she catches the earliest time.

“You know how it says they release on Friday, but you can go Thursday night before,” Pennebaker said. “I always go to those Thursday night movies.”

While Nathani is also excited about watching the “Incredibles” sequel, she still remembers being disappointed by a different Pixar sequel, “Finding Dory.” As someone who had been a fan of Disney and Pixar films from a young age, “Finding Nemo” was one of her favorites while she was growing up, one that she would watch constantly — and still does. Although “Finding Nemo” came out in theaters in 2003, it was only after 13 years that the long anticipated sequel, “Finding Dory,” was released. Nathani was disappointed by the quality of the sequel, stating the gap between the release of the two movies as one of the main drawbacks.

“It’s kind of sad actually because I think when you hype it so much, it doesn’t turn out to your expectations,” Nathani said. “A lot of the times, sequels aren’t as good as the originals, especially if you had such a great connection to the original.”

Yet she still maintains high hopes for “The Incredibles 2,” despite her disappointment with “Finding Dory.” Nathani thinks the sequel may be an even more enjoyable experience for her, considering how the first holds a special place in her heart.

“It’s going to make it even more fun, because we can understand and look back and see both ways,” Nathani said. “I think I’m going to become a kid again.”