Pixar continues to raise the bar on animated movies, this time with the slick suburban superhero tale “The Incredibles.” With amazing visuals, intriguing characters, and a humorous and exciting story, director Brad Bird presents a worthwhile package for adults and children that have been waiting for the film since the trailer surfaced last year.

The story follows the lives of a superhero family who have been relegated to “normal” lives after lawsuits by those the heroes saved forced them into a witness relocation-type program in the late 1950’s. Dad (Mr. Incredible a.k.a. Bob Parr) works for an insurance company, Mom (ElastiGirl a.k.a. Helen Parr) is a homemaker, their two children Dashiel “Dash” Parr and Violet Parr attend school but are not allowed to use their superpowers, and the baby doesn’t seem to have inherited any powers of his own. Mr. Incredible longs for his yesteryear of helping people, and secretly starts to work for an individual where he can utilize his powers. When Mr. Incredible is captured by Syndrome (because of his secret work), the family has to come together and help rescue Dad and ultimately save the world.

Visually, the characters remind me of a computer-animated version of Rankin/Bass holiday specials, such as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” taken to the next level. The central villain in particular, Syndrome, is reminiscent of an adult Heat Miser character from "The Year Without a Santa Claus" special. The backgrounds “sets” are visually stunning, and the computer rendering is so flawless you’ll wonder if the scenes with water or fire are actually computer-generated.

Of course, what makes children’s films popular nowadays is the inclusion of adult-type humor in the script, and “The Incredibles” has plenty. Mixing together animation, a comic book film, a James Bond film, and an Austin Powers movie, it ends up being such an amalgam of genres it’s hard to specifically classify. Adults will probably enjoy the film for the script and story, and the kids will enjoy the visuals (but may get slightly bored with the story when it moves a bit slow late in the beginning of the film). The bottom line is that “The Incredibles” is an incredibly (no pun intended) fun movie that everyone can enjoy.