SATURDAY DISNEY

 

SATURDAY DISNEY
(Seven Network, 7TWO, 7flix, January 27, 1990-September 24, 2016)
 
Buena Vista International, Seven Network Australia

 

MAIN CAST:
Sofie Formica – Host (1990-92)
Jeniene Mapp – Host (1990-96)
James Sherry – Host (1990-94)
Lisa Barry – Host (1992-97)
Shelley Craft – Host (1996-2002)
Marc Buhaj – Host (1994-99)
Melanie Symons – Host (1997-2002)
Tim McDonald – Host (1999-2000)
Daniel Widdowson – Host (2000-07)
Shae Brewster – Host (2002-13)
Sara Groen – Host (2002-06)
Sally Stanton – Host (2006-11)
Jack Yabsley – Host (2007-11)
Nathan Morgan – Host (2011-16)
Candice Dixon – Host (2011-16)
Teigan Nash – Host (2013-16)

  

Before launching their international counterparts of The Disney Channel, Disney had an initiative to expand its programming to other countries under the unified name The Disney Club through their international production arm, Buena Vista International. Starting in 1989, these programming blocks aired on major free-to-air networks and mostly consisted of reruns of Disney shows supplemented by original content produced within those countries. As part of Australia’s Seven Network’s output deal and long-running relationship with Disney, they were to produce their own version of The Disney Club. However, the producers convinced Disney to allow them to rename it to Saturday Disney in order to avoid confusion with The Mickey Mouse Club—a title they felt was dated—due to the similar names and logo branding.

While the name may have been different, the format of Saturday Disney largely followed the ones employed by The Disney Club. Over the course of two hours, Saturday Disney aired three Disney programs on a rotating basis between original segments starring three hosts; always two girls and a boy. The only time they deviated from this line-up was when they would introduce the replacement for a departing host as a passing of the torch. The hosts lived in the “Disney House”, a set designed by Alan Olive and inspired by Queensland architecture to make viewers feel like they were visiting a friend’s house on a Saturday morning (it would see several revisions over the years). There, the hosts would engage in various imitable activities such as cooking, crafts or science that their audience could participate in; interviews with celebrity guests; interact with live animals; feature stories about places, activities and events reported as either themselves or characters; or star in recurring skits as various characters. Occasionally the show would leave their studio in Brisbane and film on location. The hosts not only worked on screen, but also served as writers and producers as well. A second similar, yet unrelated, Saturday Disney would debut in the United Kingdom in 1993; lasting only until 1996.

Two recurring segments each week were the Double Dog Dare and Letter of the Week. Double Dog Dare saw the hosts challenge each other to complete a ridiculous task; often a last-minute surprise to the one of them being challenged. If they were unsuccessful, they had to face an equally ridiculous punishment; such as consuming an unusual food concoction. Viewers got to participate by sending in ideas for punishments. Letter of the Week saw the hosts go through the various letters and artwork they were sent and select a winner. That winner would then get a selection of prizes and have their work displayed on the set.

The Disney House.

Saturday Disney debuted on Seven Network on January 27, 1990. The series was originally hosted by Sofie Formica, Jeniene Mapp and James Sherry and would air from 7:00 to 9:00. Throughout the 90s, the programs shown largely pulled from The Disney Afternoon and later One Saturday Morning programming blocks. Programming from The Disney Channel was also incorporated starting with the theatrical short anthology showcase The Adventures of Mickey & Donald. The series initially used an upbeat rendition of Leigh Harline and Ned Washington’s “When You Wish Upon a Star” for its theme before switching to the instrumental version of The Disney Afternoon’s,  composed by Tom Snow. From 1993 until 2001, Saturday Disney was expanded by an extra half hour to include programs such as The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Little Mermaid, Disney-distributed Sabrina: The Animated Series and Squiggle Vision/Science Court, and the Australian original Crash Zone. This extra half hour had minimal hosted content and would get its own separate entry in TV listings. In 1997, the series moved production to Sydney.

The first of many cast changes came just two years in when Formica was replaced by Lisa Barry in 1992. Shelley Craft, Marc Buhaj, Melanie Symons, Tim McDonald, Daniel Widdowson, Shae Brewster, Sara Groen, Sally Stanton, Jack Yabsley, Nathan Morgan and Candice Dixon would have their own respective tenures as hosts over the next decade. Following the addition of Hannah Montana in 2007 to the line-up, Saturday Disney began to incorporate more of Disney’s live-action programming into the mix. In 2009, the series was moved a half hour earlier for 3 months before returning to its regular timeslot. It also celebrated its 1,000^th episode by filming in Disneyland, as well as by airing a retrospective the week before. The following year it was moved to 9:00 to make room for infotainment news program Weekend Sunrise; which was an extension from its original Sunday timeslot.

In 2012, Saturday Disney was moved to station 7TWO at their original 7:00-9:00 timeslot to make room for talk show The Morning Show. That move came with an all-new look and opening sequence, as well as an eventual expansion to three hours that added two additional Disney programs to the rotation. That fall, those three hours were split between Seven, which aired it from 6:00-7:00, and 7TWO, which picked it up from 7:00 until 9:00. 2013 saw the final cast change when Brewster, the longest serving of all the hosts at just shy of 11 years, left and was replaced by Teigan Nash. In 2016, Saturday Disney moved again from 7TWO to 7flix and remained there until it broadcast its final episode that September. Marking the occasion, Symons, Widdowson, Brewster, Stanton and Yabsley returned for a guest appearance, as did Sherry via a video message. Ultimately, the program’s cancellation was attributed to a new executive producer in charge of children’s programming desiring to take things in a new direction.

Saturday Disney was the 20^th-longest-running program in Australia, and the country’s 5^th-longest-running children’s program that was consistently in the top 10 of children’s programs. It was nominated for a Logie Award in 2012 for “Most Outstanding Children’s Program”, which was co-presented by former host Craft, and for a TV Tonight Award in 2014 for “Best Kid’s Show”. While a couple of the hosts had disappeared from the public eye after the series’ end, many of them went on to have various careers in other shows or areas of broadcasting—some even with Disney again—and left a generation of Australian kids with fond childhood memories.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF POWER RANGERS

 
            In 1975, Shotaro Ishinomori created a Japanese media franchise for Toei Company called Super Sentai. Shows made within it were of the tokusatsu genre, which featured live-action characters and colorful special effects geared towards children. The protagonists of these programs were a team of people who transformed into superheroes with powers via wrist-worn or hand-held devices, complete with color-coded outfits, signature weapons, sidearms, specialized vehicles and enhanced fighting skills. Their foes were typically monstrous supervillains from other worlds seeking to take over the Earth with their army of soldiers and a monster that could become a giant, necessitating its defeat via a mecha piloted by the heroes. Himitsu Sentai Gorenger was the first, running from 1975-77, followed by J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai in 1977. A partnership with Marvel Comics to produce a live-action Spider-Man would see the introduction of giant robots into the franchise.

The Sentai that would become Power Rangers.

            In 1984, while on a business trip to Japan, Haim Saban was introduced to Super Sentai through Choudenshi Bioman. Fascinated with the concept as well as its popularity, and feeling like it had great potential for American audiences, he and partner Shuki Levy quickly produced a pilot called Bio-Man in 1986. Unfortunately, the networks didn’t see the same potential they did and the pilot was hopelessly shopped around and rejected for five years. It wasn’t until Margaret Loesch became the head of Fox Kids that the idea gained any traction. Loesch was familiar with Super Sentai as the former head of Marvel Productions, who were at one point trying to do the same thing as Saban with a series called Sun Vulcan based on the 5^th entry in the Super Sentai series, Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. While Loesch was amenable, her boss was not and reluctantly allowed financing for a pilot, which Saban based around the latest Sentai season, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. The pilot was received well enough to get a 40-episode order for the series that would become Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Teenagers with attitude: the original cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

            Mighty Morphin would set the standards by which all Power Rangers shows would follow. Saban’s crew would pour through countless hours of the Sentai to find any footage that wouldn’t betray its Japanese origins, then intercut them with all-new American footage. Saban would also acquire the hero and monster suits from Toei. The series was set up that galactic wizard Zordon (Daivd J. Felding & Bob Manahan) recruited five teenagers with attitude to bestow powers up to deal with the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa (Machiko Soga & Carla Perez with Barbara Goodson) from her 10,000-year confinement. The series made its debut on August 28, 1993, and was a smash success despite criticism over its violent content. The actors became overnight celebrities, and the toys produced by Bandai flew off shelves. Mighty Morphin ended up being aired 6 days a week on the Fox Kids programming block, and additional episodes beyond the original 40 were ordered. This eventually prompted Saban to commission Toei to film more scenes that they could use as they exhausted the original broadcast footage. Additionally, the franchise received a theatrical movie spin-off, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which featured specially-designed suits and utilized no Japanese footage for the first time.

New mostly-teenagers with attitude: the final cast of Power Rangers Turbo.

            Once their Sentai supply had run dry again, Saban opted to embrace a Sentai tradition of having the Rangers get new powers each season. This transition was handled by de-aging the Power Rangers and having a team of Aliens from the planet Aquitar temporarily take their place during the second half of the third season. Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers utilized footage from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. The Rangers were restored and given new powers in Power Rangers Zeo, adapting Chouriki Sentai OhRanger. A second film, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, was used to establish the next set of powers in Power Rangers Turbo, adapting Gekisou Sentai Carranger. The membership roster would also undergo some changes as actors left over pay disputes or just being ready to move on, or were simply replaced to help renew audience interest and inject new life into the franchise.

Power Rangers heads to space.

            Power Rangers in Space, adapting Denji Sentai Megaranger, was set to be the final series in the franchise as ratings had significantly declined during Turbo. However, as In Space’s ratings dramatically improved, it was decided to keep the franchise going while adopting another Sentai tradition: a continually changing cast. Along with the new powers, each new season would feature all-new characters and fictional cities for them to protect. In Space was used to end what has become known as the Zordon Era, culminating in the character’s death used as a catalyst to eliminate all of the foes plaguing the Rangers up to that point. It would also begin the tradition of the team-up episode, where past incarnations of Rangers would meet up with the current for an adventure (although it should be noted that Zeo did crossover with the Alien Rangers).

The cast of Wild Force.

       Power Rangers continued on unchanged until Wild Force, which adapted Hyakuju Sentai Gaoranger. In 1996, Saban Entertainment took their relationship with Fox Kids to the next level and merged with their parent company, Fox Children’s Productions, to form Fox Kids Worldwide. It became Fox Family Worldwide after acquiring International Family Entertainment the following year, owners of The Family Channel which became Fox Family Channel. Unfortunately, Fox Kids began to struggle as affiliates moved away from the block and Fox Family Channel lost a significant number of its audience after all their changes. In 2001, Disney purchased Fox Family Worldwide, acquiring Saban and all of its properties—such as Power Rangers—in the process. Disney finished out the second half of Wild Force with full intentions of ending the series right there, but were convinced to keep it going after being assured they could save a fortune by moving production to New Zealand. MMPR Productions, the subsidiary of Saban set-up exclusively to manage the franchise, was dissolved and replaced by BVS Entertainment.

RPM, the end of the Disney Era.

           Power Rangers Ninja Storm, adapting Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger, became the official beginning of what’s known as the Disney Era of Power Rangers; which aired on various Disney-owned networks. It stood on its own, featuring no crossover with Wild Force due to the expense of transporting the actors over, and had a dramatically more comedic tone than previous entries. While fans initially didn’t know what to make of it, they eventually came around and the season was often regarded as the best of the franchise. Disney continued producing several more seasons of Power Rangers until wanting to get out once again with the conclusion of Jungle Fury, which adapted Juken Sentai Gekiranger. Obligations to Bandai led to the production of one additional season, RPM, adapting Engine Sentai Go-Onger. Disney’s final contribution to the franchise came with re-releasing the first 32 episodes of Mighty Morphin with a new intro and new special effects, known as the “Reversioned” episodes.

Saban returns: Power Rangers Samurai.

            In 2010, Haim Saban bought back the Power Rangers franchise from Disney to begin the second Saban Era (also known as The New Saban Era, the Saban Brands Era, the Nickelodeon Era or the Neo-Saban Era). Production resumed with Power Rangers Samurai, adapting Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, under new Saban subsidiary Saban Brands. A deal was also reached with Nickelodeon to air the series on their network, with reruns of older seasons airing on Nicktoons. Samurai became the first time since the Zordon Era that the same cast appeared for multiple seasons, as the show was split into two due to Nickelodeon airing restrictions and given the adjusted title Power Rangers Super Samurai. This would happen for every entry in the New Saban Era. In 2017, Saban made their third crack at a film franchise with Power Rangers; a darker, fully-Americanized reboot of the series. Unfortunately, it ended up being a box-office bomb and sequel plans were abandoned.

Beast-morphin into the Hasbro Era.

            In 2018, Saban and Bandai announced that they would be ending their long-standing partnership and that Hasbro would become the master toy licensor for the franchise starting the following year, with an option to buy the franchise outright. Hasbro exercised that option and bought Power Rangers and other Saban assets in May of 2018. Power Rangers Beast Morphers, adapting Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, became the first entry of the Hasbro Era, produced by Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures. Production moved to Entertainment One for Power Rangers Dino Fury, which adapted Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger with additional props and costumes from Ressha Sentai ToQger. Upon expiration of the agreement with Nickelodeon in 2021, airing of the franchise moved to Netflix exclusively for the second season.

Comic Fury, the end of an era?

            Because Dino Fury was so well-received, Hasbro opted to give it a third limited season of 10 episodes. It was renamed Cosmic Fury for marketing purposes and now included elements from Uchu Sentai Kyuranger. Cosmic Fury would be the first series to utilize mostly American footage and all-new suits, and the first to feature a full-time female Red Ranger. Additionally, a 30^th anniversary special featuring a mix of both generations of the original Mighty Morphin cast called Power Rangers: Once & Always was produced and aired in 2023. It had no Sentai footage at all outside of a flashback sequence and remade previously used stock footage in CGI. After 30 years, Hasbro decided to bring the current production of Power Rangers to an end in favor of a complete reboot of the series in association with Paramount. Once production wrapped on Cosmic Fury, the crew left New Zealand behind after 20 years to head into the unknown future of Hasbro’s Power Rangers.

CROSSOVER: A SMACKEREL OF CARE

 

            Doc McStuffins was a computer animated series on Disney Junior that followed the adventures of Dottie “Doc” McStuffins (Kiara Muhammad & Laya DeLeon Hayes) as she pursued her dreams of becoming a doctor by practicing on her menagerie of stuffed animals. A magical stethoscope allowed her to bring toys to life, and following Toy Story rules they behaved like toys around other people. In the 4^th season, her grandmother (Dawnn Lewis) gave Doc her own magical stethoscope that transported her to McStuffinsville, a city populated by living toys where Doc became the head of the hospital there.

            So it was only natural that Doc would end up meeting Disney’s most famous stuffed animal: Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings). In the episode “Into the Hundred Acre Wood” written by series creator Chris Nee Pooh found himself carried into McStuffinsville via a handful of balloons by a blustery day (a common occurrence in the world of Pooh, it seems). Doc and her friends gave chase to try and get Pooh down, but didn’t succeed before his stomach got torn on a tree branch in the Hundred Acre Wood. Fortunately, one quick trip to the hospital was all that was needed to get Pooh back up to snuff. Not only was this the first episode to feature hand-drawn animation in Pooh’s flashbacks, but it was the first time that Peter Cullen had voiced Eeyore since 2010. This also marked a rare instance where Pooh and his friends being stuffed animals was acknowledged outright.

1990s SATURDAY MORNING ADS

             It wasn’t until the late 60s that Saturday mornings were beginning to get into full swing. Content with airing primetime reruns and a few new shows here and there, that all changed in 1966 when CBS revitalized its schedule with an action-heavy slant. When CBS showed massive success, the other networks followed and Saturday morning suddenly became good business. So, how would the networks advertise to their targeted audiences to tune in every week? Simple: advertise in comic books! For almost every Saturday schedule for decades, there was an artfully designed cartoon representing the networks’ schedules in every major publication. They even made sure to cover their bases with ads in TV Guide and newspapers so that parents would be aware shows for their kids would be on. However, as Saturday mornings began to lose importance to viewers and networks alike, and as they moved away from traditional Saturday morning programming, the ads became fewer and far between.

                Below are some of the ads that ran for the 1990s:

ABC

1990.

1991.

1992.

1993.

1994-95.

1998.

1999.

CBS

1990.

NBC

1990.

1991.

1991.

1991.

THE WB

1995.

1996.

1998 (folded & unfolded).

1999.

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: ANDREA ROMANO

 

ANDREA ROMANO

(December 3, 1955- )

 

Notable Roles: Casting director, voice director, voice actor, Andrea Romano the Magnificent, Amazon Officer, Adrian Dolan, Headmistress, Giganta, Watchtower Computer, Stompa, Vicki Vale, Abin Sur’s Ring, Deegan’s Ring, Bat Computer, Green Lantern’s Ring

 

Romano pursued an undergraduate education at State University of New York at Fredonia, graduating in 1977 and then attending Rutgers University. She dropped out, choosing instead to work during the day while auditioning for plays on her lunch break and performing at night. She moved to San Diego and found a difficult time getting theater work. Eventually, she ended up taking what was supposed to be a temporary position at talent agency Abrams-Rubaloff. Because she was there longer than expected, Romano was made an agent. She left to join smaller agency Special Artists where she began their voice-over department and directed potential client auditions. Romano ended up attending some of her clients’ recording sessions at Hanna-Barbera and was asked to audition there for the position of casting director. Joining the studio in 1984, she worked on a variety of programs including The Smurfs, Challenge of the GoBots, Wildfire, The Flintstone Kids and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. She worked on The Jetsons reboot as well as the feature film, however she had her name removed from the film’s credits when the decision was made to replace long-time Judy Jetson actress Janet Waldo with teen pop star Tiffany. Romano was approached by Disney to audition for voice director of their upcoming DuckTales. It was between her and four others, but following her audition episode they selected her immediately for the position. When some Hanna-Barbera executives left to form their own company, Romano chose to go freelance. She ended up as part of the launch of Warner Bros. Television Animation where she worked on Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Freakazoid! and the entirety of the DC Animated Universe (having previously worked with the characters for an entry in Hanna-Barbera’s Super Friends franchise). Along with shows, Romano has also worked on numerous direct-to-video movies for Warners, as well as several entries in The Land Before Time franchise, and a few video games. Romano has also done some minor voice work beginning in 1992, where she appeared as herself in Tiny Toons, usually to fill any small incidental roles rather than hiring a separate voice actor for basically nothing. In 2017, Romano announced her retirement due to blindness in one eye from optic neuropathy. Romano’s long, storied career had netted her 35 Emmy nominations; 8 of which she took home.

  

Saturday Credits:

Pink Panther and Sons
ABC Weekend Specials (episodes)
The Smurfs
Snorks
CBS Storybreak
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo
Yogi’s Treasure Hunt
Challenge of the GoBots
Galtar and the Golden Lance
Wildfire (1986)
Popeye and Son
Foofur
Pound Puppies (1986)
The Flintstone Kids
DuckTales (1987)
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tiny Toon Adventures
Batman: The Animated Series
Animaniacs
Cro
ReBoot
Pinky and the Brain
Freakazoid!
The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
Superman: The Animated Series
Road Rovers
Histeria!
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
Batman Beyond
Static Shock
The Zeta Project
The Batman
SpongeBob SquarePants
New Teen Titans
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
Beware the Batman

DISNEY FROZEN CEREAL

DISNEY FROZEN CEREAL

Kellogg’s

            In 2013, Disney released their 53^rd animated feature film: Frozen, which was based on the fairy tale “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen. Written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Lee and Chris Buck, the film centered on the recently-crowned queen of Arendelle, Elsa (Idina Menzel), accidentally exposing her ice powers to the royal court and being branded a monster by the scheming Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk). She entered self-imposed exile casting the kingdom into eternal winter. Her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), sought to find her and bring her back for the good of Arendelle. Along the way she befriended an ice harvester named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven (Frank Welker), and a snowman Elsa accidentally brought to life named Olaf (Josh Gad).

            Frozen opened in theaters on November 22, 2013 and ended up grossing over $1.2 billion, turning it into a massive success. Naturally, it was met with a huge marketing push from Disney, was adapted into a Broadway play, the characters incorporated into other Disney projects and parks, and drove a generation of parents crazy with constant repeated renditions of the film’s signature song, “Let it Go”.

The original back of the American box.

            Interestingly enough, it would take just over a year after the film’s release for a cereal tie-in to come into play. Kellogg’s licensed the use of the characters and crafted Disney Frozen cereal that saw release in December of 2014. Marked as a “collector’s edition”, the cereal featured square cereal pieces with “ice” and “snow” marshmallows (or blue and white). The boxes featured Elsa and Anna on one side, Olaf on the side panel, and they were all joined by Kristoff and Sven on the other side. The backgrounds of the box featured foil enhancements. Eventually, the cereal would become a “regular edition”, losing the foil and the collector branding.

New marshmallow shapes!

In 2016, the cereal received a bit of an upgrade as the marshmallows all became “snowflakes” (although closely resembling stars). They were either plain white or purple and blue with white swirls. While Elsa and Anna were still on one side of the box, Olaf ended up getting the other side by himself.

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Disney.

Internationally, a marshmallow-less cereal was released featuring vanilla cereal pieces in the shapes of snowflakes and snowballs. In the United Kingdom, Elsa and Anna adorned one side of the box with Olaf on the other. In other countries, Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Sven were each showcased on their own individual boxes in close-ups.

INCREDIBLES 2 CEREAL

INCREDIBLES 2 CEREAL

Kellogg’s

            Incredibles 2 was the long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s The Incredibles from Pixar. Written and directed again by Brad Bird, the film picked up exactly from where the first left off: with the Parr family suiting up to deal with the threat of the Underminer (John Ratzenberger). However, superheroes were still outlawed—something millionaire businessman Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) wanted to change by sending Elasti-Girl (Holly Hunter) back into the field and recording her exploits. However, a new foe, Screenslaver, intended to keep that from happening using his hypnotic screens to control key people.

            Incredibles 2 was released on June 15, 2018 after trading release dates with the delayed Toy Story 4. Despite the 14 year wait between movies, the film ended up grossing over $1.2 billion; becoming the fastest animated film to do so and the highest-grossing Pixar film. Once again Kellogg’s produced a cereal based on the film as they had for the first one, however this time it was only released internationally. It featured pieces in the shape of Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile); the baby of the Parr family who had a larger role in this film. The box featured Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Jack-Jack on one side, while Elasti-Girl, Dash (Huck Milner) and Violet (Sarah Vowell) were on the other.

The back of the box.

THE INCREDIBLES CEREAL

THE INCREDIBLES CEREAL

Kellogg’s

            The Incredibles is a 2004 Pixar film written and directed by Brad Bird and based on the comics and spy films from his youth. Set in an alternate version of the 1960s where superheroes and supervillains exist, public opinion soon turned against them due to the repeated damage their fighting causes. Superheroes are therefore outlawed and are forced to live ordinary, normal lives unless they end up in jail. Bob Parr, aka the super-strong Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), was lured back into costume by a mysterious woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Peña). However, it all turned out to be a plot by a genius villain named Syndrome (Jason Lee), who was a fanboy that felt spurned when Mr. Incredible refused to let him become his sidekick. Bob’s family—his wife, the stretchy Elasti-Girl (Holly Hunter), and their kids, the super-fast Dash (Spencer Fox) and the invisibility-casting Violet (Sarah Vowell)—are forced to come rescue him from the clutches of Syndrome.

            The film opened on November 5, 2004. Unlike Bird’s previous film, The Iron Giant, The Incredibles went on to gross over $631 million. It received the highest opening-weekend for a Pixar and non-sequel animated film, as well as the highest November opening for a Disney film. Such was the film’s reception that fans were eagerly awaiting a sequel that wouldn’t arrive for 14 years.

To coincide with the release of the film, Kellogg’s produced a limited-edition cereal based on it. The cereal featured strawberry-flavored pieces in star shapes with red and yellow swirls, based on the colors of the Incredibles’ costumes. The back of the box featured a simple word search game, and there was an offer to send away for an Incredibles-themed race car.