Jack-Jack Attack

Infobox_Film
name = Jack-Jack Attack


caption =
imdb_rating =
imdb_id = 0455565
producer = Roger Gould
John Lasseter
Osnat Shurer
director = Brad Bird
writer = Brad Bird
Mark Andrews
Rob Gibbs
Teddy Newton
Bosco Ng
starring = Bret Parker
Bud Luckey
Eli Fucile
Jason Lee
music = Michael Giacchino
cinematography =
editing = Stephen Schaffer
distributor = Buena Vista Home Entertainment
released = March 15, 2005
runtime = 4 minutes, 44 seconds
language = English
budget =

"Jack-Jack Attack" is a 2005 short produced by Pixar based upon their film "The Incredibles". Unlike many of their previous shorts, it was not given a theatrical release, but was included on the DVD release of the film. The idea for this short came from an idea for a scene originally considered for inclusion in "The Incredibles" film; it was cut from the feature and subsequently expanded into this short. The short is based on the youngest member of the superhero Parr family: the baby, Jack-Jack. From "The Incredibles" film, the audience knows that Jack-Jack's babysitter Kari McKeen started experiencing difficulty with him shortly after hanging up the phone with his mother, Helen Parr (a.k.a. Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible).

ynopsis

This short film shows Rick Dicker, a government agent assigned to aid "supers" in maintaining their anonymity, giving Kari the third degree about what happened when she was babysitting.

The events that she details transpire after Violet and Dash Parr decide to stow away in their mother's (Elastigirl/Helen Parr) borrowed plane, their intention being to assist in their father's (Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr) rescue from Nomanisan Island. The two siblings decide to leave young Kari McKeen (a family friend) in charge of caring for the youngest member of the family, Jack-Jack. When the stowaways are discovered mid-flight, Helen immediately contacts Kari with respect to hiring a professional service to sit for Jack-Jack. Via telephone, Kari attempts to reassure the reluctant Mrs. Parr about her many qualifications as a babysitter (a conversation which is cut short by a missile attack on Elastigirl's plane). Hanging up, Kari attempts to engage Jack-Jack in "cognitive development" exercises (including the playing of Mozart music, purportedly to stimulate his mind). This, unfortunately for her, has the effect of completely unleashing the baby's multitude of superpowers (none of which had been evident before) on the unwitting Kari. Jack-Jack suddenly appears on the dining room table and then by the refrigerator, as if by magic. Kari becomes suspicious and tries to call Mrs. Parr again, but nobody answers. As she leaves a message, Jack-Jack is seen to float upwards, eventually sitting (upside down) on the celling, where he playfully empties the contents of his bottle down onto Kari's head. In the following scene, Jack-Jack appears inside an overturned playpen, which Kari hopes will contain him just long enough for her to phone Helen regarding the "weird things that are happening". She turns her back for only a moment, and Jack-Jack escapes, somehow leaving a perfectly circular opening through the wooden bars. Appearing on a high bookshelf, Jack-Jack suddenly falls from his perch. Kari screams and attempts a diving catch, but the baby seemingly vanishes through the floor, leaving her holding an empty diaper. Rushing downstairs into a hallway, Kari finds Jack-Jack laughing gleefully as he floats back and forth across the hall, disappearing and reappearing through the walls just out of her reach. The scene ends as she finally manages to grasp the baby just as he begins to disappear into the washing machine. Now back in the family room, Kari decides to "slow things down a bit" and show flash cards to Jack-Jack. She holds up various picture cards (depicting a house and a triangle), but when Kari holds up a card with a campfire image on it, Jack-Jack suddenly bursts into flames. Screaming but thinking quickly, Kari takes a set of tongs from the fireplace, grabs Jack-Jack, rushes into the bathroom and puts him out in the bathtub. This scene fades into an image of the Parr home early the following morning. Judging by the quiet exterior, all would seem well. Inside, Kari sits on a chair in the family room (which is now a complete shambles) as Jack-Jack sits on the floor nearby, playing quietly. Kari is utterly exhausted but seems to have mastered anticipating his powers and has resourcefully armed herself with various items from around the house (a fire extinguisher for flames, mirror for deflecting his destuctive eye-beams, etc.), which she uses in a very bored "matter-of-fact" way when the baby's powers manifest. Just then, Syndrome arrives at the door with the intention of kidnapping Jack-Jack; Kari (nearly driven to the brink of madness) assumes he is the replacement babysitter, and eagerly places Jack-Jack in his care. Kari asks Syndrome about the significance of the "S" on the front of his costume. Thinking quickly, he responds "Sitter." (he then goes on to explain that the abbreviation for "babysitter" would have required him to wear a large "BS" on his costume instead). This scene cuts back to the interrogation room, where Dicker asks Kari how she could have believed such an implausible explanation. Clearly agitated, Kari offers in her defence "The baby was exploding!!! Have you ever sat for an exploding baby, Mr. Dicker?!?" Kari then expresses her desire forget the entire incident. After satisfying himself that she has revealed the details of her misadventure to no one else, and for the sake of the supers' anonymity, Rick proceeds to erase Kari's memory.

Powers

Jack-Jack's powers displayed in this short (as well as in "The Incredibles" feature film) resemble many comic book characters' powers potentially as follows:

* Levitation/Flying: Superman (DC Comics); Jean Grey: (Marvel Comics: X-Men); plus many other comic book characters.
* Phasing: Kitty Pryde (Marvel Comics: X-Men); Martian Manhunter (DC Comics)
* Inflammability: Human Torch (Marvel Comics: Fantastic Four)
* Optical laser discharge: Superman (DC Comics); Scott Summers (Marvel Comics).
* Metallic transformation: Colossus (Marvel Comics: X-Men)
* Monster transformation: Various superheroes, most notably the Incredible Hulk. This also may be a nod to "Monsters, Inc."
* Super strength: Superman (DC Comics); Juggernaut (Marvel Comics: X-Men); plus many other comic book characters.
* Telekinesis: Jean Grey (Marvel Comics: X-Men)
* Surface adhesion ("wall-crawling"): Spider-Man (Marvel Comics); Nightcrawler (Marvel Comics: X-Men)
* Fire Manipulation: Human Torch(Marvel Comics)
* Multitude of powers: Superman (DC Comics); Franklin Richards (Marvel Comics: Fantastic Four)As well as referring to many comic heroes, the short was referenced on "The Colbert Report" during Stephen Colbert's interview with Tony Hawk.

Jack-Jack's powers appear to be on a "need-to-use" basis (such as X-Man Lifeguard) and also mimic (albeit in an exaggerated form) the abilities of babies: disappearing, traveling quickly, hard to catch, differing levels of heaviness, destruction of the household, and turning into a monster (a.k.a. temper tantrum). Ironically, Jack-Jack never displayed superpowers until Kari exposed him to Mozart, which she claims "makes babies smarter". This might prompt Jack-Jack as the strongest of the Parr family.

Awards

*2006-Hugo Awards-Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form-Nominated (Post-production)

ee also

*Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter

External links

* [http://www.pixar.com/shorts/jja/ Information at Pixar's site]
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