What If: The Incredibles Was a 1960s Hanna-Barbera Saturday Morning Cartoon?

What If: The Incredibles Was a 1960s Hanna-Barbera Saturday Morning Cartoon?

(Or: What If Mr. Incredible Had a Chin So Big It Needed Its Own ZIP Code?)

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Forget Pixar’s slick, cinematic superhero masterpiece.

Forget deep emotional arcs, flawless action sequences, and award-winning animation.

In this timeline, The Incredibles was never a 2004 Pixar blockbuster. Instead, it was a cheaply animated, wildly inconsistent, laugh-track-infested Saturday morning cartoon from the 1960s—straight from the weirdos at Hanna-Barbera.

This means:

• Half the budget, twice the sound effects.

• Mr. Incredible’s chin is a separate character.

• Characters move in two-frame loops, and nobody’s mouth syncs with their dialogue.

• Syndrome has the same voice as every other Hanna-Barbera villain.

And, of course, every episode is exactly the same.

Let’s dive into the jankiest, most low-budget superhero adaptation possible.

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1. The Animation Would Be 95% Stock Footage

Forget Pixar’s beautifully fluid character animation.

Hanna-Barbera The Incredibles runs on a shoestring budget and vibes.

• Characters don’t actually move—they just slide across the background like they’re on ice skates.

• Every time Mr. Incredible talks, his mouth just flaps open and closed like a ventriloquist dummy.

• Violet’s invisibility power? It’s just the animator forgetting to draw her in half the scenes.

• Every fight sequence is the exact same five frames recycled every episode.

• The backgrounds? Static paintings that repeat every 10 seconds like a Scooby-Doo hallway.

If The Incredibles was a Hanna-Barbera show, we’d be lucky if the animation looked as good as a Captain Crunch commercial.

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2. Mr. Incredible Would Be a Literal Brick With a Face

Brad Bird’s Mr. Incredible? A complex, well-animated, emotionally layered hero.

Hanna-Barbera Mr. Incredible? A giant square-jawed slab of testosterone with zero facial expressions.

• His chin is so big it casts a shadow over his entire torso.

• His hands are permanently stuck on his hips because it’s easier than animating new poses.

• Instead of deep existential struggles, his entire personality is just “Gee whiz, gotta save the day, kids!”

• He only has two voice settings:

1. Booming laughter

2. Confused yelling

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3. Elastigirl Would Be a Sassy 60s Housewife Trope

Forget Holly Hunter’s layered, powerful performance.

1960s Elastigirl is just a slightly smarter Wilma Flintstone.

• Every episode starts with her making breakfast in high heels.

• Her stretching powers? Used exclusively for household chores.

• She never actually fights villains—she just wags her finger and lectures them.

• Her signature move? Yanking Mr. Incredible by the ear whenever he messes up.

Basically, she’s a superhero, but also a 1960s sitcom wife who spends most of her time scolding her husband.

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4. Dash Would Be Speedy Gonzales With ADHD

Brad Bird’s Dash? A kid struggling to control his powers.

Hanna-Barbera Dash? A hyperactive blur that zips across the screen making “zoop” noises.

• His entire body turns into a single line whenever he runs.

• Every time he stops, he leaves behind a cloud of smoke with his silhouette.

• Instead of emotional growth, his entire personality is just yelling “YAHOOO!” at random intervals.

Also, every episode, he gets into trouble for messing up his school’s track meet by running too fast.

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5. Violet Would Be… Barely In the Show

Forget Violet’s emotional arc and struggles with confidence.

Hanna-Barbera Violet exists purely to remind the audience she can turn invisible… and that’s it.

• She gets about two lines per episode.

• She’s mostly just a floating outline with no actual animation.

• When she talks, her mouth doesn’t move—they just re-use the same static image of her from episode one.

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6. Syndrome Would Be a Dollar Store Cartoon Villain

Forget Syndrome’s compelling backstory and nuanced motivations.

Hanna-Barbera Syndrome is a joke.

• He has zero depth—he’s just a goofy villain with a bad mustache-twirling laugh.

• His face constantly changes size between frames.

• His plan is always some unnecessarily complicated gadget that backfires on him.

• Every episode ends with him shaking his fist and yelling,

• “CURSE YOU, INCREDIBLES!!!”

Then he either:

1. Falls into a bottomless pit.

2. Gets hit with his own invention.

3. Explodes in a non-lethal way and reappears next week like nothing happened.

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7. The Music Would Be 100% Goofy Sound Effects

Forget Michael Giacchino’s thrilling jazz-infused score.

Hanna-Barbera The Incredibles would be wall-to-wall cartoon sound effects.

• Every punch? A loud “BOING” noise.

• Every explosion? A comically long “KA-BLAMMO!!!”

• Dash running? The same “pew pew pew” laser sound effect from every other Hanna-Barbera show.

• Elastigirl stretching? An unsettling, wet rubber band noise.

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8. Every Episode Is the Same

Since this is a Saturday morning cartoon, there is no plot continuity.

• Each week, Syndrome invents a dumb gadget.

• Each week, the Incredibles stop him.

• Each week, nobody learns anything.

• Each week, the exact same punch sound effects play at least 47 times.

Also, half the script is catchphrases.

• Mr. Incredible: “Great Scott, kids! We gotta save the day!”

• Dash: “YAHOOO!”

• Elastigirl: “Oh, Bob…” (exasperated sigh)

• Syndrome: “I’ll get you next time, Incredibles!”

And at the end of every episode?

• They all laugh for no reason while the screen freezes on Mr. Incredible’s chin.

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Final Verdict: Would 1960s Hanna-Barbera The Incredibles Be Good?

• Would it be well-animated? Absolutely not.

• Would it have deep storytelling? No.

• Would it have 10x more unnecessary sound effects? YES.

• Would kids watch it anyway because it’s the only superhero cartoon on TV?

You bet your bootleg cereal box decoder ring.

It’d be low-budget, repetitive, and filled with reused frames… but somehow, it’d still run for seven seasons.

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🚨 SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT 🚨

If you enjoyed this chaotic rewrite, check out my YouTube channel where I ruin animation history for fun.

🔥 Comment below: Which animated movie should we rewrite next? 🔥

Next up:

🦸‍♂️ What If Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Was a 1940s Max Fleischer Superhero Serial?

(Hint: Less glitch effects, more dramatically narrated monologues, and Miles Morales has the exact same square jaw as Superman.)