“I let my kids use them as GI Joes”: Alfred Hitchcock’s Co-Worker Who Inspired Famous Movie Character Had a Funny Use For Her Countless Oscars
It has been suggested that the fictitious Edna ‘E’ Mode from Pixar’s 2004 superhero film The Incredibles was modeled by real-life costume designer Edith Head who was a close collaborator of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Writer and director Brad Bird the popular film developed the character. She was a famous superhero costume designer who had collaborated closely with Mr. Incredible and Elastic Girl.
The movie, which debuted in 2004, earned overwhelmingly excellent reviews from viewers and reviewers alike and was praised for its acting, humor, action sequences, and animation. Even now, the film is still a fan favorite with a lot of fans going back to seeing what an incredible piece of art it was. But what stands out in the movie, because it being a superhero movie, is the character of Edna Mode. Let’s talk about that.
Alfred Hitchcock’s co-worker Edith Head regarded as the most awarded woman in Academy Award history
Edith Head, an American costume designer who is known to be one of the most influential costume designers in the history of cinema, won a record-breaking eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 to 1973 making her the most awarded woman in the history of Academy Awards.
The designer worked on an astonishing 436 movies, styling Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and more, making her not only one of the most successful costume designers, but also one of the favorites of the filmmakers.
The late costume designer’s work in 1937 The Emperor Waltz, managed to get her first nomination for an Academy Award when it was added to the fashion design category in 1948 and with each successive year, Head earned her spot on the list and won about eight Oscars. She once joked about her statuettes stating via blog ( A Line From Linda), “I let my kids use them as G.I. Joe’s”. The incredible costume designer, who was known to have a knack for visually transforming the actresses into whatever was required in a scene, was nominated 35 times.
The Academy Awards’ official website describes the late costume designer as someone who helped define the style of a classic with her timeless costumes in the Paramount and Universal movies. The designer became a recognizable personality with her distinctive style, including the fact that she only wore four colors: herself black, white, beige, and brown. The late costume designer had developed a close working relationship with Alfred Hitchcock as they collaborated on various movies, including The Birds, Read Window etc.
Brad Bird talks about Edith Head-inspired character Edna Mode
The writer-director created a fictional character of Edna Mode for his movie with the thought that there to be someone out there making these extravagant costumes for superheroes. Thus, Edna Mode was created with glasses and a pageboy haircut while remaining modern and elegant. According to the report, the character is half-German and half-Japanese and her personality and voice seem to be inspired by Edith Head. The creator says she is a combination of Head and Q, a character from the James Bond franchise.
On talking about not only creating the character but also voicing her, Brad Bird shared via PhilStar Global,
“It’s weird, I actually think of her as a separate person. I don’t think I’m her at all. No, I do see plenty of her in me. The bossiness? Absolutely. The overweening confidence at moments? Sure. So I’m Edna at moments when I think I’m absolutely right and there’s no doubt and (switching to Edna) surely, if you were sensible, you would realize that I’m right!”
During another interview via Rotten Tomatoes, the director was asked about stepping back into the shoes of Edna Mode for The Incredibles 2 to which he said,
“I just have to remind myself of the accent, it’s this weird sort of accent. And when I write to her, I try to write to everybody differently and have them use different words, and maybe the rhythm of their sentences is different. That’s something I try to do. So I had to remind myself of her cadences a little bit. But you adjust to that pretty quickly, she’s kind of always there, you know?”
Over the years, the character of Edna Mode has become one of the favorite characters from the movie but it was never established who was the real inspiration behind creating the character as the creator always said, Edna Mode was a combination of designers at the time including the incredible Edith Head.
Source: Blog (A Line From Linda)
