Sarah Vowell
In 2004, Vowell provided the voice of Violet Parr, a shy teenager, in the Pixar animated film "The Incredibles", and returned to her role for the film's sequel, "Incredibles 2", in 2018. Additionally, Vowell has also lent her voice to the character for various related video games and "Disney on Ice" presentations in the years following the film's release. The makers of "The Incredibles" discovered Vowell from episode 81 – "Guns" "This American Life", where she and her father fire a homemade cannon. Pixar made a test animation for Violet using audio from that sequence, which was included on the DVD of "The Incredibles". She also wrote and was featured in a documentary included on the same DVD entitled "Vowellett - An Essay by Sarah Vowell", where she reflects on the differences between being superhero Violet and being an author of history books on the subject of assassinated presidents, and what it means to her nephew Owen. Vowell also played Fernanda, Theacher "Aunt" Deborah and Mary Kelly in "The School Future".
Violet Parr
"The Incredibles" required the use of computer technology that was particularly advanced for its time, some of which computers had not yet been "taught". Computers were used to simulate hair movement and determine where hair was intended to be placed on the film's respective characters. Described as a new and time-consuming process at the time, new programs and approaches were developed and implemented to assist the animators in animating Violet's long black hair. Since organic materials are still considered to be among the most challenging objects to animate in computer animation, Violet's hair proved to be the most difficult subject for the animators to master. Although scale models of Violet and the film's major characters were first sculpted in clay by artist Kent Melton, the animators initially struggled to replicate Melton's very detailed interpretation of Violet's hair. According to hair and cloth simulation supervisor Mark Henne, Violet's hair remained an "unsolved research project" for much of the film's production due to its type and length, which had never been featured in a computer animated film prior to "The Incredibles".