Violet Parr
Vowell stars in a documentary about her work in the film, "Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell", which is included as a bonus feature on "The Incredibles"' 2004 DVD release. In the "video essay", Vowell discusses the various differences between voicing a superhero and becoming an action figure while she was writing about presidential assassinations, contrasting the two distinct careers. The animators also animated Violet to some of Vowell's dialogue from the documentary. Bird, who voices costume designer Edna Mode, was the only other actor Vowell recorded with while working on both films. The director would sometimes temporarily provide the voices of other characters for Vowell to act opposite of, such as Elastigirl in lieu of actress Holly Hunter. For "Incredibles 2", Vowell had not been allowed to read to entire script while recording her dialogue, having only been allowed to preview small excerpts in which Violet is speaking or having conversations with other characters. Until watching the film for the first time, Vowell had been under the impression that "Incredibles 2" would mostly be about Violet's anger at her father until experiencing the film's other storylines and characters. Despite 14 years separating the releases of the first and second films, Vowell did not find resuming the role to be difficult, identifying Violet as a character to whom she feels "closely tied", having played her for approximately one-third of her life. Syfy Wire's Heather Mason observed that Vowell shares her dry sense of humor with Violet. To-date, the "Incredibles" films remain Vowell's only animated film roles.
Violet Parr
Germain Lussier of io9 reviewed Violet as "arguably [one of] the best parts of "Incredibles 2"," writing that her "journey through adolescence not only gives her a great arc, but some truly hilarious and embarrassing moments too." "The Globe and Mail"'s Barry Hertz found Violet's design and animation to be particularly impressive, likening the scene in which she dries her wet hair to "glimpsing the future of animation, where the real and the unreal fold into each other." Patricia Puentes of CNET found Violet's role in the film to be empowering for teenage girls, praising the character's decisions to re-introduce herself to Tony and ultimately choose to fight crime over their date, concluding, "This teenage girl prefers to go catch some bad guys -- because she's a hero and that's her calling -- over having a date with the guy she likes." The Ringer editor Juliet Litman identified Violet as "a galvanizing force" in the sequel, crediting her with "propelling the plot in crucial moments and injecting raw emotion into the" otherwise comedic film. Litman also commended Vowell for recognizing "The precise balance of the serious and lighthearted[ness]" required for her role, concluding that it has become difficult to imagine Violet voiced by any other actress. Syfy Wire writer Kristy Puchko described Violet's reaction to being stood up by Tony as "all too familiar". Writing for Vulture.com, Edelstein called it "wonderful to hear Sarah Vowell and her euphonious quack as the irritable Violet," describing the character as "the quintessential brilliant but ever-stricken and angry teenage girl." "The New Yorker"'s Anthony Lane wrote that Vowell "still provides the pitch and yaw of adolescent speech—now tetchy, now timid, but touched here and there with a determination that might just save the day."