Sky High meta (as promised/threatened)
The Incredibly Obvious And Yet Awesome Use Of Colour In The Costumes Of Sky High
The consistent use of signature colours for characters in this film struck me when I first saw it in the cinema, but I only got a chance to take it in and the use of costumes more generally when I got the DVD. In a Disney kids/family film about superheroes and superheroes-in-training, not to mention their nemeses, which embraces the comic book aesthetic so gleefully, or at least, the superhero comic book adaptation aesthetic, it's not surprising, nor really subtle. But it's eye-poppingly effective.
The film's story is both fantastic and not. The fantastic comes in through the powers that these characters have and the life that they lead (their school bus flies them to their floating school), it's also, more universally, about a group of kids figuring out how they fit into school life as a preparation for adult life and all the attendant angst and insecurities, and like the comic book panels that are reverentially used to bookend the film, it's told in a heightened, visual language. And what the characters wear is integral to that.
Hero Will Stronghold (full name William Theodore Stronghold - and don't tell me that's not a Bill and Ted shout-out), his mother Josie (superhero name Jetstream) and father Steve (The Commander) make up the Stronghold Three - 'The Greatest Superhero Family The World Has Ever Known.' All three share three signature colours, and I don't think you can assign one colour to each, as they usually wear a varying combination of the three (with accent/neutral colours of cream, beige, grey and black.)
Although they put on glasses for their day-to-day lives, Josie and Steve wear the same colours in their daily wardrobe as their costumes as The Commander and Jeststream. Suitably, they are the three colours of the US flag and Captain America's costume - red, white and blue - the US flag is visible at least once in the film. Wearing the national colours is a signifier of their alpha hero status (and status as alpha estate realtors. Josie and Steve are shown as uber achievers) in terms of the film's internal pantheon of heroes and in terms of the focus of the story. Or the latter is true for Will, at least.
In different ways, the colours red, blue and white have connotations of power and strength. The family's direct line to the city's mayor is, of course, red (both a nod to the TV series' bat-phone and the colour of danger). All this puts a lot of pressure on 'late bloomer' Will for much of the film, but the fact that he wears the same colours as his parents underscores Josie's reassurance that he is still their son, belongs to them and takes after them, and gives a visual clue to the audience - in case they were unfamiliar with the genre or the hero-comes-of-age story - that he will get to inherit their powers after all.
The film reveals that a superhero chooses his or her own costume, though it appears that Josie took on Steve's colours when they got married, like she took on his name. The way that Will wears his father's colours suggests that Steve's father also wore red, white and blue.
Love interest/female lead Layla's signature colour is green. Unsurprisingly, her power is manipulating plants. (I'm not the first to say it but, eat your heart out, Poison Ivy.) Partly because of this ability and partly because of her outlook on life, she's also referred to as 'hippy' and 'flower child'. The green is arguably a reminder of her attributes such as growth, wholesomeness and positivity. She wears various shades of green (nicely contrasted with the character's red hair) and often, her outfits have a flower or animal motif on them to emphasise her connection with nature. She also occasionally wears brown - an earthy colour.
Antagonist Warren (full name Warren Peace, referred to as Hothead, although his head never actually turns on fire) is mainly dressed in black with an accent colour of red. When we first see him, the black outfit, especially the black leather jacket codes him as the bad boy and the threat. All he needs is an outfit, a glower, and okay, the backstory that Will's dad put Warren's dad in prison to become fixed as Will's nemesis in our heads. The film adds a bit more depth to him, and he ends up as integrated, despite himself, into the group of sidekicks who become heroes. The red - in the streaks in his hair and the hint of a red t-shirt under a black jumper - works as a smouldering reminder of the fact that Warren's power is to partially turn aflame and hurl fire-balls.
Zach (he claims dibs on Zach Attack as his future alias, bless) is one of Will's best friends. He mainly wears a mix of white and yellow - the fluorescent yellow glows when he powers up. On at least two occasions, he has stars somewhere on his outfits - a reminder of what his power is. The white and yellow combination plays to his innocence, for all his braggadoccio, it's part youthful innocence and part vulnerability because of his power.
Magenta's signature colour is purple. (The shock of it! Magenta being an adjective for a reddish-purple colour and all.) She wears a pretty wide range of purples, mainly with black, although occasionally she ventures into pink. The overall impression of her clothes is more punky than Layla, but that may just be due to wearing darker and less bright shades that their style. She's paired off with Zach - the film loves contrasting m/f characters.
Ethan, (aka the Popsicle, bless) is the last of the main sidekick cum hero gang. Orange is his signature colour (he even stays that colour when he melts into a puddle). He does range from reds to yellows.
Ron Wilson, Sky High Bus Driver, is only seen in his uniform of pale colours, yellows and greys and white, which is a weaker version of the school colours and the strong yellow of the flying bus that he drives. The moment where he rips off the fake patch to reveal the school insignia on the past is his Clark Kent moment (where rips off his shirt to reveal the Superman insignia).
Gwen Greyson (aka Sue Tenney, aka Royal Pain) has separate colours for her various aliases. As Gwen, the senior who Will has a crush on, her main colour is pink, with an accent colour of white. In most of his scenes with her, Will is wearing blue for the contrast of the traditional boy/girl colours. Like many things about Gwen, this sweet colour scheme is too good to be true and is a disguise. (In terms of her name Gwen does mean white and is linked to the name Guinevere, with all it's trappings. Grayson, a surname Gwen takes from her adopted father is the same as Dick Grayson's, and has the grey element. Or maybe the writers were just looking for alliteration.)
Sue Tenney - Gwen's name in what's best described as a previous life - is only shown in a white lab coat, wearing glasses, the ultimate science nerd. But in her supervillain identity - Royal Pain - Gwen/Sue's main colour is gold, perhaps because of the 'royal' element, perhaps because of the metallic element. Because Royal Pain has to appear throughout the movie without her identity being disclosed to the audience, and to emphasise her rilly, rilly evil aspect, she has a face-covering helment (Guinevere as the knight!? Okay, a stretch too far). And talons.
Speed and Lash need to be considered together - both wear some orange and blue, the school colours, and vaguely sporty outfits (they're jock equivalents), but both also usually wear something with black and white stripes on it - which is cartoonish shorthands for thieves and prisoners. Lash's stretchy arms are usually in striped sleeves. In yet another sign of the use of signs one of them wears a top with the skull and crossbones on it. It is no big surprise that the school bullies are the supervillain's henchmen.
Penny is the other 'supervillain support'. Her power is to split into multiple versions of herself - enough to make up a whole cheerleading squad (like Speed and Lash and popular social committee chair Gwen, she plays into the popular kids are eeevil and the down-trodden freaks and geeks are the ones who will save the school line.) She's mainly to be seen in her cheerleader outfit and so is linked to the school colours of orange and blue.
Principal Powers, the headmistress of Sky High, is initially introduced in white, and that is the colour that is identified with her powers - she flies in as glowing white lights. She also wears black with an accent colour of blue. The monochrome and her tailored suits (and most excellent heels) emphasize her position of authority. She wears a fabulous cape at the ball.
Coach Boomer, like the supervillain minions, is defined more by the role signified by his costume rather than colours (Speed and Lash are jocks/bullies, Penny is a cheerleader/elitist). Coach Boomer (aka Sonic Boom) is 'Gym Teacher Man'. His coach colours echo Principal Powers actually, black, white, grey and a blue cap - with the school insignia it. But like Medulla, he wears variations on his uniform even when he's off duty - a basketball hat plus a tux.
Medulla, the (mad) science teacher usually wears what looks like a dentist's white tunic. He wears a dark turquoiseish version of the same when he's off duty, emphasising that he has no identity other than his job, which may be because the movie is centred around Will and co's adventures, or may be a reflection of how his career as a teacher is his identity. Like Powers, Boomer and Spex, we don't know if he ever had a superhero identity.
Mr (All American) Boy - his given name is Jonathan, but the impression is given that he's kept his sidekick name, which was conferred upon him, even after he stopped being a sidekick and began teaching kids how to be er, hero support - is a combination of colours and outfits. Unlike Gwen, he is not doing this to hide his identity, his identity genuinely seems to be in crisis, more so than anyone else, most people have consistent wardrobes. When teaching he wears brown, beige, yellowy, grey suits that feed into the cliché of the geography teacher. At any opportunity, he changes into his old red, blue and white sidekick outfit of the past, which is never so grand as The Commander's. On the big graduation night he ventures into a blue tux - a colour that brings out his eyes.
Stitches (Mr Grayson) - Royal Pain's sidekick and Gwen's adopted father has a silvery jester's costume. On the one time he's in civvies, he looks the part of the traditional, uptight father.
Freeze-girl wears blue and yellow and a white dress, 'cool' colours in contrast to Warren - their hook up is a visual joke rather than a developed story point.
Nurse Spex, the school nurse, also wears a heightened version of a nurse's outfit. But she's very much a cameo role.
The strong colours add to the appeal of the film, help define the characters quickly, which is important as there's many of them, and occasionally add nuances that one may or may not pick up on. HOW I wish we'd had an interview with the costume designer or the DVD.