Bernard[1] "Bernie" Kropp (or simply Bernie) is a character who appears in the 2004 Disney/Pixar animated feature film The Incredibles.
Background[]
Bernie serves as Dash's fifth grade teacher of an unnamed school. He is shown to provide students good behavior. In spite of his duty as a teacher, he is shown to have a dislike for students who have mischievous behavior such as when Dash pranks him by placing tacks on his stool, resulting Dash to be sent to the principal's office for his disruptive behavior, often shown having a high strung personality.
Appearances[]
The Incredibles[]
When Helen Parr visits Dash who is sent to the principal's office, Bernie approaches Helen and tells her that he is a disruptive student who puts tacks on his stool. Just as Helen asks him to know he caught Dash, he explains to her that he hid a camera and caught him for his actions. Showing Helen and Dash the footage, he discusses with them about the tacks Dash places on his stool. Just as Principal John Walker tries to calm him down, Bernie replies to him, telling him that Dash is guilty. Walker, however, dismisses Dash and his mother, which Bernie tells the principal that Dash is guilty. He does not appear again afterwards.
Video game appearances[]
The Incredibles: When Danger Calls[]
Despite his minor role in the film, Bernie plays a major role in The Incredbiles: When Danger Calls, in the "Dash's Prank" mini-game where Dash (in his normal attire) must place a number of tacks on the chair where his teacher would sit in order to prank him where the player must pay attention to the chair icon to know how many pranks are needed to fool him with a limited amount of tacks Dash has throughout the game (the player loses the tacks required to prank Bernie if Dash bumps into a student's desk). Most of the time, Bernie is seen writing on the chalkboard while his class is taking a test. When Bernie flashes, Dash must return to his seat before he catches him; otherwise, the player loses if he catches Dash. Additionally, if Dash gets too close to Bernie, the player automatically loses as well.
Once the player runs out of tacks, Bernie tells his students to pass their tests once they have finished just before sitting on the chair where he would be pranked. If Dash places a required amount of tacks, he sits on the chair and ends up getting poked, which he reacts in shock, thanks to Dash's successful pranks. There are two methods the player can lose if Dash does not place a required amount of tacks on the chair Bernie would sit on. If an insufficient amount of tacks is placed, Bernie scolds Dash yelling, "That's it! To the principal's office!", failing the game. Additionally, if the player does not place any tacks on the chair and Bernie sits on it, the students react with a sad expression due to no prank done on Bernie.
LEGO The Incredibles[]
Bernie is an unlockable character in LEGO The Incredibles. The player must complete the Sunken Villain Challenge in order to unlock him.
Trivia[]
- Bernie's voice actor, Lou Romano, is also an animator at Pixar. Romano would later voice Snot Rod in Cars and later Alfredo Linguini in Ratatouille.
- Ironically, Bernie calling Dash a "little rat" foreshadowed Romano's role as Linguini, whom befriended Remy.
- Bernie's first name, Bernard, was revealed in the Pixar-inspired book, Pixarpedia.
- His name is based off of the Principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School (and the secret identity of Captain Underpants), Benny Krupp.
