Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley Bird (born on September 24, 1957 in Kalispell, Montana) is an American animator who is known for creating Disney/Pixar's film The Incredibles (2004), and for directing Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant (1999).
Bird started his first animated cartoon at the young age of 11 and finished it at 13. The film got the attention of Walt Disney Studios where, at age 14, Bird was mentored by Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s legendary animators known collectively as the Nine Old Men. Bird graduated from CalArts where he met future Pixar co-founder and director John Lasseter. He eventually landed a job at Disney, but left shortly after working on The Fox and the Hound in 1981. Bird was hired in 1989 by Klasky-Csupo and helped develop The Simpsons from one-minute shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show into a half-hour length series. He served there for several more years as an "Executive Consultant". He worked on several other animated television series, including The Critic and King of the Hill before being hired by Warner Bros. to direct the animated film The Iron Giant. Although the film received critical acclaim, it did not do well at the box office. Bird was eventually hired by his old friend John Lasseter to create The Incredibles (in which he also provided the voice of costume designer Edna Mode). The DVD Director's Commentary for the same film, which they recorded, discusses the problems that he sees in many superhero shows and films and in Saturday morning cartoons with "bad guys".
Bird is also the creator (writer, director, and co-producer) of the Family Dog episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. In addition, Bird co-wrote the screenplay for the live-action film *batteries not included.
In 2005, Bird won an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category for The Incredibles.
In March 2006, during a presentation at a Disney shareholders meeting, it was announced that Bird had taken over the directing duties on Pixar's 2007 release, Ratatouille.
Bird is one of the most prominent defenders of animation in America. He has spoken several times about how it is an art form, not a genre as it is commonly called (in fact, when he and Lasseter recorded the DVD Director's Commentary for The Incredibles, he threatened to punch the next person he caught calling animation a genre), and one that can be used to tell any kind of story, not just stories for children as American animated films and shows tend to be.
External links
- Brad Bird at IMDb
- UpcomingPixar - News on Pixar and its people including Brad
- Brad Bird Interview at IGN