Brad Bird

Phillip Bradley Bird, better known as Brad Bird, (born on September 11, 1957) is an American Academy Award-winning animator who wrote and directed the 1999 Warner Bros. film The Iron Giant, and Disney/Pixar's critical and box office hits The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007). In the review of the DVD for Ratatouille, Eye Weekly referred to Bird when stating 'it’s hard to think of another mainstream American director with a comparably fluid visual style or such a vise grip on storytelling mechanics'.^[1]

Early life

Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana. On a tour of the Walt Disney Studios at age 11, he announced that someday he would be part of its animation team, and soon thereafter, began work on his own 15-minute animated short. Within two years, he had completed his animation, which impressed the cartoon company. By age 14, barely in high school, Bird was mentored by the animator Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men. Bird recalls Kahl's criticism as one that would point out shortcomings by gently delivering his thoughts on where Bird could improve. After graduating from Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon in 1975, Bird took a three year break. He was then awarded a scholarship by Disney to attend California Institute of the Arts, where he met and befriended another future animator, Pixar co-founder and director John Lasseter.

Career

Upon graduating from the California Institute of the Arts, Bird began working for Disney. His time with Disney was brief, and he left shortly after working on The Fox and the Hound in 1981 and the little seen The Plague Dogs in 1982. He next worked on animated television series, with much shorter deadlines. He was 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 1989 Bird joined Klasky Csupo, where he helped to develop The Simpsons from one-minute shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show into a series of half-hour programs. In 1990, he directed the episode "Krusty Gets Busted" (which marked the first speaking role of Sideshow Bob). He served on the show 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 pitching to Warner Bros. to write and direct the animated film The Iron Giant. Although The Iron Giant was critically acclaimed, it did not do exceedingly well at the box office, attributed by many to limited marketing on behalf of the studio. Nevertheless, the film impressed his old friend John Lasseter. Bird pitched the idea for The Incredibles to Pixar (in which he also provided the voice of costume designer Edna Mode). In 2005, Bird won an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category for The Incredibles, and his screenplay was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay. In the middle of 2005, Bird was asked by the Pixar management team to take over Ratatouille from the previous director Jan Pinkava. This change was announced in March 2006, during a presentation at a Disney shareholders meeting. According to a segment on Good Morning America, Bird plans to direct a live action film after the release of Ratatouille. Bird has spoken about how he considers animation to be an art form, and not a genre as it is commonly treated. In fact, when he and John Walker recorded the DVD Director's Commentary for The Incredibles, he jokingly threatened to punch the next person that he caught calling animation a genre. He believes animation can be used to tell any kind of story, not just stories for children.

Filmography

Director

• The Iron Giant (1999)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Jack-Jack Attack (2005)
• Ratatouille (2007)
• 1906 (2009)

Actor

• The Incredibles (2004) voice Edna Mode
• Ratatouille (2007) voice Ambrister Minion

External links

• Brad Bird at the Internet Movie Database
• Brad Bird Interview at IGN
• DVD Talk: Interview with Brad Bird about The Incredibles
• Brad Bird premieres and discusses the development of "The Incredibles" with CalArts' Character Animation Program
• Brad Bird Interview (Ratatouille)