Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer
and actor. Bird developed a love for the art of animation
at an early age and was mentored by Milt Kahl, one of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men. He
was part of one of the earliest graduating classes of the California Institute of the
Arts alongside John Lasseter and Tim Burton. Afterwards, Bird worked as an animator for
Disney and wrote the screenplay for Batteries Not Included. Bird served as a creative consultant
on The Simpsons during its first eight seasons, where he helped develop the show's animation
style. Afterwards, Bird left to direct his first
animated feature, Warner Bros.'s The Iron Giant, which fared poorly at the box office
but came to be regarded as a modern animated classic. He rejoined Lasseter at Pixar in
2000, where he would develop his second picture, The Incredibles, and third, Ratatouille. Both
films place among Pixar's highest-grossing features and gave Bird Academy Award for Best
Animated Feature wins and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nominations. In 2011,
Bird transitioned to live-action filmmaking with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,
which became the highest-grossing of its franchise. He is currently directing Tomorrowland.
Early life Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest
of four children of Marjorie A. and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in the propane
business, and his grandfather, Francis Wesley "Frank" Bird, who was born in County Sligo,
Ireland, was a president and chief executive of the Montana Power Company. On a tour of
the Walt Disney Studios at age 11, he announced that someday he would become part of its animation
team, and soon afterward began work on his own 15-minute animated short. Within two years,
Bird 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 criticisms as ideal: Kahl would point out shortcomings by
gently delivering 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 tenure with Disney was brief, and he left
the company shortly after working on The Fox and the Hound in 1981.
He next worked on animated television series, with much shorter lead times. He was the creator
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" and co-directed the Season Three episode "Like Father, Like Clown." He served as an
executive consultant for the show for its first eight seasons. Also while at Klasky
Csupo, he was one of the animators of the Rugrats pilot "Tommy Pickles and the Great
White Thing." He worked on several other animated television series, including The Critic and
King of the Hill, before pitching Warner Brothers to write and direct the animated film The
Iron Giant. Despite receiving near-universal acclaim from critics, it failed at the box
office domestically, but grossed $103 million worldwide, making it at least a moderate box
office success. The film impressed his old friend John Lasseter, founder of the computer-animation
pioneer Pixar. Bird pitched the idea for The Incredibles to Pixar. In the finished picture,
Bird also provides the voice of costume designer Edna Mode. As an inside joke, the character
Syndrome was based on Bird's likeness and according to him, he did not realize the joke
until the movie was too far into production to have it changed. The film became both a
major critical and financial success. As a result, Bird won his first Academy Award for
Best Animated Feature, and his screenplay was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
In the middle of 2005, Bird was asked by the Pixar management team to take over Ratatouille
from its previous director Jan Pinkava. This change was announced in March 2006, during
a presentation at a Disney shareholders meeting. The film was released in 2007; like The Incredibles,
the film was another critical and box office success. In January 2008, Ratatouille won
the Best Animated Feature award at the Golden Globes; it was also nominated for 5 Academy
Awards, including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Screenplay. On February 24,
2008, Ratatouille won Bird his second Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Bird has spoken passionately about animation as an art form. When Bird and producer John
Walker recorded the Director's Commentary for The Incredibles' DVD, he jokingly offered
to punch the next person that he heard call animation a genre instead of an art form.
Bird believes animation can be used to tell any kind of story — drama or comedy, for
an adult audience or children. Before he was sidetracked by Ratatouille,
Bird began work on a film adaptation of James Dalessandro's novel 1906, which would be his
first live-action project. In March 2008, Bird resumed work on the film, which is a
co-production between Pixar and Warner Bros. The novel, narrated by reporter Annalisa Passarelli,
examines police officers battling corruption in the government that causes the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake to turn into such a disaster. The script was co-written by John Logan. Blogger
Jim Hill suggested the film has been on hold due to Disney / Pixar and Warner Bros.' nervousness
over the projected $200 million budget. In May 2010, with 1906 apparently still stalled,
Bird signed on as the director of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, produced by
Tom Cruise and J. J. Abrams. The collaboration was suggested by Tom Cruise following the
release of The Incredibles, and was created with the help of J.J. Abrams, who sent Bird
a late night text message saying "Mission?". The film was an international hit, grossing
almost $700 million. In May 2012, it was reported that Bird has
been attached as the co-writer and director for Tomorrowland, whose screenplay will be
co-written with Damon Lindelof. On March 18, 2014, it was announced that Bird
is writing a sequel to The Incredibles. Filmography
Feature film Television
Music video Reception
Critical Awards and nominations
In addition to his Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Saturn Award wins, Bird holds the record
of the most animation Annie Award wins with eight, winning both Best Directing and Best
Writing for each of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, as well as Best Voice Acting
for The Incredibles. His eighth Annie was the 2011 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution
to animation. References
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 The Art of Making Pixar's Ratatouille Interviews
with Harley Jessup, Sharon Calahan and Brad Bird accompany an article on the making of
the film. Brad Bird Interview at Blu-ray.com Interview
regarding the release of Ratatouille on Blu-ray.