- Born
- Birth namePhillip Bradley Bird
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) 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.
- IMDb mini biography by: omermertcanbolat
- SpouseElizabeth Canney(1988 - present) (3 children)
- Children
- ParentsPhilip Cullen BirdMarjorie A. (Cross)
- RelativesPennel Bird(Niece or Nephew)
- Use of the letter/number sequence A113, his classroom number at Cal Arts
- Sometimes includes Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in animated cameos
- Most of his films are set in the 1950s or a retro time period
- Rarely using big stars, the voice actors in his films are often character actors or unprofessional and unknown voice talents
- His protagonists are often outcasts.
- In The Incredibles (2004), he provided the voice for the character Edna Mode on the temporary audio track. Lily Tomlin was approached to voice the character for release, but turned the part down after listening to Brad's scratch track stating that they already had the right voice for the character.
- Designed the character Sideshow Bob for The Simpsons (1989).
- One of his sons, Nicholas Bird, was the voice of Squirt in Finding Nemo (2003), Little Boy on the Tricycle in The Incredibles (2004), and Monster Jack-Jack Parr in Incredibles 2 (2018).
- Believes animation not to be a genre, but instead an art form.
- With The Incredibles (2004), he was the first person to receive a solo writing credit on a feature-length film from Pixar Animation Studios.
- When I write things, often at the moment I'm writing, I'm thinking of camera angles; it's not a separate part of the process, it kind of comes out all at the same time. So I have really strong opinions about how things are presented, but at the same time I'm thinking about things that I want to present. It's like when somebody speaks, they assemble words in a certain way, but it's not always that conscious, it just comes out. That's the way film is for me.
- Well, I like superheroes, but I'm not one of those guys who knows what issue 437 is of "Whatever." And I think people assume that because The Incredibles is about superheroes, that I know all that stuff. I kind of got it second-hand, from the movies. I'm happy to hear from anybody that does know that stuff, but I'm fairly oblivious to that really large volume of comic book lore that's been generated.
- I think there's a tendency [among some animators] to wink at the audience so much that you feel that you're above the world that you're presenting-like the filmmaker doesn't really believe in the world that he's putting on screen. And there's a safety in that, because if you try to make the audience feel something besides comedy, like if you try to make them feel moved, you risk looking really silly if it doesn't work.
- I love, love, love the medium of film. But that is the strange dichotomy of film, is that the medium is so unbelievably magical and wonderful, and the business is so--UGH! It's kind of the price you pay. Some friend of mine said you're not getting paid to work in the medium; you'd almost do that for free. But you're getting paid to suffer all the, you know-[Laughs].
- There is a contingent of the digital-effects community to whom that is the holy grail - to create photographically real humans. To me that is the dumbest goal that you could possibly have. What's wonderful about the medium of animation isn't recreating reality. It's distilling it.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
