Brad Bird
- Directing
- September 24, 1957 · Kalispell, Montana, USA
Biography
Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both live-action and animation. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He developed an interest in the art of animation early on, and completed his first short subject by age 14. Bird sent the film to Walt Disney Productions, leading to an apprenticeship from the studio's Nine Old Men. He attended the California Institute of the Arts in the late 1970s, and worked for Disney shortly thereafter. In the 1980s, Bird worked in film development with various studios. He co-wrote Batteries Not Included (1987), and developed two episodes of Amazing Stories for Steven Spielberg, including its spin-off (based on a segment written by Bird for the show), the widely panned animated sitcom Family Dog. Afterwards, Bird joined the animated sitcom The Simpsons as creative consultant for eight seasons. He directed the animated film The Iron Giant (1999); though acclaimed, it was a box-office bomb. Bird moved to Pixar where he wrote and directed two successful animated films, The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007). They earned Bird two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature wins and Best Original Screenplay nominations. He transitioned to live-action filmmaking with similarly successful Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), he then directed Disney's Tomorrowland (2015). He returned to Pixar to develop Incredibles 2 (2018), which became the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time during its theatrical run, and earned him another nomination for the Academy Award. In 2026, he is set to partner with Skydance Animation to direct Ray Gunn, a sci-fi noir film he’s wanted to make for over thirty years. Bird has a reputation for supervising his projects to a high degree of detail. He advocates for creative freedom and the possibilities of animation, and has criticized its stereotype as children's entertainment, or classification as a genre, rather than an art. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brad Bird, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known for
Filmography
- Incredibles 3 · Edna Mode (Voice), Writer
- Ray Gunn · Gunsol / Musker (Voice), Director
- Incredicoaster | Disneyland Resort · Edna Mode (Voice), Characters
- Megalopolis · Thanks
- Il était une fois Disney & la France · Self
- Director by Night · Self
- Werewolf by Night · Thanks
- The Power of Stone · Self
- Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical · Original Film Writer
- Pass the Warning: Reflecting on Nic Roeg's Masterpiece · Self
- Strong Coffee: The Full-Bodied Mind of Pixar’s Brad Bird · Self
- Auntie Edna · Edna Mode (Voice), Executive producer
- Incredibles 2 · Edna 'E' Mode / Additional Voices (Voice), Director
- The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant · Self
- A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman · Self
- Jurassic World · Monorail Announcer (Voice)
- Tomorrowland · Director, Story
- Tomorrowland: The Origins of Plus Ultra · Director
- Ghost Protocol: Mission Accepted · Self
- Ghost Protocol: Impossible Missions · Self
- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol · Director
- Pixar 25 Magic Moments · Self
- Waking Sleeping Beauty · Self
- The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice! · Self
- Partly Cloudy · Thanks
- Redefining the Line: The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmatians · Self
- Fine Food and Film · Self
- Your Friend the Rat · Executive producer
- Fog City Mavericks · Self
- The Pixar Story · Self
- Ratatouille · Ambrister Minion (Voice), Director
- More Making of 'The Incredibles' · Self, Executive producer
- From Walt's Table: A Tribute to Disney's Nine Old Men · Self
- One Man Band · Executive producer
- The Making of 'The Incredibles' · Self, Executive producer
- Jack-Jack Attack · Director, Writer
- Vowellet - An Essay by Sarah Vowell · Executive producer
- Mr. Incredible and Pals · Writer, Executive producer
- The Incredibles · Edna 'E' Mode (Voice), Director
- The Iron Giant · Director, Screenstory
- The Making of 'The Iron Giant' · Self
- Amazing Stories: The Movie III · Family Dog (Voice), Director
- Family Dog · Director, Creator
- The Simpsons · Director
- *batteries not included · Screenplay
- Amazing Stories · Scientist #2, Family Dog (Voice)
- The Plague Dogs · Animation
- Animalympics · Animation
- Doctor of Doom · Don Carlo's Voice/Bystander's Voice
- Tortoise and the Hare · Director
- Surf Wars · Animation
- The Oscars · Self / Edna Mode (Voice), Self