Brad Bird Wiki: Everything To Know About 'The Incredibles' Director

Phillip Bradley Bird was born on September 24th, 1957. He is an acclaimed American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor who developed a passion for the art of animation at quite an early age. He made his way into the animation world and was mentored by Milt Kahl who happens to be one of Disney's legendary 'Nine Old Men.' Bird graduated from the California Institute of the Arts alongside John Lasseter and Tim Burton at a time when this field was relatively new and few thought of plunging into it professionally. Later, Bird worked as an animator for Disney on the film, 'The Fox and the Hound' in 1981 and also in the movie, 'The Black Cauldron' in 1985. He wrote the screenplay for 'Batteries Not Included' in 1987. Soon after, Bird got to direct his first animated feature, 'The Iron Giant' released in 1999. 'The Iron Giant' fared poorly at the box office but also got some positive reviews as being a modern animated classic. This boosted Bird's morale and later he rejoined Lasseter at Pixar in 2000, to develop his second picture, 'The Incredibles' in 2004, and also his third picture, 'Ratatouille' in 2007. Both, 'The Incredibles' and 'Ratatouille' placed among Pixar's highest-grossing features and earned director Brad Bird two Academy Award for Best Animated Feature wins and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nominations. He gained instant fame and recognition as one of the most talented animated directors in Hollywood. In 2011, Bird directed his first live-action movie, 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'. 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' also became the highest-grossing and best reviewed film of its franchise. His second live-action film, 'Tomorrowland', starring George Clooney, was released in May 2015. 'Tomorrowland' was an American science-fiction mystery adventure film. Born and raised in Kalispell, Montana, Bird was the youngest of four children born to parents Marjorie A. and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in the propane business. Once when Brad Bird was taken on a tour of the Walt Disney Studios at age 11, he had dreamed and announced that someday he would become part of its animation team, and soon afterwards, he began to work on his own 15-minute animated short. Within two years, Bird had completed his animation, which impressed a cartoon company. He graduated from Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon in 1975 but he took a three-year break before he was then given a scholarship by Disney to attend California Institute of the Arts. Bird's son Nicholas did voice acting for Squirt in Finding Nemo. Nicholas and his brother Michael also voiced kids in 'The Incredibles.'

After Bird graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, he began working for Disney. He worked with them only briefly on the film, 'The Fox and the Hound' in 1981 and then he quit. He then moved on to work on a few animated television series including 'Family Dog,' an episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories that Bird helped create. He wrote, directed and also animated the episode, 'Family Dog' and he went on to work on many small and big television series. These included 'Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing,' 'The Critic' and 'King of the Hill,' before approaching Warner Brothers to write and direct the animated film, 'The Iron Giant'. The film impressed his old friend John Lasseter, founder of the computer-animation pioneer, Pixar so Bird went to work for them. He worked on, 'The Incredibles' and the film became both a major critical and financial success. The film even helped earn Bird his first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and his screenplay was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. By mid 2005, Bird was requessted by the Pixar management team to take over 'Ratatouille' from its previous director. The film was released in 2007 and just like 'The Incredibles,' the film was another critical and box office success. Ratatouille won the Best Animated Feature award at the Golden Globes and 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 In March 2008, Bird resumed work on the film, which is a co-production between Pixar and Warner Bros. In May 2010, Bird signed on as the director of 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol', produced by Tom Cruise and J. J. Abrams. The film, 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' was an international hit, grossing almost $700 million dollars. Bird also directed and co-wrote Disney's science fiction film, 'Tomorrowland' released in 2015. Bird is currently writing and directing 'The Incredibles 2,' which is planned for a June 15, 2018 release. After the major success of 'The Incredibles', fans have huge hopes and excitement for 'The Incredibles 2'.

Brad Bird is a successful producer, director, writer, animator and American actor. He has amassed a net worth of $40 million dollars.