Brad Bird cut his teeth in film in the animation genre and was mentored by one of Disney's "Nine Old Men", Milt Kahl. Bird applied those skills he learned as an animator for Disney before going on to work on the screenplay for *batteries not included as well as consulting on The Simpsons. He got his first big break as a director on the animated classic The Iron Giant and then moved to Pixar where he helped usher in a new era of animated films with The Incredibles. In 2011, Bird made a foray into live-action with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which proved to be a commercial and critical success for Paramount Pictures. Currently, Bird is back at Disney working on Tomorrowland starring George Clooney. Below, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the director talks about a possible sequel to The Incredibles and reveals that he was indeed approached for Star Wars: Episode VII but by that time, he was knee-deep in Tomorrowland.
On The Incredibles 2:
Bird: I have been thinking about it. People think that I have not been, but I have. Because I love those characters and love that world. I am stroking my chin and scratching my head. I have many, many elements that I think would work really well in another [Incredibles] film, and if I can get ‘em to click all together, I would probably wanna do that. I like the idea of moving a little more quickly in films. I’m looking for ways to accelerate the pace a little bit and figure out a way to keep creative control over these movies to a level where I’m comfortable with the end result but also speed them up a bit and make more of them. I have many different films I wanna make. It’s like a big airplane hangar and I have different projects on the floor; half-assembled in my brain. I’m interested in all of them. You kind of have to move on the ones people are willing to pay for and the ones you’re most excited about.
On Star Wars:
Bird: I’ve known Kathy [Kennedy] for a while and I know George. And they did come to me. But the problem was, the schedule they had in mind made it impossible to do…unless I dropped Tomorrowland. And I was just really deeply into this film at that point. It’s easy to say, “Just put it on hold.” But you’re moving now; you don’t know if you’re going to be able to move later. Maybe it’s true of filmmakers like Cameron or Spielberg, but I have to act on momentum. We had reached a critical mass where it would’ve thrown the furniture around from the train stopping. I really want to see this movie. I love the Star Wars films, and I can’t wait to see what J.J. does, but it meant I’d have to shut down one dream to participate in another. I feel like [with Tomorrowland] we’re making something that’s really special and unique.
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