by Shoshana Berger
Pixar Animation Studios, in Emeryville, California, is like Disneyland for adults. In one wing, animators have built elaborate themed sets instead of cubicles-from space stations to a Rat Pack-era private casino. Employees (pierced, wide-eyed, 30-ish) pilot scooters to meetings. There’s a gourmet cafeteria and a cineplex-sized screening room. And writer-director Brad Bird, who’s just returned from a whirlwind press junket to promote his superhero fable The Incredibles, is so bewildered he can’t even remember how to dial out of the building. It isn’t the circus tent atmosphere that has Bird muddled. It’s that after decades of hard work but little exposure in Hollywood-he’s been an animator since the age of 14-he’s finally hit it out of the ballpark. Critics fell off their chairs for The Incredibles, Bird’s second animated feature, and it’s Pixar’s biggest box office opener ever, beating out Finding Nemo. Bird now has all the trappings of success: a personal assistant and a line of action figures from his film. But he still grouses about the calcified “industry,” and how hard it is to work within Hollywood’s confines. Though his path to glory seems gonzo, Bird learned a few useful lessons: Send your stuff to your heroes, befriend someone who gets your work, and beware of middle managers
Check out the full article here filled with lovely pictures. A Question For Brad Bird
Last modified: April 15, 2005