A small section (six and a half minutes) of a Q & A with Brad Bird following a screening of the excellent documentary “The Pixar Story” at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival. Bird discusses facing rejection in the film industry, and his work on The Iron Giant. Unfortunately, this is not the entire interview, and it’s the only part I have.
That’s me with the really loud laugh. My then-girlfriend was sitting next to me, filming this with her camera phone. I just ran across it while going through some old video files.
During the audience Q and A section (not shown) I presented Bird with a copy of this picture:
I drew it two years before “Ratatouille” came out, but it kind of reminds me of the movie. His response was, “That’s strange,” but I don’t know if he meant the picture or the similarity to “Ratatouille” . Immediately before me, another audience member gave him a beautiful painting of Mr. Incredible, causing the interviewer to joke, “No questions without a gift!”
Holy smokes, is this the same event that I attended? It must be, because I remember that you were there at the same time that I was, even though I didn’t realize that another Pixar Planet member was in the same room with me. (chuckles)
Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning that you were there when I posted about it on here shortly after it happened. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long. I was really glad to find this video while I was clearing out my flash drive.
During the Audience Q and A, I asked him how you get into the animation business if you don’t have a degree in animation. He suggested creating your own film as a way of getting attention, but also mentioned that you can learn things in a class, watching films with other students, like when the “butt shifting” moments in movies are - the moments when the audience becomes restless. As an example, he said there’s a butt shifting moment in Lady and the Tramp just after the lullaby (“La La Lu”), though I don’t neccesarily agree with him on that particular one .
. Immediately before me, another audience member gave him a beautiful painting of Mr. Incredible, causing the interviewer to joke, “No questions without a gift!”