Branden Bird (born in 1957) is an American animator who is known for creating Disney/Pixar's most recent film, The Incredibles (2004) and directing Warner Bros.' The Iron
Giant (1999).
Bird started his first animated film at the young age of 11 and
finished it at 13. The film got the attention of Walt Disney
Studios where, at age 14, Bird was mentored by Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s legendary animators known as the Nine Old Men. Bird graduated from CalArts where he met future Pixar co-founder and director John Lasseter. He eventually landed a job
at Disney, but shortly left after working on The Fox and
the Hound in 1981. Bird was hired in 1989 by
Klasky-Csupo and helped develop The Simpsons from one-minute shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show into a half-hour length series. He served there for several more years as
an "Executive Consultant". He worked on several other animated television
series, including The Critic and King of the Hill before being hired by Warner Bros. to direct the animated film The Iron
Giant. Although the film received critical acclaim, it did not do well at the box office. Bird was eventually hired by his old friend John Lasseter in 2004 to direct The Incredibles.
Bird is also the creator (writer, director and co-producer) of the Family Dog episode of Steven
Spielberg's Amazing Stories. In addition, Bird co-wrote
the screenplay for the live-action film Batteries Not
Included.
In 2005, Bird won an Oscar in
the Best Animated
Feature category for The Incredibles.
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