Brad Bird is rapidly becoming a favourite director of mine, because this guy really understands how to entertain. He began his career with Disney, working on The Fox and the Hound, but left shortly thereafter to work with Steven Spielberg on the series Amazing Stories and the film *batteries not included. In 1989, Bird helped develop The Simpsons from one-minute shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show into a half-hour series, and served as an executive consultant on the show’s first eight seasons. He was one of the animators on the pilot of Rugrats, and worked on the series The Critic and King of the Hill before directing The Iron Giant for Warner Brothers. The Iron Giant impressed John Lasseter at Pixar, and after Bird pitched the idea for The Incredibles to him, Lasseter brought Bird on board to direct the movie. Bird also voiced the character of Edna Mode. Bird followed up The Incredibles with another Pixar film Ratatouille – both films garnering him much acclaim. Most recently, Bird directed his first live action film with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and considering that he was handed the fourth film in a franchise, I’d say he did a great job! Brad Bird turns 55 today.