Brad Bird at the Texas Avery Animation Award

Just got back from Brad Bird getting the first ever Texas Avery Animation Award via the Deep Ellum Film Festival (http://www.def2.org). Some brief notes and some of the pics are below. I have a many more notes and like one or two other pics I can post if anyone is interested in more.
Tex Avery's daughter spoke beforehand and she said if Tex was still alive "he would have loved the Incredibles but asked why the hell they removed the scene with the girls in bikini's." William Joyce spoke mainly on the greatness of animation and how it is overlooked as a legit work of art. That it unfairly was always considred lesser than a live action film by default. They showed two animated cartoons (MGM - Wild and Wolfy, Warner Bros. - Tortoise Beats Hare) from Tex and Brad Bird came up and did a long Q&A with a local movie critic.
Brad Bird mentioned Warner Bros. finally put their logo back in to Iron Giant (instead of Bugs in a tux), wouldn't talk at all on his next projects other than to say he's also helping a friend with a film while he nurses one idea). Mentioned one of Warner Bros. ideas they presented him with while making Iron Giant was to make Ken a space alien, have it set in modern time and have some hip hop music in it. When asked about his favorite animated film of all time, he didn't have one definitive one but many depending on feeling, how funny, etc. He did mention "Pinocchio" and he really dug the design of "Yellow Submarine." Live action films he liked were - "Stranger Than Paradise", "Jules et Jim", "Seven Samurai", "Hard Day's Night", "Amadeus", "Spinal Tap", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
He was asked about Linklaters "Waking Life" and said he loved Linklaters work but wasn't a fan at all of rotoscope. He said he could picture his earlier mentor at Disney named Milt on rotoscope "it's godda*#& lazy is what it is." Brad prefers animation where he has complete control over the performance versus rotoscope where you are letting someone else do it.
He has alot of futuristic themes in his works, because when he was growing up he saw all these cool things like jetbacks that he figured by the time he was an adult "everyone's gonna have a jetpack."
On the Incredibles he talked about modeling the family Archetype's through their superpowers and most of the good super powers were already taken or trademarked, so he was almost left with jack jack's super powers being saliva bubbles.
On the subject of sound designers he said you could name any movie made and he'd instantly know the sound designer that worked on it. He said of "Apocalypse Now" you can just close your eyes and listen to it... and it's "a great masterpiece of psychological use of sound."
Throughout the Q&A Brad would on a dime break into character. When Brad breaks into character, he is fully into them. Amazing to see him suddenly turn into an old man, complete in voice and mannerisms. He joked back with the audience very quickly, quickly adlibbing answers like he was writing his next script. Telling one guy who said he had waited a long time to ask him an "I Robot" question, which someone said William Joyce went to the bathroom. I guess nobody realized the guy asking the question wasn't talking about "Robots." Brad then went into a quick adlib about how he should run to the bathroom and hide in the last stall and put his hand over his mouth and make a creepy voice and go "William... William I have been waiting 9 years to ask you this question... in fact I haven't moved from this stall either, waiting for the day you arrived."
My digital camera sucked taking pictures in the dark, so I had to wait until afterwards to get any decent pics of Brad (some pics below). Someone getting their Iron Giant auto'd was pretty cool. Some of the people in the audience opted to congratulate him for "I-Robot", doh! One of the girls had him sign a full frame Incredibles DVD. I could see Brad just wince in pain. He took this girl aside and literally went into why she should only buy widescreens and never full frame and gave her examples of it.

Tex Avery's daughter spoke beforehand and she said if Tex was still alive "he would have loved the Incredibles but asked why the hell they removed the scene with the girls in bikini's." William Joyce spoke mainly on the greatness of animation and how it is overlooked as a legit work of art. That it unfairly was always considred lesser than a live action film by default. They showed two animated cartoons (MGM - Wild and Wolfy, Warner Bros. - Tortoise Beats Hare) from Tex and Brad Bird came up and did a long Q&A with a local movie critic.
Brad Bird mentioned Warner Bros. finally put their logo back in to Iron Giant (instead of Bugs in a tux), wouldn't talk at all on his next projects other than to say he's also helping a friend with a film while he nurses one idea). Mentioned one of Warner Bros. ideas they presented him with while making Iron Giant was to make Ken a space alien, have it set in modern time and have some hip hop music in it. When asked about his favorite animated film of all time, he didn't have one definitive one but many depending on feeling, how funny, etc. He did mention "Pinocchio" and he really dug the design of "Yellow Submarine." Live action films he liked were - "Stranger Than Paradise", "Jules et Jim", "Seven Samurai", "Hard Day's Night", "Amadeus", "Spinal Tap", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
He was asked about Linklaters "Waking Life" and said he loved Linklaters work but wasn't a fan at all of rotoscope. He said he could picture his earlier mentor at Disney named Milt on rotoscope "it's godda*#& lazy is what it is." Brad prefers animation where he has complete control over the performance versus rotoscope where you are letting someone else do it.
He has alot of futuristic themes in his works, because when he was growing up he saw all these cool things like jetbacks that he figured by the time he was an adult "everyone's gonna have a jetpack."
On the Incredibles he talked about modeling the family Archetype's through their superpowers and most of the good super powers were already taken or trademarked, so he was almost left with jack jack's super powers being saliva bubbles.
On the subject of sound designers he said you could name any movie made and he'd instantly know the sound designer that worked on it. He said of "Apocalypse Now" you can just close your eyes and listen to it... and it's "a great masterpiece of psychological use of sound."
Throughout the Q&A Brad would on a dime break into character. When Brad breaks into character, he is fully into them. Amazing to see him suddenly turn into an old man, complete in voice and mannerisms. He joked back with the audience very quickly, quickly adlibbing answers like he was writing his next script. Telling one guy who said he had waited a long time to ask him an "I Robot" question, which someone said William Joyce went to the bathroom. I guess nobody realized the guy asking the question wasn't talking about "Robots." Brad then went into a quick adlib about how he should run to the bathroom and hide in the last stall and put his hand over his mouth and make a creepy voice and go "William... William I have been waiting 9 years to ask you this question... in fact I haven't moved from this stall either, waiting for the day you arrived."
My digital camera sucked taking pictures in the dark, so I had to wait until afterwards to get any decent pics of Brad (some pics below). Someone getting their Iron Giant auto'd was pretty cool. Some of the people in the audience opted to congratulate him for "I-Robot", doh! One of the girls had him sign a full frame Incredibles DVD. I could see Brad just wince in pain. He took this girl aside and literally went into why she should only buy widescreens and never full frame and gave her examples of it.


