Bird has spoken passionately about animation as an art form . When Bird and producer John Walker recorded the Director 's Commentary for '' The Incredibles '' DVD , he jokingly offered to punch the next person that he heard call animation a genre instead of an art form . Bird believes animation can be used to tell any kind of story – drama or comedy , for an adult audience or children . In July 2018 , Bird doubled down on his views that just because a movie is animated does not mean it is just for kids when he called out concerned parents over Twitter for referring to '' Incredibles 2 '' as a “ kids movie ” , saying , “ With all due respect , it is NOT a ' kids movie . ' It is animated , and rated PG . ” Later in November 2018 , Bird called out iTunes for classifying both Incredibles movies as “ kids movies ” saying , “ Our classification should be no different than adventure films from Marvel or Lucasfilm just because we 're animated . What would you call sexism or racism for an art form ? Medium-ism ? ” Before he was sidetracked by '' Ratatouille '' , Bird began work on a film adaptation of James Dalessandro 's novel '' 1906 '' , which would be his first live-action project . In March 2008 , Bird resumed work on the film , which is a co-production between Pixar and Warner Bros . The novel , narrated by reporter Annalisa Passarelli , examines police officers battling corruption in the government that causes the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to turn into such a disaster . The script was co-written by John Logan . Blogger Jim Hill suggested the film has been on hold due to Disney / Pixar and Warner Bros. ' nervousness over the projected $ 200 million budget . In May 2010 , with '' 1906 '' apparently still stalled , Bird signed on as the director of '' Mission : Impossible – Ghost Protocol '' , produced by Tom Cruise and J. J. Abrams . The collaboration was suggested by Tom Cruise following the release of '' The Incredibles '' , and was created with the help of J.J. Abrams , who sent Bird a late night text message saying " '' Mission ? '' " . The film was an international hit , grossing almost $ 700 million
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Brad Bird