July 1 - WEDWay People Mover

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On this day, in 1975, the WEDWay PeopleMover began giving guests a grand tour of Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. The original PeopleMover attraction opened on July 2, 1967 as part of Disneyland’s new Tomorrowland. It was an update of the ride system that had been used in the Ford pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair. The term PeopleMover was coined for Disneyland’s ride but has since come to mean a variety of transportation modes. The cars didn’t move on their own but were propelled along the track by rotating wheels placed every nine feet. When Ford declined to sponsor the new attraction (they didn’t care to associate with anything that could supplant cars), Goodyear stepped in and the rotating wheels were replaced with actual Goodyear tires.

Eight years later, the Florida Project got its own version of the PeopleMover with two big differences. First, instead of the cars being propelled along by rotating tires, linear induction motors were used. New decade, new technology, which made sense to everyone except Goodyear. Because the new version didn’t need their tires, they said Disney didn’t need their sponsorship and bowed out. The Edison Electric Institute stepped up in their place. Second, the design of the cars and track were reversed. Disneyland’s ride had an open track with covered cars. Walt Disney World’s ride has open cars that run on a covered track.

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Disneyland’s PeopleMover was deemed hopelessly outdated and closed in 1995, to eventually be replaced by the ill-fated Rocket Rods. Walt Disney World’s attraction keeps chugging along even though it’s had a couple of thematic changes over the years. In 1994, the Magic Kindom’s Tomorrowland underwent a major renovation, becoming a working city of the future rather than a showcase of future technology. The PeopleMover was renamed the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Metroliner, although the Metroliner part was rarely used and the name was generally shortened to the TTA. The track was cosmetically made to look more metallic and the narration was changed to reflect the rides new function as part of the city’s public transportation system. When Space Mountain went down for a major refurbishment in April 2009, the TTA also closed for a while to accommodate the major construction taking place right next to its track. When it reopened in September of that year, it had another new narration and it was announced that it would be called the PeopleMover again. Except the name wasn’t a replacement, it was an add on, making it a mouthful to even mention the ride anymore. The attraction’s full current name is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.

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One final note: the Florida version of the PeopleMover is the last attraction in the Magic Kingdom that still retains a corporate sponsor (the nighttime spectacular, Happily Ever After, is sponsored by Pandora, but that’s a show not an attraction). It is currently sponsored by Alamo Rent-A-Car, although you could be forgiven for never knowing that. They aren’t mentioned in any of the narrations, just a few logos on the signs at the ride’s entrance and exit.

June 29 - America Sings

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On this day, in 1974, Disneyland’s salute to the United States’ 200^th birthday, America Sings, opened in Tomorrowland. As Bicentennial Fever began sweeping the nation in the early Seventies, Disneyland naturally wanted to get in on the action. It was decided to create a new show to go in the space occupied by the Carousel of Progress. That classic show, one of the holdovers from the 1964 World’s Fair, was packed up and, in 1973, relocated to the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, where it still runs today. Imagineers, led by the Legendary Marc Davis, then got to work on an all new attraction.

America Sings was structured similar to Carousel of Progress (kind of a necessity since it used the same space). A total of six theatres rotated around a central cluster of stages, each theater moving to the next stage every four minutes. Guests entered the show in stage one, saw a brief introduction, rotated through four eras of American musical history, then saw a brief conclusion and exited from stage six. For the show’s narrators, Marc created Eagle Sam, voiced by Burl Ives, and Ollie Owl, voiced by Sam Edwards. While Eagle Sam is sometimes referred to as Sam the Eagle, he shouldn’t be confused with our Muppet friend of the same name or the 1984 Olympic Mascot, Sam the Olympic Eagle; those are three distinct characters. In a nod to taking over Carousel’s space, Rex Allen, who played the narrator of Carousel, has a small part in America Sings as Sombrero, a dog.

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On a tragic note, America Sings was responsible for the death of a cast member shortly after it opened. On July 8, 1974, just nine days after its debut, Deborah Stone was caught between the stationary outer wall of the attraction and one of the inner moving walls. The 18 year old was crushed to death but her body wasn't discovered for nearly twenty minutes. Guests had actually heard her screams but thought it was part of the show. As a result of the accident, America Sings was closed for three days while safety lights were installed and the moving walls were redesigned to include breakaway panels. Thankfully, no further incidents were recorded.

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It might seem ridiculously out of place to plunk a historical show down in Tomorrowland, but Bicentennial Fever was a powerful thing in the mid Seventies and no one really minded. Until after the reasonable time that bicentennial celebrations could go on, of course. By the early Eighties, America Sings not only didn’t fit into a land that claimed to have its eyes set on the future, but it was getting long in the tooth as a concept as well. The show persisted almost to the end of the decade, however. In 1986, it was slight victim of recycling when two geese Audio-Animatronics were removed, stripped of their skin and installed as baggage droids in the queue of Star Tours. The rest of America Sings kept on singing until April 10, 1988. At that point, most of the remaining 113 Audio-Animatronic figures found a new home in Splash Mountain, which opened the following year. The Stork figure from the show’s finale is used as a training tool to teach and test new Imagineers on how to program Animatronics.

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Plans were made to install a third show in the rotating theaters and a “coming soon” sign was placed in front of the attraction. That sign stood there for almost ten years, as the remaining sets of America Sings slowly deteriorated and the building was used as office and storage space, the new attraction a victim of Euro Disneyland’s financial shortcomings. Finally, in 1998, the building was completely renovated and became Innoventions, Disneyland’s version of the Epcot area. In 2015, the space was further updated and became the West Coast’s Star Wars Launch Bay, a walkthrough attraction highlighting all things Star Wars related.

June 12 - Monsanto House of the Future

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On this day, in 1957, the Monsanto House of the Future officially opened its doors to guests in Tomorrowland of Disneyland. The Monsanto Company (yes, THAT Monsanto) once upon a time had a plastics division and, like the well-meaning gentleman in The Graduate, thought plastics were not only pretty neat-o but represented the future. They just needed a way to show that concept off. When Disneyland opened and not only proved to be popular but was owned by a future focused guy (who was always looking for sponsorship cash), they knew they’d found their venue. Teaming up with architects and engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monsanto set about proving the versatility and durability of plastic to the fine folks of the late 1950s.

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The team designed a house that had four identical wings coming off a hub, making it look a bit like a weird pinwheel from above. The entire house was raised up several feet on a central base beneath the hub and was constructed of some concrete, a little steel for support and a whole lot of glass reinforced plastic. Not only was the outside of the house supposed to represent the future of construction, but the inside was designed to be prophetic as well. The designers decided that this is what America would be used to right around 1987. Like most visions of the future, while some of it looks fairly ridiculous from our vantage point, they actually did get quite a few things right.

One of the big things the House of Future correctly predicted was microwave ovens. Even though they’d technically been around for over a decade at that point, and you could buy a home version for around $2,500 (the equivalent of $22,750 today), microwaves were still a novelty item in 1957. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find a home in America that doesn't have one and you can get one for under $50 (around $6 in 1957 terms). Other things they guessed right on include security systems, whole house intercom systems and fancy thermostats. The walk through attraction also got dishes and utensils made out of plastic right, sort of. Plastic forks are certainly a whole lot more, well let's just say it, ubiquitous today, but they aren't durable, everyday pieces of silverware that get washed in our sonic dishwashers and used over and over again. The things that might have been, am I right?

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The Monsanto House of the Future was a huge hit with Disneyland guests. Nearly half a million traipsed through it in the first six weeks alone and over 20 million people experienced it during the 10 years it was open. But all futuristic endeavors can only stay around for so long before reality either makes them look dated or silly. In December 1967, the House of the Future became a thing of the past. But not before proving Monsanto's point about the durability of plastic, particularly in the house's exterior shell.  When a wrecking ball was brought in to knock the house down, it just kept bouncing off, doing almost no damage at all. Saws and drills and sledgehammers were tried next, to no avail.  Apparently, the large bolts holding the thing together broke, but the shell remained intact. Finally, each wing was looped with chains and squeezed down into smaller chunks of plastic that could be hauled away. And that was after sitting in the Southern California sun for a decade. Rumor has it that you can still see a remnant of the House, if you know where to look. Some day, when you find yourself in the Pixie Hollow area of the park, you might notice a large concrete planter painted green that looks like it could hold up the hub of a giant surreal looking pinwheel. You can then turn to your companions and say "Did you ever hear of the time Monsanto thought we'd all be living in plastic houses by now?"

April 28 - Rocket Rods

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On this day, in 2001, it was officially announced that Rocket Rods, a high speed thrill ride in Disneyland, would never be reopening.  When Disneyland’s Peoplemover attraction closed in August 1995, the transportation system of tomorrow might have been gone but the infrastructure remained. It kind of had to since it was built on, around and through so many of the other buildings in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. As Tomorrowland began getting a major face lift over the next few years, it was decided that the old Peoplemover real estate could be turned into a thrill ride showcasing another new form of transportation (albeit not one that would ever actually be considered as such in the real world as its predecessor was). So Disney began shopping around for a corporate sponsor to help fund the new attraction in exchange for slapping a few logos on ride vehicles. They couldn’t find anyone willing to bite, but started building the ride anyways, hoping that someone, anyone, would eventually pony up. Spoiler alert: no one did and that was not a good thing.

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Rocket Rods opened for business on May 22, 1998 as the showpiece of new Tomorrowland. The queue area took over the old Circlevision 360 building and presented itself as a depository for old Disneyland blueprints. Vehicles from defunct attractions, including Peoplemover cars and an part of an old monorail, plans of different park buildings and concept drawings littered the line with the focal point being the thrilling new mode of transportation guests were about to experience for themselves. Disney had even placed mock plans throughout the attraction showing where the Rocket Rod system would expand to in the future. The queue area was fine. It wasn’t until guests actually got on the ride that the problems began.

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Without the usual millions that a corporate sponsor brings to the mix to develop an attraction, Disney was unwilling to make up the shortfall itself and had to cut major corners to create the ride. Instead of redoing the Peoplemover track, straightening out some parts and putting banked turns on others, they basically kept the track the same. This meant that while the Rods could quickly accelerate on straightaways, they had to quickly decelerate for just about every twist and turn instead of maintaining some semblance of speed. As anyone who’s ever had to slam on their brakes on the highway knows, all that constant stopping and starting is terrible for your car. Turns out it’s terrible for elevated infrastructure, too. The toll that not having banked corners took on the ride vehicles and the track itself caused Rocket Rods to close for refurbishment a scant month after opening. Things did not get better.

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The estimated five weeks needed to get things going again turned into three months. Finally reopening in October 1998, Rocket Rods was plagued with problems for the next two years. Capacity on the attraction was so low (each car only held five guests, what did they expect?) that for the first time in Disneyland history, a single rider line was used to try to shorten wait times. Unfortunately, the ride broke down so often, that it really didn’t help. Guests were less than thrilled with the experience overall. Rocket Rods kind of felt like a thrill ride but all the decelerating made it seem not like a thrill ride. True, it only took three minutes to zip around a track that the old Peoplemover did in 16 minutes, but the Rods were too fast to sight see and not fast enough to truly be thrilling. And who wants to wait two hours for a three minute ride (yeah, I’m giving you the side-eye, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train)?

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In September 2000, Rocket Rods again went down for refurbishment with a cute little sign at the entrance announcing a Spring 2001 reopening. But as the days and weeks went by, there was no sign of any work being done, probably because there really wasn’t any. Instead of pouring more money into the disastrous venture, Disney ultimately decided to cut their losses. Especially since getting a sponsor to bankroll a ride that’s already failed isn’t something worth even trying. So, instead of reopening in the spring, they announced that it wasn’t going to. At least they were honest about it, citing the fact that without banked curves the ride would never be up to snuff. So once again, the Peoplemover track is empty but still standing (although at this point it probably isn’t structurally sound anymore, so don’t hold your breath that something new is ever going up there). Rocket Rods queue area however is prime real estate and now houses the Buzz Lightyear ride. Maybe not as thrilling as futuristic transportation, but a whole lot more reliable.

April 3 - Midget Autopia

On this day, in 1966, the Midget Autopia ride burned its last gallon of gas in Fantasyland at Disneyland. The attraction got its name from being the smallest of the three Autopias in Disneyland. You heard that correctly. At one point there were three different versions of the same ride spread out across Disneyland. The original Autopia was an opening day attraction in Tomorrowland. It’s multi-lane, limited access design was actually a precursor to the American highway system (President Eisenhower didn’t authorize real interstate highways until 1956). If you’ve ever driven around one of the Autopia tracks and gritted your teeth when you get bumped from behind, you’ve actually experienced a pretty mild version of an Autopia accident. The original cars didn’t have the benefit of a guide rail or bumpers. When folks took them out for a test run before the park opened, it was more like a demolition derby than a driving course. They smacked into each other so much, the cars were nearly destroyed. Bumpers were retrofitted around the remaining cars for opening day, which limited the damage the vehicles took but not necessarily the spines of the riders. Static bumpers eventually turned into spring-loaded bumpers (which absorbed some of the impact) which led to the inclusion of a center guide rail, keeping accidents to minor rear ends only.

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The popularity of the Tomorrowland Autopia led to a slightly smaller duplicate of the ride to pop up in Fantasyland in 1956. Originally called the Junior Autopia, since it wasn’t as big, the second version benefited from the mistakes of the first one: it had that center guide rail from day one. In 1959, the Junior Autopia was closed, expanded and reopened as the Fantasyland Autopia, now basically indistinguishable from its Tomorrowland counterpart. In 1957, the Midget Autopia opened at the edge of Fantasyland near the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Not only was the track shorter, but the cars were smaller as well. While adults were a necessity on the other two Autopias (at least for kids too short to reach the gas pedal), they weren’t allowed to ride the Midget version.  

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After the Midget Autopia closed to make way for the installation of It’s a Small World, Walt packed it up and shipped it to Marceline, Missouri. For the next eleven years, visitors to the city’s Walt Disney Municipal Park could get a little taste of Disneyland in the Midwest. As parts for the ride became scarce, Marceline was forced to close the attraction in 1977. A single car is still on display at the town’s museum. The ride’s cement track actually survived until 2016, when it was finally demolished to make way for a new swimming pool.

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Disneyland’s two remaining Autopias dueled with each other all the way until September 1999 when they were both closed down, demolished and a single, larger Autopia was built in their place. The attraction proved so popular over the years that versions of it currently exist in Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris and were once part of Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (the latter two only recently being removed to make way for new rides). And if you think affection for one of the loudest, smelliest rides in all of Disney has waned at all, you clearly missed the uproar when folks thought the Tron coaster was going to replace it in the Magic Kingdom (don’t worry: the track will be a little shorter but the two will live side by side for years to come).

January 23 - Disneyland Monorail

On this day, in 1987, Monorail Purple began regular operations as the first of the new Mark V trains on the Disneyland Monorail System. While I’m confident that anyone who’s ever been to either of Disney’s American theme park complexes will know what a monorail is, the rest of that statement may not be as easy to decipher. Allow me to elucidate. But first, some backstory.

Walt Disney easily became super geeked about new technology. From sound in movies to color on television to innovations in city planning, he loved exploring the latest, greatest ideas and gadgets. So, when he heard about monorails, he firmly believed them to be the transportation design of the future. That, of course, meant he needed to have one in his theme park. In 1958, he began planning to build one in Disneyland that would open along with the reimagined Tomorrowland. Using designs made by the company who came up with monorails, ALWEG (a German company founded by a Swedish industrialist), Walt commissioned the Standard Carriage Works of East Los Angeles to build it. The SCW ended up taking longer than he wanted though, so he moved construction to the studios in Burbank late in 1958. His Imagineers came through, getting the cars, chassis, suspension and motors built in time for the re-dedication of Tomorrowland.

On June 14, 1959, Mark I Monorails Red and Blue went into service as not just America’s first monorail, but the first in the entire Western Hemisphere. Now those colors, red and blue, designate specific trains. It’s like the letters and numbers on a plane’s tail but a whole lot easier to remember. The color of the train’s cars (or in modern times, the stripe of color on the otherwise white monorail) instantly tells you which train you’re boarding. The Mark I means that those trains are the first version of monorail cars that Disney built. As we’ll see, Disneyland’s current trains are Mark VII (although there have only been five versions of monorails at the California park, but I’m getting ahead of myself).

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When it debuted, Disneyland’s monorail wasn’t really a transportation system. It was just a sightseeing attraction that took guests in a loop around the reimagined Tomorrowland. In 1961, that changed. The track was lengthened to 2.5 miles to end at a new boarding platform, one connected to the Disneyland Hotel. The platform in Tomorrowland was also lengthened as the new Mark II trains were being deployed. Mark II trains had four cars instead of the three that Mark I trains had. A third train, Monorail Yellow was added at this point, too.

In 1968, both station platforms had to be lengthened again to get ready for the Mark III trains, which, you guessed it, would add a fifth car to the monorail’s length. Another train was introduced at that point as well, Monorail Green. Interestingly, at this time guests could ride the monorail from Hotel Station without purchasing admission to the park. For a separate ticket, they could ride in the driver’s compartment in the nose or tail section, view the park from the comfort the monorail and return to the hotel. For those who like to keep track of that sort of thing, yes, the monorail was an E ticket ride.

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By the Eighties, the Mark III trains were getting pretty old and were beginning to look like it too. Plans were made to strip each train down to its chassis, one at a time, and rebuild it as a new Mark V. But hold on. What happened to the Mark IV trains? When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, it of course needed its own monorail system. Not only is Florida’s layout almost exponentially longer than California’s but Florida got snazzy new streamlined monorails as well, known as the Mark IV. Disneyland’s Mark V trains were modeled after the Disney World look, with minor modifications and upgrades of course. The new look also meant that the color schemes got a shake up. Monorail Green became Monorail Purple and Yellow became Orange; Monorail Blue was lightened up a few shades but the original, Monorail Red, got to stay the same. In 2008, the latest version of the monorail, the Mark VII, began running as each train was again individually updated (why yes, the latest trains in Florida are the Mark VI version, thanks for asking). Except for poor Monorail Purple, who was retired.

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The track has undergone extensive redesigns since 1958 as the resort has expanded and added new attractions right next to (and sometimes right underneath) the monorail. The original Hotel Station was demolished in 1999 and the current Downtown Disney Station was built, well, in exactly the same place. And, alas, gone are the days of being able to ride the Disneyland Monorail without a park entrance ticket (although you still can do that in Florida). In fact, on really busy days, you can’t even ride it round trip without disembarking in the middle. But if you get a chance, I do recommend riding it. It’s not every day that you get to be part of the longest operating of something in the country. And even if monorails haven’t exactly caught on yet outside of theme parks, it just means that Walt’s future still isn’t here yet.

January 15 - Space Mountain

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On this day, in 1975, Space Mountain launched its first guests in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. Walt Disney wanted to build a space themed roller coaster in the Sixties after the success of the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which opened in 1959, convinced him that thrill rides were okay to have in his park. Concept drawings were made as early as 1964 for a coaster called Space Port, consisting of four separate tracks that (slightly) intertwined with each other. Unfortunately, Disneyland didn't have enough land to accommodate that design and mid Sixties technology wasn't quite up to something that ambitious anyways, so the project was delayed. By 1967, the design had gone through several refinements, one of which was a name change to Space Mountain (another was the reduction to two tracks), but Walt's death and a focus on the Florida Project caused the coaster to be shelved indefinitely.

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Once Walt Disney World opened, it proved to be extremely popular, especially with teens. Disney executives were suddenly in need of something to satisfy their teenage guests. They considered building a replica of the Matterhorn Bobsleds (in fact the show building for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had been constructed to support that ride) but ultimately brushed the dust off the Space Mountain plans instead. Computing power had advanced enough to pull the coaster off and Tomorrowland had the space. The only thing that lacked was the funds to actually build it. That's where RCA came in.

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When Disney signed a contract with RCA to provide all the communications hardware for the Florida Project, there was a clause that said if a suitable attraction were developed, RCA would pony up $10 million to make it happen. Executives showed RCA the plans for Space Mountain, they agreed that it sounded good and construction moved forward. RCA would sponsor the ride for its first eighteen years. In 1994, sponsorship switched to FedEx, who would lend their name for a decade. Since 2004, there hasn't been a sponsor (and yet it still seems to function with great regularity).

The version of Space Mountain in Florida may have been the first one (and is the state's oldest operating coaster) but versions of the attraction have opened in every Magic Kingdom type theme park around the world except Shanghai Disneyland. The Magic Kingdom's reaches a top speed of 35 MPH, pretty tame compared to most coasters, but since it's in the dark, it feels a whole lot more thrilling than that for the two and half minutes of whiplash inducing twists and turns. And, of course, the most thrilling part doesn't even occur on the ride itself. Everyone knows that only happens when you're on the PeopleMover and you happen to get to see Space Mountain with the lights on.

November 21 - The Timekeeper

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On this day, in 1994, the Circle-Vision 360 movie known in the United States first as From Time to Time, and later as The Timekeeper, opened in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. It had debuted two years earlier at Disneyland Paris, making it one of the few attractions in an American park that originated outside of America. Timekeeper was the first time that a Circle-Vision movie was given an actual plot. Previous films had just been flyovers of various landscapes. It was also the first movie to involve something other than just screens with the inclusion of an Audio-Animatronic figure in the theater.

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The US version of The Timekeeper starred Robin Williams as the title android, and the inventor of a time machine, and Rhea Perlman as Nine-Eye, another of the Timekeeper's inventions. The plot revolved around the Timekeeper showing off his time machine by sending Nine-Eye throughout time and having her send back images of whenever she landed. The science on how that worked in real time was understandably fuzzy. Along the way, Nine-Eye bumps into such luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci, Mozart and Jules Verne, who is accidentally transported to the present day. Hilarity ensues as Verne tries to cope with modern gadgets and is finally returned to his proper place in history. The show ended with a trip to 2189 for a look at the future (spoiler: it includes flying cars).

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The film was only a moderate success at best. By early 2001 it was already only opening on a sporadic, seasonal schedule. The Disneyland Paris version closed in 2004 and a Tokyo Disneyland version closed in 2002. Interestingly, both of those versions would be replaced by Buzz Lightyear attractions. The Magic Kingdom's version would limp along until February 26, 2006 when it would finally stop showing for good. A year later the location would reopen as the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. If you pay close attention when you're in the theater now days, you can still see some of the Circle-Vision screens hiding behind Laugh Floor set pieces.

September 24 - Brad Bird

On this day, in 1957, Phillip Bradley Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana. Since his grandfather was CEO of the Montana Power Company and his father was in the propane business, you might have thought that Brad would have had leanings toward a career in energy. You would have been wrong. Brad decided pretty early in life what he was going to do with his and it had more to do with using electricity rather than producing it.

On a family trip at the age of 11, Brad was taking a tour of the Walt Disney Studios when he met Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Disney's Nine Old Men. This meeting prompted him to turn to his family and announce that he would be part of Disney's animation team some day. For most 11 year olds, that would have been the end of it. Brad returned home and actually began working on a 15 minute animated film. And it only took him two years to complete it. By the age of 14, Brad was getting mentoring from another of the Old Men, Milt Kahl. It's no surprise that Disney would eventually give him a scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts. It's also no surprise that one of the people Brad made friends with at CalArts was a student by the name of John Lasseter.

After graduating, Brad of course went to work for Disney. He contributed to The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron. Then he got fired. But that was okay, it happens to the best of us (right Tim Burton?). Brad moved into television animation. He did an episode of Amazing Stories. He co-wrote the movie *batteries not included. Then, in 1989,  he started working at a little animation studio called Klasky Csupo. One of the first assignments Brad got was taking these one minute filler animations on The Tracey Ullman Show and developing them into a full half hour stand alone program. For the first eight years of its life, Brad helped develop the look of The Simpsons and even directed a few episodes. Some might also recognize that Klasky Csupo was the company that produced The Rugrats. Brad was an animator for the pilot of that show as well.

In 1999, Brad's feature directorial debut, The Iron Giant, was released by Warner Brothers. The movie was a huge critical success (it still has a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and a huge box office failure (it only managed to earn 31 million dollars on an 80 million dollar budget). Because Warner had decided they were getting out of the animation game, the studio basically did the equivalent of heaving Giant out of a moving car and squealing off. Zero marketing, zero caring, zero anything. Which of course meant that Giant would become a cult classic. Nevermind the fact that it's also a great movie. Again, the movie's financial woes were okay: that's when Brad made the move to Pixar.

The first project Brad pitched to his old friend now new boss, John Lasseter, was a superhero flick. It would be the first Pixar film to be mostly populated by human characters, which are much harder to animate than animals or toys. Brad got the go ahead to write, direct and act in the movie, so he wrote, directed and did voice work for his second feature film, The Incredibles. This time around, Brad achieved both critical and box office gold. And like any good director, he saved (in my opinion) the best character for himself, Edna Mode. That's right. Edna is voiced by a guy and yet she's still fabulous! You may have also noticed that Mr. Incredible looks a bit like Brad. Supposedly, he didn't realize the animators had done that until too far into production to change anything. Supposedly.

After The Incredibles, Brad went on to write and direct another Pixar hit, Ratatouille. He became part of the senior creative team at the studio, overseeing such gems as Up, Toy Story 3, Brave, Monster's University, Inside Out and Coco. At some point in there he got the opportunity to direct his first live action film, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol for Paramount. That led to a second live action movie, Tomorrowland, this time for Disney, which he also wrote, produced and did some design work. Then, earlier this year, he finally released The Return of Edna Mode, more popularly known as The Incredibles 2. It was worth the 18 year wait.

Brad's work has earned him numerous Annie Awards, Oscars, Golden Globes, Saturn Awards and BAFTA Film Awards. He reportedly has several project ideas in the works. I'm pretty sure that whatever the future brings for Brad, he's going to need more shelf space in the den.