Brad Bird, The Incredibles (2004)
Bird, a rare outside guest in Pixar’s family brain trust (he’d worked on The Simpsons and directed the ambitious animated feature The Iron Giant), cast loads of quirky voice talent for his Watchmen-like fable of superheroes coming out of retirement: Holly Hunter and NPR’s Sarah Vowell as mother and daughter, Wallace Shawn, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson. But his most inspired choice was himself in the role of Edna Mode, couturier extraordinaire. Tart and tiny, with a cutting tongue and a heart of gold lame, she designs costumes for the entire Incredible brood, telling the father (Craig T. Nelson) that his suit is “Virtually indestructible, yet it breathes like Egyptian cotton.” Edna not only owned the superhero runway, she stole the show.
Next: Paul Newman, Cars (2006)
Mastering the Art of Vocals
- Tom Hanks, Toy Story (1995)
- John Ratzenberger, A Bug's Life (1998)
- Tim Allen, Toy Story II (1999)
- Mary Gibbs, Monsters, Inc. (2001)
- Ellen DeGeneres, Finding Nemo (2003)
- Brad Bird, The Incredibles (2004)
- Paul Newman, Cars (2006)
- Patton Oswalt, Ratatouille (2007)
- Ben Burtt, WALL-E (2008)
- Bob Peterson, Up (2009)
- Timothy Dalton, Toy Story 3 (2010)
