WEBVTT - Ep78 - Brad Bird / "Incredibles 2" 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:17.400 H m hm. You're listening to playback a Variety I 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:21.880 Heart Radio podcast. I'm your host, Variety Awards editor Chris Happily. 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.520 This week we've got director Brad Bird stopping by to 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.640 talk about Pixars Incredibles two. We also discussed the film 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.159 The Iron Giant, which is nearly twenty years old and 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:33.839 got a nice reprise and Ready Player one earlier this year. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.640 We touch on that and more on this week's episode. 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:59.240 So sit tight. This is playback to travel to Canada 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:04.080 and Mexico. The world lays, the world awaits, the world awaits. 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:07.920 I tend to get a lot of people like at 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.720 the end of a big international tour and it's like, 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.200 well you're getting me right at the beginning and yet 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:18.000 still fry, which is the way you like us right exactly. 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:19.440 It's like at the end of a long junket day, 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:25.280 it's like, yeah, well yesterday and it was an unbelievably 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.520 long day. Uh. I look at Haitian and she goes, Okay, 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:33.560 now it's time for this magazine. And I like the magazine. 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.440 But it's like they had all these elaborate, complicated ideas 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:42.760 that have demanded you know me, like thinking deeply, and 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.720 it's like I'm at the I'm barely able to form 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:58.280 sentences now, I'm like, where dog do you? And scene? Okay? Um, 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.920 it was like dimeric god, but you know, and they're 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.360 like neither one doing if you can pontifically under the 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.359 very elaborate formulation the thing. And I'm like, I looked 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:15.320 at haja right there, that's not gonna happen. Yeah, you 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:17.920 have some fun ideas for you. I'm like, please, not 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:22.440 fun ideas. No fun ideas at this point. All right, 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:34.120 all right, it's gonna sounds awesome. I'm good. All right, 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.320 let's just get some levels from you real fast. This 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.440 is what we're gonna be doing here. So as much 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.720 as you can not do this basically otherwise, you're good. Cool, 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:53.040 all right, thank you? Dan? Is that the actual recording 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.400 Dad is the recording device? How badasses? That podcast in 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.680 a bread basket? I love that I can take this 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:03.560 thing with me on the plane recording film festivals and 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:05.919 and the quality is like hig bet rate and all 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.160 that good stuff. Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm a novice, 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:13.800 but it's it's uh so far. I mean, yeah, she 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:21.160 might be lying, what's your favorite one well, I really 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:26.040 like because he gave me a head duff about what's 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.880 to listen for. There you go. He was fun. Alright. 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:34.800 So yeah, we're recording thirty minute conversation talk about Incredibles too. 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.680 I'm here today with director Brad Bird, writer director Brad Byrne. 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.600 We're gonna talk about Incredibles two, which is uh coming 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.560 soon and so awesome. I just saw it the other day. 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.800 It's fantastic. I want to start by talking about just 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:49.640 the aesthetic of these movies. I mean, I'm sure you've 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.640 talked about this a lot, actually, certainly with the last 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.960 movie as well, but just the the overall aesthetic, this 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:59.440 idea of the future has seen from the sixties. You know, 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.920 just talk about why that was the aesthetic you were 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.600 interested in for these movies, and you know how that 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.920 developed further in the second Yeah, I think it was 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.760 just kind of um you know, that was kind of 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:19.120 part of the first really convincing adventures for me as 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.680 a child were the Bond films and the spy films 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.200 of that era and Johnny Quest. You know, I think 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:31.040 my favorite show as as a child was Johnny Quest, 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:37.159 and there was this kind of um futurism that uh 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:43.040 still involved kind of nutty fantasy, but it had hydrofoils 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.120 and jet packs and all kinds of that stuff like 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:51.360 that in it, and um there's something about it that 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.640 that always seemed I think that the best sort of villains, 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.480 the superheroes that were most convincing to me as a 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:05.400 kid were um, spy movies. They weren't superhero movies. Um Uh. 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:09.200 There was the Superman. It was the George Reeves one 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.840 that was kind of you know in in reruns and 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.880 you know, he's I like him, And for me, he 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.960 kind of was Superman from my from from my youth 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.720 because I saw those reruns and but he was kind 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.559 of a little bit overweight and he's doing his little 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.039 weird trampoline out the window and and you know, it's 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:36.760 not the most convincing stuff. Why yeah. And you know 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.599 the Batman was kind of the same way. It was 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:45.480 very very campy and and and um, I the Bond 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.280 films that were my parents were cool enough to let me, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.720 um see. I didn't see them on their first release. 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.240 Some of them, like From Russia with Love and and 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:56.080 Dr No and stuff like that. I saw it on 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.760 re release, but my parents let me see them. And 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:04.919 those films seemed to be kind of like superheroes ask 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.600 in in that Uh they had the best devices, they 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.400 had the best villains, they had the best henchman you know. Um, 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.520 they had these theme songs that you just couldn't forget 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:20.640 after one listen, um Oceans of Brass, you know, and uh, 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.720 it seemed to have u an impact on me. So 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:30.719 when I was thinking of this superhero idea, that's kind 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.400 of it had a spy vibe to me. Um, and 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.719 that felt like it felt like when I was first 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.080 getting adventures as a kid. Yeah. Absolutely, Were you a 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:45.080 fan of I'm just curious anything inspired by Darwin Cook 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:46.760 at all. I'm a big fan of Darwin Cooks and 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.720 his art working has ever come into play for you know. 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.520 But I'm sure it's great, you know. You know, I 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.240 wasn't sure if you were aware, But yeah, he did 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.680 like DC's New Frontier and stuff. But no, I'm not 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.640 really up. People think that I'm knowledgeable about comic books, 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.680 and I'm really not. I mean, that's the sad truth. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.280 The only one that I know well where I can 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.200 hang in there with you is the Spirit now, which 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.080 is not that well known, but I consider it's really 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.400 kind of genius. And uh Will Eisner to me is, 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.440 you know, the Spirit and is sort of the cisten 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.400 Kine of of uh comic books to me, And so 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.120 I can I can have a detailed discussion with you 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.200 about the Spirit. But but all the other ones are 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:37.680 you know, I have the most embarrassing novicey sort of understanding. 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.920 I got my superhero sort of second hand through movies 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:44.680 and TV and and a little bit the comic books, 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.800 but not too much cool. I want to talk about 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.840 advances and animation, you know, like, is there anything that 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.120 you weren't able to do fifteen years ago that you 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.480 were able to do now? For instance? Or maybe it's 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.560 the easier way to what I was gonna say, Maybe 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.400 it's all about speed. How more, how quickly you can 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.239 do something now is compared to kind of the best 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:09.600 way to put it, I think, I mean more accurately, 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.280 I think it's that we barely were able to do 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.520 it on the first film. Um everything that computer animation 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:22.320 was bad at you know, humans, hair, fabric, water fire, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.480 that's all we had in The Incredibles. And um so 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.560 when we first showed our story reels to the company 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.559 UM people were on one level very excited by it, 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.680 but on another level, everyone came out of the screening 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:41.640 white because they were just feeling like, oh, holy crap, 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:43.439 how are we going to be able to do this. 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.160 It's everything that we are not too hot at. And 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.079 that's all it is. There is nothing else. There's no 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:54.760 furry animals, and there's no um, you know, uh, hard 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:59.920 surfaced characters. It's all squishy humans which were not very 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.720 good at and uh fabric and hair and fire and 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.760 all that. So um uh. They felt like, we'll figure 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.880 it out, and they did, but we were on the 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.000 edge of failure the entire time we were making the 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:19.240 first movie. We barely got the hair in time for Violet, 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.959 and and you know, we had some very promising tests 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.120 early on UM, but they were kind of like strips 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.559 of rubber and they kind of generally moved like hair 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.400 should move. And they said, we were very encouraged by this, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.600 and I was encouraged by it too, and uh, yet uh, 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:39.240 it didn't improve. And finally they came to me and 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:42.800 they said, it's not getting better and we don't know 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:44.760 how to do it, and nobody else knows how to 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.000 do it. Either all the other CG films had hair helmets, 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:52.440 you know, and and uh uh they said, um, does 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:56.079 Violet have to have long hair? And I said, yes, 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.600 it's part of her character. She hides behind it, you know, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.160 when things get intense and she has to step up, 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.960 she kind of starts pulling her hair back. It is 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.400 her character. Yes, that's the only kind of hair she 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.720 can have. And they're like, well, it's not working. And 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:17.920 then some uh genius decision was I mean, some genius 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.520 insight has had over a weekend and somebody like, if 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.200 I put a decimal point here, look what happens. And 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.360 we had hair, but we had it at the last 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:31.160 possible second that we could have it. And um, so 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.680 that's kind of like what the making the first movie 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.960 was like. And now, um, all the rigs are are 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.600 much better. They're more responsive to what you want to do. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.439 The lighting tools are better, the fabric is we can 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:48.120 do well. And uh, it's more like do you know 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.640 what you want? And if you know what you want, 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.400 we can do it. Um. And that was a much 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.160 nicer place to be. But they're the hardest part is 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.679 always the story and and there's nothing that makes that 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.240 easy here. Yeah, absolutely, I have a question about that 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:04.880 coming up, but before I do, Uh, regarding all of that, 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.840 the texture is everything, it just looked amazing, you know, 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.679 it's it's considerable step up from the other movie, and 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.600 for all those reasons. But I just you know, I 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.679 was really taken by just how some of these environments 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.800 looked and all of that. So probably, well, I think 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:24.720 the quickest way, the quickest I think feeling people will 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:29.360 have is that it's um bigger that it's it feels 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:33.520 more filled out, and and that's definitely the effect of 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:37.960 it is is that the scale is is larger. Yeah. 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:39.800 Regarding story, you know, you hear a lot about like 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.400 the Pixar brain trust and everything in that whole process 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.920 of story was that employed on this, It's employed on 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.680 all of the films. Um. It just basically means that 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.800 you have fellow filmmakers looking over your shoulder and saying, 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.559 you know, maybe here, we're a little I was a 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.400 little confused about this, and it seems like this is 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.560 not clear, and we it's It's it's cool because everybody 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:08.400 who's giving um uh notes or or uh suggestions has 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.120 been in the trenches before. It's not coming from executives 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.560 or anything. And and uh so it's very helpful when 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.079 I am uh, you know, I'm friends with Giermo del 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.559 Toro and and he has that kind of relationship going 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.840 with uh Quarron and in a ritu their friends and 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.400 they and they're kind of tough on each other, um, 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.800 but they run ideas past each other. And and kind 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.200 of her fresh eyes and uh, Pixar has kind of 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.880 that institutionalized We don't call ourselves that. I mean, I 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.600 guess we do now, but for the longest time it 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.440 was someone else called us the brain Trust. You know, 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.000 it sounds kind of pretentious, which for for us, it's 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.120 just a group of people who make films who have 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:59.839 some you know, maybe helpful thoughts. Uh, what was the 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.080 up a story nut to correck on this one? Well, 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:08.520 really the superhero villain aspect for the sort of plotting 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.319 part of it. The original notion of the job switch 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.880 where Helen would get the assignment rather than Bob I 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.920 had when we were pushing the first film. And uh, 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.880 I also knew that I had the unexploded bomb of 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:29.440 of Jack Jack that uh the audience knew he had 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.320 multiple powers, but the part family did not. And that 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:38.200 any any sequel to The Incredibles would have to feature 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:40.959 Jack Jack as as a major character and not just 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.959 a supporting character. And so those two things I had 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.680 in my back pocket, and I felt good and excited 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.800 about those ideas. But the superhero part was the part 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:57.040 that I never I was like, you know what, what 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.640 would be a good idea? And finally, when I was 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:05.160 making Tomorrowland, and I've been dabbling in an incredible sequel 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.360 before that, I I ted Mathodd, who's the story supervisor, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.440 and I worked on the opening sequence with a version 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:16.920 of the opening sequence with the Underminer before I did 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:21.440 Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. So I've been you know, tinkering 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:24.160 around with it for a while. But I came to 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.800 them with an idea while tomorrow Land was you know, shooting, 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:33.200 I sort of pitched a notion of, um, you know, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.160 I think I have a plot thing that that will 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.720 be cool. And I pitched the idea and they liked it, 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.640 and we got green lit, and and uh I got 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.480 a release date and we started going. And about five 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.880 months in I realized this isn't gonna work, you know, 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.000 And I could either I could continue to tinker on this, 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.920 but we won't make our deadline. You know. Now, now 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.840 I'm kind of screwed because you everybody's starting to arrange 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:06.920 chairs and you know, uh and uh so that idea 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.520 involved Ai and and uh, it's a cool idea, but 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.800 it didn't work well with the main story, which was 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:19.400 the family stuff. And so I had another idea and 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:21.920 and parts of that sort of worked, and then I 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.360 had to change that and and uh, you know, the 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:30.720 screen slaver notion kind of came late. And I realized 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.800 just about a week ago when we were starting to 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.360 talk about the film, that that's kind of like the 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:42.520 first movie, because The Incredibles was the only um uh 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.040 project to come in from the outside where I had 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.040 designs for the characters, and I had a plot, and 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:53.000 I had paintings of the style of it and everything. 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.240 You know, I came in with it. But when I 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.840 came in and had a different villain and uh in 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:04.320 and uh doing uh and exploring an alternate opening for 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.720 the film at Pixar, I came up with a new 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.120 villain and killed him off in the opening sequence. And 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.880 that villain was better than the villain that I had, 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.160 and everybody said, he's kind of cool. This villain. Uh 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.960 do you really want to kill him? And I thought, yeah, 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.160 we should, he should be the villain. So that was 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:28.680 syndrome and uh I And so also in the first film, 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.400 the villain kind of came late. And I can't tell 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:36.520 you why, it's just the way it happened. Interesting, speaking 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.000 of what do you think of his I loved it. 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.760 Uh oh season he's seeing a get to see him 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:44.640 won all his awards. Oh yeah, No, it was a 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:48.800 real pleasure. He's such a good filmmaker. And uh um. 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.880 When I was first getting to know him, Iron Giant 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:56.680 came out and and you know, the doors to the 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.800 theater flung open and sagebrush blew through, and I was 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.600 feeling kind of devastated. And I was in Vermont, you know, 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.320 trying to have a vacation, but I I ended up, 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.040 you know, just obsessing with what can we do to 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.520 get a few people into the theater because when they go, 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:15.880 they like it. But we couldn't get enough people to go. 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.200 All the people that went, you know, had a good time. 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.639 But it was just an awful feeling because I was 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.960 getting all these reports of like thirty people in a theater, 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.960 but at the end those thirty people would applaud the film, 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.320 and and it was just this horrible feeling of like 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.439 people can't like it unless they see it, and we 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.760 can't get them to see it. And and Guillermo called me, uh, 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:42.280 you know when I'm you know, just you know, just 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:48.040 holding back tears in Vermont, and just uh was very 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.320 uh supportive and had a lot of nice things to 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.600 say about Iron Giant and kept saying to me that 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.000 it's going to last and people are going to find 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.160 it and and all this stuff. He couldn't have been 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.360 cooler and it meant a lot to me. Yeah, one 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.639 of the best movies of the year, hands down. Yeah. Well, 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.399 and and so to finish, I didn't really answer your question. 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.240 It was a fantastic I saw a Shape of Water 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.280 until your ride and hung out with him, oh yeah, 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:20.960 and hung out with him a little there, and and 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.439 he knew that he had something special and it was 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.600 just such a cool moment to to uh, you know, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:28.639 he's made a lot of films and had you know, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.679 tough experiences like like everyone has, and and it was 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.679 so cool to see him, you know, get vindicated the 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.399 way the way he was. It's not like people didn't 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.720 love Gara well before that, but just to have that 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.000 kind of support and validation was really cool. And it's 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.199 a really terrific movie. Yeah. I got to spend some 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:49.919 time with him the next morning and I wrote our 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:54.040 cover story holding the oscars and everything. He's still soaking 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.840 it up. Man. I'm really happy for him. Iron Giant One. 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.720 Speaking of I wanted to talk about It's almost twenty 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:05.200 years now. Next year. Uh guess one. We all are as, 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:06.560 I said. One of the best movies of that year, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.159 one of the best movie years, I feel like of 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.480 all time. Um, you know, just the filmmakers and the 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.199 movies that were on display, Spike Jones being John Malkovich, 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:20.520 The Insider and The Matrix, Just Scorsese he had a movie, 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.280 Kober had a movie. I was watched. I mean, just 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.560 the caliber filmmakers that were on display that year. You 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.520 get a movie, you get an If you had any 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.800 thoughts about that or is that just a meeting about 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:37.679 that year, Yeah, my perspective is different. My my perspective 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:40.560 is you were at home bummed that your movie. Yeah, 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:47.040 like what everyone do you see this? Yeah? So no, UM, 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.960 I can't look at it that way. Um, it's interesting 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.680 though I will go back and kind of revisit which 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.720 which films came out that you check it out. I mean, 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.000 I think Iron Giant has a great place in that 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.359 in that history. Thanks. Um, what did you think about 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:04.600 the way that the Iron Giant was used in Ready 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.840 Player one by the One? Well, um, I'm not only 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.639 a long time admirer of Steven, He's one of the 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:16.800 filmmakers that I really have studied. And uh um when 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:21.320 Close Encounters, you know, I saw it like eighteen times 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.480 on its first release. You know, I just love his 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:29.480 filmmaking and and uh he gave me my first opportunities 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:33.919 to write and uh direct and produce and even like 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.359 act in a stupid way, I would have had a 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.760 very tiny part in a episode of Amazing Stories that 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:45.040 I wrote. Uh but uh so it was wonderful to 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:49.680 have Iron Giant show up in a Spielberg film. Yeah, 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:54.119 so nothing but cool for me. Yeah, regarding Amazing Stories, 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:55.720 I want to talk about that, that was like your 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.280 first thing really and yeah, right, I mean, and they're 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:03.120 bringing that back, which is great having this anthology of 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:06.200 of of Stephen involved. I'm not sure if he's involved. 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.040 I just know that ring I heard them ringing it back. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:12.119 Who knows cool? They're reviving everything these days. Yeah, those 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.280 pesky new ideas. Gott to not do any of those. Well, 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:17.520 let's talk about that. You get you get a sequel here, 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:19.920 you know you're you're not keen on a radit TWI sequel. 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.720 Um No, I mean I feel like we we got 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:26.320 the story. We we It's not like now he does 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.439 fast food. I mean you know, it's like, uh, you know, 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:33.160 we don't need it. There there's airspace for new ideas. 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.280 I hope still. You know, Ratta Tui was a new 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:40.520 idea not not too long ago. So um, I hope 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:44.160 they haven't been banished from the show business landscaped Well, 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:46.399 what do you think about Pixar, you know, going to 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:50.000 the well a lot with cars sequels with I would 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:51.800 love to tell you it's part of a grand plan, 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:54.080 but it just sort of happens. I mean, right after 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.359 Toy Story four, Um, there's going to be a slew 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:03.720 of Originals and um that's not planned either. Um, it's 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.120 just kind of they happen the way they happen. And 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.280 uh um. You know a lot of people have opined 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:14.879 that it's part of some Disney mandate or corporate strategy, 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:17.400 and it's not It's just they just happened the way 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:21.119 they happen. So uh, I knew that I wanted to 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.640 do another incredible Um I've been, like I said, I've 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:31.080 been tinkering with it for a while. Um because the 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:33.600 most fun I've ever had making a movie so far 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:37.760 in my pretty limited career has been the first Incredible 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:39.960 Swet And I think it's because I got to take 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:43.840 it from the first um atom of an idea to 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.640 finished film, whereas everything else has kind of had a 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:52.720 life before me, you know what I mean. Uh, Iron 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:56.600 Giant was a book, uh, even though I changed it 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.679 a lot. Uh, it was the notion of it was 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:03.600 Ted Hughes notion and uh Rada Tui was beyond pink 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:05.520 of his idea and I kind of came in on 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:09.720 it and mission impossible as mission impossible obviously and and 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:14.200 uh uh tomorrow Land began as a Damon Lindeloff and 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:18.480 Jeff Jensen idea that I, uh, I was really intrigued by. 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:23.639 So uh, you know, incredible is kind of mine. You know, 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:26.440 I mean not to say that we you know, it's 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.440 also my cruise and and you know, all of that, 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:34.400 but you know, it's it's my baby, and and uh, 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:36.359 I knew I wanted to return to it, and I 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:39.359 didn't also plan for it to be fourteen years. I 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:42.040 just had other things and I kept tinkering on it, 0:23:42.119 --> 0:23:44.840 and suddenly I looked up and it was fourteen years 0:23:45.240 --> 0:23:48.479 or not fourteen years, like twelve years later, and I 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:50.679 thought I'd better get going or people are not going 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:54.880 to remember the first film. So, uh, you know, I'm 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:59.120 not opposed to sequels. Sometimes people think misunderstand that I'm 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:01.600 opposed to them. Basically, I like them. I've done two 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:04.680 of them, but I think they're taking up too much 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:08.960 of the bandwidth. You know, it seems like we're playing 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.919 musical chairs now, where it's like you do another's planet 0:24:12.920 --> 0:24:14.879 in the Apes, and I'll do a Spider Man and 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.439 you do a Star Wars and I'll do a Marvel 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:21.439 and it's it's like, no, It's like, at one point 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:24.240 all of these things were originals and and and I 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:29.280 remember when Spielberg came out with poulter Geist and and 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:32.159 Et within a couple of weeks of each other, and 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:35.000 it's like, you know, how cool was that time? And 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:37.560 why can't we do that. You know, there's certainly no 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:42.000 shortage of great filmmakers. Now, yeah, absolutely that. Having been said, 0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:46.760 something like the Incredible seems right for like expansion far 0:24:46.800 --> 0:24:51.119 beyond these movies. If if you, if you, uh, comic 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:54.520 book series, TV shows the whole game, at the whole 0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:57.000