'Ratatouille' Director Brad Bird Puts Down the Crayons for '1906'

Brad Bird, a two-time Oscar winner thanks to The Incredibles and Ratatouille, is set to embark on his first live action feature. Following his Oscar win, Bird told The Hollywood Reporter about the historical drama, 1906.

Set against the backdrop of the San Francisco earthquake, 1906 is a pretty ambitious project, even for an ambitious guy like Bird. "At the time, Chinatown was coexisting with the Barbary Coast, which was like the Wild Wild West, and at the same time Nob Hill had the upper class," he said. "It was a time between two centuries. You had horses and cars existing simultaneously. It's just a volatile mix of things and then you throw in an earthquake. I mean, come on, if that doesn't buy popcorn ..."

The movie has been on Bird's back burner for a while and when you think about it, of all the filmmakers in the world right now, would you want to bet against the guy? His last three films have averaged a preposterous 96.3% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes and $163 million at the box office (and that includes the studio-bungled release of The Iron Giant).

Storytelling is storytelling, whether you're using animated rats or an earthquake that cripples one of America's major cities. And if he's anything, Brad Bird is a storyteller.

Incidentally, we had a chance to talk to Bird before Ratatouille was released, so check out that Big Picture interview if you've got a few minutes.