Brad Bird Quits Animation… Sort Of

This weekend Brad Bird was given one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon an american animator: the Windsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement in the field of animation.  He now stands alongside such animation greats as the Fleischer Brothers, Tex Avery, Hanna and Barbera, Mel Blanc, Walt Disney, Bob Clampett, Don Bluth, Genndy Tartakovsky, John Lasseter, and Bruce Timm.

Too bad he’s quitting animation.  Ok, not really.  He explains, in his acceptance video, which had to be filmed in advance due to Bird being too busy filming the next Mission: Impossible movie with Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise to attend the ceremony.

(You can skip to 4:30 for his actual speech.)

(via Bleeding Cool.)