Subtraction

This movie will be the first pairing of the already legendary computer animation talents of Pixar with director Brad Bird, who in 1999 directed the criminally underrated movie “The Iron Giant,” a tale of a boy and his robot that is so unexpectedly tender and entertaining that while watching it there were long stretches of time when I quite literally forgot that I was watching an animated cartoon.

The expectations are high for this movie, but there is something very assuring about Bird’s work to date, and certainly the same can be said about the remarkable track record of his new studio. In fact, you could argue that Bird and fellow Pixar talent John Lasseter represent a likely new dynasty of animation: the first generation of animation directors who will rival ‘traditional’ directors in prolificacy. If Bird is able to infuse “The Incredibles” with the same magic found in “The Iron Giant,” he’ll be on the road to creating one of the most notable careers in new millennium film.