Life has never been better for former Streetly School pupil Andy Whittock. In fact, it's incredible. Most men would be happy to be the father of a bright twoyear-old daughter with twins on the way in late April. But Andy has also just seen his name on the end credits of the sensational new movie The Incredibles, which is taking the US box office by storm. The 33-year-old Villa fan joined makers Pixar in April 2002 and this is the first film the technical director has been fully involved with. "Having worked on it so closely I spent the first ten minutes groaning... because I could see little mistakes!" says shading specialist Andy. "It's difficult to pace yourself on a film like this so we were all doing 60 hour weeks from January onwards at the end of four years' of production. "But I've already seen it three times and we're all absolutely delighted with it because it's definitely greater than the sum of its parts." Andy, who is the son of Evening Mail cartoonist Colin Whittock, is one of only ten Brits among Pixar's 900 cosmopolitan staff, many of whom are from throughout Europe as well as far flung countries like Brazil. "It's a great place to work," says Andy who lives in Berkeley, north of San Francisco, with his American wife, Lori. "Every company will tell you they value the staff, but this is the only one I've worked for which genuinely does because they really understand how important it is to keep good people. "We play in a football league at lunchtimes and have things like mini golf, table tennis and table football in our pod-like, four-year-old offices. "It's nice that they trust us not to take the mickey so nobody does, but you can play games whenever you want to. "I've never worked anywhere like it, where the managers trust you so much. "As long as you get the work done you can also do anything from taking classes in figure drawing to belly dancing. "It's very un-English, but there's a university campus feel to the place. "We're ten minutes from the Pacific and, since I can also be home in 15 minutes, I can even see Josie at lunchtimes if I want to. "Apart from my family and friends, the only things I miss from England are HP sauce and good bread since I get four Premiership matches every weekend with Fox Sports World. "I probably see more Villa matches than my dad, even though he's a season ticket holder." Comic-loving Andy was always encouraged to draw as a youngster, but dad Colin persuaded him that a more lucrative future lay in computing. So, he studied computer graphics at college in Hull - where he gained a masters degree and met Lori, a North Carolina-born breast cancer researcher. Prior to moving to California, they lived in Cambridge while he worked in London for special effects company Cinesite on films like Tomb Raider and James Bond. Until The Incredibles, Andy's favourite Pixar film was A Bug's Life. "I think it's the first one where the technology was really used in an artistic way," he says. "But I was thrilled when I learned I was going to be working for Brad Bird on The Incredibles as his earlier film, The Iron Giant, is my favourite. "He really believes that animation is a technique rather than a genre and he's really keen to push the thought that you can do anything with animation and for it not to be 'ghettoised as a kids' thing'. The Iron Giant was not a big box office hit, largely because it was made by Warner Bros and not Disney/Pixar. Similarly, The Incredibles has decimated Warner Bros' new Tom Hanks' animation The Polar Express at the US box office, even though the train adventure cost almost twice as much to produce and Hanks is so synonymous with Pixar's Toy Story movies. "The Polar Express looks great, but I was disappointed with it from a director's point of view," says Andy. "The humans are dead-eyed like they were in Final Fantasy. "We've taken the humans in The Incredibles to another level by giving life to the characters with the acting and animation." With Pixar hoping to make one film per year in future, Andy is now working with Toy Story director John Lasseter on his next film, Cars. How does he see the difference between Bird and Pixar's founder? "Brad is interested in the final look and getting the idea across," says Andy. "But, having come from 2D, he finds it a bit frustrating that what he might envisage can't be seen for six months. "John's computer background means he can make that leap and is more interested in the details of everyone's job. "I do also like the Dream-Works' movies (like Shrek), but I think they are more interested in gags than setting up narrative." The Incredibles (U) cost an estimated £50 million to make and broke Pixar's US box office opening record when it took $70 million (£40 million) in its first weekend. After opening in the West End last week, it's out everywhere in the Midlands from today. | 
