According to the Hollywood Reporter Brad Bird, the award-winning director of The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, will direct Ratatouille, the eighth feature film produced by the computer animation mavens at Pixar (Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo).  Currently Ratatouille, the saga of a skinny rodent living in a Parisian restaurant, is slated to debut on June 29, 2007.  Bird, who was reportedly working on a sequel to The Incredibles, is considered one of Pixar's most talented directors, and his assignment to the Ratatouille project is indicative of the importance the studio has placed on the film, which will be Pixar/Disney's major animated release of 2007 (see '2007 Movie Dates Settling In').

Ratatouille will follow this year's Pixar feature, Cars, which is set to debut on June 9th.