Mumbai: The Writers Guild of America, West’s Animation Writers Caucus (AWC) has awarded its tenth annual Animation Writing Award for lifetime achievement to Pixar writer-director Brad Bird, whose most recent film, Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.

Bird’s two-decade career and craft will be feted at the WGA West’s 2008 Honorary Awards Luncheon on 23 April at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

"Brad’s work has put him in the pantheon of animation creators for whom the art and craft of animation writing are elegantly (and sometimes literally) drawn together," commented WGAW president Patric M. Verrone.

Sustaining a rare balance between critical accolades and commercial success, Bird has written and directed successive animated hits, including Disney/Pixar’s 2007 feature Ratatouille and Disney/Pixar’s 2004 feature The Incredibles.