Brad Bird's Mysterious 1952 Officially Called Tomorrowland

Brad Bird is one of my favourite directors. Obviously. He directed three absolute animatred classics with The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille - as well as helping guide The Simpsons through its golden age and directing one of its best episodes - and proved his live-action chops with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. So I suppose I can't really hold it against him that he's not directing Star Wars: Episode VII, particularly when what he is directing is so intriguing.

With a new reveal today, Bird's next mystery shrouded project got a little less, and also enigmatically a little more, mysterious. D23 revealed on Twitter that 1952, the film which Bird is directing from a story and screenplay by Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus) is now officially going by the name of Tomorrowland.

The title refers quite explicitly to Walt Disney's imagining of the future at Disneyland, and, going off the box of hints that Bird unveiled (below) a few days ago, it certainly seems the film is heavily Disney-linked. However, specifically about Walt Disney and the creation of Tomorrowland? Probably not, for two reasons: a) it just doesn't fit with the sci-fi theme Bird's been bigging up on Twitter, and b) we already have a biographical film featuring Walt Disney coming up this December, Saving Mr. Banks.

The Box... opened. twitter.com/BradBirdA113/s…
— Brad Bird (@BradBirdA113) January 24, 2013

Also, what about that rumour a while back that the film involved Nikola Tesla? Well, it may be just that, a rumour, but take a look at the ornaments adorning the Tomorrowland banner in the header photo, they're not dissimilar looking to a Tesla coil. Added to all that is the repeated speculation that the film involvs someone making contact with aliens (although that's something that Lindelof is quick to deny - see below). Disney has really got the hang of this viral marketing as of late - and I like it.

We won't tell you what it's about (yet), but we will tell you what it's NOT about.And that would be ALIENS.#Tomorrowland
— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) January 28, 2013

So what do we know for sure? The film stars George Clooney, D23 confirms that too, who most recently lent his producing talents to Ben Affleck's Argo. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda also let slip that he's shooting the film, saying "It has these different places and the juxtaposition of a couple of them can be very interesting." If you want to know why that's exciting, check out this clip from Life of Pi - which Miranda's Oscar nominated for.

We also know that Tomorrowland is scheduled for release on 19th December, 2014 (via THR). Until then, enjoy the mystery, folks!