Bradford’s Unesco City of Film award can help the district stake its place in the global film community, according to Pixar veteran Paul Mendoza.

Mr Mendoza, who has worked on Pixar’s blockbuster hits such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille, was guest speaker at the Bradford Animation Festival yesterday at the National Media Museum.

The animator, who joined the studio in 1997, spoke at the festival about his work on the comedy adventure animated film Up, one of the hit films of 2009.

After his presentation to the festival, Mr Mendoza, who was an animation lead on Cars, told the Telegraph & Argus how the annual event, along with the City of Film title, could help forge Bradford’s name in the global film community.

He said: “You can see people love this stuff and I feel film has never really gone away, but it’s starting to make bigger and bigger headlines and entertainment never gets old.

“Animation is also getting really big and if the animation gets bigger, then I definitely think it will help out.”

Mr Mendoza spoke at the festival about the Pixar films he had worked on.

He told the T&A: “It’s been great so far – it’s been a bit of a whirlwind today, but you wouldn’t expect it any different.

“I wasn’t expecting the museum to be as modern as it is. It’s gorgeous – my family loves it.

“Basically, I just gave a run-down straight off with what my experience was of working on every Pixar film, then I moved on to how I researched a shot and a character within shots and talked about a few shots within Up.”

The 17th Bradford Animation Festival was due to culminate today with the annual BAF Awards, which celebrates the very best in new animation from across the globe.

It was due to be hosted by animation legend Barry Purves.

The festival, which started with BAF Game 2010 on Tuesday, will have showcased more than 140 films by the time it finishes.

For more information, visit nationalmediamuseum.org.uk.