Brad Bird's Ray Gunn Started With a Song He Misheard

Brad Bird's new animated feature, Ray Gunn, comes to Netflix in December, described as a neo-noir science-fiction mystery. Its origin is a case of mistaken identity: Bird has said the film's inspiration came when he heard the opening of the B-52s' 'Planet Claire' — a personal favourite — and initially thought it was a cover of Henry Mancini's theme music from the classic TV show Peter Gunn. He has been kicking the idea around for the last 30 years. Building a noir around a theme you misheard as someone else's theme is a crooked but oddly fitting route into the genre, and December is when we find out what 30 years of it looks like.