"If there are similarities, it's simply because the same thoughts that occurred to other people also occurred to me. I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more"
About this Quote
The second sentence tightens the screw. Bird doesn’t just doubt “truly original powers”; he doubts they’d be “interesting” anymore. That’s a sharp cultural read from someone who helped redefine modern animation by making genre feel human rather than novel. After decades of capes, reboots, and encyclopedic power-sets, the marginal utility of a never-before-seen ability is close to zero. What still lands is execution: character, limitation, consequence, and the way a power exposes personality under stress.
There’s also a quiet defense of craft. Bird is reframing “originality” as less about inventing an unheard-of gimmick and more about choosing which familiar pieces to emphasize and how to stage them. The subtext says: stop policing overlap and start judging intent. In an era where audiences can instantly surface “similarities” with a screenshot and a thread, Bird’s stance reads like a plea for maturity: ideas repeat; meaning doesn’t have to.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bird, Brad. (2026, January 16). If there are similarities, it's simply because the same thoughts that occurred to other people also occurred to me. I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-there-are-similarities-its-simply-because-the-139520/
Chicago Style
Bird, Brad. "If there are similarities, it's simply because the same thoughts that occurred to other people also occurred to me. I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-there-are-similarities-its-simply-because-the-139520/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If there are similarities, it's simply because the same thoughts that occurred to other people also occurred to me. I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-there-are-similarities-its-simply-because-the-139520/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



