Brad Bird: 'MI:4 was a challenging shoot'

Director Brad Bird has reassured fans that the new Mission: Impossible film will contain a lot of physical action sequences.

Bird, who is best known for his Academy Award-winning animated movies The Incredibles and Ratatouille, revealed that he has wanted to move into live-action for a while.

"I've tried to make live-action films almost as long as I've tried to make animated films," he told Entertainment Weekly of his decision to helm the big-budget sequel.

Bird said that filming Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, which sees Tom Cruise reprise his role as Ethan Hunt, was often difficult due to his desire to create powerful action sequences.

"It was a very challenging shoot," he explained. "It's a big film and we had to move around a lot.

"We were doing a lot of physical effects live, we weren't using special effects. And so it was physically a real challenge."

The director said that it had been refreshing to work on a live-action film because he had been forced to relinquish control more than on his previous films.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is due out in cinemas on December 16.