1999 will go down in history as one of cinema’s most historic years in terms of releases. The penultimate year of the millennium saw the likes of The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, American Beauty, and many other classics hit the silver screen and become box office successes. However, the film I want to talk about here was not one of those successes. The Iron Giant only grossed a little over half of its budget in theaters, with a large majority of the blame being placed on unusually poor marketing by Warner Bros. Alas, the film was still very well received and has garnered a cult following in more recent years, a following that I am a heavy supporter of.
In the directorial debut of Brad Bird, who would later go on to work for Pixar and direct Ratatouille and both Incredibles films, we follow the story of young Hogarth Hughes, an intelligent 9-year-old whose curiosity leads him into stumbling upon the titular Iron Giant, voiced by Vin Diesel, who crash-landed from space the night before. Hogarth and the Giant become friends, and Hogarth takes it upon himself to protect the Giant from being captured and destroyed by a paranoid US government in the midst of the Cold War. The movie truly hinges on the backs of its two lead characters with great success as it flawlessly showcases that although physically the two could not be more different, Hogarth and the Giant are much more similar than what meets the eye.
Their friendship feels immensely genuine, and they both learn a little bit from each other throughout the film, with Hogarth’s famous quote “You are who you choose to be,” being the most important lesson learned by both our heroes.
Considering this is an animated film, it only feels appropriate to discuss the animation. Bird and his team were not given a lot of money due to previous animated films from Warner Bros. being commercial failures, which greatly changed the plan the crew had for production. Eventually, the team decided to hand-draw the majority of the film, and save the CGI budget solely for the design of the Giant, and honestly, although it was a cost-cutting move, I believe it works in the film’s favor. Because the Giant is animated with a different method, he ends up looking out of place compared to the rest of the characters and settings, and I mean that as a compliment in the best way possible. After all, he is from outer space. The Giant’s movements and facial expressions, while obviously robotic, seem fluid, like the machinery he is made out of.
As I had previously stated, The Iron Giant has gained a cult following over the years despite an initially lukewarm reception upon release. Despite the gain in popularity, the movie continues to be overlooked, partly due to it being released around multiple other great films, partly due to people often preferring more recent animated films. Regardless of what the reason may be, I feel that it is an absolute shame that I don’t hear more people talking about this film when discussing great animated films. If you are looking for an animated film to watch on one of these upcoming cold fall nights, I would easily give The Iron Giant a strong recommendation.
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