The Iron Giant

The Iron Giant
Promotional poster for The Iron Giant
Directed by	Brad Bird
Produced by	Pete Townshend Des McAnuff Allison Abbate John Walker
Written by	The Iron Man: Ted Hughes Story: Brad Bird Screenplay: Tim McCanlies
Starring	Eli Marienthal Jennifer Aniston Harry Connick, Jr. Vin Diesel Christopher McDonald John Mahoney
Music by	Michael Kamen
Cinematography	Steven Wilzbach
Editing by	Darren T. Holmes
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 6, 1999
Running time	86 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$48 million
Gross revenue	$23.15 million

The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Brad Bird directed the film, which stars a voice cast of Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes, as well as Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald and John Mahoney. The film tells the story of a lonely boy raised by his widowed mother, discovering a giant iron man which fell from space. Hogarth, with the help of a beatnik named Dean, has to stop the U.S. military and a federal agent from finding and destroying the Giant. The Iron Giant takes place during the height of the Cold War (1957).

Development phase for the film started around 1994, though the project finally started taking root once Bird signed on as director, and Bird's hiring of Tim McCanlies to write the screenplay in 1996. The script was given approval by Ted Hughes, author of the original novel, and production struggled through difficulties (Bird even enlisted the aid of a group of students from CalArts). The Iron Giant was released with high critical praise (scoring a 97 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes), when released by Warner Bros. in the summer of 1999. It was nominated for awards that most notably included the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Plot

Hogarth with the Giant.

In October 1957 (the month in which the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1), a giant humanoid robot crashes off the shore of the fictional town of Rockwell, Maine, and eventually makes its way into the nearby forest the next day. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes, following the trail of destruction in the forest, discovers the robot as it gets entangled in the wires of a power station, and shuts off the station's power. The robot, on recovery, disappears into the forest, eluding Hogarth. The following day, Hogarth attempts to find the robot to photograph it, but falls asleep. The Iron Giant finds him instead and shows him the wrecked "off" switch from the power station, communicating that it knows that Hogarth saved it. Hogarth finds that the robot can somewhat understand him, although is unable to speak. The robot follows Hogarth home, along the way attempting to eat some railroad tracks near Hogarth's house. Hogarth convinces it not to, and to repair the tracks, but as it is doing so a train collides with its head, dislodging its arm and a jaw bolt. Hogarth discovers that the robot is self-repairing, using a homing device to draw its parts back to it. Hogarth instructs the robot to follow him to his home and hides it from his single mother Annie in their barn. Hogarth teaches the robot about life, and shares his comic books with him, including one featuring Superman and another with Atomo, a villainous metal robot. Hogarth assures the robot that it is not like Atomo and that the robot is what it chooses to be.

Meanwhile, reports from the robot's damage has led Kent Mansley, a paranoid U.S. Government agent, to investigate the sightings. After renting a room in Hogarth's house, he attempts to force Hogarth to tell him about the giant robot, but is stopped short when he begins to feel the effects of the Coco-Lax in his ice cream. While looking in the woods for clues, Kent discovers Hogarth's camera, and finds a picture of Hogarth (with the giant robot in the background). Kent later traps Hogarth in the family barn and interrogates him, showing him the picture of him and the giant, and tells him that if he refuses to cooperate, he will be taken away from his mother. Hogarth tells him where the giant is, and is knocked out cold by Kent. Hogarth awakens, watched closely by Kent, but manages to trick him and sneak out of the house to warn Dean. Dean is able to pass off the robot as one of his sculptures when Kent and the Army snoop around. While spending time with Hogarth, Dean gets to know Annie a bit more.

That same day, while playing with the robot, the robot inadvertently involuntarily attempts to kill Hogarth. Dean berates the robot and orders it to go away, but later discovers a toy gun that Hogarth had aimed at the robot, and determines the robot was acting in self-defense. The two begin to chase it back to town before it is discovered by the Army. When it arrives in town, the robot saves two boys that nearly fall from the roof, but before the town can react to the friendly robot, the Army attacks the robot. The ensuing pursuit, involving a flight made by the giant and an aerial attack from F-86 Sabre fighter jets that shoots down the giant, leaves Hogarth unconscious, which the robot mistakes as death, remembering the death of a deer the other day, and deciding to avenge Hogarth's "death", succumbs to Rage and turns into a lethal killing machine, destroying many of the Army's vehicles. The General orders the USS Nautilus offshore Maine to prepare to launch a nuclear missile to destroy the robot, but Hogarth regains consciousness and convinces the robot to revert to its calm state. Overwhelmed that Hogarth is still alive, the robot turns off and puts away its weapons. Dean convinces the General to stop attacking the giant. Before the General can stand down the missile, Kent frantically orders its launch; the General gravely points out to Kent that there is no time for any of them to escape the blast radius of the explosion before the missile lands. Mansley verbally shuns his patrotism and makes a cowardly attempt to flee the town and save himself, but is stopped by the robot and arrested by the military. Hogarth, sadly, explains the situation to the robot, and once it understands, it says its goodbyes to Hogarth and the rest of the town and takes off to intercept the missile in flight, calling itself "Superman". The Giant collides with the missile at full speed, and apparently the missle destroys the Giant, but spares the town as the people look on in sadness, realizing that the Giant has been destroyed.

Sometime later, a memorial to the robot has been created in town, and Dean and Annie have begun a romantic relationship while Hogarth has become closer friends with other children in town. A package sent by General Rogard to Hogarth contains the only piece of debris they found from the explosion, a jaw bolt. That night, the bolt starts to move on its own accord, and remembering seeing the robot repair itself before, Hogarth lets the bolt roll into the countryside. A camera pan shows many other robot parts moving towards the Langjökull glacier in Iceland, where the robot's head suddenly opens its eyes and smiles.

Voice cast

From left to right: Annie, Kent, Dean, General Rogard, and Hogarth before entering the warehouse in which Dean has hidden the giant.

• Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes: an energetic, young, curious boy with an active imagination. Hogarth befriends and takes the Giant under his wing, teaching him to speak and satisfying his appetite for metal objects. Hogarth hides the giant from his mother, the townspeople and the government. He is also a grade ahead because he "just does the homework".
• Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes: Hogarth's mother is in her early 30s who works hard as a waitress in the local diner. As a single mom, Annie is somewhat cautious over her son's activities.
• Harry Connick, Jr. as Dean McCoppin: A beatnik artist and junk yard owner who "sees art where others see junk" and is the same age as Hogarth's mom. Dean has a laid-back attitude and helps protect the Giant with Hogarth. He is initially aggravated by the presence of the giant in his junk yard, as he has to pay him constant attention, to make sure he doesn't eat any of his "art".
• Vin Diesel as The Iron Giant: A 50-foot, metal-eating robot that enters Hogarth's life and changes everything. With eyes that glow and can change to red when threatened or angry, parts that transform and reassemble (and indestructible to virtually anything), he becomes best friend and hero to Hogarth. While capable of incredible destructive powers (the extensive and lethal arsenal he is equipped with would suggest his original purpose was not one of peace), he is rendered benign by damage to his head. Hogarth teaches him to use his strength for good rather than destruction, proving to the world that he recognizes the value of life. The Giant reacts defensively if it recognizes anything as a weapon, immediately attempting to destroy it, but can stop himself.
• Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley: a manipulative, ambitious, arrogant, self-centered and paranoid government agent sent to investigate the Iron Giant. Mansley serves as the de facto antagonist of the film. With a secret agenda to boost his own career, Kent is simultaneously on Hogarth's trail to get information. Convinced he has proof of the Iron Giant's existence and eager to make his reputation, Mansley calls in the military to protect the townspeople from the threat he perceives in the Giant, making him more of an anti-hero than a full-fledged villain.
• John Mahoney as General Rogard: Military leader in Washington, D.C. who strongly dislikes Mansley and his attitude.

Cloris Leachman, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, M. Emmet Walsh and James Gammon all have cameo appearances.

Production

In 1986, rock musician Pete Townshend became interested in writing "a modern song-cycle in the manner of Tommy",^[1] and chose Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man as his subject. Three years later, The Iron Man: A Musical album was released. The same year Pete Townshend produced a short film set to the album single "A Friend is a Friend" featuring The Iron Man in a mix of stop frame animation and live action directed by Matt Forrest. In 1993, a stage version was mounted at London’s Old Vic. Des McAnuff, who had adapted the Tony Award-winning Tommy with Townshend for the stage, believed that The Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired by Warner Bros.^[1]

Towards the end of 1996, while the project was working its way through development, the studio saw the film as a perfect vehicle for Brad Bird, who at the time was working for Turner Feature Animation.^[1] Turner Entertainment had recently merged with Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner, and Bird was allowed to transfer to the Warner Bros. Animation studio to direct The Iron Giant.^[1] After reading the original Iron Man book by Hughes, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story and in addition, was given an unusual amount of creative control by Warner Bros.^[1] Bird decided to have the story set to take place in the 1950s as he felt the time period "presented a wholesome surface, yet beneath the wholesome surface was this incredible paranoia. We were all going to die in a freak-out."^[2]

Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, though Bird was somewhat displeased with having another writer on board, as he himself wanted to write the screenplay.^[3] He later changed his mind after reading McCanlies' unproduced screenplay for Secondhand Lions.^[1] In Bird's original story treatment, America and the USSR were at war at the end, with the Giant dying. McCanlies decided to have a brief scene displaying his survival, quoting "You can't kill E.T. and then not bring him back." McCanlies finished the script within two months, and was surprised once Bird convinced the studio not to use Townshend's songs. Townshend did not care either way, quoting "Well, whatever, I got paid."^[3] McCanlies was given a three month schedule to complete a script, and it was by way of the film's tight schedule that Warner Bros. "didn't have time to mess with us" as McCanlies said.^[4]

Hughes himself was sent a copy of McCanlies' script and sent a letter back, saying how pleased he was with the version. In the letter, Hughes stated, "I want to tell you how much I like what Brad Bird has done. He’s made something all of a piece, with terrific sinister gathering momentum and the ending came to me as a glorious piece of amazement. He’s made a terrific dramatic situation out of the way he’s developed The Iron Giant. I can’t stop thinking about it."^[1]

It was decided to animate the Giant using computer-generated imagery as the various animators working on the film found it hard "drawing a metal object in a fluid-like manner."^[1] A new computer program was created for this task, while the art of Norman Rockwell, Edward Hopper and N.C. Wyeth inspired the design. Bird brought in students from CalArts to assist in minor animation work due to the film's busy schedule. The Giant's voice was originally to be electronically modulated but the filmmakers decided they "needed a deep, resonant and expressive voice to start with" and Vin Diesel was hired.^[1]

Themes

The film is set in the late 1950s, during a period of the Cold War characterized by escalation in tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1957, Sputnik was launched, raising the possibility of nuclear attack from space. Anti-communism and the potential threat of nuclear destruction cultivated an atmosphere of fear and paranoia which also led to a proliferation of films about alien invasion. In one scene, Hogarth's class is seen watching an animated film named "Atomic Holocaust", based on Duck and Cover, an actual film that offered dubious advice on how to survive an atomic explosion.

Writer Tim McCanlies addressed Hogarth's message to the giant, "You are who you choose to be" played a pivotal role in the film. "At a certain point, there are deciding moments when we pick who we want to be. And that plays out for the rest of your life" citing that he wanted to get a sense between right and wrong. In addition, this turning point was to make the audience feel as if they are an important part of humanity.^[4]

Reception

The Iron Giant opened on August 3, 1999 in the United States in 2,179 theaters, accumulating $5,732,614 over its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $23,159,305 domestically,^[5] Analysts at IGN feel it "was a mis-marketing campaign of epic proportions at the hands of Warner Bros, they simply didn't realize what they had on their hands."^[6] Tim McCanlies said, "I wish that Warner had known how to release it."^[3]

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, president of Warner Bros. at the time, explained, "People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered."^[7] Stung by criticism that it mounted an ineffective marketing campaign for its theatrical release, Warner Bros. revamped its ad strategy for the video release of the film, including tie-ins with Honey Nut Cheerios, AOL and General Motors and secured the backing of three U.S. congressmen (Ed Markey, Mark Foley and Howard Berman).^[8]

The film had met with universal critical acclaim. Based on 110 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant received an overall 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating.^[9] With the 30 critics on Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,^[10] still averaging a 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating.^[11] By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 85 (out of 100) from the 27 reviews it collected.^[12] The film has since then gathered a cult following.^[6] The Nostalgia Critic placed the film as #6 on his list of The Top 11 Underrated Nostalgia Classics.^[13]

Roger Ebert very much liked the Cold War setting, feeling "that's the decade when science fiction seemed most preoccupied with nuclear holocaust and invaders from outer space." In addition he was impressed with parallels seen in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and quoted, "[The Iron Giant] is not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say."^[14] In response to the E.T. parallels, Bird quoted, "E.T. doesn't go kicking ass. He doesn't make the Army pay. Certainly you risk having your hip credentials taken away if you want to evoke anything sad or genuinely heartfelt."^[2]

Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed that the storytelling was far superior to other animated films, and cited the characters as plausible and noted the richness of moral themes.^[15] Jeff Millar of the Houston Chronicle agreed with the basic techniques as well, and concluded the voice cast being excelled with a great script by Tim McCanlies.^[16]

The Hugo Awards nominated The Iron Giant for Best Dramatic Presentation,^[17] while the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honored Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies with the Nebula Award nomination.^[18] The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film a Children's Award as Best Feature Film.^[19] In addition The Iron Giant won nine Annie Awards and was nominated for another six categories,^[20] with another nomination for Best Home Video Release at The Saturn Awards.^[21] IGN ranked The Iron Giant as the tenth favourite animated film of all time in a list published in 2008,^[22] and the second greatest animated movie of all time on another list ^[23].

In an interview with WorstPreviews.com, Bird announced that there was an "outside chance" that a limited theatrical rerelease will be planned for sometime in 2009, to mark the film's tenth anniversary,^[24] as of now, Warner Bros. has yet to release any announcement for any kind of 10th anniversary release.^{[citation needed]}

References

Further reading

• Hughes, Ted (3 March 2005) (Paperback). The Iron Man. Reprinting of novel of which this film is based upon. Faber Children's Books. ISBN 0571226124. 
• Hughes, Ted; Moser, Barry (31 August 1995) (Hardcover). The Iron Woman. Sequel to The Iron Man. Amazon Remainders Account. ISBN 0803717962. 

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Iron Giant

• Official website
• The Iron Giant at Allmovie
• The Iron Giant at the Internet Movie Database
• The Iron Giant at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Iron Giant at Box Office Mojo
• The Iron Giant at Open Directory Project