The Iron Giant
Short description
In 1957, in the small Maine town of Rockwell, a large metal being falls to Earth and is discovered by a nine-year-old boy named Hogarth Hughes. The two form a friendship, and Hogarth hides the giant in a junkyard owned by a local artist, Dean McCoppin, while trying to keep its existence secret. A government agent arrives to investigate reports of an alien presence, and the military is brought in to confront the visitor, leaving Hogarth as the one who can protect his new friend. The story draws on Ted Hughes's novel and is set during the Cold War, so the town's fear of the unknown drives much of the conflict.
Brad Bird directed the film, his first feature, and co-wrote the screenplay with Tim McCanlies. The voice cast includes Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel as the giant, Christopher McDonald, James Gammon and Cloris Leachman. The film runs 86 minutes and was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Feature Animation.
The Iron Giant was made for about 70 million USD and took in roughly 23 million USD worldwide, a return well below its cost. Its reputation has since grown considerably: it holds 8.1/10 on IMDb from around 258,000 votes and 8/10 on TMDB from about 6,300 votes. A critics' rating of 8.5/10 from 144 reviews places it above those audience scores. Bird went on to direct The Incredibles, Ratatouille and other features.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the scene where the Giant looks at Rockwell, a moving star can be seen in the sky. According to the creators of the cartoon, this is the first artificial satellite.
- On a special DVD edition of the cartoon, you can find 8 deleted scenes, most of which were not animated and are presented as sketches and drafts: – An alternative opening with a much larger ship whose crew observed the Giant's arrival. – Another scene with Hogarth at school. – A conversation between Hogarth and Annie about the death of Hogarth's father. This scene followed the events at the power plant. – Another verbal altercation between Hogarth and Kent during breakfast the next day, after Kent tried the "special ice cream." – A scene by the campfire between Hogarth, Dean, and the Giant. – A scene between Annie and Dean in a cafe. – The Giant and Hogarth participate in drag racing. – The Giant's nightmare, revealing the secret of his past.
- In the scene where Hogarth is going to search for "invaders from Mars," Bugs Bunny can be spotted in his toy box.
- Hogarth's father was a fighter pilot. His photograph can be seen on the dresser.
- "The Iron Giant" was the first animated film in which one of the main characters was entirely created on a computer.
- To better integrate the computer-generated Giant into the world of traditional animation, the filmmakers wrote a special program that intentionally made the Giant's outlines distorted and uneven, simulating the effect of hand-drawn animation.
- The train engineers Frank and Ollie, with whom Kent speaks after the train crash, are caricatures of Disney animation classics Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. They also voiced these two characters.
- When the Giant's hand "watches" television, it was originally intended that the opening scene from "Disneyland" (1954) would appear on the screen. However, the filmmakers were never able to resolve the issue of the rights to use excerpts from "Disneyland."
- Hogarth is watching an animated version of "Brain from Planet Arous" (1957) on television.
- In the scene where Kent calls on the phone from the Hughes' house, you can notice a funny oven mitt that resembles the dog from the 16th episode "Family Dog" of the second season of "Amazing Stories." Brad Bird directed this episode.
- The original title of the cartoon translates to "The Iron Giant".
- The film is based on Ted Hughes' novel "The Iron Man: A Children's Story in Five Nights" (1968).
- The headline in the newspaper Dean is reading (Disaster Seen as Catastrophe Looms) is similar to the headline Jim Dear is reading in "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), and Jiminy Cricket in "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947).
- Enny and Hogarth received their surnames in honor of Ted Hughes – the author of the book on which the cartoon is based.
- Initially, the cartoon was conceived as a musical.
- A poster for the film "Forbidden Planet" (1956) hangs on the wall in Hogarth's room.
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