The Iron Giant

Director, producer, and animator Brad Bird is famous for his involvement in various animated properties like King of the Hill, The Simpsons, and Pixar films like The Incredibles and Ratatouille. The film that is usually considered his best work was where he had his directorial debut, and that is the 1999 Warner Brothers animated film, The Iron Giant. Although seen as a classic now, the story of a boy coming across and bonding with a giant robot that seemingly feel from the stars, didn’t immediately click with people until later on, much like a majority of Bird’s other films, so what is his unique sauce when it comes to his films? In 1957 Maine during the Cold War, a young boy named Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal) stumbles upon a 50-foot-tall robot which he eventually befriends once he discovers his docile nature and that he seemingly has amnesia. Not wishing to bother his overworked mother, Annie (voiced by Jennifer Aniston), Hogarth keeps the giant him in hiding at a junk yard owned by beatnik artist, Dean (voiced by Harry Connick. Jr) and tries to discover more about what he can do and where he came from whilst under the watchful eyes of paranoid government agent, Kent Mansley (voiced by Christopher McDonald), who has seen traces of the robot as is determined to track it down and blow it to smithereens. However, when it is discovered that weapons trigger a violent reaction out of the giant, how will he fare when his is bombarded with the force of the American military. Despite under performing at the box office due to poor advertising and lack of faith in Warner Bros. Animation after their recent failure in Quest for Camelot, eventually garnered a cult following and is now realized as an exceptional film. Based on the book, The Iron Man, written by Ted Hughes, the film emulates a great sense of earnest sincerity as well as wholesome likability, resulting in a timeless, amusing and emotionally engaging narrative. That matched with the great characters, breathtaking animation, ad great allusions to classic sci-fi, it’s one for the ages and is deserving of its later resurgence.

The plot has a lot of similarities to classic sci-fi films of the early fifties, adopting a visual style and atmosphere that not only encapsulates the period in which the story is based in, but also acts as a visual reference to the media that was released during this time. The film wanted to capture the heightened paranoia that was felt in America during this time involving Sputnik, The Russians, and the Cold War, and it adds this sense of grounded realism that works well of the sci-fi retro flair that comes from the art style, dialect of the characters and the overall design and essence of the robot in question. It uses its time period cleverly in building a tone for the film that establishes how the conflict will arise and why its handled in the way that it unfolds. Considering the film is surprisingly deep in terms of its honesty and maturity, it acts as a nice counterbalance to the softer, child-like energy that comes from the elements of a kid bonding with a robot. The amount of simple yet effective storytelling in this handled by Bird and screenwriter Tim McCanlies is charmingly endearing and captures a level of honesty that even Disney wasn’t able to capture at the time. While both are similar in terms of their plots and even sometimes clearly take inspiration from the other (see how many Warner Bros animated films pointless added in songs at the time), Disney is able to enchant through a whimsical yet creative personality, whilst someone like Brad Bird has the ability to engross with a more stabilized environment that still comes off as fantastical (at least when it comes to their good animated films). It can juggle the serious and the softer elements really well, going from interacting with an animal for the first time, to having to see its body after it’s been shot, its cruel and brutally honest, but feels respectably discussed, much like how the film overall discusses the concept of ”what if a weapon had a soul” (this came from Bird and the author, who experienced personal lose through gun usage). It really sucks you into to its world and characters through the believable when they talk, interact, and even express themselves. While the film is for the most part very well paced out and contains a good balance of quiet contemplative moments along with goofier fun moments, certain plot elements can feel awkwardly put in or just poorly established in general, mostly in regard to the giant’s backstory which is randomly brought up near the final act without that much proper build up (a deleted scene gives better context, but it is still deleted).

Every character is this film has an element that is either likeable or relatable, which not only adds to the atmosphere of the time period and location, but also helps everybody stand out as more than just generic cartoon characters. Brad Bird’s involvement no doubt assisted in how well these characters are presented as his past experience with writing bombastic but still authentic familial connections in something like The Simpsons, come through in this film with how they interact off each other. All the voice talent is equally as engaging and authentic, and bring a lot of believable energy that makes them feel sincere, but still distinctly animated and full of personality.  Eli Marienthal feels wonderful real as Hogarth and takes what could be a very basic and even annoying role and makes him very endearing. Jennifer Aniston has always had a talent of bringing a lot to otherwise basic roles, and you can really feel that in her brief performance as Annie, as despite the limited screen, the way she plays her along with the great animation results in a very defined character. Harry Connick Jr as the supporting role does a pretty good job, and Christopher McDonald is very good as Mansley, bringing this hectic passion but also wimpy nature and even believable panic and desperation which results in a very fun bad guy that you enjoy watching, but still enjoy watching him fail more. The giant, despite being given very little dialogue which is done by Vin Diesel (who bizarrely works the best when he’s barely got any dialogue), is made to be very likeable, uniquely expressive due to the CG design, and even remarkably human through the facial expressions and the charming relationship that he forms with Hogarth. The CG on him does help him stand out from the other characters and makes him feel that much more alien.

The animation in the movie is spectacular. You can feel that movie is able to capture the spirit of Maine very well from the autumn-like color palette to the way the houses, streets and cars are designed. It has a 50s aesthetic along with a Norman Rockwell kind of tint to its structure which creates a feeling of quaint harmlessness, made even better when the sci-fi esque colors, harsh lighting and grand action set pieces take place and subvert that nature. Warner Brothers is known for its great colors and incredibly fast timing when it comes to its slapstick, but the film opts for a more grounded atmosphere, so mostly keeps it fluidity to the facial expressions and line-work. Sometimes the larger scale shots on the giant during the first act can look a little fuzzy, but the others really show off the great environments and backgrounds. The giant’s design does callback to those 50s comics and propaganda posters that propped up obvious threats against obvious heroes, which not only adds to the aesthetic and time period, but also works for the film’s message going forward. Even the poster for the film goes as far as to portray the robot in a villainous sense with how he’s positioned, drawn, and highlighted through the text, you can feel them having fun with this idea.

The Iron Giant warmed its way into the hearts of many with its subtle and quiet approach, its endearing messages and characters, and its complete encapsulation of a time period while also somehow becoming completely timeless. Though starting out as an underground film, it quickly ascended into the realms of animated film history and continues to be a classic film to this day. It captures the nice child-like fantasy of heroics and raising an alien creature, but never goes too overboard and keeps itself grounded through its mature storytelling, characters, animation and themes. The story is simple, but effective and well put together, the characters are very enjoyable, the voice acting is great, the animation is fantastic, it works for both kids and adults, and it came from a very talented director and animator who would only continue to produce great work. Much like the giant himself, it wasn’t built up to be something special, but became something much more important with a different glance. Truly a super film for the ages.