The Iron
Giant (1999) Starring
the voices of: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin
Diesel, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney. Directed by Brad Bird. Screenplay
by Tim McCanlies. Story by Brad Bird. Based on the novel by The Iron Man by Ted
Hughes.Executive Producer Pete Townshend, Produced by Alison Abbate and Des
McAnuff. Music by Michael Kamen. Run Time: 86 minutes. U.S. Color, Animated,
Science Fiction
Every year there are films that, for whatever
reason, don’t catch on at the box office. Now I know money is not the only
measure of the worth of a movie, but since filmmaking is a business, films are
judged by how much money they make. This is especially true of the films from
the major studios, since they have the best distribution and marketing groups
in the industry. If Warner Brothers or Disney can’t make you aware of a movie,
who can?
Remember Quest for Camelot? You’re not alone.
The film opened in 1998 on the same weekend as The Horse Whisperer, with Deep
Impact already in the theaters. The following week, this behemoth called
Godzilla would open. The net result was that Quest for Camelot lost Warner Bros
about $40 million. That sort of return disillusioned the studio on animated
films. Problem: there was already one in the pipeline. Gun shy from their last
failure, Warner Bros. decided against putting the effort into The Iron Giant’s
release. And guess what? It didn’t do well. While I can’t comment on Quest for
Camelot, since I, along with the vast unwashed, didn’t see it, I did see The
Iron Giant and I can honestly say Warner Bros. blew it on this one.
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| Remember Quest for Camelot? No? You're not alone. |
This movie should have put its director Brad
Bird on the map as a director of animated films. Lucky for all of us that would
happen, but five years later with the release of Pixar’s The Incredibles
(2004). While Iron Giant was a critical success and won several animation
awards, those were after the fact. Warner Bros., according to filmmakers Bird
and writer Tim McCanlies, didn’t realize what they had on their hands.
1957 was a time of great paranoia in America.
This was the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the then U.S.S.R. The Soviets had launched Sputnik that year,
sending the U.S. into a panic. We were suddenly in the midst of a crisis and
everyone felt vulnerable. All eyes were looking skyward, wondering what they
might see and fearful of what might come their way.
Into this atmosphere, a large alien crashes
off the coast of Rockwell, Maine. The only one to see this happen is Earl Stutz
(M. Emmet Walsh), a local fisherman. He even crashes his boat into the robot
before getting washed up on shore.
The next morning, Hogarth Hughes (Eli
Marienthal) rides his bike to the diner where his mother, Annie (Jennifer
Aniston), works. He has found a squirrel that he hopes he can talk his mom
into letting him keep. While looking for it, he overhears Earl telling everyone
about his close encounter and his call to the government. But everyone believes
Earl is off his chum (in keeping with the fishing metaphor). Dean, a local
beatnik artist, sticks up for Earl, but that only makes Earl less believable.
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| Dean has a squirrel in his pocket. |
That night, Hogarth is left alone at home; he
indulges in Twinkies and popcorn while watching bad 50’s sci-fi on the
television. When the TV picture goes bad, Hogarth goes outside to check on the
antenna and finds it’s missing. Seeing a bath of destruction into the woods,
Hogarth, with his trusty BB gun and flashlight attached, goes looking for what
he suspects and hopes are martians.
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Powered by junk food and an overly active imagination and
armed with a BB gun, Hogarth gets ready to hunt for Martians. |
Running towards flashes of light, Hogarth comes
across an electric substation just before the Iron Giant sees it. Thinking it’s
food, it starts to eat the metal structures, but gets a shock when he gets
entangled in the power lines. Hogarth starts to run, but hearing the Giant’s
screams of agony, he goes back and turns off the power. The Giant falls down
unconscious. Hogarth climbs up to get a closer look when the Giant wakes up.
Hogarth runs away into his mother’s arms. While she loves him, she doesn’t
believe the wild story he’s spewing. But when they drive away, Hogarth looks
back and sees the Giant’s eyes watching after him.
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| The power station is just what a hungry Iron Giant craves. |
The next day at school, Hogarth and his class
watch a duck and cover film about nuclear blasts. Meanwhile, a farmer is trying
to sell Dean his half eaten tractor. The next morning, government agent Kent Mansley
(Christopher McDonald) arrives to investigate the power plant damage. While
he’s on the scene, he’s shown the BB gun that Hogarth had dropped and the Giant
had crushed. But before he can leave, half of his car is eaten and when he
tries to show the damage to Marv Loach (James Gammon), the foreman at the
station, the rest of it has been eaten as well.
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U.S. government agent Kent Mansley is sent to assess the damage down
to the power station. Here he talks with station foreman, Marv Loach. |
That afternoon, Hogarth goes looking for the
Giant. He has with him a camera on which he hopes to record the Giant, but he
grows bored waiting for him and falls asleep. The Giant’s arrival awakens him
and once again, Hogarth runs away. But the Iron Giant remembers what Hogarth
had done for him. Hogarth asks him questions, but the Giant doesn’t seem to
know where he came from or who he is. Hogarth notices the dent in his head,
which he thinks might explain his not knowing.
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| The Iron Giant finds Hogarth. |
Hogarth teaches the robot the difference
between a rock and a tree. He’s beside himself with glee, but knows he can’t
tell anyone since they might start shooting.
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| The Iron Giant learns from imitating Hogarth. |
Meanwhile, Mansley tells the city council his
theory about the sightings and the odd occurrences.
It’s getting dark and Hogarth knows he needs
to get home, but the Iron Giant doesn’t seem to understand Hogarth’s command to
stay. Like an orphaned dog, the robot follows him home. The Giant is hungry
(he’s always hungry) and the railroad tracks they pass over on the way to
Hogarth’s house are too tempting to pass up.
But Hogarth is alarmed at the sound of the
incoming train and tells the giant to fix the tracks. It isn’t perfect, but the
Giant is fascinated about making the rails line up and takes too long, causing
the train to collide with his head. The train doesn’t derail, but the Giant has
busted up into bits. When the engineers stop the train and call, Hogarth takes
the Giant and hides him in the barn behind his house. The Giant, to Hogarth’s
amazement, seems to be self-repairing as the various parts follow a radio
signal back to the Giant and put themselves in place. All, that is, except the
Giant’s left hand.
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| The Giant takes too long to piece the railroad track back together. |
Mansley is at the Mayor’s office when the
call about the train wreck comes in. Borrowing the mayor’s car, he drives out
to investigate. The engineers tell Mansley that they collided with a giant
metal man. Mansley needs to use a phone and is pointed to Hogarth’s house.
Meanwhile, inside, Hogarth is saying grace when the Giant’s hand suddenly
appears inside the house. Hogarth tries to sneak the hand out, but Mansley
shows up at the door to use the phone.
He calls General Rogard (John Mahoney) and
reports about the power station and the train wreck, but he gets laughed at.
But Rogard tells him to get evidence before he can commit troops. When he’s driving
away, Mansley realizes that Hogarth Hughes is the name on the BB gun he
recovered and goes back. But the hand has gotten into the bathroom and flushes
the toilet and Hogarth runs away to investigate. He manages to sneak the hand out before
anyone sees.
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| Mansley calls General Rogard about what he's found out. |
Annie tells Mansley about the story Hogarth
has been telling her. Later that night, Hogarth takes a bunch of comic books
with him back to the barn and reads to the Giant. The Iron Giant is most
impressed with Superman, but distressed when he finds a comic book about Atomo,
an evil robot. But Hogarth tells him that he gets to choose what kind of robot
he wants to be.
Hearing the Giant’s stomach growl, Hogarth
takes him to look for metal. When they pass Rockwell, the Robot wants to go to
town, but Hogarth has to convince him the town isn’t ready. They find an abandoned
car for the Giant, but before he can eat it, Dean McCoppin Scrap tows it away.
But taking the Giant to the scrap yard, he starts to pig out. He makes such a
commotion that Dean comes out to investigate. Hogarth learns that Dean is into
scrap so he can make it into art.
Dean makes him coffee, which makes Hogarth
hyper. Dean gives Hogarth the same advice about choosing who he wants to be
that Hogarth gave the Giant. When the Giant makes more noise, Dean goes out to
confront him. Dean balks at putting the Giant up but relents to let him stay
the night. Hogarth makes it home just in time to get ready for school. Annie
surprises him with news that Mansley has rented the room.
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| An unhappy surprise. Mansley moves in with the Hughes'. |
The next morning, Dean calls Hogarth to come
get the Giant, but Hogarth can’t shake Mansley, who keeps peppering him with
questions. Meanwhile, Dean tells the Giant to stop eating the art and only eat
the scrap metal.
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| Dean tells the Giant not to eat the art. |
To get rid of Mansley, Hogarth feeds him a
chocolate laxative, which allows Hogarth to escape. When he finally makes it to
the scrap yard he finds Dean has gotten the Giant to help him with his art. But
Hogarth would rather play than do arts and crafts. But Dean gets worried that
they’re too out in the open. When Hogarth suggests the lake, Dean goes.
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| Hogarth breaks up a chocolate laxative into Mansley's shake. |
Meanwhile, between trips to the restroom,
Mansley interviews locals about their encounters with the robot. While out in
the woods, Mansley finds Hogarth’s camera.
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| Mansley uncovers the truth in between trips to the bathroom. |
At the lake, Hogarth does a dive and makes a
big splash. Ever impersonating his host, the Giant does the same dive, but the
splash is so big that it empties the water from the lake and deposits Dean
miles away in the middle of the road.
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| The Iron Giant makes a really big splash. |
Mansley develops the photos from the camera
and discovers a photo of Hogarth with the Robot behind him.
Meanwhile, out in the woods, Hogarth and the
Giant witness a deer being shot and killed by hunters. When they go investigate
they chase the hunters away. Hogarth doesn’t notice the Robot’s reaction to the
rifle, the sight of which causes changes in him, which Hogarth interrupts.
Hogarth has to explain death to the Robot.
When Hogarth makes it home, Mansley is
waiting for him. Annie is working late, so Mansley interrogates Hogarth as if
being a government agent gives him carte blanche. He threatens to take Hogarth
away from his mom. Scared, Hogarth tells him where the Giant is hidden. Mansley
chloroforms Hogarth and then calls the General. The army will arrive the next
morning and Hogarth knows he has to warn Dean. But Mansley has other ideas and
doesn’t let the boy out of his sight. The question is who will fall asleep
first.
The next morning, Hogarth’s already up before
Mansley wakes up. So by the time the Army arrives at the scrap yard, Dean is
ready. He explains to the General that the giant metal man is really a
sculpture he’s created and has sold to a wealthy industrialist for the lobby of
his company.
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| The Iron Giant, posing as a piece of sculpture, fools the Army. |
The General rips Mansley a new one while
Annie flirts with Dean. She seems to take an interest in Dean’s art. After the
army departs, the boy and robot play. Hogarth wants play to Atomo, but the
Giant wants to be Superman. When Hogarth pretends to attack the robot with a
toy gun, he inadvertently causes the robot to activate a weapons system in
retaliation and shoots a destructive ray at him. Dean saves Hogarth and angrily
commands the robot to leave, but Hogarth, believing the robot never meant to
harm him, gives chase. Dean sees the toy gun and realizes that the robot cannot
control its self-defense reaction. He catches up with Hogarth on his motorbike
and they chase after the robot before it can reach the town.
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| The Iron Giant wants to be Superman. |
After the Giant has run away, Dean realizes
the Giant was reacting to the gun and helps Hogarth go after him. In Rockwell,
the robot saves two boys who break through a balcony while watching him. The
Army convoy sees the Giant in Rockwell and goes back. But before they get
there, Hogarth shows up. The Army starts shooting and Hogarth tells the Giant
to run away.
Dean tells Mansley the Giant has Hogarth with
him, but Mansley lies and tells the General that the Giant has killed the kid.
The Army goes to code red and F-86 jets are scrambled. The Giant, with Hogarth
in hand, is chased over a cliff and, while falling, discovers he can fly. But
when one of the jets shoots him out of the sky, the Army moves into investigate
just as the Giant is looking after Hogarth’s unconscious body. He thinks the
boy is dead and enraged activates its weapons and attacks the Army, who are no
match for the advanced firepower.
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| The Army is no match for The Iron Giant's firepower. |
But Hogarth recovers and succeeds in
pacifying the Giant, reminding him that it is bad to kill and that he can
choose not to be a gun. The Giant seems to be scared of what he’s become. Even
though the General has readied a nuclear ballistic missile from the USS
Nautilus, he is about to tell them to stand down when Mansley grabs the walkie
talkie and orders the strike. Realizing the deadly mistake, Rogard lambasts
Mansley and informs him that not only the robot, but everyone in Rockwell, will
be destroyed when the missile hits. Mansley tries to escape Rockwell to save
himself, but the robot stops him and he is arrested by the Army.
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| Hogarth convinces The Iron Giant that he is not a weapon. |
With the missile launched, Hogarth explains
to the Robot that once it falls, everyone in Rockwell will die. The Giant
decides on its own to intercept the missile. Thinking of itself as Superman and
with a smile of satisfaction, he intercepts the missile, causing a massive
explosion in the atmosphere. He saves the town, but is destroyed in the
process. Or is he?
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| The Iron Giant flies to intercept a polaris missile aimed at Rockwell. |
Months have passed. The people of Rockwell
recognize the giant as a hero, but everyone, especially Hogarth, is deeply
saddened by the robot's sacrifice.
Annie and Dean are now a couple. Dean has
erected a statue in honor of the Giant. Hogarth receives a package from General
Rogard, a screw from the giant, the only part they recovered. But that night,
reacting to the Giant’s radio message, the giant screw starts off in search of
the robot. Hogarth realizes the Giant is still alive and lets the screw out of
the house. The part starts out on a trek that will take it and other parts of
the robot to the Icelandic Langjökull Glacier, where the Robot still lives.
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| The Iron Giant waits for his parts to find him so he can reassemble. |
Having gotten the origin story out of the
way, the film seems to be setting up for a potential sequel, say the return of
the Giant to Rockwell and reuniting with Hogarth. But alas that’s one that got
away. The film, unlike the ballistic missile launched in the movie, was a dud.
The film with a budget at between $50 and 70 million earned a very disappointing
$32 million worldwide.
Which is a terrible shame as the film may be,
as the International Gaming Networks (IGN) once called it, the best non-Disney
animated film. Unlike, say the films from Pixar and Dreamworks Animation, the
film is a mix of traditional animation and computer generated imagery, which
was employed for rendering the Giant.
The movie is very different from the original
book, The Iron Man, written by Ted Hughes, a British Poet Laureate and published in 1968. Not to
be confused with Iron Man, the Marvel comic book character (which is why the movie
is called The Iron Giant). The book takes place in England and tells the story
of a giant metal man. Like our Giant, the metal man devours farm equipment and
befriends a local boy. But in the book, the metal man protects Earth from a
monster from outer space. In the film, the Giant saves us from our own
overworked paranoia.
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| The book, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, on which the movie is based. |
All the voice acting is good, including Eli
Marienthal, a 12-year-old who voiced for Hogarth. But the voice of the Giant is
very important. Originally the role was offered to Peter Cullen, best known as the voice of
G1 Transformers Optimus Prime, but Cullen was unavailable. This is why they
went with a then virtual unknown named Vin Diesel (back when it was okay to
like Diesel), who has gone on to star in a series of Fast and Furious films.
Diesel’s deep voice works well for the Giant Robot.
The score for the film is good, but it is the
soundtrack which really helps to set the mood for the film and help it seem
true to the time period. The songs have an easy jazz feel, the sort of music I
imagine Dean himself would probably listen to as he drank his espresso.
The film has almost everything you would want
in a movie. The characters have depth to them, which is more than you often get
with many films. The story has a universal quality to it, telling everyone that
you are who you choose to be, a lesson we can all apply to our everyday lives.
While there is a real sense of peril at the climax, the film does end on a
happy and even hopeful note. Overall, this film has heart and humor.
I cannot recommend a movie more than I would
recommend The Iron Giant to anyone who hasn’t seen it. This is an animated film
that children should like, but that has enough meat on its bones to appeal to
adults as well. It’s only too bad that the film could not take its own advice
and decide to be a big hit the first time it was released.
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