The Iron Giant (1999)
Directed by Brad Bird
In the small town of Rockwell, Maine in October 1957, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.
14 connections found
View:
14 films that influenced The Iron Giant
What critics say influenced The Iron Giant
It's a film packed to bursting with golden nuggets of surprise, humor, and pathos, though it bears noting that the film runs a track vaguely similar to Spielberg's E.T.. That's not to say in any way that Bird's film is a simulacrum; both films owe a great deal to the classic sci-fi films of the Fifties, notably William Cameron Menzies' Invaders From Mars and Jack Arnold's It Came From Outer Space (both 1953 and both referenced in Bird's film).
It's a film packed to bursting with golden nuggets of surprise, humor, and pathos, though it bears noting that the film runs a track vaguely similar to Spielberg's E.T.. That's not to say in any way that Bird's film is a simulacrum; both films owe a great deal to the classic sci-fi films of the Fifties, notably William Cameron Menzies' Invaders From Mars and Jack Arnold's It Came From Outer Space (both 1953 and both referenced in Bird's film).
That's then mixed in with the old King Kong plot (that similarly inspired the "military must kill the beast" plots of all those 1950s monster movies) as well as an obvious homage to the sci-fi classic, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with its large robot, Gort, and a similar anti-violence message.
(The referenced images include a few scenes from All the President's Men, which is, after all, one of the prime Watergate myths.)
Advertisement
"The Drag Race" (1 min.) is a somewhat requisite homage to Rebel Without a Cause, and "Tired At Breakfast" (2 mins.)
The animation in The Iron Giant won't soon erase memories of the intricate camera moves featured in Disney's Tarzan , but it is a huge step up from Warner Bros.'s recent animated embarrassments, Quest for Camelot and the awful The King and I .
For me, at least, WB's losing streak continues, even if it is worlds above the dreadful "The King and I."
Disney has the traditional animation market locked up, but other studios seem willing to throw money at Disney musical look-alikes (like "The King and I") even though they might have a better chance moving in the opposite direction--toward real stories told straight.
Incredibly, it suggests a cartoon remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still that might have been made in 1957a sensation promoted by the Forbidden Planet poster that Hogarth has in his bedroom, the cleverly incorporated period ad he watches on TV, and the invented "duck and cover" civil defense cartoon shown in school.
Some may also compare this picture to 1998's "Star Kid" and its somewhat similar "boy befriends and teaches a robot from outer space" plot (possibly inspired by this film's source), but this movie is clearly a great deal better.
Advertisement
It was a spiritual experience that I haven't felt in a theater since I was a young lad with a big bucket of popcorn and head full of dreams inspired by watching E.T., Indiana Jones or the original Star Wars. 17 years later, The Iron Giant let me grab hold of those dreams, goals and fantasies in the same way that I did when I was 10.
The modern Disney machine is just too wedded to formula and convention to approach the likes of Fantasia; indeed, today’s animation market in general is so homogenized that it seems a daring departure if someone even makes a feature-length cartoon without including show-stopping musical numbers, cute animal sidekicks, and an obligatory love interest ( The Iron Giant is a rare example).