The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animated science fiction film directed by Brad Bird (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Tim McCanlies. Loosely based on Ted Hughes's 1968 novel The Iron Man, it features an ensemble cast consisting of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald and M. Emmet Walsh. Set during the Cold War in 1957, the film centers on a young boy named Hogarth Hughes, who discovers and befriends a giant robot of extraterrestrial origin. With the help of beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, Hogarth attempts to prevent the United States military from finding and vanquishing the Giant.
The film was initially conceived in 1994 as a musical with the involvement of Pete Townshend of the Who. In 1996, Bird signed on as director and McCanlies was hired to write the screenplay. The film was animated primarily using traditional animation, with computer-generated imagery used to animate the Giant and for other effects. The crew of the film was understaffed and completed it with half of the time and budget of other animated features. Michael Kamen composed the film's score, which was performed by the Czech Philharmonic.
The Iron Giant premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. on August 6. Although the film was met with critical acclaim upon release, it was a box-office failure, grossing $31.7 million against a production budget of $50 million. Its poor performance was attributed to a lack of marketing and Warner Bros.' skepticism towards animated films following the failure of Quest for Camelot the preceding year. The Iron Giant was nominated for several awards, winning nine Annie Awards out of 15 nominations. Through home video releases and television syndication, the film garnered a cult following and is widely regarded as a modern animated classic and one of the greatest animated films of all time. In 2015, an extended and remastered version of the film was re-released theatrically.
Plot
In 1957, during the Cold War, a gigantic extraterrestrial robot crash-lands off the coast of Rockwell, Maine. The following night, 9-year-old Hogarth Hughes investigates reports of power outages and discovers the Giant feeding on electrical lines at a substation. Though initially frightened, Hogarth later returns to save the Giant from electrocution.
Hogarth befriends the Giant, discovering him to be gentle, curious and childlike. The Giant eats railroad tracks, oblivious to an oncoming train which collides with and damages him. The Giant's scattered pieces automatically return to him, allowing him to self-repair. Hogarth shelters the Giant at his home and shows him his comic books, explaining the difference between heroes and weapons and comparing him to Superman.
Incidents related to the Giant attract the attention of the paranoid federal agent Kent Mansley, who arrives in Rockwell to investigate. While initially skeptical, Mansley eventually believes in the Giant's existence and views him as a national threat. Suspecting Hogarth knows more than he admits, Mansley rents a room in the home of Hogarth and his widowed mother Annie to watch him. To keep the Giant safe and well-fed, Hogarth brings him to a wrecking yard owned by beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, who reluctantly agrees to hide him. When Hogarth and the Giant witness hunters killing a deer, Hogarth explains death to the Giant, which unsettles him.
After discovering a photograph proving Hogarth's connection to the Giant, Mansley interrogates him, then summons U.S. Army General Shannon Rogard and soldiers to the scrapyard. Forewarned, Dean disguises the Giant as a sculpture to deceive the soldiers into leaving. Later, when Hogarth playfully points a water gun at the Giant, he instinctively activates one of his defensive systems. Horrified that he could be lethal, the Giant flees toward the town in shame. Dean realizes the Giant can only attack in self-defense, and he and Hogarth pursue him.
In Rockwell, the Giant rescues a pair of boys falling from a building, briefly winning the support of the townspeople as he reunites with Hogarth. Mansley spots him and urges Rogard to attack. In the ensuing confrontation, Hogarth is rendered unconscious and the Giant, believing Hogarth has died, enters a heavily-armed battle mode and retaliates against the soldiers. When conventional weapons fail, Mansley persuades Rogard to launch a nuclear missile from the USS Nautilus.
Hogarth regains consciousness and subdues the Giant by reminding him that he can choose who he wants to be. Dean convinces Rogard to stand down, but an enraged Mansley impulsively orders the missile launch before realizing the missile is targeted towards Rockwell, and will destroy the town and its inhabitants. Mansley attempts to flee, but is stopped by the Giant and promptly secured. Determined to save the town, the Giant bids farewell to Hogarth and flies upward to intercept the missile. The Giant collides with it high above Earth and harmlessly detonates it in the exosphere, apparently sacrificing himself.
Months later, Annie and Dean admire Dean's memorial statue of the Giant in the town park. Hogarth receives a package from Rogard containing a single screw recovered from the Giant, the sole remnant found following the Giant's sacrifice. That night, the screw starts moving; Hogarth remembers the Giant's ability to reassemble himself and happily allows it to roll out of his bedroom window. Far away on the Langjökull glacier in Iceland, the Giant's head smiles as his scattered parts converge for his reassembly.
Voice cast
Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes: A nine-year-old boy with an active imagination. Marienthal's performances were videotaped and given to animators to work with, which helped them develop expressions for the character. Hogarth was named after Ted Hughes, the author of the film's source material, and the artist Burne Hogarth. Vin Diesel as The Iron Giant: A fifty-foot tall, metal-eating robot of extraterrestrial origin designed as a war machine. The Giant's voice was originally going to be electronically modulated, but the filmmakers decided they "needed a deep, resonant and expressive voice to start with", so they hired Diesel. Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes: Hogarth's widowed mother, who is a waitress at a diner. According to Bird, Aniston was the only casting suggestion made by Warner Bros. executives that Bird liked and approved. Harry Connick Jr. as Dean McCoppin: A beatnik artist who owns a wrecking yard. Bird felt it appropriate to make the character a member of the Beat Generation, as they were viewed as mildly threatening to small-town values during that time. As Dean is an outsider himself, he is among the first to recognize that the Giant is not a threat. Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley: A paranoid and short-tempered federal agent sent to investigate sightings of the Giant. John Mahoney as General Shannon Rogard: A U.S. Army general. M. Emmet Walsh as Earl Stutz: A sailor who is the first-known human to encounter the Giant. James Gammon as: Foreman Marv Loach: A substation employee who follows the Giant's trail after he takes the station apart for sustenance. Floyd Turbeaux, a farmer and friend of Stutz. Cloris Leachman as Lynley Tensedge: Hogarth's fourth grade teacher. Frank Welker as the vocal effects of a squirrel that Hogarth wanted to keep as a pet, as well as a deer killed by hunters. Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas as Ollie and Frank, train engineers briefly seen near the start of the film. Johnston and Thomas, who were animators and members of Disney's Nine Old Men, were cited by Bird as inspirations for his career; he honored them by including their voices, likenesses and first names in the film.
Production Development
The origins of the film lie in the novel The Iron Man (1968), by poet Ted Hughes, who wrote it for his children to comfort them in the wake of their mother Sylvia Plath's suicide. In the 1980s, rock musician Pete Townshend chose to adapt the book for a concept album; it was released as The Iron Man: A Musical in 1989. In 1991, Richard Bazley, who later became the film's lead animator, pitched a version of The Iron Man to Don Bluth while working at Bluth's studio in Ireland. He created a story outline and character designs but Bluth passed on the project. After a stage musical was mounted in London, Des McAnuff, who had adapted Tommy for the stage with Townshend, believed that The Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired by Warner Bros. Pictures.
During development of the project in late 1996, the studio saw it as a perfect vehicle for Brad Bird, who was working on Ray Gunn for Turner Feature Animation. Turner Broadcasting 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. After reading Hughes's novel, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story. He was given an unusual amount of creative control by the studio, which allowed him to set the film in the United States and create the characters Dean and Kent, which were not in the book. Bird explained that he wanted to set the film in 1950s America because society was about to "boil over" with fear of the Russians, atomic bombs and even rock and roll. He felt this context of pervasive fear was "the perfect environment to drop a 50-foot-tall robot into." Bird discarded Townshend's idea for the film to be a musical, although Townshend stayed on as the film's executive producer. Ted Hughes died before the film's release, but his daughter, Frieda Hughes, saw the film on his behalf and loved it.Townshend, Pete. (2012) Who I Am: A Memoir, New York City: Harper Collins Publishers.
Writing Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, which displeased Bird somewhat, as he wanted to write it himself. Bird changed his mind after reading McCanlies's then-unproduced screenplay for Secondhand Lions. 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, stating, "You can't kill E.T. and then not bring him back." McCanlies was given three months to complete the script, and finished it in two. McCanlies said the tight deadline benefited the script in some ways, since Warner Bros. did not have time to make changes. The Giant's backstory was purposefully left out to keep the story focused on his relationship with Hogarth. Ted Hughes was sent a copy of McCanlies's script and wrote a letter back, saying how much he enjoyed it. He called the story a "terrific dramatic situation" and described the ending as "a glorious piece of amazement."
Bird said his experience working in television prepared him to direct The Iron Giant, which was his first feature film. He said working on the animated series Family Dog taught him the importance of team-building, while his tenure on The Simpsons gave him experience working under strict deadlines. He was open to ideas from other crew members, often asking for opinions on scenes and then making adjustments accordingly. Bird felt that modern filmmaking overly emphasized loud, frenetic scenes, and he therefore prioritized softer, character-based moments in The Iron Giant. Storyboard artist Teddy Newton played a role in shaping the story and the screenplay of the film. He created a social guidance film (based on the 1952 film "Duck and Cover") which can be seen in The Iron Giant.
Animation