| The Iron Giant | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Brad Bird |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Brad Bird |
| Based on | The Iron Man byTed Hughes |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Steven Wilzbach |
| Edited by | Darren T. Holmes |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 87 minutes[3] |
| Country | United States[4] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $48–50 million[5][6] |
| Box office | $31.7 million[5] |
The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animatedscience fiction film directed byBrad Bird and written byTim McCanlies[a]. Loosely based onTed Hughes's novel,The Iron Man, it features anensemble cast, includingJennifer Aniston,Harry Connick Jr.,Vin Diesel,James Gammon,Cloris Leachman,John Mahoney,Eli Marienthal,Christopher McDonald andM. Emmet Walsh. Set during theCold War in 1957, the film centers on a young boy named Hogarth Hughes, who discovers and befriends a giant robot ofextraterrestrial origin. With the help ofbeatnik artist Dean McCoppin, Hogarth attempts to prevent the United States' military, who have been alerted by paranoid federal agent Kent Mansley, from finding and vanquishing the Giant.
The film was initially conceived in 1994 as amusical with the involvement ofthe Who'sPete Townshend. In 1996, Bird signed on as director and McCanlies was hired to write the screenplay. The film was animated usingtraditional animation, withcomputer-generated imagery used to animate the Iron Giant and 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 theCzech Philharmonic.
The Iron Giant premiered atMann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, and was released in the United States on August 6. The film significantlyunderperformed at the box office, grossing $31 million against a budget of $50 million, which was attributed to Warner Bros.' lack of marketing and skepticism towards animated film production following the box office failure ofQuest for Camelot in the preceding year. The film was nominated for several awards, winning nineAnnie Awards out of 15 nominations. Throughhome video releases and television syndication, the film garnered acult following[7] and is widely regarded as a modern animated classic and one of the greatest animated films of all time.[8][9][10] In 2015, an extended andremastered version of the film was re-released theatrically.[8][11]
In October 1957, during theCold War, anobject from space crashes into the ocean just off the coast ofMaine and then enters a forest near the town of Rockwell. The following night, young Hogarth Hughes investigates and finds the object – a fifty-foot tall robot of extraterrestrial origin; he flees, but returns to save it from being electrocuted when it attempts to take apart asubstation for sustenance. Hogarth eventually befriends the Giant, finding him docile and curious. When the Giant eats railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train, it collides with him and derails; Hogarth leads the Giant away from the area, discovering that he can self-repair. Hogarth shows the Giant his comic book collection and compares him toSuperman.
The incidents lead paranoidUnited States government agent Kent Mansley to Rockwell. Deducing Hogarth's involvement after talking with him and his widowed mother, Annie, Mansley rents a room in their house to keep an eye on him. Hogarth evades him and leads the Giant to awrecking yard owned by beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, who reluctantly agrees to keep him. Hogarth enjoys spending time with the Giant, but is compelled to explain the concept of death to the Giant after they witnesshunters killing adeer.[12]
Mansley detains and interrogates Hogarth after discovering a photograph of Hogarth and the Giant together, then sendsU.S. Army General Shannon Rogard and a platoon of soldiers to the scrapyard to prove the Giant's existence. Dean, having been forewarned by Hogarth, disguises the Giant as one of his art pieces to deceive the soldiers into leaving. While playing with awater gun, Hogarth inadvertently activates the Giant's defensive system, which makes him shoot a pair of laser from his eyes. Dean scolds the Giant for nearly killing Hogarth and he flees downtown in shame, with Hogarth in pursuit. Dean discovers that the Giant was only acting in self-defense and follows them both.
The Giant rescues a pair of boys falling from a roof when he arrives, winning over the townspeople. Mansley spots the Giant and, even though Dean tells him about Hogarth, he deliberately goads Rogard into fighting back. The Giant uses his flight system to evade the military at first, but is shot down and crash-lands. Hogarth is rendered unconscious, but the Giant assumes that he has died. The soldiers open fire and enrage the Giant, who activates his defense systems and attacks the army. Mansley convinces Rogard to prepare a nuclear missile launch from theUSSNautilus, since conventional weapons prove ineffective. Hogarth awakens and hastily calms down the Giant, while Dean clarifies the situation to Rogard.
Rogard is ready to stand down and order theNautilus to abort the missile's launch, but Mansley snatches Rogard's communicator and impulsively orders it. A furious Rogard points out that the missile, now aiming for the Giant, will also destroy the town. Mansley attempts to flee, but the Giant thwarts him as he is secured. To save the town, the Giant bids farewell to Hogarth and flies off to intercept the missile, causing it detonate harmlessly in theexosphere, saving everyone. However, the Giant is presumably destroyed, devastating his allies.
Months later, Dean and Annie, now a couple, admire a memorial statue of the Giant that Dean has erected in the local park. Hogarth receives a package from Rogard containing one of the Giant's jaw joints, which was the only remnant found. That night, Hogarth finds the joint trying to move on its own and, remembering the Giant's ability to self-repair, happily allows it to leave. The joint joins the Giant's other parts as they converge with his head on theLangjökull glacier inIceland for his reassembly.
In addition,Ollie Johnston andFrank Thomas voice the train's engineers briefly seen near the start of the film. Johnston and Thomas, who were animators and members ofDisney's Nine Old Men, were cited by Bird as inspirations for his career, which he honored by incorporating their voices, likenesses and first names into the film.[17]
The origins of the film lie in the bookThe Iron Man (1968), by poetTed Hughes, who wrote the novel for his children to comfort them in the wake of their motherSylvia Plath's suicide. In the 1980s, rock musicianPete Townshend chose to adapt the book for aconcept album; it was released asThe Iron Man: A Musical in 1989.[15] In 1991, Richard Bazley, who later became the film's lead animator, pitched a version ofThe Iron Man toDon Bluth while working athis studio inIreland. He created a story outline and character designs but Bluth passed on the project.[13] After a stage musical was mounted inLondon,Des McAnuff, who had adaptedTommy with Townshend for the stage, believed thatThe Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired byWarner Bros. Entertainment.[15]
In late 1996, while developing the project on its way through, the studio saw the film as a perfect vehicle forBrad Bird, who at the time was working forTurner Feature Animation developingRay Gunn.[15]Turner Broadcasting had recently merged with Warner Bros. parent companyTime Warner, and Bird was allowed to transfer to theWarner Bros. Animation studio to directThe Iron Giant.[15] After reading the originalIron Man book by Hughes, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story and in addition, was given an unusual amount of creative control by Warner Bros.[15] This creative control involved introducing two new characters not present in the original book, Dean and Kent, setting the film in America, and discarding Townshend's musical ambitions (who did not care either way, reportedly remarking, "Well, whatever, I got paid").[18][19] Bird would expand upon his desire to set the film in America in the 1950s in a later interview:
The Maine setting looks Norman Rockwell idyllic on the outside, but inside everything is just about to boil over; everyone was scared of the bomb, the Russians, Sputnik — even rock and roll. This clenched Ward Cleaver smile masking fear (which is really what the Kent character was all about). It was the perfect environment to drop a 50-foot-tall robot into.[19]
Ted Hughes, the original story's author, died before the film's release. His daughter,Frieda Hughes, saw the finished film on his behalf and loved it. Townshend, who stayed on as the film's executive producer, enjoyed the final film as well.[20]
Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, though Bird was somewhat displeased with having another writer on board, as he wanted to write the screenplay himself.[18] He later changed his mind after reading McCanlies' then-unproduced screenplay forSecondhand Lions.[15] In Bird's original story treatment, America and theUSSR were at war at the end, with the Giant dying. McCanlies decided to have a brief scene displaying his survival, stating, "You can't killE.T. and then not bring him back."[18] McCanlies finished the script within two months. McCanlies was given a three-month schedule to complete a script, and it was by way of the film's tight schedule that Warner Bros. "didn't have time to mess with us" as McCanlies said.[21] The question of the Giant's backstory was purposefully ignored as to keep the story focused on his relationship with Hogarth.[22] Bird considered the story difficult to develop due to its combination of unusual elements, such as "paranoid fifties sci-fi movies with the innocence of something likeThe Yearling".[19] Hughes himself was sent a copy of McCanlies' script and sent a letter back, saying how pleased he was with the version. In the letter, Hughes stated, "I want to tell you how much I like what Brad Bird has done. He's made something all of a piece, with terrific sinister gathering momentum and the ending came to me as a glorious piece of amazement. He's made a terrific dramatic situation out of the way he's developedThe Iron Giant. I can't stop thinking about it."[15]
Bird combined his knowledge from his years in television to direct his first feature. He credited his time working onFamily Dog as essential to team-building, and his tenure onThe Simpsons as an example of working under strict deadlines.[19] He was open to others on his staff to help develop the film; he would often ask crew members their opinions on scenes and change things accordingly.[23] One of his priorities was to emphasize softer, character-based moments, as opposed to more frenetic scenes—something Bird thought was a problem with modern filmmaking. "There has to be activity or sound effects or cuts or music blaring. It's almost as if the audience has the remote and they're going to change channels," he commented at the time.[22] Storyboard artist Teddy Newton played an important role in shaping the film's story. Newton's first assignment on staff involved being asked by Bird to create a film within a film to reflect the "hygiene-type movies that everyone saw when the bomb scare was happening." Newton came to the conclusion that a musical number would be the catchiest alternative, and the "Duck and Cover" sequence came to become one of the crew members' favorites of the film.[17] Nicknamed "The X-Factor" by story department head Jeffery Lynch, the producers gave him artistic freedom on various pieces of the film's script.[24]
The financial failure of Warner's previous animated effort,Quest for Camelot, which made the studio reconsider animated films, helped shapeThe Iron Giant's production considerably. "Three-quarters" of the animation team on that film helped craftThe Iron Giant.[22] By the time it entered production, Warner Bros. informed the staff that there would be a smaller budget as well as time-frame to get the film completed. Although the production was watched closely, Bird commented "They did leave us alone if we kept it in control and showed them we were producing the film responsibly and getting it done on time and doing stuff that was good." Bird regarded the trade-off as having "one-third of the money of aDisney orDreamWorks film, and half of the production schedule" but the payoff as having more creative freedom, describing the film as "fully-made by the animation team; I don't think any other studio can say that to the level that we can."[22] A small part of the team took a weeklong research trip toMaine, where they photographed and videotaped five small cities. They hoped to accurately reflect its culture down to the minutiae; "we shot store fronts, barns, forests, homes, home interiors, diners, every detail we could, including the bark on trees", said production designer Mark Whiting.[25]
Bird stuck to elaborate scene planning, such as detailedanimatics, to make sure there were no budgetary concerns.[22] The team initially worked withMacromedia'sDirector software, before switching toAdobe After Effects full-time. Bird was eager to use the then-nascent software, as it allowed for storyboard to contain indications of camera moves. The software became essential to that team—dubbed "Macro" early on—to help the studio grasp story reels for the film. These also allowed Bird to better understand what the film required from an editing perspective. In the end, he was proud of the way the film was developed, noting that "We could imagine the pace and the unfolding of our film accurately with a relatively small expenditure of resources."[26] The group would gather in a screening room to view completed sequences, with Bird offering suggestions by drawing onto the screen with a marker. Lead animator Bazley suggested this led to a sense of camaraderie among the crew, who were unified in their mission to create a good film.[13] Bird cited his favorite moment of the film's production as occurring in the editing room, when the crew gathered to test a sequence in which the Giant learns what a soul is. "People in the room were spontaneously crying. It was pivotal; there was an undeniable feeling that we were really tapping into something," he recalled.[19]
He opted to give the film's animators portions to animate entirely, rather than the standard process of animating one character, in a throwback to the way Disney's first features were created.[23][27] The exception were those responsible for creating the Giant himself, who was created usingcomputer-generated imagery due to the difficulty of creating a metal object "in a fluid-like manner".[15] They had additional trouble with using the computer model to express emotion.[23] The Giant consisted of 7,000 parts (the Battle Giant had 10,000 parts),[28] and was designed by filmmakerJoe Johnston and refined by production designer Mark Whiting and Steve Markowski, head animator for the Giant.[22] Using software, the team would animate the Giant "on twos" (every other frame, or twelve frames per second) when interacting with other characters, to make it less obvious it was a computer model.[22] Bird brought in students fromCalArts to assist in minor animation work due to the film's busy schedule. He made sure to spread out the work on scenes between experienced and younger animators, noting, "You overburden your strongest people and underburden the others [if you let your top talent monopolize the best assignments]."[23] Hiroki Itokazu designed all of the film's CGI props and vehicles, which were created in a variety of software, includingAlias Systems Corporation'sMaya, Alias'PowerAnimator, a modified version ofPixar'sRenderMan,Softimage 3D,Cambridge Animation's Animo (now part ofToon Boom Technologies),Avid Elastic Reality, andAdobe Photoshop.[29]
The art ofNorman Rockwell,Edward Hopper, andN.C. Wyeth inspired the design. Whiting strove for colors both evocative of the time period in which the film is set and also representative of its emotional tone; for example, Hogarth's room is designed to reflect his "youth and sense of wonder".[25] That was blended with a style reminiscent of 1950s illustration. Animators studiedChuck Jones,Hank Ketcham,Al Hirschfeld and Disney films from that era, such as101 Dalmatians, for inspiration in the film's animation.[27]
The score for the film was composed and conducted byMichael Kamen, making it the only film directed by Bird not to be scored by his future collaborator,Michael Giacchino, as of December 2024. Bird's original temp score, "a collection ofBernard Herrmann cues from '50s and '60s sci-fi films," initially scared Kamen.[30] Believing the sound of the orchestra is important to the feeling of the film, Kamen "decided to comb eastern Europe for an "old-fashioned" sounding orchestra and went toPrague to hearVladimir Ashkenazy conduct theCzech Philharmonic inStrauss'sAn Alpine Symphony." Eventually, the Czech Philharmonic was the orchestra used for the film's score, with Bird describing the symphony orchestra as "an amazing collection of musicians".[31] The score forThe Iron Giant was recorded in a rather unconventional manner, compared to most films: recorded over one week at theRudolfinum in Prague, the music was recorded without conventional uses of syncing the music, in a method Kamen described in a 1999 interview as "[being able to] play the music as if it were a piece of classical repertoire."[30] Kamen's score forThe Iron Giant won theAnnie Award forMusic in an Animated Feature Production on November 6, 1999.[32]
Bird opted to produceThe Iron Giant inwidescreen—specifically the wide2.39:1CinemaScopeaspect ratio—but was warned against doing so by his advisers. He felt it was appropriate to use the format, as many films from the late 1950s were produced in such widescreen formats.[33] He hoped to include the CinemaScope logo on a poster, partially as a joke, but20th Century Fox, owner of the trademark, refused.[34]
Bird later recalled that he clashed with executives who wished to add characters, such as a sidekick dog, set the film in the present day, and include a soundtrack of hip hop.[35] This was due to concerns that the film was not merchandisable, to which Bird responded, "If they were interested in telling the story, they should let it be what it wants to be."[22] The film was also initially going to be released under theWarner Bros. Family Entertainment banner, the logo which featured mascotBugs Bunny in a tuxedo and eating a carrot, as seen in the film's teaser trailer. Bird was against this for a multitude of reasons, mainly because he felt that the logo did not fit the tone of the movie, and eventually got confirmation that executivesBob Daley andTerry Semel agreed. Instead, Bird and his team developed another version of the logo to resemble the classic studio logo in a circle, famously employed inLooney Tunes shorts.[35] He credited executivesLorenzo di Bonaventura and Courtney Vallenti with helping him achieve his vision, noting that they were open to his opinion.[22]
According to a report from the time of its release,The Iron Giant cost $50 million to produce with an additional $30 million going towards marketing,[6] thoughBox Office Mojo later reported its budget as $70 million.[36] It was regarded as a lower-budget film, in comparison to the films distributed byWalt Disney Pictures.[37]
When he began work on the film, Bird was in the midst of coping with the death of his sister, Susan, who was shot and killed by her estranged husband. In researching its source material, he learned that Hughes wroteThe Iron Man as a means of comforting his children after his wife,Sylvia Plath, died by suicide, specifically through the metaphor of the title character being able to re-assemble itself after being damaged. These experiences formed the basis of Bird's pitch to Warner Bros., which was based around the idea "What if a gun had a soul, and didn't want to be a gun?"; the completed film was also dedicated to Hughes and Susan.[38][39] McCanlies commented that "at a certain point, there are deciding moments when we pick who we want to be. And that plays out for the rest of your life", adding that films can provide viewers with a sense of right and wrong, and expressed a wish thatThe Iron Giant would "make us feel like we're all part of humanity [which] is something we need to feel."[21] When some critics compared the film toE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Bird responded by saying "E.T. doesn't go kicking ass. He doesn't make the Army pay. Certainly you risk having your hip credentials taken away if you want to evoke anything sad or genuinely heartfelt."[33]
We had toy people and all of that kind of material ready to go, but all of that takes a year!Burger King and the like wanted to be involved. In April we showed them the movie, and we were on time. They said, "You'll never be ready on time." No, we were ready on time. We showed it to them in April and they said, "We'll put it out in a couple of months." That's a major studio, they have 30 movies a year, and they just throw them off the dock and see if they either sink or swim, because they've got the next one in right behind it. After they saw the reviews they [Warner Bros.] were a little shamefaced.
The Iron Giant was a commercial failure during its theatrical release; consensus among critics was that its failure was, in part, due to lack of promotion from Warner Bros. This was largely attributable to the reception ofQuest for Camelot; after its release, Warner would not give Bird and his team a release date for their film until April 1999.[40][41] After wildly successful test screenings, the studio was shocked by the response: the test scores were their highest for a film in 15 years, according to Bird.[19] They had neglected to prepare a successful marketing strategy for the film—such as cereal and fast food tie-ins—with little time left before its scheduled release. Bird remembered that the studio produced one teaser poster for the film, which became its eventual poster.[35] Brad Ball, who had been assigned the role of marketing the film, was candid after its release, noting that the studio did not commit to a plannedBurger King toy plan.[42]IGN stated that "In a mis-marketing campaign of epic proportions at the hands of Warner Bros., they simply didn't realize what they had on their hands."[43]
The studio needed an $8 million opening to ensure success, but they were unable to properly promote it preceding the release. They nearly delayed the film by several months to better prepare. "They said, 'we should delay it and properly lead up to its release,' and I said 'you guys have had two and a half years to get ready for this,'" recalled Bird.[35] Press outlets took note of its absence of marketing,[44] with some reporting that the studio had spent more money on marketing for the intended summerblockbusterWild Wild West instead.[23][40] Warner Bros. scheduled Sunday sneak preview screenings for the film prior to its release,[45] as well as a preview of the film on the online platform Webcastsneak.[46]
After criticism that it mounted an ineffective marketing campaign for its theatrical release, Warner Bros. revamped its advertising strategy for the video release of the film, including tie-ins withHoney Nut Cheerios,AOL andGeneral Motors[47] and secured the backing of threeU.S. congressmen (Ed Markey,Mark Foley andHoward Berman).[48] Awareness of the film was increased by its February 2000 release as a pay-per-view title, which also increased traffic to the film's website.[49]
The Iron Giant was released onVHS andDVD on November 23, 1999,[34] with aLaserdisc release following on December 6. Warner Bros. spent $35 million to market the home video release of the film.[50] The VHS edition came in three versions—pan and scan, pan and scan with an affixed Giant toy to the clamshell case, and awidescreen version. All of the initial widescreen home video releases were in 1.85:1, the incorrectaspect ratio for the film.[34] In 2000, television rights to the film were sold toCartoon Network andTNT for $3 million. Cartoon Network showed the film continuously for 24 consecutive hours in the early 2000s for such holidays as theFourth of July andThanksgiving.[51][52]
The Special Edition DVD was released on November 16, 2004.[53] In 2014, Bird entered discussions with Warner Bros. regarding the possibility of releasingThe Iron Giant onBlu-ray. On April 23, he wrote onTwitter that "WB & I have been talking. But they want a bare-bones disc. I want better," and encouraged fans to send tweets toWarner Home Video in favor of a Special Edition Blu-ray of the film.[54] The film was ultimately released on Blu-ray on September 6, 2016, and included both the theatrical and 2015 Signature Edition cuts, as well as a documentary entitledThe Giant's Dream that covered the making of the film.[55] This version also received a DVD release months earlier on February 16 withThe Giant's Dream documentary removed.[56]
The Iron Giant received critical acclaim.[57] OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 96% approval rating based on 144 reviews with an average rating of 8.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The endearingIron Giant tackles ambitious topics and complex human relationships with a steady hand and beautifully animated direction from Brad Bird."[58]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[59] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[60] The Reel Source forecasting service calculated that "96–97%" of audiences that attended recommended the film.[45]
Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times called it "straight-arrow and subversive, [and] made with simplicity as well as sophistication," writing, "it feels like a classic even though it's just out of the box."[61]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, and compared it, both in story and animation, to the works of Japanese directorHayao Miyazaki: "Like the new Japanese animated films,The Iron Giant is happy to be a 'real movie' in everything but live action. There are no cute little animals and not a single musical number: It's a story, plain and simple... It works as a lot of animation does, to make you forget from time to time that these are moving drawings, because the story and characters are so compelling." He concluded that it was "not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say."[62]The New Yorker reviewer Michael Sragow dubbed it a "modern fairy tale", writing, "The movie provides a master class in the use of scale and perspective—and in its power to open up a viewer's heart and mind."[63]Time's Richard Schickel deemed it "a smart live-and-let-live parable, full of glancing, acute observations on all kinds of big subjects—life, death, the military-industrial complex."[64]Lawrence Van Gelder, writing forThe New York Times, deemed it a "smooth, skilled example of animated filmmaking."[65]Joe Morgenstern ofThe Wall Street Journal felt it "beautiful, oh so beautiful, as a work of coherent art", noting, "be assured that the film is, before anything else, deliciously funny and deeply affecting".[66]
Both Hollywoodtrade publications were positive: David Hunter ofThe Hollywood Reporter predicted it to be asleeper hit and called it "outstanding",[67] while Lael Loewenstein ofVariety called it "a visually appealing, well-crafted film [...] an unalloyed success."[68] Bruce Fretts ofEntertainment Weekly commented, "I have long thought that I was born without the gene that would allow me to be emotionally drawn in by drawings. That is, until I sawThe Iron Giant."[69] Peter Stack of theSan Francisco Chronicle agreed that the storytelling was far superior to other animated films, and cited the characters as plausible and noted the richness of moral themes.[70] Jeff Millar of theHouston Chronicle agreed with the basic techniques as well, and concluded the voice cast excelled with a great script byTim McCanlies.[71]The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter, while giving the film 4 out of 5 stars, opined, "The movie — as beautifully drawn, as sleek and engaging as it is — has the annoyance of incredible smugness."[72]
The Iron Giant opened atMann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, with a special ceremony preceding the screening in which a concrete slab bearing the title character's footprint was commemorated.[73] The film opened in Los Angeles and New York City on August 4, 1999,[46] with a wider national release occurring on August 6 in the United States. It opened in 2,179 theaters in the U.S., ranking at number nine at the box office accumulating $5.7 million over its opening weekend.[74] It was quick to drop out of the top ten; by its fourth week, it had accumulated only $18.9 million—far under its reported $50 million budget.[6][5][74] According toDave McNary of theLos Angeles Daily News, "Its weekend per-theater average was only $2,631, an average of $145 or perhaps 30 tickets per showing"—leading theater owners to quickly discard the film.[45] At the time, Warner Bros. was shaken by the resignations of executivesBob Daly andTerry Semel, making the failure much worse.[45] T.L. Stanley ofBrandweek cited it as an example of how media tie-ins were now essential to guaranteeing a film's success.[6]
The film went on to gross $23.2 million domestically and $8.1 million internationally for a total of $31.3 million worldwide.[36][5] Analysts deemed it a victim of poor timing and "a severe miscalculation of how to attract an audience."[45]Lorenzo di Bonaventura, president of Warner Bros. at the time, explained, "People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered."[75]
TheHugo Awards nominatedThe Iron Giant forBest Dramatic Presentation,[76] while theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honoredBrad Bird andTim McCanlies with theNebula Award nomination.[77] TheBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film aChildren's Award asBest Feature Film.[78] In additionThe Iron Giant won nineAnnie Awards out of fifteen nominations, winning every category it was nominated for,[79] with another nomination forBest Home Video Release atThe Saturn Awards.[80]IGN rankedThe Iron Giant as the fifth favorite animated film of all time in a list published in 2010.[81] In 2008, theAmerican Film Institute nominatedThe Iron Giant for itsTop 10 Animated Films list.[82]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annie Awards | November 6, 1999 | Best Animated Feature Film | Allison Abbate,Des McAnuff, andJohn Walker Warner Bros. Pictures;Warner Bros. Feature Animation | Won |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Effects Animation | Allen Foster | |||
| Michel Gagné | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Character Animation | Jim Van der Keyl | |||
| Steve Markowski | Won | |||
| Dean Wellins | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Brad Bird | Won | ||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production | Michael Kamen | |||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Alan Bodner | |||
| Mark Whiting | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Mark Andrews | Won | ||
| Kevin O'Brien | Nominated | |||
| Dean Wellins | ||||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Eli Marienthal For playing "Hogarth Hughes". | Won | ||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Tim McCanlies (screenplay) and Brad Bird (story) | |||
| BAFTA Children's Award | November 12, 2000 | Best Feature Film | Brad Bird, Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff, and Tim McCanlies | |
| Florida Film Critics Circle | January 9, 2000 | Best Animated Film | Brad Bird | Won |
| Genesis Awards | March 18, 2000 | Best Feature Film – Animated | ||
| Hugo Award | September 2, 2000 | Best Dramatic Presentation | Brad Bird (screen story and directed by), Tim McCanlies (screenplay by), and Ted Hughes (based on the bookThe Iron Man by) | Nominated |
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society | January 18, 2000 | Best Animated Film | Won | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | January 20, 2000 | Best Animated Film | Brad Bird | |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards | March 25, 2000 | Best Sound Editing – Animated Feature | ||
| Best Sound Editing – Music – Animation | Nominated | |||
| New York Film Critics Circle | January 10, 2000 | Best Animated Film | 2nd place | |
| Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Awards | January 9, 2000 | Best Animated Film | Won | |
| Saturn Awards | June 6, 2000 | Best Home Video Release | Nominated | |
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America | May 20, 2000 | Best Script | Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies | |
| Young Artist Awards | March 19, 2000 | Best Family Feature Film – Animated | ||
| Best Performance in a Voice-Over (TV or Feature Film) – Young Actor | Eli Marienthal | Won |
The film has gathered acult following since its original release.[43] In 2018, when questioned over social media if there was ever a possibility of a sequel, Bird stated that because the film was considered a financial failure, a sequel was not likely to ever happen, but he also stressed that he considered the story ofThe Iron Giant to be completely self-contained in the film and saw no need for extending the story.[83]
TheCartoon Network seriesMad, did a parody of the film as well as the filmThe Iron Lady for their Season 3 premiere entitledThe Iron Giant Lady. In the sketch, British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher is the Giant and inspires othergynoids to take positions of political power.
In theFuturama episode, "Assie Come Home", the Iron Giant's head can be seen in Yuri's chop-shop in Filthytown.
The designers of the 2015 video gameOri and the Blind Forest were guided by inspirations from the film, alongsideDisney'sThe Lion King.[84]
In theLego Movie spin-off seriesUnikitty!, the episode entitled "Kaiju Kitty" references the film's climatic moment that details the Giant seemingly being destroyed after intercepting the USSNautilus' missile.
The Iron Giant appears inSteven Spielberg's 2018 science fiction filmReady Player One.[85][86] Aech had collected the parts of the Iron Giant, which she later controls during the film's climax to opposeMechagodzilla, aided byGundam. After the Iron Giant sacrifices itself and falls into a river of lava, it gives a thumbs up to the heroes while sinking in a direct homage to theT-800’s sacrifice at the end ofTerminator 2: Judgment Day.
The Iron Giant appears inMalcolm D. Lee's 2021 basketball filmSpace Jam: A New Legacy.[87] He is among the characters in the Warner Bros. 3000 Entertainment Server-Verse that watches the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad. After the former wins the game, the Giant shares afist bump with fellow spectatorKing Kong.
The Iron Giant appears as a playable character in the fighting gameMultiVersus on July 26, 2022, as a part of its "open beta".
The Iron Giant appears in theTeen Titans Go! episode, "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary". He is among the remains of Blockbuster Island.
Alberto "Beto" Tlahuetl, director of the Mexicancumbia band "Grupo Soñador", stated that he was inspired by the film to write the song "El Paso del Gigante" (initially called "El Gigante de Hierro", i.e.The Iron Giant) after dreaming of the Giant dancing in the streets of Los Angeles. The lyrics emphasize the theme of never giving up on a daughter's love by being her biggest protector.[88][89]
A remastered and extended cut of the film, named theSignature Edition, was shown in one-off screenings across the United States and Canada on September 30, 2015, and October 4, 2015.[90] The edition is approximately two minutes longer than the original cut, and features a brief scene with Annie and Dean in the cafe and the Giant's dream sequence.[91] Both scenes were storyboarded by Bird during the production on the original film, but could not be finished due to time and budget constraints. Before they were fully completed for this new version, they were presented as deleted storyboard sequences on the 2004 DVD bonus features.[90] They were animated in 2015 by Duncan Studio, which employed several animators that worked on the original film, under Bird's supervision.[90] The film'sSignature Edition was released on DVD and for digital download on February 16, 2016,[56] with an officialBlu-ray release of this cut following on September 6.[92] Along with the additional scenes, it also showcases abandoned ideas that were not initially used due to copyright reasons, specifically a nod toDisney via aTomorrowland commercial, which was also a reference to histhen-recently released film of the same name, and a reference regarding the film being shot withCinemaScope cameras.[17]
On March 14, 2016, coinciding with the release of theSignature Edition, it was announced thatThe Art of the Iron Giant would be written by Ramin Zahed and published by Insight Editions, featuring concept art and other materials from the film.[93]
Brad Bird's 1999animated classicThe Iron Giant...
Released in 1999, thismodern classic of hand-drawn animation
is now widely recognized as amodern classic
What he does find is a 50-foot giant with an insatiable appetite for metal and a childlike curiosity about its new world.
There's very little "Iron Giant" merchandise (no Happy Meals!)...
Some publications have compared the film's studio experience to "A Little Princess" and "Iron Giant," two other Warner Bros. family releases that famously failed to reach a broad audience in theaters despite widespread critical acclaim.
