The Iron Giant

It came from outer space!

In the 1950s, a boy encounters a giant made of iron in the woods; the creature is from outer space, but the kid’s new playmate is not easily accepted by adults. An animated charmer that shows director Brad Bird’s potential, even though it wasn’t a commercial success. Reminiscent of E.T. (1982), this is a predictable story of a boy who takes care of an alien hunted by government agents, but gains strength from its sense of humor and the clever way Bird ties it to 1950s fear of commies and atomic weapons. The animation (including its CGI elements) looks beautiful, and Eli Marienthal does a good job voicing the boy.

The YouTube clip shows the trailer.

1999-U.S. Animated. 86 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff. Directed by Brad Bird. Screenplay: Tim McCanlies. Novel: Ted Hughes (“The Iron Man”). Voices of Jennifer Aniston (Annie Hughes), Eli Marienthal (Hogarth Hughes), Harry Connick, Jr. (Dean McCoppin), Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, James Gammon… Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney.

Trivia: Executive producer Pete Townshend originally intended to turn the story into a musical with songs from his album “The Iron Man”.