In an interview just before the release of his animated feature, The Iron Giant, in 1999, director Brad Bird said of the film’s story, “I would probably put it somewhere between playing around with the formula and throwing it out. I think, in many ways, playing around with it is throwing it out. We are not re-inventing storytelling. There are many antecedents to this film – The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong, Frankenstein, E.T., even Terminator 2.”
Although it had its roots in several other films, many considered The Iron Giant something new and daring during the animation renaissance of the 1990s. When it opened on August 6, 1999, Roger Ebert wrote, “…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.”
Ebert added, “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.”
Twenty-five years later, many believe all of this is still true about The Iron Giant. A box-office disappointment on its initial release, the film has developed a devoted following and respect in the two and a half decades since its debut.
Based on the story, The Iron Man, by the late poet laureate Ted Hughes, The Iron Giant takes place in the fictional town of Rockwell, Maine, in the late 1950s, during the Cold War era. A young boy named Hogarth Hughes (voiced by Eli Marienthal) discovers a 50-foot-tall robot (Vin Diesel) in the forest. Hogarth lures him home and hides the Giant in his barn. The young boy tries to keep the Iron Giant a secret from his mom, Annie (Jennifer Aniston) but confides in a local beatnik named Dean (Harry Connick Jr.).
A nosy government agent named Kent Mansby (Christopher McDonald) arrives in town, and soon the locals grow suspicious and paranoid. Hogarth tries to hide the robot as the situation escalates. The Iron Giant finds himself in a position to save the town’s residents.
Bird first came aboard as director of The Iron Giant during an “open house” at Warner Bros., where concepts for future films were displayed, and he first saw some early artwork. “It struck me and stayed with me,” said Bird in 1999. “It was the image of a big iron man and a little boy. I saw a lot of projects that same day; everything that was in development was on display. There were probably 40 or 50 projects in development. But [The Iron Giant] really cut through all of it, and I found myself thinking about it later.”
“He took it and did his own treatment of it,” noted The Iron Giant’s producer, Allison Abbate, in a 1999 interview. “He basically updated it and fleshed it out more. The story is very poetic and very ethereal. It’s a beautiful story, but Brad put more detail into it. The nice thing about it is that we have completely captured the spirit and the heart of the book.”
That heart became the connection between the film’s two main characters. “The relationship between the two is that Hogarth is the parent, and the Giant is the child,” said Bird. The Iron Giant also contains a touching message, as expressed by Hogarth in the film: “You are who you choose to be.”
Bird chose to be a filmmaker at a young age. In fact, as a teenager, he made his own animated film, which caught the attention of the Disney Studio. Bird was eventually brought to Disney, where he mentored under several of Walt’s “Nine Old Men.”
Director Brad Bird
After Disney, Bird went on to work for Steven Spielberg, directing an animated episode of the Amazing Stories anthology TV show entitled “Family Dog” (which eventually became a series). In 1989, Bird joined The Simpsons and, after being a part of the iconic series for several years, left to pursue other projects, eventually leading him to The Iron Giant.
In 2000, Bird joined Pixar and directed some of the studio’s most popular films, 2004’s The Incredibles (which featured another cameo by Frank and Ollie), Ratatouille (2007), and The Incredibles 2 (2018).
Bird also made the leap to live-action directing with Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) and Disney’s Tomorrowland (2015).
Just before his first feature, The Iron Giant was released twenty-five years ago this summer, Bird shared advice that’s led to so much success in his career.
“I don’t know how many times I heard, ‘You haven’t got a prayer,’” he said. “To anyone who’s out there reading this and has something different that they’re going to do – just grit your teeth and get what you want on to the screen.”
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
Not long after the film’s release, the newspaper comic strip “Zits” had a storyline with the teenage lead character Jeremy lying to his folks about seeing TIG, when he had sneaked into a showing of the concurrently-running American Pie instead.
Coincidentally, a similar event had occurred forty-two years earlier on a first season episode of Leave it to Beaver, (“Voodoo Magic”), wherein Wally & the Beave take in a shlocky horror flick rather than Pinocchio as they had promised their parental unit. Now, in both cases, our boys would have found it much, much more rewarding to have taken advantage of their respective animated feature offerings, although I have to admit a naked Shannon Elizabeth is difficult to resist.
“The Iron Giant” is one of the truly great animated features, similar to Miyazaki in its “adult” handling of its story (as opposed to cutesie, sentimental, jokey or smart-assed cartoon films that talk down to their audiences), and one of the best films of its year. It didn’t get the reception it deserved because 2D animation was on its way out; and also since it satirizes Cold War paranoia, and dares to be anti-gun. Its message “You are who you choose to be” is certainly a more pragmatic variation on the standard “Follow your dream (or heart).” The color scheme doesn’t quite come off, though: they needed to emulate 1950s WarnerColor to evoke the period. Speaking of which, the most fun aspect of “The Iron Giant” from a fantasy viewpoint is the thought of taking it in a time machine back to 1957 to show the Termite Terrace boys (not to mention Frank and Ollie).
Not only is this film something of a masterpiece of traditional animation and CGI, but it also features really good “voice work” acting on the part of Jennifer Aniston and Vin Diesel. Harry Connick, Jr. does a decent job as well!
It’s hard for me to believe this film is now 25 years old!
The anti-gun theme in “The Iron Giant” stems from a heartbreaking family tragedy. In 1989, Brad Bird’s sister Susan was shot to death by her estranged husband in a murder-suicide. The film’s simple dedication, “For Susan”, honours her memory.
The 1990s were a real golden age for animated features. Unfortunately many of them, like “The Iron Giant”, were poorly promoted and suffered at the box office in consequence. While it’s justly acknowledged as a classic today, it might have been at the vanguard of a rich legacy of animated films from Warner Bros. if the studio had shown a greater appreciation for the vast resources of talent at its disposal.
After seeing it on the local “mega screen” during the 1999 movie “Summer Season”. I became its “cheerleader”. I made it a point to invite and treat friends to theatre screenings of it, during its all too short time at the multiplexes. Warners botched the marketing for it. It was so weird when people told me they enjoyed it as a cable TV staple. Ditto for how the studio has now embraced it by putting the Giant into “Ready Player One” and the Space Jam sequel!
Mr. Batts: Noting your unusual last name, are you the same guy who used to do caricatures in the St. Louis, Missouri area, Chester, Illinois, etc. If so, you did a nice caricature for myself and my wife as “Popeye” and “Olive Oyl.” if so, thanks very much – again!
Jim, I’ve heard pretty much the same thing – that WB didn’t promote it properly. It was the best animated feature film that I had seen for years. Still is!
The fact it got a directors’s cut years later, WITH NEW SCENES, is a small miracle. Or perhaps a gigantic miracle. I saw that version in theaters. Every DVD is not obsolete.
Amazing movie! I love the story’s theme of not letting where you came from define who you are. The blending of 2D and 3D is also very well done and the humor is great. The scene with the giant stopping the missile at the end always gets me emotional.
Warner Bros certainly was not very savvy when it came to promoting their animated films. It’s a shame that The Iron Giant didn’t receive the recognition it truly merited upon its release, but I’m glad to see that it garnered a huge following this many years later. It definitely is a true classic with its themes and storytelling. I have a lot of respect for Brad Bird as he always pulls to make the best film possible and with The Iron Giant as well as his work at Pixar, it always shows.