Cinema
The Iron Giant
Brad Bird · 1999
Synopsis
Rockwell, a small town in Maine, October 1957, in the middle of the Cold War. Hogarth, nine, lives alone with his mother, a widow who works as a waitress in a diner. One night, near the electrical substation, he discovers a giant robot about fifteen metres tall, fallen from the sky, without memory and a metal-eater, which devours the power lines; he cuts the power and saves it from electrocution. He hides it at the home of Dean, a scrap-metal dealer and artist. Kent Mansley, a government agent, finds the boy's rifle near the substation and rents a room in his mother's house to keep watch on him.
Context
The story comes from a children's book by the English poet Ted Hughes, published in 1968, from which Pete Townshend had made an album; Warner acquired the rights for a musical. Bird dropped the songs and moved the story to America in 1957, between fear of the bomb and suspicion of conspiracy. The giant is computer-generated and everything else is hand-drawn. The film is dedicated to Susan, the director's sister; Hughes had died the year before.
Who it is for
A film running one hour twenty-six minutes, rated for all audiences in France, though some scenes are harsh for young children.
Prizes and reception
A commercial failure, with twenty-three million dollars in box office takings in the United States, it became a cult film through video and television, and received nine Annie Awards.