The Iron Giant

Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) lives with his single mother Annie (Jennifer Aniston) in the small town of Rockwell, Maine. One night, he finds a giant robot that eats metal. The robot (Vin Diesel), which arrived from outer space, looks fearsome but has the personality of a child. Hogarth teaches the giant about life on earth and befriends it. Meanwhile, zealous government agent Kent Mansley (Christopher MacDonald) arrives in Rockwell to investigate rumors of a giant monster. Beatnik scrap artist Dean (Harry Connick Jr.) helps Hogarth hide the giant, but it can't remain a secret forever.

With a premise that is fundamentally E.T. meets Terminator 2 - a boy and his inhuman friend - The Iron Giant could have been a very silly movie. Instead, The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird, is a touching story of friendship, love, and understanding in face of fear and prejudice. Regardless of where we come from, we ultimately choose who we are. Even an alien robot, built for war and destruction but redeemed by a child's innocence, can choose love and peace with the right guidance.

The Iron Giant is set just after the launch of Sputnik in 1957. The 1950s are looked upon nostalgically by many. World War II was long over, the economy was booming, the Baby Boom was underway, and everything just seemed simpler and better.

But it was also a time of fear, paranoia, suspicion, and prejudice. It was a time of conformity, pre-Civil Rights and pre-Women's Liberation. At one point, Mansley tries to blackmail Hogarth by threatening to have him taken away from Annie, which he could easily do because she's a single mother at a time when that had a huge stigma (which still exists today, unfortunately, to a degree).

The Cold War was in full swing, and the United States and the Soviet Union stared each other and raced to build bigger and more destructive weapons and nuclear bombs that could wipe out all life on the planet. The Red Scare had friends, families, and neighbors suspicious of each other; careers, reputations, and lies could be destroyed with a single allegation, true or not. 

What should have been a time of peace and prosperity was also a time of fear and distrust, and The Iron Giant captures that dichotomy.

The giant is the ultimate outsider. He doesn't understand human life, nor can he fit among people. He's different, a weapon of war built by unseen aliens for unknown reasons. Hogarth must keep him hidden because humanity at large is not ready for him. They would take one look at him and react with fear and hostility, not bothering to know or understand him. 

Hogarth, bullied at school, is an outsider, too. It's no surprise he bonds with the giant. He knows what it's like to not fit in, and maybe that's why he also trusts the beatnik Dean, who is also out of place in a small, traditional town of the 1950s. 

Hogarth notes the contradiction of the giant. The giant is made of metal but has thoughts and emotions, which Hogarth takes to mean the giant has a soul, and souls never die. Hogarth and the giant bond, play games, and read comic books about Superman while Dean teaches this robot how to make art and how to create. These scenes run, full of gentle whimsy and warmth, run counter to the paranoia and fear Mansley instigates and stirs.

I haven't even discussed the animation, which is gorgeous, full of rich fall colors, and filled with stunning details. It captures the look and feel of the 1950s and is animated in a traditional, hand-drawn style - one of the last major motion pictures to be so - that hearkens back to the classics of yesteryear.