If you blinked you missed this little gem, and that's a shame.
The Iron Giant is another noteworthy entry in the astonishing array of quality
animated films produced in the last two years,
Click for photo sequence |
|
as well as the first one that offers a real challenge to
Disney in the one area that no other film in this class has
approached: genuine emotional contact. Wail as you will about
Disney's predictable themes of alienation and acceptance, the
regrettable white-bread heroes, the comic sidekicks, the remote
or missing father figure, the song content-by-the-numbers. The
best Disney animated films all have moments of emotional
connection that transcend their two-dimensional origins. No mean
achievement, considering that almost no other animated film has
managed it in 60 years. Charlotte's Web, which had one of
the finest children's story ever written to help it along.
And now, The Iron Giant. It is probably no coincidence that Giant
also has quality origins: a Ted Hughes story, written in 1965.
Hughes, a poet laureate, wrote the story originally to explain
the suicide of his wife, Sylvia Plath, to the two children she
left behind. (He was then involved with a woman who killed
herself and their child in 1969. Some people do have it tough.)
The story is set in the mid-50s, at the height of the Cold War
paranoia that consumed the US. A young boy finds a huge robot and
befriends him. Nasty US government guy is obsessed with finding
the robot, convinced that the Russians have planted him here to
destroy the country. Cool beatnik dude helps out reluctantly at
first. Single working mom is clueless but supportive.
Trailers for this movie made it seem very ET-like, but the
similarity is minimal. And Giant has no interest in using its
animation to do anything other than tell a story. It is no
surprise to see that Brad Bird is executive consultant to both The
Simpsons and King of the Hill. No singing animals, no
magic, no suspension of reality constraints (well, except for the
Giant).
The characters are all superbly drawn--Hogan, the boy, and
Connick's charmingly laid-back beatnik are delightful, while
Christopher McDonald's paranoid government agent is surprisingly
three-dimensional. But this is the Giant's story; the development
of his character is never sold short, and the happiness you will
feel for him when he makes his choice will probably surprise you.
This movie earns every bit of the emotional investment it asks
for.
Kudos to Warner Bros for making it and all involved. It probably
wasn't marketed well, but my guess is that it will have a long,
long life on video. Whether or not you have kids, I recommend it.
If you do have kids, know that my 11-year-old, my 6-year-old
twins, and my 3-year-old nephew were all enthralled.
