The Iron Giant (1999)

Director:

Brad Bird

Writers:

Ted Hughes (book)
Tim McCanlies (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

6 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It came from outer space!

Plot:

A boy makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.

Plot Keywords:

No Opening Credits | Child | Resurrection | Alien Contact | Government Agent

Awards:

19 wins & 14 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 11	6:00 AM	HBO
Sun. July 20	6:00 AM	HBO

Cast

Jennifer Aniston	...	Annie Hughes (voice)
Harry Connick Jr.	...	Dean McCoppin (voice)
Vin Diesel	...	The Iron Giant (voice)
James Gammon	...	Marv Loach / Floyd Turbeaux / General Sudokoff (voice)
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. Lynley Tensedge (voice)
Christopher McDonald	...	Kent Mansley (voice) (as Christopher MacDonald)
John Mahoney	...	General Rogard (voice)
Eli Marienthal	...	Hogarth Hughes (voice)
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Earl Stutz (voice)
Mary Kay Bergman	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ollie Johnston	...	Train Engineer #1 (voice)
Jack Angel	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Michael Bird	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Devon Cole Borisoff	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Devon Borisoff)
Rodger Bumpass	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Robert Clotworthy	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jennifer Darling	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Zack Eginton	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Paul Eiding	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Bill Farmer	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Charles Howerton	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Sherry Lynn	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mickie McGowan	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Mickie T. McGowan)
Ryan O'Donohue	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Phil Proctor	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Patti Tippo	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Brian Tochi	...	Additional Voices (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Bergen	...	Additional Voices (as Robert Bergen)
Frank Thomas	...	Train Engineer #2 (voice)

Directed by
Brad Bird

Writing credits
Ted Hughes		(book "The Iron Man")
Brad Bird		(story) (Screenplay uncredited)
Tim McCanlies		(screenplay)

Produced by
Allison Abbate	....	producer
Des McAnuff	....	producer
Pete Townshend	....	executive producer
John Walker	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Michael Kamen

Cinematography by
Steven Wilzbach

Film Editing by
Darren T. Holmes

Casting by
Marci Liroff

Production Design by
Mark Whiting

Art Direction by
Alan Bodner

Production Management
Jeannine Berger	....	post-production supervisor
Aaron Parry	....	digital production manager
Laura Leganza Reynolds	....	assistant production manager
Amy Richards	....	production manager
Kathleen Zuelch	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Art Department
Viki Anderson	....	storyboard artist
Mark Andrews	....	storyboard artist
Irina Goosby	....	bluesketch artist
Ron Hughart	....	storyboard artist
Scott F. Johnston	....	artistic coordinator
Brian Kindregan	....	storyboard artist
Steve Markowski	....	storyboard artist
Moroni	....	storyboard artist
Teddy Newton	....	storyboard artist
Kevin O'Brien	....	storyboard artist
Fergal Reilly	....	storyboard artist
Harry Sabin	....	storyboard artist
Mercedes J. Sichon	....	lead bluesketch artist (as Mercedes Sichon)

Sound Department
Chad Algarin	....	sound recordist
Beau Borders	....	sound effects editor
Yin Cantor	....	assistant sound editor
Tony Eckert	....	foley editor
Andrea S. Gard	....	assistant sound designer
Joanna Laurent	....	assistant foley editor (as Joey Laurent)
Mary Helen Leasman	....	foley editor
Dennis Leonard	....	supervising sound editor
Frank 'Pepe' Merel	....	foley engineer
Preston Oliver	....	dialogue mixer
Curt Schulkey	....	supervising adr editor
Curt Schulkey	....	supervising dialogue editor
Aaron L. Thompson	....	sound engineer
Randy Thom	....	sound designer
Dennie Thorpe	....	foley artist
Jana Vance	....	foley artist
Gregory H. Watkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Stuart McCowan	....	apprentice sound designer (uncredited)
Troy Porter	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Carl Canga	....	special effects inbetweener

Visual Effects by
Ray Aragon	....	visual development
Leslie Barker	....	assistant production manager: animation
John Bermudes	....	effects animator
Brad Booker	....	computer graphics animator
Andrew Brownlow	....	computer graphics animator
Felipe Cerdán	....	effects inbetweener
Yarrow Cheney	....	computer graphics character animator
Minhee Choe	....	computer graphics animator
Laura L. Corsiglia	....	visual development
Jesse Cosio	....	effects animator
Stéphane Cros	....	computer graphics character animator
John Dillon	....	effects animator
Adam Dotson	....	CGI animator
Grace Dotson	....	computer graphics animator (as Grace Blanco)
Ricardo Echevarria	....	effects animator (as Rick Echevarria)
Bruce Edwards	....	CGI animator
Marc Ellis	....	effects animator
Kolja Erman	....	CGI technical director
Mark R.R. Farquhar	....	computer graphics animator
Allen Foster	....	effects department head
Michel Gagné	....	effects animator
Tad A. Gielow	....	computer graphics department head
Irene M. Gringeri	....	scanning supervisor
Victor J. Haboush	....	visual development
James Hathcock	....	visual effects
Earl A. Hibbert	....	effects animator
Brett Hisey	....	effects animator
Ron Hughart	....	computer graphics animator
Andrew Jimenez	....	digital artist
Yair Kantor	....	computer graphics animator
Craig Kelly	....	digital background artist
David Lee	....	effects inbetweener
Michael Leung	....	CGI designer/technical director
Sebastien Linage	....	computer graphics technical director
Roger Lougher	....	effects assistant
Dominique Louis	....	visual development (as Dominique R. Louis)
John MacFarlane	....	effects animator
Les Major	....	computer graphics animator
Rob Meyers	....	effects animator
Rodd Miller	....	visual effects
Jem Mirza	....	effects assistant (as Jemshaid Mirza)
Mike Murphy	....	computer graphics animator
Teddy Newton	....	visual development
Kevin Oakley	....	special effects animator
Kevin M. O'Neil	....	effects animator
Susan Oslin	....	computer graphics animator
Volker Pajatsch	....	effects animator
David Pritchard	....	effects animator
Jay Shindell	....	effects assistant animator
Edwin Shortess	....	digital scanner
Gary Sole	....	effects animator
Vincent Truitner	....	computer graphics animator
Ryan Jeremy Woodward	....	effects animator
Alex Neymark	....	technology consultant (uncredited)
Von Williams	....	effects assistant animator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Dinicola	....	animation camera supervisor (uncredited)

Animation Department
Eric J. Abjornson	....	clean-up animation lead
James P. Alles	....	layout artist
Richard Baneham	....	animator
Richard Bazley	....	supervising animator
Christopher Brock	....	background artist
Adam Burke	....	animator
Tania Burton	....	color model supervisor (as Tania Mitman Burton)
Jennifer Cardon Klein	....	animator (as Jennifer Cardon)
Mike Chavez	....	animator
Ruben Chavez	....	background artist
Greg Checketts	....	animator
Teresa Coffey-Wellins	....	layout artist
Joanne Coughlin	....	additional animator
Devin Crane	....	additional animator
Ricardo Curtis	....	animator
Ruth Daly	....	animator
Bob Davies	....	supervising animator
William Dely	....	background artist
Jean Cullen De Moura	....	additional animator
Marcelo Fernandes De Moura	....	animator
Dennis Durrell	....	background artist
Jeff Etter	....	animator
Carla Fallberg	....	character sculptor
Lauren Faust	....	animator
Ralph Fernan	....	animator
James Finn	....	background artist
Stephan Franck	....	supervising animator
Tony Fucile	....	animation department head
Steve Garcia	....	animator
Frederick J. Gardner III	....	layout artist (as Frederick J. Gardiner III)
Nathalie Gavet	....	clean-up animation lead
Greg Gibbons	....	background artist
Louis Gonzales	....	layout artist
Lennie K. Graves	....	animator
Ann Guenther	....	background artist
Russell Hall	....	animator
Karen Hamrock	....	layout artist
Adam Henry	....	animator
Ken Hettig	....	animator
Kevin Johnson	....	animator
Ben Jones	....	animator
Karenia Kaminski	....	clean-up animation lead
Conor Kavanagh	....	layout artist
Ernie Keen	....	animator
Jae H. Kim	....	animator
Sarah-Jane King	....	ink and paint supervisor
Marty Korth	....	clean-up animation lead
Piet Kroon	....	story artist
Francis Lang	....	layout artist
Phil Langone	....	additional animator
Phil Larsen	....	additional animator
Boowon Lee	....	additional animator
Helen Hee Seung Lee	....	additional animator
Holger Leihe	....	animator
Lane Lueras	....	animator
Greg Manwaring	....	supervising animator
Craig R. Maras	....	animator
Roy Meurin	....	animator
Felipe Morell	....	layout artist
Michael Mullen	....	additional animator
Randy Myers	....	animator
June Myung Nam	....	clean-up animation lead
Mike Nguyen	....	supervising animator
Fabio Novais	....	animator
Melina Sydney Padua	....	animator
Don Parmele	....	clean-up animation lead
Joel Parod	....	background artist
Wendy Perdue	....	supervising animator
Scott T. Petersen	....	animator
Doris A. Plough	....	clean-up animation lead
Shane Prigmore	....	additional animator
Craig Robertson	....	background artist
Ron Roesch	....	layout artist (as Ronald M. Roesch)
Eddie Rosas	....	additional animator
Jonathan Salt	....	background artist
Chris Sauve	....	supervising animator
Andy Schmidt	....	animator
Andy Schuhler	....	additional animator
Mike Shannon	....	additional animator
Kyung S. Shin	....	additional animator
Myoung Smith	....	animation check: 2-D and 3-D department head
Peter Sohn	....	additional animator
Lisa Souza	....	layout artist
Sean Springer	....	animator
Audrey Stedman	....	layout artist
Stephen Steinbach	....	additional animator
Glenn Storm	....	animator
Mike Swofford	....	animator
Derek lee Thompson	....	animator
Bill Thyen	....	layout artist
Michael Tracy	....	layout artist
Bob Tyler	....	clean-up animation lead (as Robert Tyler)
Craig Valde	....	animator
Jim Van der Keyl	....	animator
Michael Venturini	....	additional animator
Roger Vizard	....	animator
Craig Voigt	....	layout artist
Nadia Vurbenova	....	background artist
Dean Wellins	....	directing animator
Dean Wellins	....	story artist
Alexander Williams	....	animator
Mark Williams	....	animator
John Williamson	....	animator
Miri Yoon	....	clean-up assistant
Jennifer Yuan	....	layout artist
Wei M. Zhao	....	background artist
Daryl Carstensen	....	animation checker: 2-D and 3-D animation (uncredited)
Guy Donovan	....	breakdown artist (uncredited)
Frederick J. Gardner III	....	layout artist (uncredited)
Cathlin Hidalgo	....	breakdown artist: "Hogarth" (uncredited)
Steve Kindernay	....	ink and paint artist (uncredited)
Steve Markowski	....	animation supervisor (uncredited)
Steve Markowski	....	character designer (uncredited)
Johnny Painter	....	breakdown artist (uncredited)
Dusty Wakefield	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Ryan Jeremy Woodward	....	animator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Sheri Galloway	....	first assistant editor
Stephen Schaffer	....	assistant editor
Greg Snyder	....	assistant editor
John Currin	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Bill Daly	....	post-production executive (uncredited)
Karl Dunne	....	scanner technician (uncredited)

Music Department
James Austin	....	music consultant
James Seymour Brett	....	music programmer: electronic score
Christopher Brooks	....	score producer
Robert Elhai	....	orchestrator
Michael Kamen	....	conductor
Michael Kamen	....	orchestrator
Michael Kamen	....	score producer
John 'Juke' Logan	....	music consultant
Blake Neely	....	orchestrator
Preston Oliver	....	music arranger: songs
Michael Price	....	music programmer: electronic score
James Seymour Brett	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
James Seymour Brett	....	music co-producer (uncredited)
Stephen McLaughlin	....	music score producer (uncredited)
Michael Price	....	music co-producer (uncredited)

Other crew
Brett Achorn	....	technical director
Mark Andrews	....	workbook designer
Will Bilton	....	acme digital specialist
Cathy E. Blanco	....	software engineer
Dennis Bonnell	....	final check department head
Alyson Brown	....	production accountant
Daniel Bunn	....	technical director
Steven Burch	....	technical director
Sandro Mario Corsaro	....	production associate
Zack Eginton	....	additional voice
Will Eisner	....	creator: "The Spirit"
Babak Forutanpour	....	technical director
William H. Frake III	....	layout/workbook department head (as Bill Frake)
Brian Gardner	....	technical director
Corey Hels	....	technical director
Rhonda L. Hicks	....	acme department head
Ted Hughes	....	consultant
Roger Huynh	....	technical director
Hiroki Itokazu	....	technical director
Conor Kavanagh	....	workbook designer
Darren Kiner	....	technical director
Andy King	....	technical director
Keith Kobata	....	technical engineer
Lureline Kohler	....	clean-up department head
Michael Leung	....	technical director
Stephen G. Lumley	....	workbook designer
Jeffrey Lynch	....	story department head
Mike Meckler	....	technical director
Emil Mitev	....	workbook designer
Felipe Morell	....	workbook designer
Lyle S. Nojima	....	technical director
Kim Patterson	....	scene planner: final scene
Brian Schindler	....	technical director
Joe Shuster	....	creator: "Superman"
Jerry Siegel	....	creator: "Superman"
Freddie Vaziri	....	digital specialist
Dennis Venizelos	....	background department head
Steven Wilzbach	....	scene planning department head
Teddy T. Yang	....	technical director
Bill Baggelaar	....	editorial engineer (uncredited)
Tanya Calderon	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Katherine C. Concepcion	....	training and artist development manager (uncredited)
Lem Davis	....	technical director (uncredited)
Liza Dodson	....	assistant: Ms. Abbate (uncredited)
Dustin Ellis	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Tim Keon	....	development (uncredited)
Camille Leganza	....	intern (uncredited)
Jose Molina	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Laura Leganza Reynolds	....	technical liaison (uncredited)
Xandy Sussan	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Larry Whitaker	....	development artist (uncredited)

Thanks
Ted Hughes	....	in memory of

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Animation
• Warner Bros. Feature Animation
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Varus Video
• WB Television Network, The (2002) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1999) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (Argentina)
• Warner Bros. (Germany)
• Warner Bros. (France)
• Warner Bros.
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Spain) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Czech Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• Rhino Records  soundtrack published by

MPAA:

Rated PG for fantasy action and mild language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Germany:6 | Taiwan:GP | USA:PG (certificate #36640) | Iceland:L | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | Hong Kong:I | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

The Special Edition DVD contains 8 deleted scenes:

• An alternate opening featuring a larger ship in the eye of the hurricane, witnessing the Giant's arrival.
• Another scene of Hogarth at school.
• A talk in the truck about the death of Hogarth's dad, between Hogarth and his mother, following the 'Power Station' scene.
• Another part of the duel of wits between Hogarth and Kent involving what happens at breakfast the morning after Kent has his 'special' ice cream sundae.
• A campfire scene with Hogarth, Dean, and the Giant.
• A scene between Annie and Dean in the diner.
• The Giant and Hogarth getting involved with a drag race.
• A nightmare that the Giant has that gives clues to his origin and the bump on his head. These are mostly presented as animatic sequences, with some of them having partially completed animation.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Dean is called a "Beatnik" during the film which is set in 1957. The term "Beatnik" was coined by Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958 as a derogatory term, a reference to the Russian satellite Sputnik, which managed to suggest that the beats were (1) "way out there" and (2) pro-Communist.

Quotes:

Kent Mansley: The army arrives in the morning, Hogarth. Don't get cute.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in DVD (2006)

Soundtrack:

Searchin'

What more animated movie should be: a thoughtful, funny, touching story.

After seeing this movie, I was overcome by a strange feeling. I realized that I had found a treasure where I had least expected it. The Iron Giant is intelligent, funny, touching, and visually superb, and should show the world that an animated movie does not need to be A) computer-animated, or B) based on a fairy tale to be successful. One of the best American-made children's movies I have seen in a decade: [b]8.5/10.0[/b]

Now, I'm a 17-year-old who is slowly transitioning into the domain of movie buffdom, which basically means that I am watching a stream of movies based on recommendations from friends, critics, and the IMDb Top 250 list. I got this one almost by accident after the local rental place could not find the movie I was really after, choosing it basically on the knowledge that it was the previous project of Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles (a personal favorite). After watching it, I felt like calling up every mother I knew and telling her to have her children (and herself) watch this.

The Iron Giant revolves around an adventurous young boy in 1950s small-town America who discovers a gigantic robot out in the woods that has arrived on Earth from goodness-knows-where. He befriends the robot, while trying to keep him safe from a nosy government agent. The story seldom lags, with a series of comical adventures connected by the boy's growing relationship with his friend.

This movie is very appealing as entertainment. The voices are well-done, and the scenery is also terrific. Most importantly, though, is the animation, which is a bright spot from this time period. The characters are well-drawn, especially the Giant, who through terrific design, lifelike movements, and clever small touches (i.e., the eyes) seems both alien and human, imposing and childlike. Furthermore, the animation is comical. I don't know when I have ever seen slapstick or punchlines so well-complimented by the animation. The script, written by Bird and based off the book The Iron Man, is also very well done. Though the movie relies upon a few minor crutches common to children's movies, it is still very original and clever.

One thing that I must point out about this movie is its morals. Throughout the movie, the main moral of the story, about the Iron Giant learning and choosing to be good, is actually fairly adroitly handled. At no point when the subject comes up, including standard sentimental climax, does the idea seem contrived. Throughout the movie, evidence of Bird's influence by comic books is quite evident, and his ultimate message about heroes (variations of which will resurface in The Incredibles) is relevant and sincere. However, I do have to say that the secondary moral, about the evils of xenophobia and paranoia, both of which are embodied by the movie's antagonist, the government agent and the military, are very politically charged. While this may sound initially controversial and politically charged for a kids' movie (the second of which I do not deny), I noticed that it was in large part a thoughtful spoof of Cold War America, with jokes as well as valuable lessons about "duck and cover" and 1950s nuclear edginess that I found very clever.

On a final note, I do have to point out that this movie had me laughing hard, but more importantly, it brought me closer to tears than any animated movie I can remember (including Bambi), closer than I like to admit. I wish that I had discovered it sooner, and I hope that everyone gets the chance to experience it the way I did.