The Iron Giant (1999)

3 out of 4

Starring: voices of Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Harry Connick Jr, Chris MacDonald, John Mahoney

Director: Brad Bird

Time: 87 mins

Having seen Disney formularise its annual animated releases (the Pixar films excepted) to the standard protagonist-wishing-for-something-better type of story, accompanied by a host of sidekicks, humour, and a song-filled soundtrack, it's refreshing to see another animated film that doesn't adhere to the Disney rules. The Iron Giant, prduced by Warner Bros Feature Animation, doesn't have a wishful hero, contains no songs (except for 50s music playing in a diner jukebox), and no sidekicks in the Disney mould. It does have humour, but more subtle and appropriate than the usual Disney slapstick and one-liners. While not the classics that Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King are, it is a very good alternative to the likes of recent formulaic fare like Tarzan.

The film is set in the late 50s, a period when American paranoia about communist and alien invasion was at an all-time high. Hogarth Hughes (Marienthal) is a young boy who lives with his single mother Annie (Aniston) in the coastal town of Rockwell, Maine. One night, he loses the picture when watching TV and goes out to investigate. He finds a gigantic robot (Diesel) with an appetite for metal. When he saves the robot from getting electrocuted, they become fast friends. Sadly, Kent Mansley (MacDonald), a paranormal investigator sent from Washington DC hears of the robot and, in the best tradition of the McCarthy witch-hunts, aims to destroy it.

The Iron Giant attempts to capture the feel of what it must have been like in those Cold War days, and though I didn't live through that period, the stupidity and ignorance of government people (like Mansley) rings true. The film also seems to have been influenced partly by ET the Extra Terrestrial (boy befriends alien) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (boy has a pet robot), but seeing the source was a book by Ted Hughes, the similarities are probably coincidental (though the scenes where Hogarth are teaching the robot to speak and that it is wrong to kill, etc, are very reminiscent of T2!).

The animation is very good, if not quite in the best Disney standards, with warm hues and rich, detailed backgrounds. The facial expressions of the humans and the robot are skilfully realised, which is important in providing an emotional anchor. And the fact that the events happen in a small town, rather than in some fantastic or remote setting like African jungles, make it all the more believable. The lack of songs is also a nice touch; a Broadway-style number that Disney seems to think is essential these days would have destroyed the story's momentum. Director Bird, a veteran of TV's The Simpsons, lets the movie develop at its own pace, allowing the characters to grow on us. In an era when even other studios are copying Disney's formula (Dreamworks' Prince of Egypt and Fox's Anastasia come to mind, not to mention Warner's own The King and I and Quest for Camelot), it must have been hard to create an animated film based purely on story and character. Full kudos to Bird.

The cast of voices are well chosen. While there are a couple of mildly famous names, they fit in so well that it's not distracting, unlike, say, Sean Connery in Dragonheart. Singer Harry Connick Jr is quite droll as Dean, the scrap metal collector who helps Hogarth hide the robot.

The Iron Giant didn't perform well at the North American box office. One reason was Warner's poor marketing. Another was its release on the same weekend as (eventual) blockbuster The Sixth Sense, and a few weeks after the already blockbusting Tarzan. Tarzan was technically dazzling, but the story was blah and empty, and the usual Disney humour was too slapstick in nature. In comparison, The Iron Giant tells a great story with heart and humour, and tells it well.

(c) Joe Wong