The Iron Giant (1999)    Warner Bros./Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure    RT: 87 minutes    Rated PG (fantasy action violence, language, some thematic material)    Director: Brad Bird    Screenplay: Tim McCanlies    Music: Michael Kamen    Cinematography: Steven Wilzbach    Release date: August 6, 1999 (US)    Cast: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Christopher McDonald, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman.    Box Office: $23.1M (US)/$31.3M (World)

Rating: *** ½

 Although The Iron Giant employs traditional 2D animation, it would unfair and inaccurate to characterize it as a “cartoon”. That implies it’s for kids and while they will certainly like it, adults will appreciate it more. Grade schoolers aren’t likely to know anything about the Cold War era, the period in which The Iron Giant is set (1957 to be exact), a time when alien invasion movies were really metaphors for the imminent Communist invasion feared by many Americans. They won’t understand the references to Sputnik, fallout shelters, beatniks and the “duck-and-cover” films shown to school children at the time. For them, The Iron Giant will be just as much a history lesson as a sweet and funny animated movie about a boy and a fifty-foot robot from space. In a way, it’s a lot like E.T. Directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), it’s a beautifully rendered movie that has deservedly become a cult classic since its initial release in ’99.

 It all starts when the titular being crash lands into the ocean just outside the small coastal town of Rockwell, Maine. He’s found in the forest one night by 9YO Hogarth Hughes (Marienthal, American Pie) who saves him from being electrocuted while eating the power station. He tries to tell his widowed mother Annie (Aniston, Friends) about his amazing discovery, but she doesn’t believe him. The next day, Hogarth returns to the scene to get photographic evidence of the robot’s existence. The two end up becoming friends with the Iron Giant (Diesel, the Fast & Furious movies) following Hogarth home. In the meantime, a government agent named Kent Mansley (McDonald, Happy Gilmore) arrives in town to investigate reports of a giant robot that eats metal. Wouldn’t you know he rents a room in the Hughes household in order to pump Hogarth for information?

 The boy hides his new friend at a junkyard belonging to beatnik artist Dean (singer Connick), but to no avail. Mansley calls in the Army, led by General Shannon (Mahoney, Frasier), to neutralize the perceived threat. The thing about the Iron Giant is that he’s a peaceful being. Like E.T., he’s like a child lost in a world he doesn’t understand. He’s peaceful until he perceives a threat, then he turns into a weapon capable of defending himself with deadly force. So naturally he’s going to fight back when the Army comes at him with guns and tanks. But since Hogarth taught him the merits of being like Superman, it’s a no-brainer that he will do something heroic that ultimately saves the whole town.

 The Iron Giant bombed at theaters in summer ’99, mainly due to poor marketing. The suits at Warner didn’t expect much from it, especially after Quest for Camelot tanked the previous year. They didn’t promote it properly and even though test audiences responded enthusiastically, it just didn’t bring in the kind of numbers it needed to make it a hit. At a cost of $80 million, it didn’t even break even. I had a feeling that would happen and not just because of the studio’s faulty marketing strategy (or lack thereof). The Iron Giant has this retro thing going for it that kids wouldn’t respond to. It doesn’t pander to audiences, but rather engages their collective imagination. Show of hands, how many of you dreamed of having a giant robot as a friend when you were a kid? Okay, that’s nearly everybody. The Iron Giant fills you with the same sense of wonder that you felt when seeing Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark or E.T. for the first time.

 The style of animation helps maintain the retro feel. The makers used computers in order to allow the Iron Giant to move more fluidly, but you can hardly tell. The rest of The Iron Giant is the hand-drawn animation many of us grew up watching. It allows us to focus more on the emotional aspects of the story. This movie has plenty of heart. In one scene, Hogarth explains death to the Iron Giant after they witness hunters shooting a deer. The friendship that develops between the two is touching and not unlike the one between Elliott and E.T. Hogarth is a lonely boy picked on by his peers for being smart. His mother, a waitress at the local diner, works long hours. He’s also an only child. He understands how lonely the Iron Giant must feel. That The Iron Giant connects on an emotional level is an extra layer of greatness.

 Artistically, it’s awesome! The animation is great. The design evokes artists like Norman Rockwell (for whom the town is named) and N.C. Wyeth. It’s colorful and lively. It may be 2D, but it’s never flat. The score, composed by Michael Kamen and performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, perfectly befits the wondrous goings-on. In short, The Iron Giant is a great movie! It makes me feel like a kid again each time I watch it. It makes you believe anything’s possible. If a movie accomplishes that, then it has done its job effectively.