Brehm Center

        Forget Runaway Bride, forget the latest James Bond movie, and forget The Blair Witch Project.  These movies might have done well at the box office, but 1999 was the year for animation.  As Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "…we have just experienced probably the most impressive year for feature animation in the history of motion pictures."

        Toy Story 2, Tarzan, South Park, Pokémon, Princess Mononoke, Stuart Little, Fantasia--these are major releases, some no doubt Oscar contenders. And the best of the group (though the least recognized by moviegoers) was one you probably never even heard of, The Iron Giant.  Out on video, this film is a must, not only for 5-10 year olds, but also for adults.  C.S. Lewis once said, "A children's story which is only enjoyed by children is a bad children's story."  The Iron Giant is a great story.

        The story is adapted from Ted Hughes' children's book The Iron Man.  Director Brad Bird gave the original British story an American twist, setting it in a small town in Maine, during the height of the Cold War with its ever-present paranoia and tension.  Sputnik circles the globe, newspaper headlines regularly declare the threat of Russian invasion, and bomb shelter drills are frequently practiced in the local school. Young Hogarth overhears the talk of invasion (from Russia and/or space) and goes on a hunt to find the invader.

        What he finds is a 50-foot tall metal man, an iron giant.  But this big hulking thing that mysteriously arrives from outer space is curiously childlike too, gentle and receptive.  Only when threatened does his enormous capacity for blind destruction emerge.  Together with Dean, a friendly junkyard owner and scrap metal artist, Hogarth tries to keep the iron giant happy (his diet is metal) and hidden. This a bit difficult with the giant's voracious appetite, and when its playfulness includes such things as a cannonball dive into a lake, draining it of all water.  Nevertheless, life is good, that is, until obsessed federal agent, Kent Mansley, comes to town.

        Calling in the army to destroy this suspicious enemy, the agent would destroy the town "in order to save it" from the metal monster.  Hogarth reminds the iron giant that though designed to be a massive moving gun,  "you don't have to be a gun…you are who you choose to be…you choose."  And the giant chooses the way of loving sacrifice.

        With Hogarth and the Iron Giant, we join in the winsome mystery of friendship.  A childlike wonder, imagination and resourcefulness, a trust in each other, and most importantly, a faith in the goodness of the other's soul sustain their love for each other.  What we first think of as a metal monster, even a weapon of destruction, becomes a dear companion.  In some ways this film is an animated E.T.  While some of the film's humor and references to the 1950's are aimed at adults, its message of love, acceptance and nonviolence is accessible to all ages. This film goes against the tide of the thrill of violence in many films by its blatant affirmation of peace making.

        In addition to its simple touching story, the animation of The Iron Giant is unlike many of the others mentioned above. It is unpretentious, reminding you of the old Saturday cartoons. It is a perfect match with the story, and a refreshing alternative to many of the high-tech, high-glitze productions produced by Disney and others.

        Having heard of The Iron Giant, but initially scratching it off our long list of "to see" movies, we owe our viewing of this film to our good friend, Tim Allen, himself an accomplished animator at Disney.  We shared together how we were totally captured by the winsomeness, and the power and meaning of this movie.  Something at our core was touched. He said it much better than we could. "I am amazed at what this film says. I am amazed at how delightfully it says it. And I am amazed that it got made at all. It is a rare achievement--animated or otherwise."