Review of The Iron Giant (1999) by Jack C — 27 Aug 2012

The Iron Giant is a rare animated film that manages to encompass everything audiences adore about the genre and more. Tackling heavy subjects such as death and nuclear warfare with a steady hand and heavy heart, but also featuring the humor needed to make a film of this style work. The animation is beautiful, with special mention going to the portrayal of the giant himself. It would have been simple to just animate a CG robot and plop it down into scenes with the characters, but the way the robot moves and is animated blends near-flawlessly with the hand-drawn animation surrounding it, so much so that I completely forgot that he was CG until after the film was over. And speaking of the giant, Vin Diesel does a spectacular job of bringing the character to life. While the giant has very few lines, they are delivered flawlessly, encompassing emotions ranging from happiness and wonder to sorrow and even anger. If you haven't seen The Iron Giant yet, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not doing so. It's some of the best that animation has to offer, on the same league as films such as Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro.

This film also features some of the earliest work of Lauren Faust, wife of Craig McCracken and creator of the mega-hit animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Her other works include Quest for Camelot, Cats Don't Dance, The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.