The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant

The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animated science fiction film directed by Brad Bird (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Tim McCanlies. Loosely based on Ted Hughes's 1968 novel The Iron Man, it features an ensemble cast consisting of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald and M. Emmet Walsh. Set during the Cold War in 1957, the film centers on a young boy named Hogarth Hughes, who discovers and befriends a giant robot of extraterrestrial origin. With the help of beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, Hogarth attempts to prevent the United States military from finding and vanquishing the Giant. The film was initially conceived in 1994 as a musical with the involvement of Pete Townshend of the Who. In 1996, Bird signed on as director and McCanlies was hired to write the screenplay. The film was animated primarily using traditional animation, with computer-generated imagery used to animate the Giant and for other effects. The crew of the film was understaffed and completed it with half of the time and budget of other animated features. Michael Kamen composed the film's score, which was performed by the Czech Philharmonic. The Iron Giant premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. on August 6. Although the film was met with critical acclaim upon release, it was a box-office failure, grossing $31.7 million against a production budget of $50 million. Its poor performance was attributed to a lack of marketing and Warner Bros.' skepticism towards animated films following the failure of Quest for Camelot the preceding year. The Iron Giant was nominated for several awards, winning nine Annie Awards out of 15 nominations. Through home video releases and television syndication, the film garnered a cult following and is widely regarded as a modern animated classic and one of the greatest animated films of all time. In 2015, an extended and remastered version of the film was re-released theatrically.