The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is loosely based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes (which was published in the United States as The Iron Giant), and was written by Tim McCanlies from a story treatment by Bird. The film stars the voices 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 alien robot. With the help of a beatnik artist named Dean McCoppin, Hogarth attempts to prevent the U.S. military and Kent Mansley, a paranoid federal agent, from finding and destroying the Giant.

Plot

In October 1957, during the Cold War, an object from space crashes in the ocean just off the coast of Maine and then enters the forest near the town of Rockwell. The following night, young Hogarth Hughes investigates and finds the object, a gigantic 50-foot tall alien robot; he flees, but returns to save the giant from being electrocuted when the giant attempts to eat a substation. Hogarth eventually befriends the Giant, finding him docile and curious. When the Giant eats railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train, the train collides with him and derails; Hogarth leads the Giant away from the area, discovering that he can self-repair. Hogarth shows the Giant his comic books, and compares him to the hero Superman.

Awards