Iron Giant
The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animated science fiction film directed by Brad Bird and written by Tim McCanlies. Loosely based on Ted Hughes's 1968 novel, The Iron Man, it features an ensemble cast, including 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, who have been alerted by paranoid federal agent Kent Mansley, from finding and vanquishing the Giant.
The film was initially conceived in 1994 as a musical with the involvement of the Who's Pete Townshend. In 1996, Bird signed on as director and McCanlies was hired to write the screenplay. The film was animated using traditional animation, with computer-generated imagery used to animate the Iron Giant and 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. Pictures on August 6. Although it received critical acclaim, the film was a massive box-office failure, grossing $31.7 million against a production budget of $50 million, which was attributed to Warner Bros.' lack of marketing and skepticism towards animated film production following the box office failure of Quest for Camelot in the preceding year. The film 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.
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