Warner Bros. PicturesWhilst not the most faithful adaptation of the Ted Hughes source material, The Iron Giant is one of the best children's films of recent years, with some stunning animation and genuinely heartfelt scenes between a kid and a huge, alien robot voiced by Vin Diesel (that guy again!). Directed by Brad Bird, veteran of the Simpsons and later Academy Award winning helmer of Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and with an all-star cast rounded out by Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr, and John Mahoney, it should also be one of the most famous and successful children's of recent years. Which, somehow, it's not. The project had a troubled production, beginning in 1994 and only really starting to take shape when Bird came on board with scriptwriter Tim McCanlies in 1996, it got to the point during animation that the director had to enlist the help of students from California Institute of the Arts to actually complete the film. When it was finally done by 1999, the budget had ballooned to between $50 million and $70 million dollars, meaning it would have had to be a serious box office smash to recoup the money spent on making it. Which it didn't, instead grossing just $31.3 million worldwide and thus being considered a serious box office bomb. Once again, though, the Iron Giant never really stood a chance. After the similar failure of huge animated movie The Quest For Camelot the year before Warner Bros, weirdly, got cold feet with regards to cartoons. Executives didn't get it, they kept pushing the film back and ignoring potential merchandise tie ins and Burger King advertising, eventually releasing it without much fanfare. According to Bird, once they saw the reviews, they were "a little shamefaced." Too little, too late.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
Warner Bros. PicturesWhilst not the most faithful adaptation of the Ted Hughes source material, The Iron Giant is one of the best children's films of recent years, with some stunning animation and genuinely heartfelt scenes between a kid and a huge, alien robot voiced by Vin Diesel (that guy again!). Directed by Brad Bird, veteran of the Simpsons and later Academy Award winning helmer of Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and with an all-star cast rounded out by Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr, and John Mahoney, it should also be one of the most famous and successful children's of recent years. Which, somehow, it's not. The project had a troubled production, beginning in 1994 and only really starting to take shape when Bird came on board with scriptwriter Tim McCanlies in 1996, it got to the point during animation that the director had to enlist the help of students from California Institute of the Arts to actually complete the film. When it was finally done by 1999, the budget had ballooned to between $50 million and $70 million dollars, meaning it would have had to be a serious box office smash to recoup the money spent on making it. Which it didn't, instead grossing just $31.3 million worldwide and thus being considered a serious box office bomb. Once again, though, the Iron Giant never really stood a chance. After the similar failure of huge animated movie The Quest For Camelot the year before Warner Bros, weirdly, got cold feet with regards to cartoons. Executives didn't get it, they kept pushing the film back and ignoring potential merchandise tie ins and Burger King advertising, eventually releasing it without much fanfare. According to Bird, once they saw the reviews, they were "a little shamefaced." Too little, too late.