Boohoo...The Iron Giant conquered my macho nature (Sad Cartoon W/O)

Rated PG

Directed by Brad Bird


My rating: A

When we imagine of cartoons, we see bright, flashy colors, humor, lavish songs written by Elton John, and plenty of movie tie-in products such as our favorite little plastic character in every Happy Meal. We also picture traditional storytelling of love and preachy messages. Can y’all say Disney? Yes, when we think of a cartoon, we think of a Disney product – sappy and downright cheesy.

There have been a few notable cartoon movies by Disney in the past but the big cooperate mouse has been sliding down into a hellhole known as Redundant and Formulaic Crap. They have exhausted every possible venue in making a cartoon. It is about time that another studio brings new life into this tired genre of happy and over-marketed cartoon. In 1999, Warner Brother Studio did just that with the release of “The Iron Giant”, an amazing and gorgeous cartoon.

When I first saw this movie back in 1999, a few moviegoers joined me in the theater. This was opening night. After the movie ended, I was left in perpetual awe. It made me laugh, smile, and cry. It also left me with the feeling of hope. Many people can call this movie manipulative, but what is the purpose of going to see a movie in the hope of not being manipulated? For me, I want to be manipulated. It is not an insult to my intelligence or my manhood. I enjoy crying, laughing, and smiling in movies. For “The Iron Giant” during several moments, I had teary eyes and by the end of the movie I was gently and innocently crying. Yes, “The Iron Giant” did make me cry and it continues to make me cry.

“The Iron Giant” takes place in the 1950s, Duck and Cover era of paranoia and the Cold War. The film opens on young Hogarth Hughes, an adventurous boy who lives with his mom, a waitress struggling to raise a son on her own. Since Hogarth is left alone, he is left to explore the world himself either through cheesy B-horror movies, comic books, and/or his imagination. One dark night, Hogwarth stumbled across a giant robot. Where is he from? Is he a communist weapon or a friend? With all of these outside factors, Hogarth and the giant robot became friends and learn from each other about humanity, dreams, and love.

"What if a gun chose not to be a gun? What if a gun had a soul?" The iron giant is a machine built to destroy everything in site. It is a giant weapon of mass destruction. But, it does have a soul. The movie is about Hogarth teaching the giant that everyone has the ability to choose who or what he will be. Though designed as a weapon of great destructive power, the giant can vow, like Superman, to only use his powers for good. There are other themes running through “The Iron Giant” such as friendship and sacrifice. But integral to the story is the idea of an eternal soul that lives on after we die.

Hogarth gets to explain his unique understanding on the issue of killing and dying--a subject that would be preachy in most movies, but here is explained with a wisdom that has seldom been heard, and has never been more timely. In a touching scene, Hogarth and the giant encounter a wild deer, which the giant fondly admires; a moment later, the deer runs off and is shot by a pair of hunters. The giant, of course, doesn’t understand this, and looks to Hogarth for an explanation. What is eventually said is invaluable: “Killing is wrong. Dying isn’t.” Brief and stunning, it forces the kind of intelligent and important thought most movies are afraid to ask for.

“You don’t have to be a gun; you can be what you want to be.” If a destructive weapon can do good, the possibility are limitless with anyone else – a very inspirational message. I got kind of emotional when the iron giant thought Hogarth was dead and didn’t want to touch him…and his lip trembled…*sob* and then when he said he was Superman towards the end…*sob*. This is definitely a sad yet uplifting cartoon that should be seen by everyone.

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This is a write-off organized by Jaderabit. Thank you very much for letting me be part of this wonderful write-off.

Other participants include:

drj0402
daystorm
donnie013
systemdwn
yuffie

thanks,
FR
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