C@V Animation Month: The Iron Giant

Iron Giant:

From Brad Bird (the director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille) is 1999’s The Iron Giant, which follows a young boy who befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.

The Iron Giant is arguably a last hurrah for traditional hand-drawn 2D animation from major Hollywood studios (that itself incorporates the then-groundbreaking 3D computer animation). Even Bird himself would soon transition to 3D animation with Pixar shortly after the film’s release, which was seen as a huge financial disappointment at the time. It has since been reclaimed as one of the most astounding works in the medium, just as it had reached its technical peak before being outmoded by the impending domination of the Pixar era. The film is as emotionally riveting as it is technically marvelous and is arguably yet to be surpassed by any Western 2D animated efforts.