"The Iron Giant" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Joe Tully]

Like the title says, I noticed yesterday that Iron Giant is playing at my local theater on Wednesdays only. I purposely missed it the first time around because I was discouraged from WB's terrible advertising job, so I will definitely try to catch it sometime soon, probably this week or next (even though I have it on tape). This happens a lot around here over the summer, old "kids'" films are brought back since the kids are out over the summer and the parents have to get rid of 'em. So some of you other guys might want to check your local paper and see if any goodies are playing near you too.

[Calhoun07]

Seeing this movie in a theater is absolutely breathtaking. From the opening scene on the open water, to the climatic end, it's just something that you have to see on the big screen to really enjoy it to it's fullest. Have a good time!

[James Harvey]

The same thing is happening here. POKEMON 3 is back in theatres here, along side THE IRON GIANT and EMPEROR'S NEW GRROVE as a "3 for 1" deal. Hey -- $2.99 for three movies...how can ya go wrong? And go see GIANT. It is astonishing on the big screen.

[Calhoun07]

Is this a commentary on the current crop of animation in the theaters? They have to bring back some good ones to show the way it really should be done....well, except for Pokemon 3. How did that get in there?

[Danielle]

Originally posted by calhoun07
Is this a commentary on the current crop of animation in the theaters? They have to bring back some good ones to show the way it really should be done....well, except for Pokemon 3. How did that get in there?

Brainwashing.

[Jack]

My local theater brought back "Cats Don't Dance," but I didn't get to go see it. I forget what they called the event, I think they called it a "Kids summer film festival" program, as if all Cinemark theaters were doing it.


Jack:D

[Failure]

Well, after hearing so much about the Iron Giant, I recently bought it on DVD (finally!). And after watching it, wow. It left me speechless and teary eyed (I blame allergies! :p ). I had tremendous expectations for it and it still managed to amaze me. I can't believe this movie didn't rock the box offices.

For anyone who hasn't seen it - RUN dont walk to your nearest Blockbuster, Best Buy, wherever. Just get it and watch it. It's a masterpiece.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I loved The Iron Giant, too. Saw it opening weekend with a mostly empty theatre. I think the problem a lot of people had with it was that WB took a legitimate (if really lame) stab at marketing more to adults than to kids, which meant no fast-food tie-in, no huge ad campaign on kids' TV, and no singing dancing animals.

Unfortunately, like I said, the marketing attempt was lame. Kids weren't interested or never heard of it, and adults took one look at it and said, "Oh, that must be a kiddie movie" and bagged it, too. Animation gets ghettoized yet again.

I have heard it does pretty well in video rentals, and I recommend it to anybody who will listen. If it makes you feel any better, Brad Bird (director) left Warner after The Iron Giant and is now working on a new film for Pixar. I, for one, can't wait.

-- Ed/Ace

[sun]

I saw the Iron Giant in the theaters 6 times, at least 4 times before I discovered the real meaning...It so masterfully done, and understated, that one really needs to think what they are talking about...Many levels to look at and get a feel for, what is obvious, and what is not...I think that this is really a great film...It is fun, has meaning, and at the end, great action...If you have not seen it, please do so...Stuart

Additional note: nice touch...the train engineers in the crash about 1/4 thru the movie, were voiced over by none other than Frank and Ollie, the great Disney animators...If you didn't know that, you would have easily missed it...Shows that the director and procucer wanted to give honor to those who came before them.......both Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson were in their middle or late 80s at the time of the voice overs.... thanks for reading this..watch Iron Giant...

[RogueMartian]

The iron giant is a decent cartoon. There are many cartoons that I like more and even more that I like less. I guess either the story or the characters or something just never clicked with me enough to make me a big fan of the movie.

[Clayface]

I loved this movie as well. Unfortunately, I didn't see it for the first time until it came to home video. But once I saw it, I had to own it. Every time they get to the "Superman" line, I still get teary-eyed.

[James Harvey]

Loved this movie. Have the VHS and can't wait to get the Special Edition DVD, which is supposedly set for late 2003, but WB has been saying alot of different release dates in the past two years. It's quite possibly the best animated movie ever made, IMO. It was great, just great. It was different then all the dancing animals and musical numbers of the time. It was just a straight movie - animated. And it was pure heart. I can't wait to see this movie on DVD. I saw it in the theare. It was me, my neice, and three other people in a 500 seat theatre.

[Failure]

Originally posted by Clayface
Every time they get to the "Superman" line, I still get teary-eyed.

Glad I wasn't the only one. :)


Originally posted by Jim Harvey
Loved this movie. Have the VHS and can't wait to get the Special Edition DVD, which is supposedly set for late 2003, but WB has been saying alot of different release dates in the past two years.

I was wondering when they'd release the SE. I was holding out for a while thinking they were gonna release it sometime this year then lost track of the news and figured, what the heck, if it's as good as everyone says it is, I'll just get it twice. And yup, it was that good.

[James Harvey]

The part where he says 'no following' is where I usually start to tear up a bit. And then when he sacficies himself...wow...we definatly gotta have an officially tlakback thread for this movie when CN airs it :). It's a classic movie that deserves the right attention. Thankfully, the video sales have come close to $80 million since it's release to video - very respectable.

[sun]

The last 17 or 18 minutes when the tone of the movie changes, makes this so special; it starts to snow, and events become larger and more important.. "no following,that is where I start to feel so sad, and yet aware of what will happen....It is so well written, that I couldn't believe how it flowed so smoothly....In the theaters I attended, so many seats were empty...The first day was ok, but even then, the depth of the film escaped so many in the crowd..

[Bird Boy]

I saw this movie twice--got it from my library and good lord did I love. All of you have mentioned the reasons why I did...

I'm seriously itching to get the DVD--if the SE doesn't come out soon, all heck will break loose...

-BB

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I rented Iron Giant last night. Prior to this, I had only seen the film about once in the theatre. I liked it then, and I still kind of like it now.

But watching this, I realized why it bombed at the box office.

This film is pretty grim. Granted, there are a few jokes in it, but they're not exactly ha-ha slapstick in the Toy Story or typical Disney level. It covers a lot of fairly heavy topics, as well as illustrating the tensions of the Cold War/Atomic age. There are no real comedy relief characters, and it's not a film you can even say is really "fun." It has less comedy than E.T.

Furthermore, the colour palette is subdued. Much of the film takes place in the night, and the skin tone for many characters is a somber grey.

While it's a pretty preachy film ("Guns kill!!"), and there are a few obvious cliches (the unreasoning government agent, the mother-in-the-dark-about-her-boy, the "alien as a friend" device), I can see why some kids might not find this a "fun" film, and why adults might be hesitant to take their kid to something that's not innocuous fluff. That's too bad. But it pretty much confirms my suspicion that animation that sells is animation that is funny and light, and anything else outside that realm is a risk in the making.

[MattThomasM2B]

It would've helped if the name 'Disney' was slapped on somewhere.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Not necessarily. Dreamworks productions have done just as well, and that's because even though their productions have been so-called more "mature" than Disney's or Pixar's, they still adhere to the light-fluff-joke formula.

And what about Chicken Run? That wasn't Disney, was it? It did well, because it was, well, innocuous "fun."

Not that I don't like fun. I generally like Pixar's stuff, and even a few Disneys here and there, but overall, the general taste is geared towards animation as fluff, and nothing but.

[kzanth]

There's a fairly well known story (it may well be an entertainment 'urban legend') about the focus testing for "Thumbelina"

They focus tested the exact same movie with one very tiny difference:

At one screening they had no company logo intro the movie (it was a WB release, as I recall), and at the other screening, they slapped on the Disney opening logo.

Identical movies, but the 'Disney' screening scored through the roof, while the non-Disney screening got tepid audience marks. Of course, this was in the 'renaissance' period of the Disney Animated films of the 80's and 90's...today may or may not have the same 'brand-name' reaction.

But never underestimate the willingness of the audience to be lead like sheep by the brand name alone.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I have no doubt about that. The mid 90s was all-Disney, all the time. No animation studio could even hope to scratch the earnings Disney received during the mid 90s.

However, I'd say this started changing with the emergence of Dreamworks, and around 1998-99.

[Moonbay]

I must admit Dreamworks focus on a bit more than an adventure and faling in love*coughDisneycough*. O.o;; Just look at the Prince of Egypt, or El Dorado. Now those won people over.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I think another major factor in the failure of the Iron Giant theatrically was the spectacular lack of marketing Warner Bros. gave to it. Not that I like getting bombarded by trailers, commecials, Happy Meal tie-ins, and Underoos, but that's one thing Disney slaps on to every movie it does. I don't know if it would have really turned the Iron Giant into a blockbuster, but it would have significantly boosted its box office performance, IMO.

I thought a number of the Dreamworks animated productions kind of flopped, or at least underperformed. Wasn't The Road to El Dorado kind of a box-office bomb?

-- Ed/Ace

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Well, a number of Disney films started flopping around that time, too. I think Iron Giant got fair marketing, not great. Most people I knew was aware it was out. They just weren't interested. Sometimes marketable films just bomb for whatever reason.

But Iron Giant, I think, wasn't marketable. I really don't think it would have made much more had it received more promotional push. Maybe it would have gotten about 10 or 20 million more, which still would have been a failure.

[TimTwoFace]

Hmmm...those are good points. Thing is, it's not the movie's fault - if all of those Disney-esque elements were added, it would have lost a lot of its appeal. It's still a children's movie, yes, BUT it's an adult movie as well. I like how the WB had the guts to make a mature animated film - I thought the themes in this movie were great. I still get a little weepy during the ending each time I watch this movie. :)

-Tim

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Oh, for sure, it's a good movie. I'm just saying that when a great movie bombs, not enough people blame the moviegoers. It's not TOTALLY the WB's fault it bombed, though I'm sure some will disagree. I blame the North American population the most. ;)

[TimTwoFace]

*SIGH* The general moviegoing public just does not appear ready for a mature animated film. That's one reason why FINAL FANTASY bombed (the other reason was because it was boring). Ditto for ATLANTIS. And MASK OF THE PHANTASM, too. If you don't have a fantasy land, catchy songs, and silly sidekicks, then the movie won't work as a box office success. :(

-Tim

[James Harvey]

Just a heads up to fans of this great animated feature:

THE IRON GIANT airs Thursday @ 8pm (ET)

In 1958, a giant metal alien robot (Vin Diesel, Triple X) drops from the sky into the forest near a small town in Maine, where he is befriended by a boy named Hogarth (Eli Marienthal, Jack Frost). With help from his mother (Jennifer Aniston, Friends) and a local artist (Harry Connick, Jr., Independence Day), Hogarth tries to protect the giant from a paranoid government agent (Christopher McDonald) who believes the giant is an enemy in the Cold War.

Written and directed by Brad Bird, based on the book by Ted Hughes

[JetMaster5]

Now I like to know how KidsWB will edit phrases like "Oh my god" or "What the hell".

[Lonestarr]

The movie's airing in prime time. I sincerely doubt that there's anything that the WB can (or should) do to the film.

[Joe Wagner]

Hopefully they won't edit anything - this film is a classic and deserves to be treated with respect. I also hope that this will help people realize what a great film this truly was.

-Joe!

[JetMaster5]

Originally posted by Joe Wagner
Hopefully they won't edit anything - this film is a classic and deserves to be treated with respect. I also hope that this will help people realize what a great film this truly was.

-Joe!

I'll be the pessimistic one over here...

:starts sarcasm:
No, it won't help. Americans, in general, look down at cartoons as a stupid children's series that should be "pure" and teaches them "moral lessons" such as "helping people can be fun!" or "you should always share your toys with other children, so they can be happy, and so should you!" or "I love you, you love me. We should all be a big, great fa-mi-ly!" or "Hey Kids! Let's sing the A-B-C's song with Big Bird, from Sesame Street!"

It's sad, really.

[czyznyck99]

Originally posted by jetwing5
I'll be the pessimistic one over here...

:starts sarcasm:
No, it won't help. Americans, in general, look down at cartoons as a stupid children's series that should be "pure" and teaches them "moral lessons" such as "helping people can be fun!" or "you should always share your toys with other children, so they can be happy, and so should you!" or "I love you, you love me. We should all be a big, great fa-mi-ly!" or "Hey Kids! Let's sing the A-B-C's song with Big Bird, from Sesame Street!"

It's sad, really.


We've heard it all before ;) :p . Anyway, not really planning on seeing it, but if anyone hasn't seen it, check it out. Odds are there will be a nice large assortment of Kids WB promos :rolleyes: .

Later.

[Cogliostro]

Vin Diesel does the voice of the Iron Giant?

[Behonkiss]

Yeah, but it's altered to the point that you won't realize it's him.