The Iron Giant Reviews

Movies: The Iron Giant (1999)

First Appearance: The Iron Giant (1999)

Voiced by: Vin Diesel

If you're not quite sure why everyone's looking forward to Brad Bird's take on Mission: Impossible IV, check out this beautiful and moving adaptation of Ted Hughes' already-powerful children's book. Bird's film may have sunk without a trace at the box office, but it's one of the great animated films, a tale of friendship, tolerance and fear for the ages. The Iron Giant himself, voiced with surprisingly delicacy by Vin Diesel, manages to be by turns mysterious, childlike, warlike and heroic. His final decision to emulate his comic-book hero, Superman, will break your heart.

Stroke of genius

The devastatingly emotional last act. Remember the first time you watched ET and he went home at the end and you cried all the way home from the cinema? It's like that.

Fun fact

Even though this is a traditionally 2D animated film, the Iron Giant himself is entirely computer generated. They just added a slight wobble to his lines to make him look handdrawn and help him to fit in with the other kids characters.