One of the best animated movies of all time, period.

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2018)

The first time I saw this, I was only six years old, but I remember it so vividly.
It was one of the earliest movies I saw in a theater. We came in a few minutes late, during the diner scene when Hogarth is trying to convince his mom to let him keep a pet squirrel. I remember Mansley getting his face squished in the door was one of the funniest things ever. I remember memorizing the scene of him pestering Hogarth with constant questions, after he rents the empty room in his house. The exchange of Mansley asking "Where ya going, champ, chief, slugger? Where ya going? Where ya going?" and Hogarth screeching back, "I'm going out!!!!" is something my siblings and I still quote to this day. But mainly I remember being absolutely flabbergasted when the Giant sacrifices himself to save Hogarth and the town.
Growing up in a a Christian household, going to church twice a week, a story that ended with someone giving up their life for everyone else, was, well...biblical. I remember sitting in the theater and having the thought, "He gave up his life so all those people could live", running through my brain over and over. I couldn't comprehend it. I was too shocked to cry. Watching it for the first time as an adult? I sobbed. The tears started when the Giant realizes he can fly, and Hogarth gleefully tells him, "Try holding out your arms in front of you, like Superman!" and they didn't stop because I knew what was coming.
When I was a six year old child I was too young to understand the themes of xenophobia, patriotism, choosing a different path than the one given to you, etc. All I knew was that the Iron Giant "gave up this life so those people could live." Superman, indeed.