A Wonderful Movie that doesn't deserve to fail

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 1999)

Unlike the animated bombs that Warner Brothers has released over the last two years, the Iron Giant does not deserve to fail. Unfortunately, it seems that Warner Brothers thought that it would, and therefore didn't put any effort into promotion. I saw the film the day that it came out, and I was so taken with it that I had to have a memento of some kind. But there was nothing. No books, no toys, no posters. Except for an advertising campaign that seems to have peaked two weeks ago, publicity has been almost zilch.
All of this is a shame, because this is the best animated film I have seen in years. Brad Bird has crafted a fully realized world from the fifties, and set it in the animation style familiar to those times. There are shades of Lady and the Tramp in the large lines and fluid movement that the human characters exhibit. More telling than any technical aspect, though(including the amazing computer-generated giant), is the script. This is a beautiful one. Simple enough for children, but aimed at adults, the movie had everyone in the sparsely populated movie theatre laughing and cheering.
This movie should be seen by everyone it can. It's a shame that a story this wonderful can be ruined by a simple lack of promotion.