A cartoon that feels like a "real" movie

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2000)

People say "The Iron Giant" is just an "E.T." clone. Here's a little secret...this film is much better than "E.T." ever was. It's an animated film that should make the people at Disney feel inadequate. It's not sappy or corny, it doesn't talk down to its audience and it feels like a "real" movie. I forget that I'm watching a cartoon when I watch this movie, and that's definitely a big part of why it's one of 1999's very best films. The animation is simple but beautiful, the characters are charming, the voice characterizations are fantastic (especially Christopher McDonald as Mansley and Harry Connick as McCoppin) and Michael Kamen's score is a revelation. "The Iron Giant" is a first-class piece of filmmaking.