Hogarth also influences the sculptor Dean to overcome his fear of the giant and see him for what he truly is. Ultimately, the giant must decide whether he'll accept Manley's opinion of him or choose a better way. Unfortunately, an American audience did not choose The Iron Giant . The film performed poorly at the box office and quickly disappeared. It lacks much of the pretensions that many other animated films possess, but certainly offers satisfaction to the same broad audience.
Recent history is littered with great family films that did poorly at the box office.
The television ads for The Iron Giant conveyed a flat buddy movie that, at best, would entertain your pre-teen and, at worst, leave you wanting to leave the second you sat down. In this world so inundated with information and unprecedented access to everything the world has to offer, the burden of weeding through the tares to find the wheat lies with us. Many so-called films represent lazy filmmaking, sappy stories, and a disregard for the audience's intelligence. If we spend a little more time finding out about our entertainment choices we will discover films that are not only great entertainment, but tasteful and artful as well. The Iron Giant is such a film.