THE IRON GIANT [1999 / 2016] [SIGNATURE EDITION] [Blu-ray + Digital HD] [UK Release] It Came From OUTER SPACE! The Best Animated Feature of the Decade! An Instant Classic!
Winner of Nine Annie Awards remastered and enhanced with two all-new scenes conceived for the film’s original release. ‘THE IRON GIANT’ is the tale of an unlikely friendship between an alien robot from outer space [voiced by Vin Diesel] and a religious nine-year-old boy named Hogarth Hughes [voiced by Eli Marienthal]. A bedraggled mother Annie Hughes [voiced by Jennifer Aniston], a paranoid government agent Kent Mansley [voiced by Christopher McDonald] and is assisted by a sympathetic beatnik Dean McCoppin [voiced by Harry Connick Jr.] and all conspire to turn Brad Bird's animated classic ‘THE IRON GIANT’ into a gigantic, out-of-this-world adventure.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 1999 Annie Awards: Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Character Animation for Steve Markowski. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation for Allen Foster. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production for Michael Kamen (composer). Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for Alan Bodner. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Mark Andrews. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Brad Bird. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Eli Marienthal for playing "Hogarth Huges." Win: Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature for Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production for Brad Bird (story) and Tim McCanlies (screenplay). Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Character Animation for Jim Van der Keyl. Win: Outstanding Individual for Achievement for Character Animation for Dean Wellins. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation for Michel Gagné. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for Mark Whiting. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Kevin O'Brien. Win: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Dean Wellins. 1999 International Film Music Critics Award: Nominated: Film Score of the Year for Michael Kamen. 1999 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards: Win: Best Animation for Brad Bird. 1999 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Nominated: Best Animated Film. 2000 BAFTA Awards: Win: BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film for Allison Abbate, Brad Bird, Des McAnuff and Tim McCanlies. 2000 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Home Video Release. 2000 Chlotrudis Awards: Nominated: Best Movie/ Nominated: Best Screenplay for Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies. 2000 Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards: Win: DFWFCA Award for Best Animated Film. Nominated: DFWFCA Award for Best Picture. 2000 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards: Win: Best Animation. 2000 Genesis Awards: Win: Animated Feature Film. 2000 Hugo Awards: Nominated: Best Dramatic Presentation for Brad Bird (screen story/director), Tim McCanlies (screenplay) and Ted Hughes (based on the book). 2000 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards: Win: Sierra Award for Best Animated Film for Brad Bird. 2000 Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA: Win: Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing for Animated Feature for Dennis Leonard (supervising sound editor), Randy Thom (supervising sound editor/sound effects designer), Curt Schulkey (supervising dialogue editor), Beau Borders (sound editor), Mary Helen Leasman (foley editor), Andrea Gard (assistant sound editor), Yin Cantor (assistant sound editor), Joanna Laurent (assistant sound editor), Dennie Thorpe (foley artist), Jana Vance (foley artist), Tony Eckert (foley mixer), Troy Porter (adr mixer), Doc Kane (original dialogue recording), Gregory H. Watkins (re-recording mixer), Kevin E. Carpenter (re-recording mixer) and Frank 'Pepe' Merel (foley recordist). Nominated: Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing for Music and Animation for Christopher Brooks (music editor). 2000 Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Awards: Win: Best Animated Film. 2000 Satellite Awards: Nominated: Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media. 2000 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: Nominated: Nebula Award for Best Script for Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies. 2000 Young Artist Awards: Win: Best Performance in a Voice-Over for a TV or Feature Film for Young Actor for Eli Marienthal. Nominated: Best Family Animated Feature Film. 2000 YoungStar Awards: Win: Best Young Voice Over Talent for Eli Marienthal.
Voice Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, M. Emmet Walsh, Jack Angel, Bob Bergen, Mary Kay Bergman, Michael Bird, Devon Cole Borisoff, Rodger Bumpass, Robert Clotworthy, Jennifer Darling, Zack Eginton, Paul Eiding, Bill Farmer, Charles Howerton, Ollie Johnston, Sherry Lynn, Mickie T. McGowan, Ryan O'Donohue, Phil Proctor, Frank Thomas, Patti Tippo, Brian Tochi, Roger Allers (uncredited), Liz Callaway (uncredited), Cody Dorkin (uncredited), Pat Fry (uncredited), Sam Gifaldi (uncredited), Mark Hubley (archive sound) (uncredited), Courtland Mead (uncredited), Jack Paar (archive sound) (uncredited), Patrick Pinney (uncredited), Hal Smith (archive sound) (uncredited) and Jordan Warkol (uncredited)
Director: Brad Bird
Producers: Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff, John Walker and Pete Townshend
Screenplay: Brad Bird (screenplay) (uncredited), Tim McCanlies (screenplay) (uncredited) and Ted Hughes (based on the book "The Iron Man")
Composer: Michael Kamen (1948 – 2003)
Cinematography: Steven Wilzbach (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
German 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Castilian]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Latin American]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Portuguêse [Brazilian] 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Thai: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Spanish [Castilian], Korean, Spanish [Latin American], Portuguêse [Brazilian], Czech, Romania and Thai
Running Time: 90 minutes and 86 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Home Movies
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: Adapted from the late British poet laureate Ted Hughes' much-loved children's story “The Iron Man,” the animated feature ‘THE IRON GIANT’ [1999] concerns the adventures of a boy Hogarth Hughes [Eli Marienthal] who, at the height of 1950s Cold War paranoia, befriends a giant friendly robot The Iron Giant [Vin Diesel] with mysterious origins and an insatiable appetite for metal. Trusting only a friendly beatnik junkman/artist Dean McCoppin [Harry Connick Jr.] with his secret, the young boy is forced to hide his new friend from a government investigator Kent Mansley [Christopher McDonald] who is sure that the Iron Giant robot is intent on total annihilation destruction, or at least sure enough to justify his own sadistic impulses to destroy The Iron Giant forever.
‘THE IRON GIANT’ is a Brad Bird’s non-digital hand drawn animation of the 1968 children’s story that has an irresistible simplicity and charm, and with this Blu-ray Signature Edition, and is a beautiful homage and adaption, based on the 1968 warm lovely book "The Iron Man" by novelist Ted Hughes and where Brad Bird transplanted the story from England to 1950s small-town Maine of the U.S.A. State of America. Hogarth Hughes, the adventurous child of a hard-working single mother and Dad's absence is never explained, saves the Iron Giant when it becomes entangled in high-tension wires while dining on an electrical tower, and the big Iron Giant becomes his secret playmate. But the townspeople are already in a dither about odd goings-on in the environs, especially cars and tractors with huge chunks bitten out of them and it is not long before a Government agent arrives to find out what is going on.
With the fantasy animation film ‘THE IRON GIANT,’ a metal-eating iron giant from outer-space crash-lands in rural Maine in 1957 and the year of the Sputnik launch, finds the Iron Giant biting lumps out of automobiles and power stations; he looks like every red-scare Twilight Zone fantasy come true. But the Iron Giant is scared and lonely and a little kid called Hogarth Hughes becomes his only friend. ‘THE IRON GIANT’ predates Brad Bird’s 2003 computer animation gem ‘The Incredibles’ and its non-digital animated style has simplicity and charm; in 2016, and it looks closer to the Japanese animation tradition and is a really lovely film to revisit. This new “Signature Edition” includes a new scene that does not add or subtract from the overall animation film, which continues to be very funny, heart-warming, and powerful as when it was first released well over fifteen years ago.
When Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies adapted the story for the screen, with the executive producer input of The Who’s Pete Townshend and they took this rather psychedelic enemy and turned it into something much more appropriate for the film’s 1957 setting: the “Red Menace” Cold War paranoia is everywhere in Rockwell, Hogarth Hughes hometown, switched across the Atlantic from Ted Hughes native of the United Kingdom. An early glimpse of The Iron Giant prompts one of Hogarth Hughes’s classmates to whisper the telling words: “It’s probably been sent by foreign enemies to take over the country, we should bomb it to smithereens before it does.” Like so many other superhero comics and films, the consensus from mankind is that what is different should be feared.
While most people are terrified of the inquisitive metal-munching giant, Hogarth Hughes is one of the few whose curiosity outweighs his trepidation and he ventures out at night from under the watchful eye of his overworked single mother, the clearest similarity yet to E.T. and the Amblin spirit, and rescues the wandering giant, keeping it hidden in his barn. As the pair talk, The Iron Giant echoes from inside the water tower and hit upon the defining message of the film and all superhero stories: does your nature define you?
Hogarth Hughes shows his comic book collection to the Iron Giant, pointing out “Atomo,” a nasty “metal menace” bearing an unmistakeable resemblance to him. The Iron Giant’s anxious eyes say it all: “am I evil as well because I look like him?” Instead, Hogarth Hughes compares him to Superman, with his similar origin story: “Sure, he’s famous now, but he started off just like you. Crash-landed on Earth, the Giant didn’t know what he was doing. But of course he only uses his powers for good not evil.”
The Iron Giant doesn’t even demonstrate any superpowers until late in the film, when his true nature reveals itself. He has a self-defence mechanism where the sight of even a toy gun makes him retaliate with lethal force. It is all part of his programming, but it nearly kills Hogarth Hughes when the two are playing in a scrapyard. The more generous part of his nature leads the giant to save two children falling to their death, but in doing so he reveals himself to the townspeople and attracts the attention of the US army.
They launch an assault on The Iron Giant, but only succeed in pushing back any sentience he had and turning him into a rampaging killing machine, and replete with lasers and machine guns wiping out anything that threatens to attack. He’s only defending himself, but his true nature is destroying the town, and eventually it leads a reckless officer to launch a nuclear attack. Buildings crumble and cities are levelled as a matter of course in most superhero films, but their destruction rarely feels meaningful or scary.
Brad Bird makes the impending annihilation of one small town feel more important than any number of end-of-the-world threats. As the missile drifts into the atmosphere, The Iron Giant proves he’s a true superhero, abilities or not. The Iron Giant flies to meet the missile head-on, remembering Hogarth Hughes’s words: “You are who you choose to be,” and uttering his response “Superman…” right before the moment of impact.
‘THE IRON GIANT’ is a smooth, skilled example of animated filmmaking. Its historical background is unlikely to resonate with youngsters, but boys in particular seem likely to respond to its story of a hulking robot willing to take instruction from a child. Many adults, including parents eager to have their children absorb lessons about the perils of guns and the merits of peace and tolerance will doubtless approve of the film's messages while they ponder how the passing years have smoothed the jagged edges of history.
In the animated film ‘THE IRON GIANT’ doesn’t roam Maine countryside in brightly-coloured spandex or thwart an evil villain’s plot to destroy the world. Unlike the protagonists of MARVEL’s high-octane blockbusters he barely utters a word, but at heart he represents one of the most authentic portrayals of heroism ever seen. ‘The Iron Giant’ is a reminder that whether you are born with superpowers or not, your original identity doesn’t define you. You are what you choose to be.
THE IRON GIANT MUSIC TRACK LISTING
HONEYCOMB (Written by Bob Merrill) [Performed by Jimmie Rodgers]
I GOT A ROCKET IN MY POCKET (Written by Jimmy Logsdon and Vic McAlpin) [Performed by Jimmy Lloyd]
COMIN’ HOME BABY (Written by Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker) [Performed by Mel Tormé]
DUCK AND COVER (Written by Teddy Newton) (Arranged by Preston Oliver) [Performed by Brad Bird, Shannon Gregory and Dean Wellins]
BLUE RHUMBA (Written by Bobby Black) [Performed by Pepe Dominguin]
GENIUS AFTER HOURS (Written by Ray Charles) [Written and Performed by Ray Charles]
CAPITOLIZING (Written by Babs Gonzales) [Written and Performed by Babs Gonzales]
CHA-HUA-HUA (Written by I.J. Roth and Joe Lubin) [Performed by Eddie Platt]
BLUES WALK (Written by Lou Donaldson) [Written and Performed by Lou Donaldson]
LET’S DO THE CHA CHA (Written by Willie Boyd and Richard Nance) [Performed by The Magnificents]
SEARCHIN’ (Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) [Performed by The Coasters]
LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE (Signature Edition) (Written by Bobby Day) [Performed by Bobby Day]
TOMORROW, THE MOON SCORE (Signature Edition) (Written by George Bruns) [Performed by George Bruns]
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR (Signature Edition) (Written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) [Performed by Cliff Edwards]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Home Movies presents you this wonderful ‘THE IRON GIANT’ fantasy fable on this Blu-ray disc with a resplendent and awesome 1080p encoded image, with an equally impressive framed in the film's original 2.40:1 (CinemaScope) aspect ratio. The CGI animation dazzles in 1080p, especially the way the hand-drawn animation, and in some cases and depending on the print you saw back in the day of its inferior DVD release, the image quality is much brighter, cleaner, and more vibrant than the initial theatrical cinema release. ‘THE IRON GIANT’ does everything well for the black levels. Colours pop out of the screen, creating a vivid sense of this wonderful animated world and the image is strikingly clear, a big step up over the inferior DVD. This ‘THE IRON GIANT’ – SIGNATURE EDITION Blu-ray disc is absolutely gorgeous and everyone involved should be proud of all the effort in producing this animated fantasy classic.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Home Movies brings you this wonderful ‘THE IRON GIANT’ fantasy fable on this Blu-ray disc with a stunning 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack that features excellent dynamic range, engaging surround panning, and thundering explosion coming out of all your speakers. The voices of the cast are crisp and clear, while the Giant's voice evokes a grander scale. Dynamic range is excellent, whether the mix is recreating quiet forest locations or raging storms or the weapons-heavy climax. The surround sounds is deep and forceful; every time the Giant takes his steps, the room thunders. Lastly, I was also impressed with the way the sound designers panned various effects. Sometimes this was done to evoke off-screen character placement, and other times the mix was action-picture aggressive. The only slightly down side of the sound experience, is that I have heard other audio tracks that are a slightly more aggressive, and a little bit more delicate in the sound design itself. But, given the film's 1999 origins, surround sound fans are going to love this one. So top marks all round.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Signature Edition Film and Original Edition Film
Audio Commentary with Director Brad Bird, Story Department Head Jeffrey Lynch, Animation Supervisor (Iron Giant) Steven Markowski and Head of Animation Tony Fucile: Here I am concentrating on the Signature Edition audio commentary, where we have Brad Bird’s new audio commentary where the new extended scenes have been added to the film. So at the start of the film, Brad Bird explains that they designed the new Warner Bros. logo, which we view at the start of the film and just at this point Brad Bird introduces himself, then Jeffrey Lynch introduces himself, then next is Steven Markowski and then finally we have Tony Fucile introduce himself. One unfortunate aspect of this audio commentary is that it is stated that they are viewing the DVD, well to me that is not on and is a very unprofessional attitude and should have been re-recorded to mention that they are viewing the Blu-ray disc. When you see the young Hogarth Hughes goes exploring in the woods, when this part of the film was shown only in rough hand drawn Black-and-White animation to the Executives, they were not very impressed, but eventually they finally got to see it is full Technicolor and they were very impressed. When you see Annie Hughes pouring out the coffee to Dean McCoppin in the Dinner, this is the first extra scene added, and Brad Bird informs us they could not at the time added this scene in because of budget restrictions, but Brad Bird feels this was a very nice introduction to two people who were obviously very attracted to each other, and was so pleased that this has now been added to this Signature Edition film. When you see the two old train drivers being asked questions about the train crash, we are told that they are voiced by Frank Thomas [Animator] and Ollie Johnston [Animator] were gracious to be allowed to be part of the voice cast of the train drivers, and of course were part of the legendary Walt Disney animator artists, and Brad Bird and others thought it was a great tribute to them. When you see the Iron Giant fire his laser beam at Hogarth, thinking he was being attacked with Hogarth’s toy ray gun, because you suddenly realise he is a defensive robot, and Dean rejects him out of the junk yard, not realising what is wrong and walks out into the snow covered landscape sad and lonely, well brad Bird wanted this to be like the Frankenstein scenario of being rejected by society, but of course eventually it all works out right in the end, when The Iron Giant becomes the hero. As we get to near the end of the film, Brad Bird has his final comments, when he says, “I always wanted life to go on, especially with ‘THE IRON GIANT’ film, also I want to mention Andrew Jimenez [Animatics], who did an amazing work on the animatics and was involved with a lot of the shots, but it was a totally difficult experience and well as a totally pleasurable experience and I think everyone involved else with the animated film. So ends a really enjoyable audio commentary, where everyone gave their contributions very well, but sometimes they would go off on a tangent and talk about a lot of internal politics and technical jargon of aspects of making the film., that sometimes got slightly boring, but despite that, it was still and enjoyable audio commentary, that really highlighted the technical challenges that went into making ‘THE IRON GIANT’ a really beautiful stunning animated film, that was a joy to behold and watch and especially knowing it was all hand drawn and filmed in Technicolor. So once again this particular audio commentary for the Special Edition is the one to listen to.
Special Feature: Deleted Scenes with Introduction by Brad Bird [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [15:16] Here you have a selection of Six animated storyboards depict earlier versions of the film that were deleted, which are as follows: Original Opening Sequence; Campfire; The Drag Race; Tired at Breakfast; Original Introduction to Hogarth & Annie and Classroom. As usual you can either watch them separately or Play All. What you get to view is Black-and-White storyboard images, with some basic animation, plus some actual colour animation.
Special Feature: Teddy Newton: The X Factor [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [5:38] Here we get a short look at the guy from the film's storyboard department, who had a very vivid and wild imagination. Nicknamed, "the X Factor" due to his wild, and uninhibited imagination. We also get an interesting short interview with the storyboard artist of the same name and it features a truly weird storyboard animation sequence that never made it to the film and that is why Brad Bird pulled him from the team involved with the Storyboard Department, despite everyone said he was a very talented over the top person. Contributors include: Jeffrey Lynch [Story Department Head] and Brad Bird [Director].
Special Feature: Duck and Cover Sequence [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:23] Once again we meet Teddy Newton ["the X Factor"] of the Storyboard Department at the time and describes the outline of what the Duck and Cover Sequence is all about, which was originally going to be added to the animated film about the dropping of the Atom bomb and of course we get to view the actual animated Black-and-White storyboard with Teddy Newton doing the voice over, which you see him in a window at the top right of the screen and at the same time we get to hear the very silly children song and you can see why it was not allowed to be inserted into the animated film, as it is totally dreadful.
Special Feature: The Voices of ‘THE IRON GIANT’ [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [8:16] Here we have a selection of Five different items, looking in-depth at the actors behind these animated characters and they are as follows: The Voice of the Giant; Hogarth Hughes; Dean McCoppin; Annie Hughes and Kent Mansley. As usual you can view each item separately or Play All. We also get contributions from the following people: Vin Diesel [Voice of the Giant], Brad Bird [Director], Tony Facile [Animation Department head], Allison Abbate [Producer] and Jim Van der Keyl [Animator].
Special Feature: The Score [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [4:49] Here we take a look at the film music score in three scenes with Michael Kamen [Composer] (1948 – 2003) explaining the reason for the music score with each particular scene you view, which are as follows: The Score: Opening Sequence; The Score: The Deer and The Score: Kent and Hogarth. As usual you can view each item separately or Play All.
Special Feature: Behind the Armor [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [17:31] Here we have a collection of Six short features produced for the Special Edition DVD and they are as follows: The Warner Bros. Logo; The Origin of the Giant; The Origin of the Movie; Bringing the Giant to Life; Storyboard and Animatics, and The Battle Sequence. Contributions include: Andrew Jimenez [Animatics], Brad Bird [Director], Joe Johnson [Iron Giant Designer], Mark Whiting [Production Designer], Des McAnuff [Producer], Tim McCanlies [Screenwriter], Allison Abbate [Producer], Jeffrey Lynch [Story Department Head], Kevin O’Brien [Storyboard Artist], Mark Andrews [Storyboard Artist] and Dean Wilkins [Animator]. As usual you can view each item separately or Play All.
Special Feature: Motion Gallery [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [4:22] Here you get to view is a Black-and-White Animated Storyboard of the basic outline of the storyline for the animated film, plus you also get to view inserted scenes from the film in colour, as well as some really stunning beautiful artist drawings, and while viewing all this you get to hear the brilliant and dramatic composed music film score by Michael Kamen (1948 – 2003).
Special Feature: “Brad Bird” Trailer [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [1:29] Here we get to view the Brad Bird’s brilliant concept Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE IRON GIANT,’ plus we get to hear once again the very dramatic and brilliant composed film music score by Michael Kamen. The only disappointment is that we only get to view it in the 480i video resolution and the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and what a shame they could not have remastered this to be viewed in the stunning 1080p video resolution and especially in the 2.40:1 (CinemaScope) aspect ratio. As to the mysterious voice over, I reckon it is Brad Bird himself.
Signature Edition Trailer [2015] [1080p] [1:78:1] [2:32] Here we get to view another brilliant trailer, but this time it is to celebrate the 16th Anniversary THE IRON GIANT: Signature Edition film release, and its lasting appeal for all generations. The only slightly confusing aspect of this particular trailer is why was it shown in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, instead of the actual 2.40:1 (CinemaScope) aspect ratio. Despite this, it is a totally brilliant dramatic awesome presentation of this newly remastered classic hand drawn animated film.
Special Feature: The Making of 'THE IRON GIANT' [2000] [480i] [1.37:1] [22:05] This is a special Warner Bros. original documentary on the making of the animated family film 'THE IRON GIANT.' This documentary treats movie fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of 'THE IRON GIANT,' about a boy who befriends an enormous robot from outer space, only to discover his reasons for coming to Earth may not have been friendly. It includes interviews with the voice cast and crew, who share some of their experiences they had in making the animated film and discuss some of the special efforts that went into making the animated film. Contributors include: Brad Bird [Director], Jennifer Aniston [Annie Hughes], Eli Marienthal [Hogarth Hughes], Vin Diesel [The Iron Man], Harry Connick Jr. [Dean McCoppin], Christopher McDonald [Kent Mansley], John Mahoney [General Royard], Jennifer Cardon Klein [Animator], Ricardo Curtis [Animator], Scott F. Johnston [Artistic Coordinator], Allison Abbate [Producer], Dennis Venizelos [Head of Background], Alan Bodner [Art Director], Dean Wellins [Supervising Animator] and Beau Weaver (Narrator). Directed by Kevin Gill. Produced by Aleshka Ferrero, Andrew Bernard, Julie Cohen, Kevin Gill, Nicole Wrathall-Higgins and Suzanne McCafferty. Screenplay by Kevin Gill. Cinematography by Ed Riley and Terri MacKay.
Special Feature: Vintage Easter Eggs [2003] [480i] [1.37:1] [1:48] With this special feature we get to view a selection of different items. First up is a very personal typed letter from author Ted Hughes that was sent on the 8th January, 1998 to Allison Abbate [Producer]. We also get to view some early short conceptual computer animation clips that are in colour, plus some Black-and-White storyboard animations; especially The Iron Giant doing a ballet routine, animated layout sketches of Kent Mansley’s pipe exploding and Hogarth Hughes break-dancing.
Special Feature: The Salt Mines [2015] [1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [7:06] Here we get to view a short but fascinating featurette about the film's original elements for 'THE IRON GIANT,' that were stored 650 feet (200 m) below in the Strataca Salt Mine Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States, along with many other Warner Bros. archival materials for their storage service. In 1999, the Original Artwork for 'THE IRON GIANT,' was boxed up and sent away to the storage facility, and no one had seen it since. Now, Brad Bird asked Crew Member Andrew Jimenez to find the material . . . Before the film’s Signature Edition film release, and Andrew Jimenez informs Brad Bird on the telephone that the items he seeks has been found in the designated safe haven in Kansas, where you see Andrew Jimenez with the help of Jeff Ollenburger who is the Business Development and Sales Manager for Underground Vaults and Storage facility retrieve the rare Original Artwork for 'THE IRON GIANT.' We also find out how Warner Bros. stores nearly Three Million Pieces of their Film History in this special vault facility. Since 1923, the Strataca Salt Mine Museum (formerly Carey Salt) has produced rock salt and right throughout the Second World War and several different Companies have been storing items for security reasons, because of its safety record. In one section alone there are 80,000 boxes stored. As we get near to the end of this special feature, we hear the voice of Brad Bird say, “The artwork from the film, should be preserved, because it is part of the lineage of the film. The original drawings look different than what you see on the screen, and the animator is trying to achieve. You see how an artist is finding inspiration for the film, and the exploration that you do in making of the film is valuable. It’s valuable for people to go back and see the roads not taken, as well as the road taken. One of the beautiful things about archives is that you retrace the steps and understand how things were arrived at and a lot of trial and error. All of that reportorial artwork is part of people who made the film.” When you see some of the boxes are opened, we get to see some stunning beautiful artwork that was a joy to view.
Special Feature: Hand Drawn [2015] [480i / 1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [1:40] Director Brad Bird talks about his love for hand drawn animation and at the start of this special we see a selection of roughly hand drawn Black-and-White animated drawing of the main characters in the film and we hear Brad Bird comment in saying that he loves hand drawn animation, and its imperfections are more perfect, because it shows a lot of emotions. We see some old footage animators working on the ‘THE IRON MAN’ film, as well as looking at the storyboard images. Brad Bird also comments by saying that it would be a great loss if they stopped making films by the hand drawing technique process, and I totally agree with that statement, as you only have to look at any of the original cartoons produced by the Walt Disney Studios. This special short is a really heart-warming wonderful dedication to all hand drawn animation artists.
Special Feature: The Giant's Dream: The Making of ‘THE IRON GIANT’ [2015] [480i / 1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [55:44] The Giant's Dream is how a team of unknown artists and first-time director, made one of animation’s greatest film ‘THE IRON GIANT.’ When the animated film ‘THE IRON GIANT’ opened in the late summer of 1999, one of the biggest summers in Hollywood history up to that point, it landed with a thud at the box office, even though it was beloved by critics everywhere. The film ‘THE IRON GIANT’ is about the friendship between a boy and an alien robot in the heat of late 1950s paranoia, eventually went on to greater success on home video, and is now considered an animated cult classic. The Giant’s Dream isn’t just the story of the making of ‘THE IRON GIANT,’ but it is also the story of the mad rush to produce animated films from just about every studio in Hollywood in the 1990s. Mostly, this very special documentary is really the story of a creative genius of Brad Bird, who was ahead of his time in many ways, and kept pushing the system to treat animated film as more than a just cheap product for little children who would go see anything, instead Brad Bird treated animation like it was art. This documentary starts with a piece of old animation made by Bird himself as a youngster, where a voiceover from the man himself tells us that ever since he was a small child, he had dreams of being an animator and he never gave up on those dreams. This documentary is peppered throughout with illustrations from Brad Bird telling his life story. Interestingly, even though the story goes through many decades. At the age of 14, after finishing his rough animation of ‘The Tortoise and The Hare,’ Brad sends of the film to the Walt Disney Studio and the folks at Walt Disney Animation were so enthralled with this brilliant young protégé child artist that they gave him a scholarship to CalArts [California Institute of the Arts], where he studied, among the first graduating class, alongside future Pixar/Disney creative officer John Lasseter and director Tim Burton. From CalArts, Brad Bird was offered a job at Walt Disney Animation straight away. But this was in the early 1980’s, a rough time for animation in general. Everything was being done on the cheap, and the Walt Disney Studio wasn’t the powerhouse they had been or would become again. Brad Bird kept challenging the staff at Disney on the way things were being done, and it totally rubbed them all the wrong way. Brad Bird’s time there was short-lived, and he felt his dreams soon crumble after he was fired. Soon after, his sister was killed in an act of gun violence; the documentary shows how this was all a long, dark time for Brad Bird. The documentary contains a great soundbite from director Guillermo del Toro, who personally called Brad Bird to congratulate him on the film soon after it opened in cinemas and he reminded Brad that quality always wins out in the end. At the very end of this behind-the-scene of the Making of ‘THE IRON GIANT’ we are informed the dream is still ongoing and at the time they filmed the documentary, all the original crew were reunited to add two new scenes to ‘THE IRON MAN’ Signature Edition film, and as they say at the very end of all Warner Bros. Cartoons “That’s All Folks!”
Finally, when ‘THE IRON GIANT’ animated film arrived in cinemas in 1999, it was hailed as an “instant classic” by Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal. ‘THE IRON GIANT’ on Blu-ray was well worth the wait. On top of that, there's a stunning new documentary to watch as well as what appears to be all the bonus materials from the 1999 and 2004 inferior DVD releases. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
