The 18th Best All-Time Film

(6th Post-1998) 

The Iron Giant (1999) 

This is the highest-ranking animated film on my list, and therefore, it is apparently my favorite animated film. And I love animated films. The process tends to work in animation’s favor. The time extra time and painstaking detail mean that animated films have a better chance at being what they were intended to be. And The Iron Giant deserves it place at the top of a list of exceptional films including the likes of Ghibli, Pixar and Disney. 

For one thing, The Iron Giant is not a kids film, but it is also perfectly suited for kids. Most animation is either: intended for kids, intended for kids but with adult sensibilities added in, or NOT for kids. Here, we have a story that is more akin to “intended for adults, with kid sensibilities.” It has also been described as the best superhero (specifically Superman, but the whole genre applies) without a superhero. 

At its core, the story is about the “fear of the other” and how it makes monsters of us. This is one of those films with a villain that you love to hate, and we await and relish his comeuppance, but who is not really a villain-but more of an everyman. Albeit a small minded, scared, bully of one. 

Instead, the message of “chose to be your better self” is a more noble one for our current world than, “keep all those different from you out!”