By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS)
The Iron Giant is one of those rare films that has gone on to become a classic, but when it was released in 1999, it was completely written off. The fact that it got made is incredible enough and now we’ll get a bit of the story of how the film came to be.
The film is getting a new lease on life with a Signature Edition release, and with it a documentary has been put together for the film called The Giant’s Dream. A trailer has been released which you can watch below:
While I haven’t seen the documentary, I did read more about the how the film came to be, and it’s pretty heartbreaking. Director Brad Bird was fired from Disney for challenging the way things were done at the animation studio and then, shortly thereafter, he lost his sister to gun violence.
The film came out when traditional animation made a comeback in the 1990s, and was based on the Ted Hughes novel The Iron Man. But the pitch that really sold the film was based on the loss of his sister, and Bird wondered, “What if a gun had a soul and didn’t want to be a gun?”
Very few animated films out of North America really touch on adult themes like that, and strived to be more than just a simple kid’s film. While The Iron Giant failed at the box office, director Brad Bird landed on his feet at a little animation studio called Pixar.
In the end, Pixar was bought by Disney and Bird proved that his way of looking at animation was the right way. Not only has he directed the wonderful film The Incredibles, but The Iron Giant has become an icon of animation and a classic film.
The Giant’s Dream will be part of The Iron Giant: Signature Edition Blu-ray, which will be released on September 6, 2016. Here are the features of this edition as well as the synopsis for the documentary:
- “The Giant’s Dream” documentary NEW!
- “The Iron Giant: Signature Edition” trailer
- Theatrical version commentary by Brad Bird
- Additional scenes, including alternate opening
- Mini documentary segments
- Teddy Newton The X Factor
- Duck and Cover sequence
- The Voice of the Giant
- Motion Gallery
- Brad Bird trailer
“The Giant’s Dream” is the dramatic story about a rare moment in movie history that allowed a first-time director to make one of the world’s greatest animated films, “The Iron Giant.” Using stylized animatics, archival footage, original concept art, and revealing interviews, The Giant’s Dreamcharts the incredible ups and downs, industry firsts, and amazing history behind this iconic film, and its rebel director, Brad Bird.
About Danny Santos
Speak Your Mind