Touching robot-kid friendship tale has great messages.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Cartoon action sequences throughout: Boat in a storm, man goes overboard but escapes; a huge robot (the Iron Giant, who turns out to be one of the film's heroes) eats metal, destroys a power station, and tromps across the landscape, chasing the young boy hero and frightening people. Sparks fly, buildings fall. A deer is shot and killed. The robot is hit by a train, threatened, and shot at countless times by a squadron of armed military personnel. To defend himself, the robot creates havoc with some spectacular shooting and firepower of his own. Some spooky music accompanies old black-and-white TV footage.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Mentions of Twinkies, Mad magazine, Action Comics, and Superman. Tie-in toys/products.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
very little
A secretary smokes a cigarette at her desk; a government official smokes a pipe throughout (accurate for '50s setting). A laxative is used to obstruct the progress of the movie’s villain, with predictably humorous results (this plot line will probably go over the head of younger children).
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Positive messages about behavior, life values, and important issues. "You are what you choose to be" and "Don't care what anyone else thinks" are verbalized and illustrated several times. "Guns kill; things die; it's a part of life" is portrayed by the errant shooting of a deer, along with "Souls don't die; all good things go on forever and ever." The government's reaction to the Iron Giant reveals the paranoia and fear that were pervasive during the Cold War. Additional themes include communication, humility, and courage.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Young hero Hogarth Hughes is resourceful, courageous, curious, compassionate, and intelligent. Though he sometimes ventures outside of his mom's comfort zone (and even his own), he's always well-intentioned and honorable. Hogarth's struggling single mom is portrayed as concerned, loving, and hardworking. The movie's villain, a high-ranking U.S. official, is depicted as ruthless, ego-driven, paranoid, and a threat to the heroes.
Educational Value
a little
Intended to entertain rather than educate, but kids will learn about the 1950s and get lessons about friendship, responsibility, and gun violence.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Iron Giant has plenty of the kind of cartoon action that most kids love: a giant robot under attack; buildings, trains, and cars crashing; futuristic weapons firing; Hogarth, the boy hero, creeping through a dark forest looking for "trouble"; a boat caught in a storm; spooky music; and an arrogant, mean-spirited villain who threatens everyone and everything that's important. It also includes a poignant moment when a deer is shot. The filmmakers bring a point of view to the events, hoping to instruct, explain, and offer thought-provoking ideas through which kids can view the action (i.e. "guns kill," the collateral damage of paranoia, and taking responsibility for our choices). One character smokes a pipe throughout the movie, and one smokes a cigarette (accurate for the movie's '50s setting). "Hell" is said a few times, and Hogarth gives the villain a dose of laxative, which humorously results in trips to any bathroom he can find. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I had a video tape copy of this from back when this first came out. I was 11 years old back then (almost 30 years old now) and I never picked up any bad language from this. However I did sense the subtle message that the government is paranoid and corrupt and I learned the "truth" that guns kill and not the person behind the n (which I am being sarcastic). I developed a fear of guns and that guns kill even if you just touch them. It reinforced the idea of "don't play with guns" and "don't trust adults because kids know better" and that "adults are either stupid or mean harm to kids" which is traumatizing for someone like me who grew up in foster care with not so nice people. I out grew alot of the ideas this movie presents but it does reinforce alot of messed up ideas about authority figures that may tip the scales in a bad direction if you are a foster parent or have kids that have trust issues and ODD.
Set in rural Maine during the late 1950s, THE IRON GIANT centers on 9-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voiced by Eli Marienthal), who lives with his waitress mother, Annie (Jennifer Aniston). One night, he discovers a huge robot in the woods, munching on whatever metal it can find, including the town's electric substation. Hogarth is frightened but takes pity when the robot is enmeshed in wires and turns off the power so that the robot can escape. The robot turns out to be the world's best playmate, whether cannon-balling into the swimming hole or acting as a sort of amusement park ride. His origins remain mysterious, but his reaction to Hogarth's toy ray gun suggests that he may have served as a weapon of some kind. Local beatnick Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick, Jr.) lets Hogarth hide the robot in his junkyard, but government investigator Kent Mansley (Christopher McDonald) thinks the giant is part of a Communist plot and presses Hogarth to turn him in. Mansley calls in the army, and suddenly the robot and the surrounding community are in real danger.
This wonderful film from director Brad Bird has so much humor and heart that it's one of the best family movies around. The script, based on a book by England's poet laureate, Ted Hughes, is exceptionally good. The plot has some clever twists and some sly references to the 1950s to tickle the memories of Boomer grandparents. Setting the story in the 1950s puts the government's reaction to the robot in the context of the Red Scare and Sputnik.
The Iron Giant may not have the breathtaking vistas of some of the best Disney animated films, but it's lively and heartwarming, and the characters, both human and robot, are so engaging that you might forget they aren't real. The robot, created with computer graphics, is seamlessly included with the hand-drawn actors, making the illusion even more complete.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes real friendships, like that between Hogarth and The Iron Giant. Do you have to have a lot in common with someone to be friends with them?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
