Iron Giant

Features, Shorts, Live-Action and Direct-To-Video
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Re: Iron Giant

Post by James » October 6th, 2015, 10:49 am

The theatre I saw it in had it playing on a huge cinemascope screen and it was amazing to see! I'm lucky enough to have a nice home theatre set up with a 100+ inch screen, but there's nothing like seeing a film like this in a real theatre.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Ben » October 7th, 2015, 5:33 am

I remember seeing IG back in '99...a friend of mine and I went, and we used to make a point of seeing all the animated films that came out (which is also how I got into South Park, having missed the series so far and only going to the film to see what all the fuss was about and ended up having a blast!).

Anyway...the last WB feature before IG was Quest For Camelot, or the much more imaginatively titled "The Magic Sword" (sheesh!) over here, and we all know how that turned out. We were not expecting much, and I was extra worried since The Iron Man by Ted Hughes had been a seminal story (well, I know it's a book but it's too slim to call it a novel, maybe a novella?) in my early years, and certainly one of the works that got me interested in pursuing English Literature as a major.

Brad Bird was being touted as being a Simpsons alumni as his biggest claim to fame, and we knew him from the short lovex Family Dog, so things weren't looking that great for an honest translation. But right from that opening WB logo, the tone was set (we even looked at each other with a spine-tingled awe...this was going to be "different") and the film, for all its changes to Hughes, was just incredible, as you all know.

The power of the film - in terms of seeing it on a huge screen - has never worn off me. Has a BD actually been announced now? I hope the just-released "Digital HD" offering isn't going to be the only way to get IG in hi-def...


PS: James...100" screen? Now you're just bragging! We need proof, man! Did you ever get past the "testing" phase of the last images we saw some time ago...? ;)

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by James » October 7th, 2015, 9:45 am

Obviously agree with everything you said. But something about that hand drawn animation on a super wide screen was even more thrilling. You don't get that at home with your 16:9 tv or screen with black bars!

That "testing" phase was a 106" screen! Unlike you I'm not too handy so our home theatre is cobbled together. It ended up looking really good but it's not as "permanent" as I would like. I'm hoping after the new year we can start over and actually build out the screen area, paint the walls, etc...

EDIT: Just looked back at what I previously wrote you way back when. In those original pictures I sent you you're right, that was just a test screen. It looks like it takes up almost the same amount of space but we did soon after replace that bed sheet with an actual screen!

And yes there is a BD planned. They're currently working on bonus features, some of which were shown at the screening. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/09/28/ ... -material/

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Dacey » October 7th, 2015, 5:34 pm

Anyway...the last WB feature before IG was Quest For Camelot, or the much more imaginatively titled "The Magic Sword" (sheesh!) over here, and we all know how that turned out.
Actually, the last feature from WB before IG was The King & I. And we all know how that turned out. ;)
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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Ben » October 7th, 2015, 7:20 pm

I meant from what was then Warner Bros. Feature Animation.

The King And I was only distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, who also put out a slew of Don Bluth's 1990s films, but it was not actually made by them. I can't remember the production company, but it was directed by Richard Rich, I believe, so it may have been his own outfit, which also made Swan Princess for Sony.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Vernadyn » October 8th, 2015, 12:18 am

It was great to see this at a packed theater (on a Wednesday evening at that) with such a, well, incredible audience response. Quite a number of people brought their kids as well--I'd certainly have brought mine, if not for the wee fact that I don't actually have any. Though I suspect most of the audience had already seen the film already, they were howling at the "hand underfoot" and lakeside scenes. I regularly attend that theater complex, and the sound is usually OK to good, but Iron Giant's sound mix was absolutely stentorian, the late Michael Kamen's glorious score shining through.

I agree that the dream sequence does give away the surprise a bit for first-time viewers. I was in middle school when I saw it (right when it was released on home video) and this was pretty much the first animated action film I'd seen. When that reveal happened at the climax, I couldn't believe it. I was awestruck. I had hated pretty much every non-Disney American animated film I'd seen (Princess and the Goblin, Thumbelina, Anastasia, Quest for Camelot, Pebble and the Penguin, American Tail 2, others that have deservedly been forgotten), but this was something else entirely. Of course, the greatness of the film doesn't hinge on that one moment, but I thought it was awesome.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Randall » October 8th, 2015, 12:35 am

When I saw IG on its initial release, it was shown in 1.85:1--- yes, they showed it in the wrong ratio, I assume with the wrong lens on the projector. I recall the moon being distinctly oval in one shot---- annoying. However, it didn't keep me from LOVING the film. Any film that name-checks The Spirit and includes a huge Superman reference is well on its way to greatness, and Bird gave us a classic.

The BD will not be out until 2016, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait. Too bad, though, since I'd hoped to have a Christmas screening with my kids, nieces and nephews.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Dacey » October 8th, 2015, 12:37 am

The King And I was only distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, who also put out a slew of Don Bluth's 1990s films, but it was not actually made by them. I can't remember the production company, but it was directed by Richard Rich, I believe, so it may have been his own outfit, which also made Swan Princess for Sony.
Apparently it was...Rankin Bass? Although I doubt they did the animation, it appears they were the main production company.

King & I looks more "expensive" than Swan Princess, yet not "better." If that even makes sense. The animation just has a different "flow" to it that makes me suspect it wasn't the same studio. But I could be wrong.
The BD will not be out until 2016, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait. Too bad, though, since I'd hoped to have a Christmas screening with my kids, nieces and nephews.
That's a real shame. Seems it would sell more copies if they rode on the "hype" the movie has going for it now. Also, these things do best at the holidays anyway!
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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Ben » October 8th, 2015, 3:17 am

That's a shame...guess our family movie will just have to be Inside Out. Not a bad sub! ;)

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by EricJ » October 9th, 2015, 1:49 pm

Dacey wrote:
The King And I was only distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, who also put out a slew of Don Bluth's 1990s films, but it was not actually made by them. I can't remember the production company, but it was directed by Richard Rich, I believe, so it may have been his own outfit, which also made Swan Princess for Sony.
Apparently it was...Rankin Bass? Although I doubt they did the animation, it appears they were the main production company.
Rankin-Bass apparently wanted to do one, which may be the reason they lost some rights and had to quickly substitute with '73's live-action "Marco" instead: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070371/
(Which had a distinctly King-wannabe flavor to it, and a very, very, very Rankin-Bass look to it. :shock: And I ain't just talking about the stop-motion musical number, either.)

Warner and Rich salvaged the King project after RB went under, and the '99 version has a very, very Swan Princess look to it. Which is too bad, since, in the scenes where they actually stick to the darn musical, it's a pretty good version.
Even if it is considered to be one of the films that officially "killed off" the 90's Wannabe, long before IG and Cats Don't Dance turned anything Warner Animation ever made into holy martyrs.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Dacey » October 9th, 2015, 1:57 pm

When you say "sticking to the darn musical," are we by any chance talking about scenes in which giant sea serpents are defeated by the power of whistling? ;)

Or when a "Wow, I can't believe this character existed in 1999" Asian stereotype keeps losing his teeth over Getting to Know You?

Or when giant statues are trying to kill the King while he's praying and only his cute panther can save him?

Or when a musical number abruptly switches from day-to-night just because a character's necklace is removed?

Granted, I had no problem with the king not dying (there was no reason for him to die in the original!), and The King & I isn't exactly one of the more visually exciting of the Rogers and Hammerstein's musicals (a lot of songs just involve characters sitting around and swaying from side to side). But I still can't think of any moments when the animated one "stuck to the darn musical," in any sense of the word.
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Re: Iron Giant

Post by droosan » October 9th, 2015, 3:10 pm

EricJ wrote:long before IG and Cats Don't Dance turned anything Warner Animation ever made into holy martyrs.

Cats Don't Dance was also an acquisition, via Turner Feature Animation.

Warner Bros absorbed TFA mere months before the movie was completed, and thus released it to theaters (for all of ten days, at least in Burbank) .. but CDD -- along with TFA's other feature, The Pagemaster -- weren't considered 'in-house' Warner Bros Animation projects.

Though, most of the absorbed TFA staff did go on to work on Osmosis Jones .. which was a bona-fide WBA flick.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by EricJ » October 9th, 2015, 5:13 pm

Dacey wrote:When you say "sticking to the darn musical," are we by any chance talking about scenes in which giant sea serpents are defeated by the power of whistling? ;)

Or when a "Wow, I can't believe this character existed in 1999" Asian stereotype keeps losing his teeth over Getting to Know You?
Well, take out the wacky desperate sidekick, and it's a better idea for any adaptation to take the kids on a Sound of Music outing during "Getting to Know You", rather than the stage-shackled Kerr movie staying in one room.
Not to mention finally including a musical-friendly version of "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?", without any unreasonable cartoon pandering.

The giant statues during "Puzzlement" were a bit embarrassing, but the music fit, and the kid-friendly "mushy stuff" parody during "We Kiss in the Shadow" added a nice bit of animation-candy to an otherwise slow song.

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Ben » October 9th, 2015, 8:23 pm

droosan wrote:Cats Don't Dance was also an acquisition, via Turner Feature Animation.
Thanks Droo! Saved me from making the correction! :)

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Re: Iron Giant

Post by Randall » October 9th, 2015, 9:57 pm

I never wanted to see the King and I animated film until reading Dacey's description.

Now it's a must.

:)

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