The Iron Giant

In October 1957, America had plenty to be worried about. Rock 'n' roll. Television. The bomb. And on the fourth day of that month, the Soviets successfully launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. The space race had officially begun. The Cold War just got colder. People were unsure about their neighbors, even questioning their friends.

In the small town of Rockwell, Maine, Annie Hughes is just worried about putting supper on the table for herself and her nine-year-old son, Hogarth. A single mother holding down a job at the local diner, Annie has her hands full with Hogarth—headstrong and imaginative, always on the lookout for the latest attempted takeover by mutant aliens or subversive invaders.

So when a local fisherman comes into the diner with a tall tale about a huge metal man falling into the sea, the only one to pay him much attention is Hogarth, who sets out exploring to find the enormous robot. What he does find is a 50-foot giant with an insatiable appetite for metal and a childlike curiosity about its new world.

Rumors of everything from an alien invasion to a Russian secret weapon bent on destroying Rockwell soon spread through the small town, prompting the arrival of government agent Kent Mansley. Keeping one step ahead of Mansley, Hogarth convinces his beatnik friend Dean to hide the Iron Giant in Dean's junkyard.

But it isn't long before the rumors turn into paranoia—the situation escalates and the possible destruction of Rockwell looms. Hogarth turns to his friend, the Iron Giant, who ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving the town's residents from their own fears and prejudices. In times like these, you really find out what your friends are made of... sometimes, it's even metal.

Hogarth Hughes, Annie Hughes, Dean McCoppin, Iron Giant, Kent Mansley, Mrs. Tensedge, General Shannon Rogard

Based on a 1968 children's book by future British poet laureatd Ted Hughes.