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L.A. Readers! Celebrate The 10th Anniversary Of THE IRON GIANT With Brad Bird And Friends!
Beaks here...
"Every now and again we folks here at AICN are lucky enough to bring a film to your attention. Somehow, to seemingly discover the film. When we find one of these jewels, we push the living bejeesus out of it because something in the film illicits that pure visceral feeling of wanting the film to succeed.
Not all great films or classic films do succeed. Some bellyflop tremendously, and that’s what I don’t want to see happen here."
Ten years ago, Harry wrote the above in the preface to his review of Brad Bird's THE IRON GIANT*. Unfortunately, in accordance with Warner Bros.' wishes, the film did flop. Big time. In fact, its failure essentially marked the beginning of the end for WB's feature animation division. Shameful.
Today, however, THE IRON GIANT is considered a modern classic. And as for that Bird fella, he found a soft landing (and two Oscars) up in Emeryville, California. So how cool would it be to revisit the film - and to thumb your nose at faulty conventional wisdom - with the writer-director and his crew on its tenth anniversary? Well, if you've got $10 to spare, you can join Bird and company at the ASIFA's special screening of THE IRON GIANT on October 23rd at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium in Burbank, California!
For more info on the event, click here. Or just check out the excerpted press release below. Even if you've seen the film a gazillion times, it'll be well worth another go-round just to hear Bird's comments now that he's ended up on the right side of history. He's not known for mincing words. This could be a truly special - and lively - Q&A.
See you there?
IRON GIANT REUNION
Friday, October 23, 2009- 7:30 pm
Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
Tickets on sale now: www.asifa-hollywood.org/irongiant
ASIFA-Hollywood Members: $5
Woodbury students: $5
General Admission: $10
Parking is free. Proceeds benefit the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. This event is made possible by a generous grant from the Walter Lantz Foundation.
About The Iron Giant Reunion
ASIFA-Hollywood will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Annie Awards winning 1999 animated masterpiece "The Iron Giant", with an evening with lively discussion with some of the animators and crew members on Friday, October 23, 2009, at 7:30 pm, at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium, Woodbury University, in Burbank, California.
Among the many artists expected to attend will be writer and director Brad Bird, background artist Anne Guenther, art director Alan Bodner, lead animator Steve Markowski, and Scott Johnston who created the ToonShader software for the film. The panel will be moderated by animator Tom Sito.
"The Iron Giant is one of those rare films that flawlessly merged CG with traditional animation and represented superior storytelling," said ASIFA-Hollywood Vice-President Tom Sito. "ASIFA-Hollywood wants to showcase the individuals who made the iconic film, and the event will be extra-special with a rare appearance by Brad Bird."
*So weird to see my old talkbacks black-boxed.
Not all great films or classic films do succeed. Some bellyflop tremendously, and that’s what I don’t want to see happen here."
Today, however, THE IRON GIANT is considered a modern classic. And as for that Bird fella, he found a soft landing (and two Oscars) up in Emeryville, California. So how cool would it be to revisit the film - and to thumb your nose at faulty conventional wisdom - with the writer-director and his crew on its tenth anniversary? Well, if you've got $10 to spare, you can join Bird and company at the ASIFA's special screening of THE IRON GIANT on October 23rd at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium in Burbank, California!
For more info on the event, click here. Or just check out the excerpted press release below. Even if you've seen the film a gazillion times, it'll be well worth another go-round just to hear Bird's comments now that he's ended up on the right side of history. He's not known for mincing words. This could be a truly special - and lively - Q&A.
See you there?
IRON GIANT REUNION
Friday, October 23, 2009- 7:30 pm
Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
Tickets on sale now: www.asifa-hollywood.org/irongiant
ASIFA-Hollywood Members: $5
Woodbury students: $5
General Admission: $10
Parking is free. Proceeds benefit the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. This event is made possible by a generous grant from the Walter Lantz Foundation.
About The Iron Giant Reunion
ASIFA-Hollywood will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Annie Awards winning 1999 animated masterpiece "The Iron Giant", with an evening with lively discussion with some of the animators and crew members on Friday, October 23, 2009, at 7:30 pm, at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium, Woodbury University, in Burbank, California.
Among the many artists expected to attend will be writer and director Brad Bird, background artist Anne Guenther, art director Alan Bodner, lead animator Steve Markowski, and Scott Johnston who created the ToonShader software for the film. The panel will be moderated by animator Tom Sito.
"The Iron Giant is one of those rare films that flawlessly merged CG with traditional animation and represented superior storytelling," said ASIFA-Hollywood Vice-President Tom Sito. "ASIFA-Hollywood wants to showcase the individuals who made the iconic film, and the event will be extra-special with a rare appearance by Brad Bird."
*So weird to see my old talkbacks black-boxed.
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+ Expand All
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I totally remember AICN pushing this at the time, too. And I then went on to push it to everyone I knew, especially the ones with kids...
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As I did with EYES WIDE SHUT that same summer. I wouldn't duplicate that feat until 2003. The movie? IRREVERSIBLE.
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Congrats to I.G.on pushing iconic status!
Makes me realize though, how little Harry shows up these days. -
It is time to take your place as the Master of Everything.
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doesn't seem like it's been 10 years
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C'mon, it's not like he has anything better to do.
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...as the first, mrbeaks?
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Oct 07, 2009 2:31:03 AM CDT
Fuck I wish I stil lived in Burbank for shit like this...
by the fly on the wall
I should move back.
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you saw irreversible three times in one weekend? that's some rough shit, man. it's a great movie, but there's no way i could watch that 3 times in 3 days. iron giant is a classic though, i believe it was one of the first DVDs i ever bought.
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Bird definitely needs to do more stuff... and I too can't believe that about IRREVERSIBLE, Beaks. You're one tough SOB. Once was quite enough for me. Brutal to say the least... and I don't usually mind violence at all.
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Hope tickets don't sell out faster than I can convince people to go.
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I don't know what that says a bout you.
But I guess Iron Giant counter balances that. I guess.
Eyes Wide Shut is fucking great modern Kubrick. I think the final line in that film was a good note to go out on. Kubrick 4 eva suckas!!! -
I've only really choked up at two movies: Iron Giant and Ratatouille (when critic dude reverts to a kid in his mom's kitchen). Brad Bird has my number.
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Can't wait! If you were one of the people who attended the Iron Giant panel at the con in 99, you know that the fans gave the Warner Bros. marketing dept. an ear full how they "fucked it up".
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I think I scared away a boyfriend by suggesting what a great name that is for a child.
Wish I could be there for the event. It sounds like it should be a lot of fun and I'd love to find out what's next with Brad Bird. -
the film flopped? For those of us not in the loop, care to explain why Warners wanted IG to flop? What's the conspiracy? Why isn't it just a (huge) cock-up?
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Bird *is* doing a live-action movie, about the San Francisco 1906 earthquake. Last I heard, he was involved in toning down the script, because Warner was too chickenshit to properly finance the next TITANIC.
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What gives?! Harry didn't write that thing! I love Iron Giant. I watched that movie because of this site and I still sing its praises to people who've never heard of it. It is a shame it never got huge during its first run. The WB line... is that the fact that they didn't market it at all or what?
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but still a good movie.on the other hand the Irreversible is a terrible,overrated film.I just couldnt stop laughing during the whole time,and thinking how the marketing is always stronger than the art..
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in my top five. Swoon-inducing.
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he should,since IG is the best movie of his career.
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and yes, it was done so cuz wb execs hated it
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with my girlfriend and son, I almost had an anuerism from holding back my tears, if I'd let the floodgates open, I would have needed help walking out of the cinema.
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I remember seeing this in the theatre all those years ago. When the movie was done, I started phoning up all of my friends, "Dude, you've got to see this movie, IT'S SO AWESOME!" And up to a year later, I'd still get e-mail from my friends, "I finally rented it and watched it last night because you won't stop gushing about it, and you know what? IT IS AWESOME!!"
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Although it's very different to the movie. You can see him reading from it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18DdJO9Lg-s
'On 'Eyes Wide Shut' Michael Herr wrote an excellent article about it which is well worth a read, i think it's called 'Completely missing Kubrick'. 'Irreversible' is absolute rubbish. -
That guy's entertaining as hell. Still, count me in!
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thats been worth a damn!
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means I actually had a chance to get tix for a change. ;)
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John Lasseter told me at an animation seminar that the original marketing boys and girls were not only fired for marketing the movie as generic kids toon drek (which fucked up its credibility as ruined its returns) they were also blacklisted and told they would never ever work in the movie business again!
Don’t know how true that is but I hope it was and they all got what they deserved, I thought Iron Giant was going to be rubbish by what I had seen trailers / merchandising at the time!!
Reluctantly saw the movie years after its release and loved it ! but it took a famous animation director to convince me. THAT’S how bad the marketing fools fucked up)
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And it was buried under the huge amount of 1999 blockbusters. Damn it has been TEN FUCKING YEARS since The Phantom Menace, The Mummy and shit? FUCK I'M GETTING OLD.
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Pack it with a ton of extras and I'd buy it the second it gets released.
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I'm going to watch this movie with my now 17 year old son that weekend in fond tribute, wishing I was there. Sadly, we were the only two in the theater 10 years ago during its original run.
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My significant other turned to me when it ended and said "That's the best fuckin' movie I saw all year" and I had to concur. It's really one of the greats of all the contemporary movies I've seen. I'm glad I got to see it in the theater, it was a terrific experience.
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the review. It is "elicits," not "illicits."
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If I am flipping through the channels and it is on, I always stop and watch it til the end. I've been meaning to try and get a copy of the book. This is definitely on my top 10 movies list.
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Connick was great in this, as was the guy who played Masley, the evil FBI agent. Great flick. I'm glad it's receiving acclaim now.
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Thank you AICN, for whatever you did to promote this. It was a wonderful film. I've given the DVD to every niece, nephew etc I can, and I can't wait to see it with my kids. Also, I LOVE Ted Hughes, and I adore the original, so it's extra-special that this worked out so wonderfully.
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I think Brad Bird's first big job was doing the animation cycles for Krusty the Klown, including all of the facial expressions when he has his heart attack in Season 1.
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They call Brad Bird the "writer and director" but it's Austin's own Tim (friend of Harry) who did the bulk of the screenwriting for this. No respect!
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Couldn't stand that fucker back in the day, but now I miss him and his fucked-up, all cap posts.
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Easily one of my top 5 favorite movies. And since it's release, I've had a son, and now watch it with him too. It's one of the most genuinely touching and well written movies I've seen, animated or otherwise. It's also one of the few that will actually choke me up. The "Superman..." scene at the end gets me every single time, without fail. I have to fight very hard not to blubber like a little girl.
Kudos and thanks to Brad Bird and the rest of the people responsible for bringing us The Iron Giant. It is a marvelous piece of work, and I will love it for the rest of my days.And to be honest, I think it's almost better that WB gimped it out of the gate. It rose to greatness on its own merits, and is a little more special for doing so. :) -
I'll take whatever Bird makes. He has my guaranteed movie ticket purchase in perpetuity.
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Classic animated feature!
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Oct 07, 2009 9:40:32 AM CDT
"You are who you choose to be...I'm SUUUUPERMANN!"
by bizarroasimovlives
Powerful scene,
I remember watching this with my bizarro girlfriend when it hit dvd for the first time.
At first she gave me all kinds of shit for watching a "children's" movie.
As the movie progressed, I noticed she was watching it as well, the minute the nuclear missile scene came about and he bellowed those words. She cried me a river.
Okay, I boo hooed as well -
Only movie to ever do that to me.His sacrifice still kills me, his smile at the end, as well.
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The movie is consistantly great from the begining to end. The scene where the Iron Giant goes all "alien war machine" and starts decimating the army was scarier than Spielberg's entire "War Of The World's" rehash.
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I am too teary eyed at the end each time i watch it. i can only hope if they ever did a sequel it would be just as good
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There's a reason this thing bombed - it's just okay and not as great as everyone thinks.
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really great.
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And opinions are like assholes. If say that you think IG is "just ok" and over rated, I say that *I* think that you a clueless trolling asswipe with the cinema sensibilities of a mollusk.
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Oct 07, 2009 10:46:33 AM CDT
"I know you feel bad about the deer. It's bad to kill...
by nasty in the pasty
...but it's not bad to die.""You...die?""Well, yeah, I mean...SOMEday.""*I*...die?""I don't know. You're made of metal, but you think about things, and have feelings, and that means you have a soul.""Soul...?""My Mom says it's something that exists inside all good things, and that after you die, it goes on, forever and ever.""Souls...don't...die"A fucking PG-rated family flick about a boy and his giant robot, and that might just be the most profound discussion of life and death I've ever heard in a movie.
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As is evidenced by the reactions here, I think this movie has the highest potential for invoking tears in grown men than any movie I know. I makes me cry every time I watch it. I am SO jealous of those of you who get to see it again on the big screen.
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"People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered. ya, thats why pixar is a failure...rofl like i said, the suits at the wb hated the flick, they wanted it to die
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Yes, there is a reason this film bombed. Tasteless asshats such as yourself. Good day.
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THE IRON GIANT rocks!
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....it gets my vote.
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I saw the film in a theater on the original release, all by myself. Seriously. Not a single other person in the theater. And I loved every minute of the film. A true classic in every way. Happy 10th anniversary Superman, er, I mean, Iron Giant! (and thanks, Harry!)
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Loved it so much, I bought the soundtrack, even. Call me a pussy, I don't care: I get choked up at the end every damn time I watch it.
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How the hell were you able to bold the post?!
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Of piss poor promotion. It was mis-sold, poorly marketed and no one made talk show rounds about it. I can think of a dozen movies that did not do well in the box office, but have become timeless classics. Not for reasons professor fuckstain stated.
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The IG is the best animated movie of all time, and one of the 3 best movies of the 90s period.
As far as tear-jerking material, I second the IG's sacrifice (followed by his smile with that awesome music), critic from Ratatouille reverting to him eating his mom's food as a kid and "wanna play ball" at the end of Field of Dreams.
I gotta say that as an individual moment, the Ratatouille one gets my vote. It's really touching. -
I LOVE this movie. I was really glad that my daughter had this movie as one of the first that dealt with real life and death issues.
As far as the not for everyone comment... well, it's sad that someone can't enjoy this film, but I guess robots and sci-fi turn some people off, and so do period pieces and anything has heart. So... it's not for everyone. :) -
So is Vin "I already did Pacifier, Rock can do Tooth Fairy" Diesel gonna be there?
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@ her job to promote the movie. She died not too long after. It was the last thing she ever gave me. I have never watched this fliq because it was too depressing but maybe now is a good time.
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in my throat every time I watch the last 15 minutes of IG. Any film that can make you laugh out loud, bring you to tears, and leave a smile on your face as the credits roll, is always worth your time. Deserves all the praise it gets from fans and more!
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I saw this in a theater. After the movie was over, I saw a woman I presume to be the mother of a child accompanying her and she remarked to him, "That was a *good* movie."
I would have liked my mother to have seen the movie, but she was terminally ill at the time and too sick to go anywhere, so I described it to her. -
The Iron Giant event sold out in just a few hours Weds morning.
One Correction- I had listed Scott Johnston as developer of the Toonshader. This was incorrect. Tad Gielow, Brian Gardner and their team actually developed the software. Mea Culpa. I am sure they are even now out to kick my ass. So let it be written, so let it be done! -
I have no idea how that happened. Maybe if Harry's site allowed you you make a space just by using the fucking SPACE BAR, it wouldn't have happened.
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Dammit.
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Oct 07, 2009 2:22:41 PM CDT
I remember seeing a trailer for IG before Austin Powers 2...
by nasty in the pasty
...and all of the hyped up teenagers and 20-somethings groaning aloud at the "kiddie" preview. Now, a decade later, who remembers Austin Powers as anything other than a dated late-90's pop culture fad?
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for those who actually still buy movies AND go to walmart.
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....of the eventual special edition loaded with extras, like Vin Diesel sobbing that he wished all his flix were of the same caliber and appreciation that Iron Giant enjoys.
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Getting lumpy throat even thinking about it. What does it for me is his eyes closing just before the explosion. When he becomes a walking weapon, it's actually quite scary and unsettling how much you want it to whoop ass.
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I think I've made over 20 people sit down and watch it with me. Including my daughter, but that didn't take much convincing. "Wanna watch a cart-" "YES!".
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...is like cornflakes without the milk.
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show this movie every year to my sixth-graders, of which I have four sections. Which means I watch it at least four times in two days. I lump up every time. It is a wonderful, wise, deeply intelligent film. It's a Wonderful Life, Rushmore, The Iron Giant.
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And PJ's LotR trilogy. All deeply beautiful films that hold up and deepen like baseball gloves.
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Please make it so.
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Most consider Finding Nemo to be the best animated movie ever, they probably haven't seen The Iron Giant.
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You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but in all honesty I can't imagine anyone who has actually seen the movie not love it. It may not be a masterpiece, but goddamned great would come pretty close, and I can say without rseervation that I have never seen anything BETTER.
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The ending gets to me all the time, I regret not seeing it in the theater.
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