The Iron Giant [1999]

I remember reading the Ted Hughes children's novel that The Iron Giant is based on to the very first class I taught as a student teacher.

I had no worries about keeping the kids under control for the very simple reason that they were so fascinated with the story ofThe Iron Man that they'd have listened to the whole thing in one sitting.

It also gave them a lot to think about life, and death (Hughes based the novel on a story he told his children after the death of their mother, fellow poet Sylvia Plath). That class made a mighty fine model of the Iron Man too, which lurked in the school entrance to frighten visitors. Even though it really did look as though it came from a junk yard!

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There is part of me that's rather sad that the movie version is quite different from the original, and is now very much an American story instead of a British one. However on seeing the art work, and watching the trailer (quite a few times, I couldn't resist replaying it immediately) I felt myself being caught up just like that class did on hearing the original version of the story. When I eventually got round to seeing the whole movie I had to agree the changes do fit. This Iron Giant does seem at "home" in late 1950's America (with it's Cold War paranoia, and fascination for 'Outer Space').

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- Movie Cat

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