While most people are terrified of the inquisitive metal-munching giant, Hogarth is one of the few whose curiosity outweighs his trepidation.

We should bomb it to smithereens before it does.” Like so many other superhero comics and films, the consensus from mankind is that what is different should be feared. An early glimpse of the giant prompts one of Hogarth’s classmates to whisper the telling words: “It’s probably been sent by foreign enemies to take over the country. Cold War paranoia is everywhere in Rockwell, Hogarth’s hometown, switched across the Atlantic from Hughes’ native UK. When Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies adapted the story for the screen – with the executive producer input of The Who’s Pete Townshend – they took this rather psychedelic enemy and turned it into something much more appropriate for the film’s 1957 setting: the Red Menace. The iron giant challenges it to a test of endurance where the two of them have to withstand the heat of the sun and burning petrol respectively, a test which our hero eventually wins. In the book, the iron giant learns to live in harmony with the locals until a strange being named the “Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon” crash-lands on Australian soil demanding food. After that though, things get very strange. Based on the 1968 novella, ‘The Iron Man’, by British poet Ted Hughes, the film shares the same initial premise of an iron man who feeds on metal befriending a young boy named Hogarth. If The Iron Giant is really a superhero film, then it’s notable for having one of the most unusual origin stories around. But beyond that deceptively simple synopsis there’s a story that actually adds up to one of the most authentic and powerful superhero films ever made.

If you were feeling ungenerous you could call it E.T. It’s a kids’ classic in the most traditional sense, with a brisk 86-minute running time that charts the growing friendship between a boy and his metal friend who fell from the stars. At first glance, The Iron Giant seems like an easy film to pigeonhole.

The iron giant ted hughes