Therapist Reacts to THE IRON GIANT
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2024
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How do you learn to make choices for yourself?
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright react (and cry) to The Iron Giant. They talk about choosing who you want to be and how the movie tackles life and death in a mature and age-appropriate way. Jonathan explains how the giant’s transformation from following programming to making its own choices mirrors our psychological journeys. And Alan talks about the innovative combination of CGI and hand-drawn animation and how animators articulate the giant’s emotions on a robot face.
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Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Nathan Judd
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis
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this one's gonna get me. you guys suck, I dont have enough tears 😢
Goodness is arbitrary concept the most horrible people did it all in the name of their goodness
Goodness is arbitrary concept the most horrible people in history did stuff Genocide in the name their own goodness
Genetic aren't a digital program responses . There raw Materials for proteins
Life depends on Killing
Interesting fact: The premise of the movie is based on a question, the question being is "What if a gun didn't want to be a gun?".
Was the original book also?
Kind of, but more specifically the director who did the adaptation pitched it that way.
CW death and ab*se
Taken from IMDB: Brad Bird was in part inspired to make this film as a memorial to his sister Susan, who died at the hands of her estranged husband by gun violence. His pitch was this: "What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?"
"What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?"
Also is inspired by the death of the director’s sister who was killed in a murder suicide with a gun.
The movie all around is ingenious with a sad backstory.
There's a book?@@matityaloran9157
The fact that Iron Gigant doesn't actually die at the end is actually key. He didn't have to sacrifice himself to stop that missile. He could have very easily blasted it out of the atmosphere with any of his weapons. He used himself because he chose to rebel against his nature. He didn't have to die to be a hero, but was willing to, to show how much he was willing to sacrifice for the family and friends he’d made on a foreign world.
Let’s not forget he is the cause of the missile being thrown also, and they pretty much could throw a second one thinking they missed. Oh well!
I didn't realize that but it totally fit
He _couldn’t_ have used his own weapons, because he risked becoming a weapon himself again. He had to stop the missile, not as a gun, but as a (Super)man.
As much as I love this thought thought process, there’s nothing to suggest he even knows how to use his weapons outside of his rage mode.
There's also the parallel with the Christ figure rising again. They don't show it in this video but the twinkle in the sky after the explosion is in the shape of a cross
Vin Diesel dosen't get enough credit for his voice acting abilities. He made me feel big feelings about a robot and a tree-man...incredible work
Vin Diesel is more creative than he is given credit for. His big dream is to direct the film Hannibal (the general from Carthage).
Family..
not to mention how he makes IG sound like a kid
It was him !!!😲😲
I agree. I can't stand him in a live action movie, likely due to the roles he is playing, but love the nuance he brings to his voice acting in animated roles.
The part where Hogarth was explaining how everything dies was so exactly how a parent says this to their child. You can tell he's been on the receiving end of this conversation before
And the receiving end was likely where his father is. It's not said in the film (that I can remember) whether his father is dead or abandoned them, but if he died, Hogarth's mother likely gave him the "souls don't die" talk. Then Hogarth said it to Giant.
@@Techydad There's a scene (or deleted scene, I can't recall) that shows a picture of his dad in an army uniform. It's therefore suggested that his father died in combat.
@@dubblebubbletoilandtrouble6646It's shown towards the beginning of the movie. I can't remember if it's in a frame on the nightstand or if it's in the box that Hogarth gets his rifle, flashlight, and hunting cap out of. It's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" details.
@@FurryWrecker911 Gotcha. Thank you. :)
Hogarth is a good big brother
I have so much respect for grown men who allow themselves to be silly, serious and emotional. This is SUCH an amazing channel.
100% agree:)
Yes!!❤😊🎉🎉
Love this comment!
I wish it wasn't seen as such a big deal either. But sadly yeah, thats just the world we live in.
As a grown man when he sacrifices himself it makes me cry every time. Superman would definitely give Giant his own uniform. To quote Superman "In the end the world didn't need a Superman, just a brave one."
Same. Every single time that scene makes me bawl.
Same here
The only reason I took any interest in the WB fighting game was because we got to see Iton Giant meet Superman for the first time.
No amount of brave men could've stopped General Zod
Even though I knew it was coming it still hit hard. 😭
This is a relatively minor thing, but I have always appreciated Hogarth not begging Giant not to go, not to do it. He just... lets Giant choose. It lends so much authenticity to the moment, and made it even more impactful than a big dramatic goodbye. So much of this movie avoid heavy handed tropes and just lets the characters BE. I love it so much.
well, it follows what he was teaching the giuant: killing is bad, but dying isn't
The Iron Giant was also based on a book "The Iron Man" by British novelist and poet, Ted Hughes.
When the movie was in pre-production, Brad Bird either met with Hughes or researched into the novel's background and learned that Ted Hughes wrote the story for his children to console them in the aftermath of their mother's suicide (Sylvia Plath). With the knowledge that life and death were the story's main drivers, Brad Bird applied his own feelings to the mix with his sister's murder by gun violence and set the film's theme and thesis: "What if a gun had a soul, and it didn't want to be a gun?"
Would also explain why Hogarth's last name is Hughes. A nice, respectful nod.
Also shoutout to the General for being suprisingly not gun-ho about all this. Other movie generals would've sent an entire army day 1 and carpet bombed the town, meanwhile this guy was level headed even when standing directly infront of the giant and was willing to hear everyone out. It literaly took sleezebag lying to him multiple times and then stealing the radio to issue the command himself for the nuke to be launched.
He and most of the other adults in this movie are actually pretty reasonable people, and it's refreshing to see!
Same i loved how he was actually an adult
I really liked how at the end in the park Dean gives Hogarth the box saying the general had sent it to him thinking he’d like to have it. Like that’s really great of him. Most of the time in movies they would keep that sort of thing for study to find out how the Iron Giant worked, what he was made of, but instead the General realized the sentimental value it would hold to the kid the Giant befriended and just let him have it 🥹
The late, great John Mahoney.
"Where's the Giant, Mansley?!!!"
It is very refreshing that most of the adults in this movie are actually decent, sensible people, and it's just that one jerk messing things up. It's very true to life.
The Iron Giant is my go to of "What if a childhood movie is just as good as you remember, if not better?". It's aged so incredibly well and to me it's the best Superman movie we've gotten to date as well (If Iron Giant was an Elseworlds Superman)
I could totally see that
You're right, it aged very well!
Not only has it aged very well, it's even more applicable today for the new generations being raised right now. This honestly I think is one of the must-sees for children and families too. @@CinemaTherapyShow
Check out Superman vs the elite.
The Iron Giant is absolutely the Superman of his respective universe
Honestly the moment where the Giant sees the toy gun and immediately goes on the offensive hits so hard to anyone who's been traumatised to that degree that everything is a threat, you HAVE to strike first to survive, weakness is death, etc etc. I remember being that way for such a long time, and still am in a way, after suffering some pretty horrendous shit in my childhood and through to college, about 17 years. Its easy to slip into that feeling that you have to fight or die at the slightest perceived threat when you lived in a place where there were no "perceived" threats, there was just threats. I felt like a monster for so many years, people were afraid of me just because of the way I walked, because I had that much anger that people could sense it. And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic, because it is literally the worst feeling in the world. Knowing you can hurt people, knowing that you have hurt people, knowing that a tiny part of you actually enjoyed it cause you felt like you were taking back some control in your life just by taking control away from someone else. I feel genuinely ill to this day thinking about it. And through time and therapy, even though I know I HAD to do those things, that I had to survive, I still hate myself so damned much. I never wanted to be a monster, but I became one anyway. People brag about pretending to live the life I actually lived and it pisses me off, because trust me, there's nothing cool about seeing genuine fear in someone else's eyes, when they think you're going to kill them, when they realise that they went too far and things just got serious. I didn't like what I saw of myself reflected in those eyes.
I'll never understand people who brag about killing someone, or hurting them, even in self defence. Hurting others is not something to be proud of. It's something nobody should ever have to do. And when you do have to do it, trust me, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering if you really had to.
Beautifully said. I wish there was more I could think to say beyond wishing you well, but I sincerely do. And thank you for finding it within yourself to change for the better.
Thank you very much for this comment. It provides valuable insight into your soul, which in turn has a rippling effect on mine as well.
"And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic"
Or because posturing and intimidating potential threats is an animalistic instinct that goes so far back in our roots that it was present before we could even stand on two legs? Use your brain, please. Your experiences are not a monolith and god knows they're not the only way people think in the world.
I'm still in that situation. It really sucks and I feel like a horrible, unlovable monster. Does...it get better?
@@Asm0d3u5 Absolutely it can. *Everything* will experience change through time. When I was younger I was overflowing with hatred and sadness, which my eyes reflected. There were numerous times when strangers would look at my eyes and become scared or uncomfortable or disgusted. I would sometimes hear children *and* adults whisper about how creepy I looked, and how uncomfortable they felt being around me even if I wasn't interacting with them. Now that I'm healthier, occasionally I will get a compliment on my eyes or smile. People have told me that they look pretty. Those compliments were foreign to me when I was younger. You don't have to pretend to like the things about yourself that upset you, but trying to find neutral grounding is a good way to start building a foundation for yourself. A lot of our behaviors are a direct result of the way people treat us, which can make it very tempting to mistreat others or approach people or ourselves with criticism when we're in a negative situation. One thing I used to do was journal about the way I felt. Writing my feelings out physically helped me regulate them and accept what I was feeling by admitting it though the entries. Even when I would complain, as long as it was on paper, it would help. It also gave me the opportunity to be honest and transparent with myself, those moments were meant for myself only, I could throw away the papers after if I wanted to. No one else had to see them. No matter what your method for grounding yourself is, consistency and actively putting in effort even if you're not getting the results you want, is the key. I hope your days get better, and become more enjoyable. 🧡🌻
As someone who suffered some severe childhood trauma this movie really resonated with me as a kid. I couldn't define why back then. I found myself whispering "Superman" when I was confronted with making a good decision or a bad decision. This movie may have made the most impact on my life more than any other.
As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan with PTSD, this really speaks to me.
We allowed ourselves to be made into weapons and thought that everything around us could be turned into a weapon when we ran out of ammo or our primary firearm was made useless. The urge to kill could solve all of life’s problems in a place I would never want anyone else to experience, and now we are just expected to assimilate back into society. I’m still trying to figure out how to be Superman instead of the punisher.
I really appreciate you friend, and I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through that. The fact that you're striving so hard to be Superman means you already are as far as I'm concerned. 🦸
I'm so sorry that you went through and are still going through that. I wish that the leaders of these conflicts would just duke it out personally instead of sacrificing millions of lives (not to mention well-being of the survivors).
I’m so sorry for the struggles you are going through. This story struck me and I hope you find a way to be Superman. Soldiers like you deserve the highest respect and you are much more than a tool for warfare
One day at a time ✊
I'm so sorry you went through that hell and the situation you are living right now is another type of hell as well. I hope you find peace in this life. I wish you healing.
This is my FAVORITE ANIMATED FILM OF ALL TIME exactly for this reason: its moral isn't "believe in yourself" or "true friendship is x" but "you are who you choose to be" and I firmly believe that it should be required viewing for all human beings during their development.
you think people should be forced to watch this movie?...
@@tonypringles2285 Kids like watching movies, not everything is a horrible plan to ruin people's lives lol
@@tonypringles2285To answer your question: Yes, I do!
@@tonypringles2285we are required to watch all those damn Shakespeare plays. This would be better.
@@mist3995 so you think it is okay to force people to watch something they may not want?
My husband is retired military and this is one of his favorite movies. The military made him into a weapon too, and this message was/is powerful during his deconstruction.
well duh. hat do you think people in the military do?
@@tonypringles2285 why are you repeating what I said in a hostile, condescending way? Do you need a hug?
@@melodycook4561 not from you, hippy
@@tonypringles2285 Seek help, NOW!
Solidarity to everyone crying, and who will always cry, over this movie. Let us never become so cynical and jaded that an honest, good act does not move us.
The “Superman” at the very end never fails to make me cry omg
It would do me, too. But I'm already well into ugly crying by that point lol
I watched this movie for the very first time about a month ago. Loved it so much that the next day I went to go watch some analysis videos on its themes. Just hearing a completely isolated clip of the Giant saying "Superman" made me tear up 😂
I always liked that when the giant finds the hunters, they call him a monster as they stand/crouch over the deer they just killed with their guns, before running away. While he is just standing there harmless and ends up having compassion for the deer.
I mean. . .to be perfectly fair. It would be very startling to see. They were honestly a couple of hunters minding their own business. It's not like they shot multiple times, it was a single clean shot. If its one gripe I have with the movie, its the slight suggestion that hunting makes someone a monster. . .when its been proven that keeping the deer population in check benefits them in the long run.
@@hallaloth3112 I've never objected to hunting when it's done for food. That's what happens in nature after all. Killing a buck for venison is the same thing as a cougar would do, or a pack of wolves. So not a problem. The hunting I hate is the so-called "sport" hunting or "trophy" hunting, when it's just to get a head stuffed & mounted or something.
are you trying to imply that they are somehow monsters???
@@tonypringles2285 There is a contrast. They've just enacted violence, which can be seen as a monstrous thing to do, whereas the iron giant had just been very gentle with the deer. I don't think it can be simplified to "they're monsters", it's just an interesting way to show the contrast between what they're saying and what they're doing
@@thatwardoo violence against a deer though? thats hardly monstrous nor can it be seen as montrous
I feel like that corporate synergy actually serves the story: because it's WB, they are allowed to just use Superman, show a comic, etc, and that makes the story seem more real. No suspension of disbelief for a figure *like* Superman existing, just actual Superman as a culture icon. That actually grounds it, without being product placement.
In short, corporate synergy has done exactly one good thing, and it's this movie
I want to comment on the end. Right before the Giant collides with the missile, the head tilting back as the eyes close never came across as just "joy" for me but instead "bliss". He was going out, not only with a bang, but completely content with who he had decided to be. He could die with no regrets, knowing he did the right thing. Man, I loved this movie as a kid, but I appreciate it even more now. I can relate really strongly with the Giant's arch.
Side note: The moment when the Giant goes full scifi murder mode actually reminds me a lot of the moment when Christopher Reeves Superman finds Lois' dead body and he screams in anger and sorrow before reversing time. They're both similar moments of grief that cause the character to lose control, which is very relatable as someone with anger management issues.
The word that presents itself to me is "grace."
@@thork6974 A picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s find all of them!
btw, I always saw it as “contentment”. So not far from “bliss”.
Peace!
except he doesn't even die at the end, he's just flown into pieces that are coming together
I'll have to save this for later because I choose not to burst into tears at work at ten in the morning. Later on in the day at work, fine. But not the morning.
That's fair.
😂😂😂
Well the intro was enough to make me cry god choice
I type this crying at my desk at work, hoping no one will notice. You made the right call.
I was right to wait 😂😭😂😭
7:28 Wow, I didn't know that. The fact that Brad Bird says his motivation behind this movie was his sister's death and characterizes The Iron Giant, "the gun," as sympathetic shows why this movie is so pure. The film isn't a timely message born out of hate but a call to empathy in her memory created from his love.
Yes!!, 😢 sad !
You don't think it's avoiding accepting that her husband was abusive and killed her?
It wasn't "a bad day" and a gun that killed her. It was her husband.
@@mahnamahna3252 Both statements are true. Her husband killed her, and she was killed by a gun. He may have killed her regardless of whether he had the gun or not, but having access made it easier for him to do. I agree that saying he "had a bad day" sort of trivialises the issue and his motivations, but it doesn't change the role the firearm played either. I think about this often when I see news about school shootings - individuals can do a lot of damage in a short space of time with firearms compared to what they could do with another weapon (except for a bomb), because that is what firearms are designed to do.
@@Fragmented_Mask If a bad guy with a gun is stopped by anything other than a good guy with a gun, the bad guy wanted to be stopped.
@@leandersearle5094 Bro what-
"It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die" is SUCH a good line
One thing I noticed at the 6:05 minute mark, the humans say, "Look, it's the monster.." Even though in his eyes, they're the monsters, as they shot a deer for either sport, or to feed themselves. Which I think, there is no true monster, it's a shame for what happened. But people have to eat, the deer has to eat, it's the circle of life.
A thing no one ever talk about in the scene after the explosion is that every military is cheering, while the general is the only one composed giving the giant the salute
I love the ending honestly. The message is that the soul never dies, and I think it holds true even with that. The giant intends to sacrifice himself, learning from the lesson in the deer scene that death isn't always bad. He didn't make his sacrifice thinking he'd survive, but he did, which doesn't take away from the nobility of his character in my opinion.
Exactly!!! While some people might say that lessens the impact, even as a kid, and even now, knowing that he survives, it in no way distracts from the powerful nature of the giant’s sacrifice!
The Giant surviving only makes it better, as if he died for real there's still the idea that maybe he should have used his cannon arm to shoot the missile out of the sky so he'd still be alive. Him surviving makes it a moot point, therefore quashing such thoughts and confirming that you can reject your harmful programming and past. Plus he's a superweapon from an interstellar civilization, a nuke probably shouldn't be enough to put him down for good
Brad Bird was asked about this, when some people had thought the happy ending was "tacked on" or took away from the sacrifice.
He just said something along the lines of "Absolutely not. This movie has the ending it deserves". I thought it was a great retort.
@@Pantheragem Based Brad!
Another subtle message in this movie is actually displayed by the contrast between Mansley and Dean. Mansley has been stated to have been modeled on the ideal man of the era, who everyone in town would have expected to wind up Hograth's stepfather; Dean on the other hand is a beatnik, a subgroup looked down upon by society at large and who is clearly something of an outcast in town.
However, Mansley turns out to be the biggest villain of the story and Dean is a good and kind man who is the perfect role model and mentor for Hograth. A perfect metaphor for how what people SAY is the truth isn't necessary actually the truth.
I showed this to my 5 yr old son a few nights ago. He was glued to the screen the entire time. Right as Iron Giant says Superman and sacrifices himself, my son jumps up and screams, "No!! He died!!" Starts bawling his eyes out and runs out of the room. It took a bit, but we got him to calm down and watch the end. But I feel ya kid. That's how I felt, too. Hell, i was crying and ive seen it sooo many times. Such a powerful scene. This movie is a work of art in all aspects. I was tearing up just watching this.
Can you tell me where you watched it? Is it in some streaming platform?
@@SuperCoolSunglasses I believe it was on Amazon.
"today represents a clean start. not that the past doesn't exist. not that the consequences don't continue. but you can start right now and say who do i want to be" is such a powerful statement and something i needed to hear today. absolutely love your videos
I learned so many lessons from this film as a kid, it taught several fundamental facts of life that adults often shy away from discussing with young children, but did so in a very mature and accessible way. I love, and will always love, this film. Thank you for covering it. Certainly among the greatest films ever made.
Thank you for watching!
nostalgia hits hard..
I’d never seen it this way until now, but in the scene with the deer and the hunters, the Iron Giant reminds me so much of my granddad. He was a WWII and Korea vet, a bomber mechanic, but the one time he went deer hunting, he simply couldn’t bring himself to kill the deer. He was, by all accounts, as profoundly gentle a man as you would expect someone whose middle name was “Friend” to be. Granddad passed away when I was just five, and I treasure things like this scene that remind me of him.
For me, the crying moment is when Hogarth tells the Iron Giant, "I love you." Hogarth knows what is going to happen and is preemptively fortifying the Giant's soul, and his own, with a truth that needs to be spoken before the Giant dies. Perhaps he didn't get to say that to his father, or his father didn't say that to him...
...but it really highlights how core the aspect of personal relationships are to great sacrifices.
I also love the robot's joy when he knows by reality that he IS Superman. Only superman can do what he did at the end of the film. It's one thing to TALK about being who you choose to be...another thing altogether to live it.
The fundamental a ha moment for me in life was the realization that things like 'dying to self for other people brings true life' are true statements. Everything else doesn't really satisfy...but making the conscious choice to sacrifice for someone you love so that their life is better...makes your life better.
We don't like to admit that its true...we are afraid of sacrifice. But we are robbing ourselves when we do this.
I think the main driver of fear of sacrifice is the fear that it wont be worth it. The person wont appreciate it, the thing you were trying to stop or avoid happens anyway, etc. Somehow we have to be okay with that lost effort and time, and not regret that the effort and time maybe could have been used elsewhere more successfully. What if's.
One of the best movies ever. Not just animation or "kids" movies, it's fantastic. Sure it's the typical "boy and his dog" story but it does it so well.
Or boy and his dragon if httyd taught us anything 😁
Not even 30 seconds into the intro and I already know I'm gonna cry
I saw the title of the video and knew I was gonna cry.
Same
I like listening to these videos every so often, during my commute, and now I’m sitting in a Costco parking lot holding in the waterworks so I can get some darn shopping done LOL
Vin Diesel is THE expert in "dude talk". Wherein you can hold an extended conversation with just one word.
I have a cousin who shares my interest in linguistics, poetry, and world building. One time, in our mid teens, we held a five minute conversation using nothing but varying inflections of the word dude. It wasn't random either. We spent a minute and a half successfully giving each other instructions on a task, and coordinating our roles using the word dude and some basic gestures and body language.
So it's never been a surprise for me that a good actor can turn a single word or phrase into an entire moving performance. And VD is one of the best. With a team of animators of even moderate skills, he can make your heart dance.
Dude, how could you not go over the scene where the giant thinks Hogarth is dead? That scene makes my heart cave in on itself just as much as the end. He learned what death meant earlier, and when he touched Hogarth's limp unconscious body, he was struck with loss and anguish. To your point of praise for the animation, they expertly conveyed so much through his limited expressions when he thought he lost his friend. Top tier film.
Fun fact: It was originally gonna be a musical in the wake of the Disney Renaissance, only for that idea to be scrapped when Brad Bird took the project. Also, the movie was loosely based on a novel of a same name that the author wrote for his children to comfort them in the wake of the his wife’s suicide.
BTW, thank you for making this Iron Giant video; it’s one of my favorite movies!
It was already a musical…an album by Pete Townshend, which I love. But as cool as it would have been to see it realized as a movie, _The Iron Giant_ is too brilliant to make me regret anything. :)
(Wouldn't "Their mother's"/"Their wife's " work better OP?)
Also, the original Iron Giant novel is REALLY weird.
I thought it was because Birds sister died to gun violence
@@sierralovat5498 The Iron Giant in the movie is based on that. The Iron Giant book is essentially a completely different story.
As this started I thought it looked like Alan had pre-gamed tears before recording in the hopes that it wouldn’t happen during the actual episode all the while knowing that he was going to cry anyway.
I see you, Alan. Thank you for feeling feelings.
It's always a delight to see how open Alan is with his emotions.
I think every person should be allowed to cry without feeling guilty or shame about it.
Crying is okay for everyone, doesn't matter which gender or age you are.
Crying also releases happy hormones. So it does help a little bit :)
"We all have 3 things inside of us, nature, nurture and choice" That really resonated wih me and my loved ones are gonna hear me say this often in the future.
Instantly clicked when this hit my feed. And I'm completely with Alan here. I'm a 49 year old man who cries every single damn time at the way the Giant says "Superman." Hell, I'm crying now just remembering it. Just the simplicity of the choice and the selflessness. It breaks me every time I see it. Everything about the movie is done excellently, but that simple moment... Pardon me, I gotta go cry again.
One of the most beautiful aspects of this movie is that Hogarth's father is never expressly mentioned, but it's the driving force behind the entire film. Why is his Mother working so often, why does Hogarth bond so intensely with the giant, why are they renting out a room? It's like Hogarth's father is really the absent main character.
I mean...consider Hogarth's age and when the movie takes place. My personal theory is that the dad was in either WW2 or Korea (more likely) and, well, didn't come home for the same reason so many others didn't.
I wouldn't say he was an absent main character. That implied he chose not to come home.
@@BrokensoulRider His absence is a character.
There's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment in the later part of The Iron Giant where we get a glimpse of a smiling US combat pilot in front of his fighter jet in a framed photo sitting in Hogarth's bedroom
...the implication being that Hogarth's father was in the armed forces & was either KIA or reported MIA during combat. 😢
My grandpa passed away last year. I always think of him when I see this movie. He used to drink when my mom was a kid, and he recognized on his own that he got too mean and abusive when he did, so he stopped cold turkey all on his own. He became the sweetest, most loving person you could've ever imagined after that. I miss him so much.
THIS is Vin Diesel's single greatest performance.
I can understand that
Fun fact, I saw this film when I was 3-4 after my brother came back with a VHS of the film from the library and it jumpstarted my obsession with robots that's never stopped for over the past 20 years, lol.
I do wish you guys went over the coffee talk between Hogarth and Dean because I think it's one of those subtle but interesting moments with the theme. I think that's the first time someone flat out says "You are who you chose to be".
Also, I wish more people talked about this more, but the more I get old and work with kids, the more I realize that Hogarth is a really well written child character. Like, he legitimately acts like a kid.
I love how Hogarth so clearly tells the Giant the words his mom has spoken to him
I’ve seen this movie countless times growing up. Now I’m 23 and the giant sacrificing himself made me cry my eyes out like they didn’t have to go THAT hard
I've been rewatching this moving since I was your age. I still bawl every time.
I'm 33. . .still makes me cry. And this was one of the regular movies we watched growing up.
I'm 41 and still crying over this movie
25 year old here, I am so glad they went that hard *sobbing*
everytime I see Alan cry, my heart breaks into a million pieces, like I'm usually crying for the movie as well, but the way he expresses emotion... I just wish someone would hug him 🥹
The impact this movie has had on my life is undescribable. As a kid i loved this movie but it was only until later years that i thought of the sentence "you choose who you want to be" again and it quite literally changed my life. It gave me the courage to overcome my social anxiety 3 years ago. I am not who i want to be yet but I'm making the choices in my life to get there. I am forever grateful to the people who created this masterpiece and love that you covered this movie on the channel. Seriously underrated movie.
This one is near and dear to my heart
Same here!
I really relate to this movie and it’s such a shame is so underrated. As an autistic woman who wanted to go into nursing I faced a ton of barriers: with people trying to talk me about of it, saying nursing was not a suitable career for an autistic woman, I didn’t get through to university the first time and it took a few attempts to get to university. One of my mentors at uni during nursing placement told me that as I was autistic I shouldn’t continue my nursing training, after qualifying I have faced stereotyping and discrimination, to the point I have wanted to just give up nursing completely, but I love nursing with all my heart and I choose to continue be a nurse, despite some difficulties and I’m proud to know I was the first nurse ever on my ICU ward to have autism when I started working there in 2022. Love your work as always guys ❤
You had shitty friends and shitty teachers. Good for you girl.
Hey, congrats on sticking with it despite the struggles! I hope they realize what an asset you are/will be in the future
you're quite an inspiration for me. Trust me when i say i would bow before you
And let no one stop you ❤
"Superman." 😭 I'm right there with you Alan.
Piggybacking off the point that was made about when someone takes a life, even if it's an honorable thing, it's still hard and scary. I hope when it becomes available, you will spotlight Koichi from Godzilla Minus One. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, please give it a chance. It's good film about a Kamikaze pilot who chooses not to go through with it, and just happens to have Godzilla who symbolizes this trauma that keeps reappearing every time it seems like he's able to take a step forward in life.
I hope they cover that movie, too. It’s so good. I have CPTSD and felt they did a great job handling a character with PTSD.
The Iron Giant serves as such a strong metaphor for anyone who wants to change.
Unironically the best Superman movie. Does a better job of demonstrating what the idea of Superman is supposed to represent than any of the live action Supermen.
That's because they are only after money following hype for a popular trend, rather than creating genuine stories that are true to the characters and what they are meant to represent. Most of the time.
@stormiexnights why can't they make good fun stories on superheroes nowadays? That's why Tim Burton's Batman, and Christopher Nolan's Batman are so good is because one is a fun ride, and the other is a dark truth. Even the Arkham games perfected that.
I will say, I liked Justice League and the Aquaman films simply because, are they perfect stories? No. But it's just a fun time, kind of gives off those comic vibes. And that's what all these guys came from. Comic books. People need to learn that a movie doesn't have to be a perfect script or plot or visual effects, but as long as you keep that character core, that's all that matters. The rest of it comes second. Because then if your story doesn't encapsulate that character core, you have already failed.
@@complex2live IDK, probably partly because of executives that just don't care about the property, and only about the money, and what they think will make the most money. And partly people that think they understand the character and/or what people would like, but they actually don't.
I'm heartened by james gunn's words so Far, he seems to be aiming for a more optimistic.Hopeful truly superman vibe
I'm sick of grim and gritty Irony and nihilism
I think _Superman The Movie_ comes close.
The Iron Giant is one of the most personal movies for me. And it's not for the premise which is amazing it's just for the character of the giant himself. My great grandfather was a very strong, pillar of happiness, faith, and innocence. This unshakable person that no matter what you throw at him was able to brush it off and look at what really matters. The Giant in this movie always reminded me so much of him even by the way he looks.
Alan, I want to thank you for choosing to allow us to see you cry. For a long time I felt ashamed of getting emotional and crying. Your strength to show others your emotion has made it easier for me to be kinder to myself about expressing and feeling my emotions. To see my emotions as well as my tears as normal not a weakness in my character. You helped me realize it's okay to be vulnerable. I which has been quite healing after a lifetime of being taught many unpleasant things about vulnerability from my family.
iron giant, black widow in end-game, sitka from brother bear, and ji-yeong from squid games have all had the most heart-wrenching sacrifices to me. the look on their faces when they die for the people they care about is just so tragic but also beautiful
"The Iron Giant" is an absolute classic! To this day people just can't get enough of the story Brad Bird did an amazing job bringing this movie to life!!!!
What I like most about the missile scene in this movie is that it really shows how much the Giant learned from his experiences on Earth. Because it was thanks to Hogarth that the Giant learned that he may have been created to be a living weapon, But he could be way more than that and he chose to be a force for good.
And since the Giant knew that the whole thing with the missile was because of him, Giant didn't want to see another planet get destroyed because of him. So he realized that the best way save the Earth was to save it from himself and so the Giant sacrificed himself by letting himself get blown up by the missile.
He may have turned out to be alive in the end, But the point is The Iron Giant's sacrifice managed to show people that he was a hero.
I don't see it as him sacrificing himself to save the world from himself. I see it as the point is him choosing to sacrifice himself when he easily could've destroyed the bomb and saved everyone with one of his powerful weapons. Because he's choosing who he wants to be and he does not want to be a weapon.
Brad Bird is currently working on a new film at Skydance animation studios. I don't know what it's called yet as it is still in its very early stages, but I have a friend who is working on it, and says that it will be great.
One interesting thing is that “Bambi” also got criticism for making hunters look like villains. I grew up in a hunting family, so messages like this got balanced out for me. I do appreciate when balance can be found in the messaging. But things like this and “Bambi” also drive home the pain of death, so we appreciate life more.
I firmly stand that hunting is not evil. It is disrespect of life that is evil. When you hunt a deer for meat or fur, you have to respect the animal you've destroyed. You are part of an ecosystem of birth and life and death and eating and pooping. To place yourself above that intricate dance is the arrogance of humankind.
The interesting thing here is, I’ve noticed that most people who hunt in the way you’re talking about actually have a *tremendous* respect for the lives of the animals they hunt. I wasn’t raised in a hunting family, but my dad and a lot of my friends and extended family were, and there always seems to be a lot of emphasis about respecting the land you hunt on and above all the life you’ll take to feed you and yours; shoot clean, don’t leave a wounded animal to suffer, take only what’s needed & let nothing go to waste, leave no trace when you’re done. Idk, I’m trying to make a point but I’m not sure how to say it. I guess just that, people with that kind of lifestyle, who see and engage in the cycle that closely, seem to deeply understand and appreciate the weight of it.
(There does seem to be a general consensus that wild hogs are the spawn of satan, though 🤷♀️)
@@theaceguitarist I want to learn to hunt because of the respect of life mindset and basically everything you just mentioned
pretty sure any hunter worth their salt would also view the hunter in bambi as the villain, because they killed a doe. you're very explicitly told not to shoot does, because they're needed to birth and raise young so there are more deer. one buck can mate with dozens of does but without the does the whole population collapses.
@@dietotaku If you read the novel it explains that Bambi's mom was killed by a poacher but then later it explains teenagers on a camping trip were responsible for hunting the animals at the end of the movie when you see the animals running in full panic, hunting dogs being unleashed irresponsibly, and leaving the campfire unintended that caused the forest fire.
Thank goodness for bringing up choice! As a psychology student, sometimes there's too much emphasis on nature and nurture, but we do have the ability to choose, and that's so important.
This is my all time favourite childhood film, according to my mum I used to watch it 10 times a day as a kid. I'd watch my video tape copy and would immediately rewind it and watch it all over again. My Mum died in 2017, it was very tragic and sudden (she was only 46). On her memorial plaque I put the quote "Souls don't die." as a reference to this film (which we both loved) and how she and I quoted film lines and other such things everyday to each other.
The part about the gun that can be used for self defence is so on point, because that's exactly what the Giant does. He always goes aggressive when guns are pointed or fired onto him, so his response is literally just self defence. And he still chooses not to be that, because that's still not good. He chooses to protect everyone despite the hatred from others, despite the "justified" violence he could have inflicted.
justified? lol he fires at hogarth when he has a fake gun thats not justified or self defense lol
@@tonypringles2285 That's why it's in quotes. Learn to read
@@TheDahaka1 lol please you know you meant it one hundred percent. socialist L
@@tonypringles2285 I literally fucking condemned the use of guns even in self defense, you illiterate prick. Go back to school
@@tonypringles2285 I literally said the opposite in the entire comment. I put "justified" in quotations to explain that even if it's legally justifiable I still don't consider it morally justifiable.
If you can't understand context and don't know how quotations work, I'd say it's completely your L
This is considered the greatest Superman film that is not about Superman. Such a great movie.
I can’t help but tear up when seeing Giant’s sacrifice every time. The score and line delivery of “Superman” is everything.
are you serious?? why lol
It's said with so much hope.
@@tonypringles2285 people experience feelings according to their morals and personal history, that's why he cried and you make fun of him crying. I wish for you to learn to respect one's feelings
@@dawidmarzol5853 it's fine he cried ig but it's still weird to cry at a not emotional scene
There is a cut scene where Giant sees a dream of what he used to be, he was a leader or least high ranking robot whose mission was to strip worlds from all metal. Multiple of his kinds marching on planet and blowing up it in the end.
It was probably the electrocution that hard reseted his mind and allowed Hogarth to re-educate him
In a just world, this film would've been a runaway smash, set box office records, and had a theme park ride named after it.
That's all materialistic success, though. This movie deeply moved and touched so many people and was a genuine work of art. I see what you're saying about how it deserves those things because it's so good, but that isn't what's important for a movie like this. It's true success lies in the powerful and genuine message and what it means to people.
...and have sequel after sequel, each resembling the first less and less, as long as people were willing to desperately try to recapture what the first made them feel. It's better that it wasn't massively successful.
Movies like this clearly don't satisfy everyone, since it's messages are taken as divisive. Like them commenting on the whole 'guns kill' allegory. So sadly things like that are going to make certain individuals upset and just see the movie as a political statement or anti-gun propaganda. Or other shallow things like that. There is never a movie that satisfies everyone and that's a good thing.
I cried at this movie. It also took me a long time to realise that Vin Diesel voices the iron Gaint, and its both surprising and funny seeing as he also voices Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy
"I am Groot!"
"I AM SOOOPERMAN!"
When people talk about whether animation is cinema or not, people focus on the animated aspect and very rarely on the story aspect. The Iron Giant, to me at least, is right up there with the Casablancas and other great movies not because it's animated but because it has an instantly engrossing story that you never forget about.
I'm glad it's getting ALL the recognition. Because it's an amazing, timeless movie that absolutely deserves ALL the praise. I really wish we could have more movies like it, animated or not.
10:47 these damn ninjas never stop cutting onions i swear.
My first thought when I saw this notification was “OH NOOOO-“ because I know I’m gonna bawl! Saving this for later - thank you for creating!!! 💗💗💗
You're right! 😭
Seen the notification come through and thought ‘oh no.. poor alan…” 🤣
Honestly one of the first movies that made me cry as a kid. The orchestra, that final scene of the iron giant, went so deep it gives me goosebumps.
You guys should do an episode on A Goofy Movie!! I feel like there’s so much to be said about a parent/child relationship, growing up, dealing with what you inherit from your family, and what it means to be a family. Also the animation is awesome and there’s a parallel between Powerline’s songs and Max/Goofy’s relationship
It's already in the works!
WHERE'S THE GIANT MANSLEY?!!
There's no way he had a pension after the movie ended 😂
We can...duck and cover? There's a fallout shelter just over-
There’s no way to survive this thing, you IDIOT!
@@NEWahn There's no way to survive this, you idiot!
There's no way to survive this, you idiot!@@NEWahn
7:47 to elaborate further, the pitch for this movie was “what if a gun had a soul, and it didn’t want to be a gun”
I was one of the eight people who saw the Iron Giant in theaters. I was seven years old and immediately fell in love with it. So much so that I watched my VHS copy so much that the VCR ate it and I was devastated. Then when I was a teenager my mom surprised me and got it for me on DVD for my birthday! :D I still have that DVD to this day and rewatch it ever so often. :)
And yes, I cry at the ending every time.
I've seen that last scene dozens of times, but I cry every time. Even just thinking about it gets my eyes watery.
I love the whole movie, but that one scene from the missile launch, the feelings of helplessness that the humans experience knowing they're going to die, Giant's realization that he could save them, "no following" (a callback to Hogarth telling him that before), and the final Soooperman....
And there go the tears again.
If there's ever a Hall of Fame for perfect movie scenes, this should definitely be in it.
Now, if you'll excuse me. *Cries more*
you cry...at a cartoon??
In a deleted scene there’s actually a moment where we see possibly hundreds of iron giants conquering a planet. I really wish they’d kept it in there because it’s a really powerful scene.
I think it is in the streaming editions.
Interesting. I've not seen that scene. My initial thought is that the mystery around the Iron Giant gives him the freedom to choose in a more, ironically, organic way. We all know he's a weapon of war, but it not being explicitly shown allows us to buy in to his journey more, I think. It allows for more hope. Obviously, having not seen it, I could be wrong, but it's interesting to me to think about how it might change things.
It was deleted? I distinctly remember seeing it in UA-cam's version, I think during a dreaming sequence for the Giant.
One of the few animated movies that made me cry. Though honestly I kinda find the ending refreshing. It shows that you don’t have to die in order to be a hero. The Giant didn’t think he would survive but he was still willing to sacrifice himself because of his arc/friendship with Hogarth and him rebelling against his creation.
How dare you make a Cinema Therapy video on a great movie that's currently being shown for free (with ads) on UA-cam Movies. The timing!
Little fun fact about munitions, the nuke shown (while not existing in that time period) actually wouldn’t have gone off upon impact in the upper atmosphere due to control measures where the activation measure wouldn’t have been armed yet. So he’d just impact and disable the missile and its warhead.
I think one of my biggest takeaways from this film is the whole concept that guns can kill without the intent of a person.
I've always been kind of skeptical of the idea that "guns don't kill people do", because accidents happen all the time. People who get into an accident don't intend to die, but that's what happens regardless because despite their intent, their actions still lead to those consequences.
In the same manner, I try to be aware of if my intent actually matches the consequences of my actions. I can intend to do good and still harm people, and that's something that I still have to be responsible and accountable for. I think that's a thing a lot of people, myself included, struggle with. We have a hard time reconciling the fact that our actions don't necessarily match our intent.
Not only is it a message about respecting the inherent danger of a tool meant to kill, so that you can utilize it responsibly, but I also interpret it as a message about how your intent might not necessarily match your actions and being able to hold yourself accountable for it. I might not have meant to hurt someone because I was just reacting as a result of my past actions, but I still hurt them and I still need to take action to remedy that.
Just like Alan I am bawling at that final scene every time I see it. It is just such a beautifully, heroic, affirming, heart aching scene. One small thing I liked about the movie is that General Rogard isn't some idiot who thinks "We don't know what this is, so it must be a threat to America. So we have to kill it first by any means necessary." When he is told that the Iron Giant only reacts to being attacked, he is able to take control of the situation and think rationally. Plus he has one of the best lines in the film by far. "Where's the Giant Manseley?"
The line "It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die." (and that whole scene ftm) hit very differently when you hear the back story of this movie. You sort of get the sense that Brad Bird wrote that as a message to himself, dealing with the loss of his Sister.
I saw this movie with my mother. It holds a special place in my heart since her passing. It made me cry at the end.
Recommendations (if possible)
- Hero psychology of Gwen Stacy: Across the Spiderverse
- Character psychology of Marie: Unbelievable (8 episode miniseries)
- Psychology of an antihero of Joel: HBO The Last of Us (possible Troy Baker guest star)
- The Nanny McPhee movies
- Nimona
- Dreamworks Abominable
- Over the Moon
- Psychology of a Villain: Snow from Hunger Games (both prequel & original trilogy)
- As They Made Us (w/ Mayim Bialik guest star)
- Psychology of a Hero; Tulip from Infinity Train
I am fully on board with Gwen Stacy, Nimona, and Tulip. For Infinity Train, I'd also like to throw in Jesse, Lake, Grace, Simon, Min-Gi, and Ryan. Simon obviously gets Villain Therapy instead of Psychology of a Hero.
Im surprised you didn't talk about agent Mansley much. He's a character i love to hate, the embodiment of pretentiousness and abuse of power, and the perfect foil to Giant. He sees himself as the hero: a patriot who is there to save the day when he actually does the exact opposite. He has opportunities to grow but keeps zagging in the wrong direction.
I agree, I wish they did the compare and contrast between Mansley and the Giant. Maybe they felt it was too obvious to really talk about?
This movie is what inspired me to create the Eldian Question in Attack on Titan in the first place. And this is what I have to say: Titans are bullets, the Eldians are the guns, the Titan injections are the triggers, the Marleyans are the people who pulled the triggers on the guns.
Also, the video about this movie offered me more than just reviving the Eldian Question in my head. It solidified the belief that I saw from a video roughly a year ago that the Titans behaved the ways they did because the first King of Eldia, King Fritz, made them behaved that way just like how the Iron Giant reacted with fighting back to all weapons and hostile individuals he encountered.
so all those titans killing innocent people are ok?
@@tonypringles2285 Like bullets, the Pure Titans have no idea what they are doing. They simply followed their instincts. The Marleyans, on the other hand, clearly know what they are doing and still do it anyway.
@@lerneanlion maybe people in the government yes. but the people who released the titans on the marleyans are still in the wrong. eren yeager is no hero
@@tonypringles2285 Didn't they have it coming for being racists for a century?
@@lerneanlion not really no. the fact you think people deserve to die for being racist says more than you could ever tell about yourself
No movies quite like this in animation style? *excuuuse* me, my childhood consists of Journey to Atlantis, Sinbad and Treasure Planet, and demands their due recognition of this phenomenal artstyle that needs to be brought back.
Even now, almost 17 years old, I still cry every time I watch it
Even now, in my 30's, I still cry every time.
About to turn 50. I cry too.
Yeah. . .if you're someone who cries everytime. . .it doesn't go away. 33, I re-read and rewatch a LOT of media knowing its going to make me cry all over again.
26 here, i regained the ability to cry a few years back, and it feels good
why???
The Iron Giant has to be one of my non-Disney/Pixar, non-Dreamworks favorite animated movies EVER. Thank you so, so much for covering it on your channel (said while trying not to bawl my eyes out :,) )
You may be right. Thanks for watching!
I'm low-key fighting off an anxiety attack tonight because life is kind of hard right now but I feel a little better because of this...thank you.
From the incredible voice talents, the perfect script, a beautiful visual style, succinct pacing, a heartfelt message, and a beautiful score...
What a film, what a damn film.
OK gents, _The Iron Giant_ hits so hard that I started tearing up as soon as I started playing your video.
Such a underrated gem of a film, thankfully more and more people are showcasing this gem. Was so happy you both were going to showcase this on @Cinema Therapy
So glad you enjoyed it!
@@CinemaTherapyShow Yes ty .both and ty to your patreons
I'm SO EXCITED that you covered this movie! "You are who you choose to be" is probably the most impactful piece of advice I've ever received, and I constantly come back to it when things get tough.
Plus, this is just a great movie! It's so rewatchable. If not for the beautiful life lessons, then for the squirrel up the pant leg and a goofy detached giant's hand wandering the house.
I honestly loved the Iron Giant movie and character. I especially loved how Superman was an inspiration for the Iron Giant to be a hero.
Said it on Discord, but it bears repeating. This is my new favorite outro. Impressive delivery from Alan reenacting Hogarth on caffeine, and Jono…. That was a low blow.
When I was a kid, I watched this film a few times, but it wasnt until I was older that I came ot appreciate just how amazing and timeless this film is. I was too young to appreciate a masterpiece.
No matter how many times i watch this movie, I still cry at the end. It's just such a beautiful movie.