Comfort can come from the most unlikely places, in the most surprising forms. Friendship is not always what we think it is, and it’s often more than we ever thought it could be.
That seems to be the exact level of feel-good cheesiness to learn as lessons from an all-ages animated movie. This, ultimately, is what The Iron Giant can still teach us about affection and care in relationships, even 20 years after its 1999 release.
The Iron Giant, a tale of government conspiracy and spacecrafts from director Brad Bird ( who would go on to make The Incredibles), explores the friendship of a young boy, Hogarth, and a Giant, voiced by a young Vin Diesel, that falls from space down to a small town in Maine during the Cold War. Throughout the story, while the unlikely pair bond over lighthearted things (like Superman comics) the way friends often do, they also bond over life’s difficulties and the truth that “you are who you choose to be,” despite what others tell you they think you are.
In the beginning, we see that Hogarth doesn’t have friends or consistent parenting, and is desperately eager to connect with someone who understands him. His life has hit a rut, with his mother, a waitress at a diner, constantly working—leaving Hogarth to binge on Twinkies, popcorn, and late night horror films, totally lacking structure or consistent parenting in his life. What Hogarth seems to be missing most is companionship—someone with whom he can be truly vulnerable and who can help him feel like he’s not alone.
Enter the Giant, who plummets down to earth out of space, has an insatiable craving for iron, is certainly not the friend that Hogarth would have sought out, and fulfills none of the tropes that someone might expect from a true friend. While the Giant appears to be a heaping chunk of metal that’s larger than life, Hogarth is unafraid, and begins to speak with it as he would anyone else. While at first the Giant doesn’t understand and can’t talk, Hogarth helps it to learn just enough language to carry on a conversation.
“You came from the sky, right? From up there? Hmm, don’t you remember anything?” Hogarth questions the Giant upon their first meeting, imploring the Giant to figure out who it is, although he’s already heard rumors from people in the town. In this first moment, the beginning of the friendship, Hogarth does something special by letting the Giant tell him who it is, instead of trying to label or define the Giant.
The Giant is not the only one who’s given permission to feel vulnerable and explore a deeper sense of self and belonging. Hogarth, too, experiences an intense joy and aliveness from teaching the Giant about life. He explains what trees and rocks are, shows the Giant comic books, and gains a sense of purpose from being around someone who treats him like he matters and has something to offer the world. Throughout the movie, Hogarth tries to explain to the Giant why it must hide and why the other people in the world are “not ready” for the Giant.
The pivotal moment in their friendship, however, is when they explore the concept of death together. During one scene, the Giant and Hogarth quietly watch a deer grazing in a meadow, peacefully at first, and the Giant touches the deer’s nose, clearly full of love and amazement at such a gentle animal. Hogarth and the Giant share this moment of stillness, allowing them to bond over something extraordinarily natural. That gentleness is shown in stark contrast to the violence of the deer being suddenly shot and killed by hunters. The Giant, closing its own eyes tearfully, clearly feels confused about what has happened. It’s then that Hogarth explains what death is, and that guns kill, allowing the Giant to understand that’s not what it wants to be, despite the townspeople choosing to see it as a weapon.
“I know that you feel bad about the deer, but it’s not your fault. Things die. It’s part of life. It’s bad to kill, but it’s not bad to die,” Hogarth tells the Giant.
“I die?” the Giant asks. “I don’t know,” Hogarth answers, suddenly forced to question what it means to be alive.“You’re made of metal, but you have feelings. And you think about things. And that means you have a soul. And souls don’t die,” Hogarth explains to the Giant as they look out above them in wonderment at the night sky full of star.
“Soul?” the Giant asks.
“It’s something that’s inside of all good things,” Hogarth answers. “It goes on forever and ever.”
This touching moment is the moment that the Giant realizes that it matters, not just to Hogarth but to the world, and that it has the capacity for goodness, no matter how many of the townspeople set out to destroy it. Because the Giant has Hogarth, it’s able to learn and grow, and furthermore understand enough about life not to act in ways that will harm others or be detrimental even to itself.
Through these small interactions with Hogarth, we’re able to see the Giant for what it is—just as alive as any of us, and capable of learning, growing, and loving. It’s this that makes friendship so important for any of us—it’s what transforms each of us from something scary, and often unknowable to ourselves, into souls who can be understood by others and friends who can go out into the world to protect, teach, and love. True friendship, as the Giant and Hogarth show us, is a reminder that no one is an island. No one is able to understand themselves as being good or being worthy without someone else who cares enough to show us who we are.
Ultimately, Hogarth goes to great lengths to keep the Giant safe—not just because he needs a friend, but because he realizes that the world will misunderstand the Giant, much in the same way he feels that he has been misunderstood by the world. Because he recognizes this, he helps the Giant navigate through the town without being seen and escape government employees time and again, and frequently explains to the Giant what’s happening, so as not to leave the Giant in the dark about why Hogarth is the one making decisions.
In turn, both Hogarth and the Giant learn about consequences and compromise from their relationship and the experiences they have together. When a missile that will kill the whole town is launched by the government to stop the “dangerous” Giant, it understands it must sacrifice itself in order to stop the missile from hurting Hogarth and the town. While this is clearly a difficult decision for the Giant, it understands that friendship and love are about sacrifice, and Hogarth has already sacrificed his own safety in order to protect it.
The Iron Giant is, ultimately, a reminder that friendship is merely being seen by someone else who often knows you better than you know yourself. And friendship is the magic that allows us to see ourselves for who we really are because of it, and make the world better because we know there’s someone rooting for us.
Towards the end of the movie, the Giant proudly declares to Hogarth, “I am not a gun,” having learned that it is more than what others perceive it to be. It’s only when the giant is attacked and unable to find safety in friendship that it resorts to its worst self. Shortly after, Hogarth, who had been knocked out during the attack, regains consciousness and reminds the robot that now is the time to “show them you’re good.”
The Giant’s last line, as it launches itself into space to stop the missile, is in response to Hogarth’s reminder: “You are who you choose to be.” As it soars through the stars to sacrifice itself for Hogarth’s sake, it utters “Superman” with a smile, knowing that it’s capable of being a hero—not just because that’s what it wants for itself, but because its friend Hogarth knows that’s what the Giant really is.
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