Having not seen the film for years, I jumped at the chance to watch "The Iron Giant" again. Even before my first viewing of the film, I knew it was critically acclaimed and had been ranked as one of the best animated films of all-time, but it wasn't until I saw it that I actually understood why.
My favorite thing about "The Iron Giant" was its juxtaposition of two very distinct styles. There's the traditional 2D animation of Hogarth and the other humans; a pseudo-retro style in which everything looks only a few shades away from a Norman Rockwell painting. This clashes sharply with the character of the Giant, who appears to be rendered in 3D before being placed in the scene. The way in which these styles juxtapose is deliberately sharp and gives the film an anachronistic retro-futuristic feel. I don't know if it could have succeeded otherwise.
I also love how the Giant becomes a character of his own. It's inherently difficult in animation to breathe life into (literally) two-dimensional characters, but when one of those characters is a lifeless robot in the first place it's an even greater challenge. However, through the use of minimalistic voice acting and expressive gestures, the Giant becomes far more than a 50-foot hunk of metal and instead gains a life of his own.
No comments:
Post a Comment