By Drew Dietsch
| Published
The iron giant is considered by many criticisms and public as one of the greatest animated films of the 90s. The history of science fiction has become recognized as an incredible achievement in the story and animation. But, when the film was released in theaters in 1999, he landed at the box office and became a financial failure for Warner Bros.
Let’s examine how The iron giant managed to be a huge flop and how he went ash to become a beloved classic.
How the iron giant failed
The iron giant was positioned to be a great success for Warner Bros. In the summer of 1999. The studio had spent $ 50 million to produce the beginning of director of Brad Bird, who would continue to direct Indestructibles,, RatatouilleAnd Mission: Impossible – Ghost protocol. This was to be a prestige production that would compete with the animated feature film King, Walt Disney Studios.
However, things collapsed when marketing the film. Warner Bros. came from an animated flop with Camelot quest And was not ready to sink a huge amount of advertising money in another lively business. They made it possible to give a release date to the production team until April, giving The iron giant Less than four months to set up a marketing campaign.
Because of that, The iron giant Only only one teaser poster made and certain links as a case of Burger King toy and breakfast cereals have never materialized. The film had such a limited marketing presence that the public simply didn’t know that it was a film that was released. It seemed doubly embarrassing for Warner Bros. After testing of the tests returned with incredibly high brands.
The failure of The iron giant At the box office is only due to the mismanagement of its marketing. He is considered one of the worst marketing snafus in the history of the consumer film. Because they jumped and stalled on marketing, the film opened its doors at n ° 9 at the box office. He did not even recover half of his budget at the national box office, and the international markets brought his final total to just under $ 32 million.
But, Warner Bros. learned their lesson and was not going to make the same mistake twice.
Why the science fiction adventure has become a classic
When The iron giant Warm to home video, Warner Bros. decided to withdraw all stops and do everything they should have done with the theatrical marketing campaign. This helped raise awareness of all markets, but this is not what has cemented the film as a classic.
Even during his release, criticisms were massively rented The iron giant. Roger Ebert compared him to the works of the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki and he does not exaggerate. History takes a familiar structure “Boy and her dog” and transforms it into a science fiction tale on the choice, societal paranoia, death and war. He deals with a deep and difficult subject, but he never stamps these themes at a level where his (children) audience is frequented.
Even with these adult themes, The iron giant Also lower to be fun, clumsy and sincere. The main performance of Eli Marienthal and Diesel wine Like Hogarth Hughes and the giant are instantly endearing. In fact, the whole distribution manages to find a perfect balance between caricature and sincere.
And like a piece of pure animation, The iron giant is a breathtaking experience. Bird understands the impact of the scale and the appropriate scope with the animated image, and there is never a need to reaffirm how massive the giant is. Perhaps the animation element which does not have enough love in the film is the substantive work. There is a scene in the forest where a deer is killed and the warm fall colors underline the sorrow of the scene.
But, the element that made The iron giant A classic is his heart. The story of how a robot designed to be a weapon chooses to dissuade death is extremely powerful. The giant does not want to be, as he says, a firearm. And his latest sacrifice is one of the most heartbreaking moments of any film, animated or other.
If The iron giant had managed to have a conventional marketing campaign, it is likely that it is a legitimate success at the box office. Instead, he had to wait for his time on home video to find an audience. And over the years, more and more viewers have come to recognize it as a phenomenal film. Even Warner Bros. engaged in a brand new film cup in 2016 on a Blu-Ray Special Edition.
The iron giant made a deep impression on young viewers who could see it over twenty years ago. Thanks to this impression, she became champion as a poorly managed masterpiece. Fortunately, Warner Bros. saw the error of their tracks and supported the film over the years. It was this support for the studio and fans who helped keep the film in the conversation of pop culture. Without that, it would have fallen by the way. And now it is considered one of the essential parts of American animation.
