If you haven't seen this--rent it!

Iron Giant is a movie that adults can really enjoy watching with their kids (or someone else's kids for that matter). The story is entertaining and original and the animation is fantastic.

A young boy finds an alien giant who eats metal. Adults, of course, don't believe this giant exists, except for one overly-zealous army brat who is intent on destroying it. Through the boys efforts to protect and save the giant, he learns about his own identity and worth, as well as about building meaningful relationships with others.

The movie will not only entertain your kids; it will engage them emotionally and intellectually as well. This story fits within a number of genres common to kids stories: we have the classic underdog, the misunderstood outsider (both the boy and the giant), and the grownups who learn about life and love "from the mouths of babes."

The movie is set in the 1950's, and the animation is brilliantly engineered to reproduce a nostalgic look. The colors are somewhat muted, and the animation looks dated. But this look is accomplished without sacrificing a bit of current technology in animated movies. It is modern, high-tech animation designed to look old--not old animation techniques.

The Iron Giant is the kind of movie that will survive the test of time. My kids still enjoy watching it, even though we saw it in the theater twice, and have watched it at home countless times. Every time a friend or cousin is over, this movie entertains without fail. I have yet to find someone who doesn't like it. I don't purchase many movies for our home library--I prefer to rent them since children tend to tire of them after awhile. But Iron Giant is one movie I bought as soon as it was available. It is worth owning.