# Compare "Iron Giant" movie to kids' book which inspired it (open spoilers)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compare-iron-giant-movie-to-kids-book-which-inspired-it-open-spoilers/346275
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 27, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compare-iron-giant-movie-to-kids-book-which-inspired-it-open-spoilers/346275 "2006-02-27T05:18:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compare-iron-giant-movie-to-kids-book-which-inspired-it-open-spoilers/346275/1 "2006-02-27T05:18:50Z")
I’m a big fan of “The Iron Giant,” the Brad Bird-directed 1999 animated movie. Great flick. I understand it was loosely based on “The Iron Man,” a 1968 children’s book by British novelist and poet Ted Hughes. How are they different, and how are they the same? Which do you like better?
---
### Author:  [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compare-iron-giant-movie-to-kids-book-which-inspired-it-open-spoilers/346275/2 "2006-02-27T15:53:13Z")
I preferred the movie. The book was nice, but it’s very much a children’s book. There’s not much of a story, and it’s not very coherent, as if each chapter is meant to be read as a seperate story. The plot of the movie bears almost no resemblance to the plot of the book, but IMHO is a more interesting story.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compare-iron-giant-movie-to-kids-book-which-inspired-it-open-spoilers/346275/3 "2006-02-27T16:14:56Z")
I haven’t read the book, but love the movie, which didn’t get the break it deserves.
I gotta point out, though, that the premise and several scenes bear a suspicious resemblance to the film **Kronis** , a 1950s flick about a giant robot sent from outer space. It crashes/lands in the sea and makes its way to land, first being visible as a lighthouse-like light from the sea.
Kronos wasn’t great SF intellectually, but it’s visually dazzling, even though it’s black and white. Considering that the big K was basically a Big Rectangular Box, you wouldn’t think it would be visually interesting – but it is! The same team that did **Forbidden Planet** are reesponsible for this one, and it’s usually singled out for its visual flair in lists of 1950s SF films.
I can’t help but think that The Iron Giant is Kronos in an alternate universe where the big Robot looks more human, but gets a bump on his head that screws up his programming.