The Art of the Iron Giant

Review: Finally, the film of a boy and his robot gets its own ‘art of’ book. We find out if this retrospective exercise was worth the wait.

5 Star Rating

Our Verdict

It might have been a long time coming, but The Art of the Iron Giant was worth the wait. Not only is there a wealth of concept art that shows off how ideas were developed, there are also lots of valuable insights from the creators. We couldn't ask for more.

For

  • Wealth of concept art
  • Interviews from key team members
  • Detailed backgrounds and storyboards
  • Glimpse into rejected art

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When it was released back in 1999, The Iron Giant didn’t exactly break box office records. But 17 years on, there’s still huge love for it. That’s partly because it was one of the last animated films of the hand-drawn era, and partly because it built on Ted Hughes’ short story so beautifully. So it’s high time it got the art book treatment.

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The Verdict
10

out of 10

The Art of the Iron Giant

It might have been a long time coming, but The Art of the Iron Giant was worth the wait. Not only is there a wealth of concept art that shows off how ideas were developed, there are also lots of valuable insights from the creators. We couldn't ask for more.

Tom May

Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.