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When The Iron Giant opened theatrically in 1999, Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal hailed it as an “instant classic,” and this innovative animated feature launched the extraordinary directorial career of Brad Bird, whose subsequent work would range from The Incredibles and Ratatouille to Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland.

The Rafael is honored to welcome two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Brad Bird back to its stage to present and discuss a special screening of The Iron Giant: Signature Edition. Based on a book by Ted Hughes and set in Maine in 1957, this touching adventure explores the friendship between a young boy and a 50-foot metal giant against the backdrop of rock ‘n’ roll, television, the atomic bomb and the Cold War. The Signature Edition includes two newly animated scenes that Bird had originally storyboarded but dropped due to time and budgetary constraints. Voice actors include Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick, Jr., Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney and M. Emmet Walsh, among others. (US 1999/2015) Film 90 minutes plus discussion.