Hogarth (Eli Marienthal) just wants someone to talk and relate to. In the beginning, he wants a pet, but his mother is skeptical based on “the raccoon”.
He meets Dean (Harry Connick Jr.), another outcast in this community. When Dean sticks up for the guy raving about aliens, he says, “If we don’t stick up for the cooks, who will?” Cooks and outcasts have to stick together.
When we see Hogarth in school, it is apparent he does not totally fit in with the other kids. He mentions later he is ahead in school and other kids don’t like him because they think he is super smart. We do not see him interact with any human kids his age during the movie.
After Hogarth befriends the Iron Giant (Vin Diesel), he shows him Rockwell. The robot is excited to go to the town, but his small companion thinks “people just aren’t ready for [him]”. He wants friends, but people are afraid of him.
When mentioning any kind of friend associated with Hogarth, Dean is the only real friend he claims. However, the giant robot is his friend he cannot mention.
The outcasts pull together in the end to save the town. The military reacts violently to something they do not understand, like the community rejecting Hogarth and Dean as strange. Even though the military fights against them and people believe the giant robot is a monster, they still band together to ultimately save the town. Don’t denounce the outcasts; they might save you one day.
On a side note, the robot become a scapegoat for the community. He “dies” because the missile was released. He sacrifices himself for the greater good of the community and the sins of the military. But, as we see at the very end, the Iron Giant comes back. This is also reflective of a scapegoat; the person comes back stronger and more powerful than before.
Have a look at 35 things you could learn from this film.
Cracked.com is always fun for asking interesting questions. Check out these unanswered questions from kid’s movies!
Thanks for reading! See you next week for another Sequel Second Thursday.