1999, 1 hr 25 min., Rated PG for fantasy action and mild language. Dir: Brad Bird. Voices of: Eli Marienthal (Hogarth Hughes), Jennifer Aniston (Annie Hughes), Harry Connick Jr. (Dean), Vin Diesel (The Iron Giant), Christopher McDonald (agent Mansley).

I'm afraid that many adults will look at the trailers, previews and premise (50-foot robot lands on earth, befriends 9-year-old boy) for The Iron Giant and conclude that it is worth forgetting. That is sad, because this is a film that deserves all the money we can throw at it via the box office.

Following the rash of school shootings and calls for more family friendly movies from Hollywood, here is an almost-perfect one and it gets largely ignored. Sure, it is animated, but many times these are better than live-action and I know adults don't mind for the most part. There's no cursing, no blood, no graphic violence and the morals preach a pacifist society where all are accepted without being pre-judged.

Then why did it bomb at the box office? Because Warner Brothers did a horrendous job at promoting this gem. The studio threw as much in one week at advertising for Wild Wild West as The Iron Giant has made in a month. And the latter is a much, much better movie.

WB had another chance to promote The Iron Giant after its release, showcasing the multitudes of glowing reviews for the film; I have yet to read one critic's article who didn't urge audiences to flock to their local cinema to see the picture. WB has since blamed audiences, which shows that they either didn't learn anything through this experience or won't admit their mistakes.

Did WB not realize what a good movie it is, thinking it would be panned like their previous two animated films, The Quest for Camelot and The King and I? I doubt it, since all the buzz leading up to The Iron Giant was amazingly positive. Shame on you, Warner Brothers.

The characters are voiced by recognizable stars, such as Jennifer Aniston, who is surprisingly good as Hogarth's mom, and Harry Connick, Jr. as a beatnik junkyard artist who helps hide the Iron Giant.

All protagonists are intensely likable, while in pure animated fashion the antagonist, agent Mansley, is cowardly and evil ("We didn't build it, that's reason enough to blow it up!"). There is plenty of humor for all to go around, as I especially enjoyed how Mansley treated Hogarth, calling him "chief," "cowboy," "sport," etc. during a montage where he yearns to learn if the robot is real. There is also a great scene at school where the kids watch a video on the "Atomic Holocaust" with a catchy song reminding children to "duck and cover" in case of a nuclear blast. Were people really that gullible?

Another thing, Hogarth acts like a kid, which is a relief in a genre where the children are usually presented as smarter than adults. "My own giant robot. I am the luckiest kid in America!" Exactly. Who wouldn't rejoice at having their own metal-man?

Abandoning the animated genre, there are no songs to take you out of the picture, which is a plus because I can't imagine any decent song that could celebrate the friendship between a boy and a giant metal-eating robot.

The Iron Giant will undoubtedly be compared to Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and in many ways it should. It involves an innocent alien that is left alone on earth, a family run by a single mom where the main young boy is a dreamer and not the most popular kid in school, and a government intent on finding the visitor from outer space.

The comparisons are only superficial and may be unfair, though, as The Iron Giant is not as fleshed out as its live-action predecessor and won't have you bawling your eyes out in an "ouch" moment, but the film is very sweet and touching with merits all its own. Prepare to laugh and possibly weep, if not feel chills of joy.

If I must find fault with the film, then I will take exception to how director Brad Bird went a bit overboard making a mockery of the Red Scare. The movie takes place soon after the Soviets launched Sputnik, and Americans are on edge. Bird, though, tries to make it seem as if there were no reason to believe that the U.S. was in any danger of invasion or attack.

But it is a small disagreement in what is ultimately a very good film--one that moved me more than I thought it had. It's too bad so few have taken the time to see The Iron Giant instead of some of the summer tripe now playing in theaters.