I can see where some might consider The Iron Giant too sad or too scary for little kids. But my little kids have taken to it. After all, it does feature a boy's relationship with a giant robot from outer space, which a story that kids really want to hear. I find it inexpressibly tragic, but my kids do not, and I'm happy about that.
So, The Iron Giant was Brad Bird's first film, a few years before The Incredibles and Ratatouille. It's based on The Iron Man, a story that Ted Hughes wrote for his kids to comfort them after their mother's suicide. Their mother was, incidentally, Sylvia Plath, who was never too good at math, according to noted scholar Peter Laughner, who knew a thing or two about premature death. The Iron Man is different in some important ways from The Iron Giant. For instance, the titular metal character fights a space-dragon instead of vintage Cold War fear.
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