Underappreciated upon its initial release, The Iron Giant has gone on to become one of the more beloved animated features of the 1990s. The movie takes place in 1950s Maine, where an imaginative boy befriends a gargantuan robot that falls from outer space, much to the consternation of the paranoid government. Classic touchstones abound

“…the first 3-D movie that made me forget I was watching 3-D – and that’s a good thing.

“I think we need a No Child Left Behind Act for the movies.

"These insects look less like flies than desiccated Smurfs."

“Ursula is an overflowing vamp up top – like Cruella de Vil if she stopped smoking – and a mass of oily black tentacles on the bottom.”

"Ham is cocky, insulting and irresponsible. In other words, if you were looking for a break from your misbehaving kids by taking them to the theater, you won’t get one."

“With its lack of dialogue, inventive visual comedy and satirical view of working life, the first half of the movie could be an animated addendum to Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times”.

“I find it endearing that the Madagascar movies spend most of their time chronicling failure.

“Why do so many family films think their young audiences are imbecilic?

"Outside of Japanese anime – and maybe Pixar’s The Incredibles – I can’t think of another animated feature packed with this much exhilarating, ingenious action."