The Iron Giant, Space Jam 2, and the Problem of Intellectual Property
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” showcases images from some of our most beloved films, but its use may undermine its very artistic value.
Content Warning: This article references suicide and gun violence – including within a school setting and in an abusive relationship – and may contain triggering material for some readers.
“I am not a gun”, The Iron Giant declares in the climactic ending of the 1999 animated film. The Iron Giant’s rather blunt allegory on gun violence in its dialogue was entirely deliberate – it had shaped the film’s production greatly. Released a few months after the Columbine High School Massacre, the event may not have influenced the film from its inception, but the tragedy’s lingering in the public consciousness likely impacted the film’s final theatrical cut. It was, above all, the 1998 death of director Brad Bird’s sister, who was shot by her estranged husband in a murder-suicide, that formed the film’s adaptation. The film’s credits end with “For Susan” – a dedication to her memory and an undenible marker of how gun violence was the foundation The Iron Giant’s morality rested upon.
The original Ted Hughes novel, The Iron Man (later changed for the film adaptation to avoid…
