There have always been flops in film history. The science fiction genre in particular is often affected by this because it is quite expensive to produce such films. This also applies to the animation sector. A 1999 sci-fi film is now considered a classic of the genre, but at the time it was a big flop.
What film is it about? The Giant from Space was published in 1999. The animated film was produced by Warner Bros. and tells the story of 9-year-old Hogarth, who finds a giant robot that must have come from outer space. But he is peaceful and both of them become friends.
But US agent Kent Mansley has completely different goals. He is convinced that the robot poses a great danger, which is why he wants to destroy it at all costs. Even if that means putting people at risk.
Today, The Giant from Space is considered by many fans to be an underrated animated classic that deals with the topic of (gun) violence in a child-friendly way. However, the film was a pretty big flop when it was released. With a budget of an estimated $70 million, the film grossed just under $23 million worldwide (via IMDb).
According to the director, the Warner Bros studio is largely to blame for the flop.
The Giant from Space – Trailer for the emotional story about a boy and a giant robot
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Too little marketing
Why did The Giant from Space flop? While you can never be sure why a film flopped, you can look at clues. The film’s director, Brad Bird, spoke about the issue in an interview at joblo.com and sees the lack of marketing as the blame.
The film was produced by Warner Bros., but according to Bird, they lost interest in animated films after The Magic Sword flopped in 1998. He says: They just thought that animation wouldn’t really work for them.
According to Bird, there was no real release date for a long time. We waited until an appointment was available at some point. The test screenings are said to have had good ratings, but Warner Bros. was not prepared. There was a lack of marketing.
They weren’t ready for the film yet, which means they hadn’t done all the prep work you have to do, with fast food restaurants, cereal, teasers, posters. We only had one poster and that was a teaser poster. We never had a proper poster because they didn’t do anything more than the teaser poster.
Brad Bird on The Giant from Space and the lack of marketing (via joblo.com) Fans and critics love the film
How is The Giant from Space received by critics and fans? If you look at the current ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll see that the film has left a strong impression to date. The film has a critic score of 96% from 144 critics. And with over 100,000 user reviews, the film has a score of 90%. Users particularly praise the themes and the emotional story:
What did Brad Bird do after The Giant from Space? After The Giant from Space, Bird continued making animated films, but this time for Pixar. With Ratatouille and the two Incredibles films, he created other films that are still remembered by fans of the genre to this day. In 2011 he even directed Mission: Impossible – Phantom Protocol.
What do you think of The Giant from Space? Do you like the film? Feel free to write us your favorite animated films that deserve more attention in the comments. In addition to The Giant from Space, Treasure Planet is also a pretty underrated film, which unfortunately also became a flop: Because of Star Trek, a Disney film wasn’t made for 15 years – in the end it was a big flop