Win Tickets To See The Iron Giant: Signature Edition Screening on September 30th at 7:00 PM in Sacramento. When “ The Iron Giant ” arrived in theaters in 1999, it was hailed as an “instant classic” by Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal, and the world soon learned another giant had arrived as well: filmmaker Brad Bird , who made his stunning directorial debut with this film and has gone on to win two Oscars, as well as worldwide acclaim for his work on both animated and live-action features. Winner of nine Annie Awards, “The Iron Giant” is being re-mastered and enhanced with two all-new scenes. The film takes place in October of 1957, when America had plenty to be worried about. Rock ’n’ roll. Television. The bomb. And on the fourth day of that month, the Soviets successfully launched the first manmade satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. The space race had officially begun. The Cold War just got colder. People were unsure about their neighbors, even questioning their friends.