Goofs for
The Iron Giant (1999) More at IMDbPro »

• Anachronisms: Set in 1957, in one scene The Iron Giant is seen playing with a 1959 Cadillac
  
  
• Anachronisms: The nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is depicted as a fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarine. However, the Nautilus was a torpedo-carrying attack submarine. Also, the Polaris FBM program was not operational until autumn 1960. Furthermore, the missile being fired is reminiscent of a UGM-73 Poseidon C3 missile, not fielded until 1972 on the Lafayette and James Madison-class SSBNs.
  
  
• Continuity: A scene midway through the movie reveals a sign on the side of Dean's tow truck that reads "McCoppin Scrap". The end credits offer us an alternate spelling: Dean McCoppen.
  
  

• Continuity: When Hogarth first meets Dean in the Diner, the newspaper ad is "Moon Explorer". When Hogarth pulls the paper down the ad has changed to "First Lady".
  
  
• Continuity: When Hogarth is trying to push the giant's hand out the bathroom window, the thumb changes sides. An earlier scene shows that the giant was missing its left hand.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Dean is called a "Beatnik" during the film which is set in 1957. The term "Beatnik" was coined by Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958 as a derogatory term, a reference to the Russian satellite Sputnik, which managed to suggest that the beats were (1) "way out there" and (2) pro-Communist.
  
  
• Continuity: The stock of Hogarth's gun changes in appearance. When Marv Loach hands it to Kent Mansley, the "HOG" of "HOGARTH" is almost directly over the "HUG" of "HUGHES". When Kent looks at the gun in the car, the "HUG" has shifted the equivalent of two letters to the right.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When the deer comes to the giant, the giant's finger appears proportionally bigger. The deer appears very small compared to the tip of the giant's index finger, considering the giant's whole hand was able to fit in the bathroom.
  
  
• Errors in geography: The train that collides with the Giant's head is pulled by a Norfolk and Western Railroad locomotive. The N&W never operated in Maine.
  
  
• Anachronisms: One of Hogarth's classmates calls him Pointdexter, most likely in reference to a character in "Felix the Cat" (1960). The story takes place in 1957, three years before that show went on the air.
  
  
• Continuity: As Hogarth runs from the Giant, he hits his head on a branch and falls. In the next shot, Hogarth is lying on a clearing, with no sign of the branch.
  
  
• Continuity: When the jeep pulls up to shoot at the Iron Giant in the intersection, the ammo box on its machine gun is on the gun's right side. When the gunner shoots at the Iron Giant, the ammo box is on the gun's left side.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene while Hogarth is talking to the Giant in the clearing shortly after bumping into the branch, it shows the Giants head without the dent, shows Hogarth, then shows the Giants head again this time with the dent.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Hogarth leaves the house to encounter the giant for the first time, a crescent moon is shown touching the horizon. The TV station has not signed off, and the plot suggests it is a time when kids are in bed but adults are still up, so it has to be before midnight. However, the moon's crescent is to the left, which would indicate a waning moon rising in the east shortly before sunrise.
  
  

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