The Iron Giant Returns: Prologue It was springtime in 1957. The children laughed as they chased each other around the park. A young artist named Dean sat on a bench and admired his latest, greatest, work; a memorial statue. Annie, his girlfriend, placed her hand on his shoulder. “It’s your best work yet, Honey. No doubt about it.” “You think this is my best?” asked Dean. “Really?” “Well, y-y - you know, next to that bug, uh...thing. You know, the one with the - with the shovels?” She cleared her throat and called out to her son. “Hogarth!” She glanced at the children, who were now in one big pile. “C’mon, honey! Time to go!” Hogarth stood up. As he ran to his mother he said, “See ya later, guys!” One of the boys in the pile replied, “See ya later, Hogarth!” “Oh, hey, Hogarth.” When he caught up, Dean gave him a package. “Um, the general sent this to you.” Hogarth took the package and shook it. “What is it?” “He said it was the only part recovered,” answered Dean. “He thought you should have it.” He opened the package. Inside was a giant screw. He held it in his hand as he remembered his friend. “I miss him.” They all took one last glance at the statue before they left for home. … That night, a little after midnight, Hogarth awoke to a thumping sound. His eyes shot wide open and he saw the package had tipped over and the screw was missing. He gasped and started searching on the floor. There were a few puzzle pieces and some socks, but no screw. After checking under his bed he heard a beeping sound. A blue light was flashing on the screw and it was knocking on his bedroom window, like it wanted to go outside. He opened the window to release the screw after he remembered his friend could fix himself and was probably still alive. After it rolled down the roof and onto the ground, it rolled away into the grass. “See ya later!” he whispered with a smile as the screw rolled away. … Meanwhile, on the Glacier in Iceland, a giant metal creature woke up from s coma. A homing beacon popped out on top of his head and he smiled as he waited for his body parts to return to him.