''The Iron Giant'' transports you back to that moment in the Atomic Age when a simple nuts-and-bolts robot could seem as magical to a kid as anything in science fiction. Directed by Brad Bird, a former consultant on ''The Simpsons,'' the movie, which is drawn with lyrical no-frills elegance, evokes not just the look but the atmosphere of the '50s, a time when paranoia was everywhere yet the surface world -- diners, main streets -- provided a comfort zone of protection. (The true ''atomic shelter'' was the shiny bigness of America itself.)
Bird conjures the quietude of the era by breaking with the Disney mold: no songs, no sidekicks. He comes up with nifty black-and-white parodies of nuclear-menace horror films, and he allows the relationship between Hogarth and the giant to develop, organically, into a true friendship. When the military honchos arrive to face down the ''monster,'' it turns out that he's both a friend and a weapon -- an arsenal of goodness. At times, ''The Iron Giant'' is more serene than it needs to be, but it's a lovely and touching daydream.
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