document_title: French colonization of the Americas

question_text: reasons for french exploration of the new world

text: French colonization of the Americas

text: North America[edit]

text: Background[edit]

text: The French first came to the New World as explorers, seeking a route to the Pacific Ocean and wealth. Major French exploration of North America began under the rule of Francis I, King of France. In 1524, Francis sent Italian-born Giovanni da Verrazzano to explore the region between Florida and Newfoundland for a route to the Pacific Ocean. Verrazzano gave the names Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land between New Spain and English Newfoundland, thus promoting French interests.[1]

text: Colonization[edit]

text: In 1534, Francis I of France sent Jacques Cartier on the first of three voyages to explore the coast of Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence River. He founded New France by planting a cross on the shore of the Gaspé Peninsula. The French subsequently tried to establish several colonies throughout North America that failed, due to weather, disease, or conflict with other European powers. Cartier attempted to create the first permanent European settlement in North America at Cap-Rouge (Quebec City) in 1541 with 400 settlers but the settlement was abandoned the next year after bad weather and attacks from Native Americans in the area. A small group of French troops were left on Parris Island, South Carolina in 1562 to build Charlesfort, but left after a year when they were not resupplied by France. Fort Caroline established in present-day Jacksonville, Florida, in 1564, lasted only a year before being destroyed by the Spanish from St. Augustine. An attempt to settle convicts on Sable Island off Nova Scotia in 1598 failed after a short time. In 1599, a sixteen-person trading post was established in Tadoussac (in present-day Quebec), of which only five men survived the first winter. In 1604[2] Pierre Du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain founded a short-lived French colony, the first in Acadia, on Saint Croix Island, presently part of the state of Maine, which was much plagued by illness, perhaps scurvy. The following year the settlement was moved to Port Royal, located in present-day Nova Scotia.

text: Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec (1608) and explored the Great Lakes. In 1634, Jean Nicolet founded La Baye des Puants (present-day Green Bay), which is one of the oldest permanent European settlements in America. In 1634, Sieur de Laviolette founded Trois-Rivières. In 1642, Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, founded Fort Ville-Marie which is now known as Montreal. Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette founded Sault Sainte Marie (1668) and Saint Ignace (1671) and explored the Mississippi River. At the end of the 17th century, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle established a network of forts going from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Fort Saint Louis was established in Texas in 1685, but was gone by 1688. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (modern-day Detroit) in 1701 and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founded La Nouvelle Orléans (New Orleans) in 1718. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville founded Baton Rouge in 1719.

text: The French were eager to explore North America but New France remained largely unpopulated. Due to the lack of women, intermarriages between French and Indians were frequent, giving rise to the Métis people. Relations between the French and Indians were usually peaceful. As the 19th-century historian Francis Parkman stated:

text: "Spanish civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him"

text: To boost the French population, Cardinal Richelieu issued an act declaring that Indians converted to Catholicism were considered as "natural Frenchmen" by the Ordonnance of 1627:

text: "The descendants of the French who are accustomed to this country [New France], together with all the Indians who will be brought to the knowledge of the faith and will profess it, shall be deemed and renowned natural Frenchmen, and as such may come to live in France when they want, and acquire, donate, and succeed and accept donations and legacies, just as true French subjects, without being required to take no letters of declaration of naturalization."[5]

text: Louis XIV also tried to increase the population by sending approximately 800 young women nicknamed the "King's Daughters". However, the low density of population in New France remained a very persistent problem. At the beginning of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the British population in North America outnumbered the French 20 to 1. France fought a total of six colonial wars in North America (see the four French and Indian Wars as well as Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War).[6]

text: French Florida[edit]

text: In 1562, Charles IX, under the leadership of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny sent Jean Ribault and a group of Huguenot settlers in an attempt to colonize the Atlantic coast and found a colony on a territory which will take the name of the French Florida. They discovered the probe and Port Royal Island, which will be called by Parris Island in South Carolina, on which he built a fort named Charlesfort. The group, led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, moved to the south where they founded the Fort Caroline on the Saint John's river in Florida on June 22, 1564.[7]

text: This irritated the Spanish who claimed Florida and opposed the Protestant settlers for religious reasons. In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés led a group of Spaniards and founded Saint Augustine, 60 kilometers south of Fort Caroline. Fearing a Spanish attack, Ribault planned to move the colony but a storm suddenly destroyed his fleet. On 20 September 1565 the Spaniards, commanded by Menéndez de Avilés, attacked and massacred all the Fort Caroline occupants including Jean Ribault.[8]

text: Canada and Acadia[edit]

text: The French interest in Canada focused first on fishing off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. However, at the beginning of the 17th century, France was more interested in fur from North America. The fur trading post of Tadoussac was founded in 1600. Four years later, Champlain made his first trip to Canada in a trade mission for fur. Although he had no formal mandate on this trip, he sketched a map of the St. Lawrence River and in writing, on his return to France, a report entitled Savages[9] (Relation of his stay in a tribe of Montagnais near Tadoussac).

text: Champlain needed to report his findings to Henry IV. He participated in another expedition to New France in the spring of 1604, conducted by Pierre Du Gua de Monts. It helped the foundation of a settlement on Saint Croix Island, the first French settlement in the New World, which would be given up the following winter. The expedition then founded the colony of Port-Royal.

text: In 1608, Champlain founded a fur post that would become the city of Quebec, which would become the capital of New France. In Quebec, Champlain forged alliances between France and the Huron and Ottawa against their traditional enemies, the Iroquois. Champlain and other French travelers then continued to explore North America, with canoes made from Birch bark, to move quickly through the Great Lakes and their tributaries. In 1634, the Normand explorer Jean Nicolet pushed his exploration to the West up to Wisconsin.[10]

text: Following the capitulation of Quebec by the Kirke brothers, the British occupied the city of Quebec and Canada from 1629 to 1632. Samuel de Champlain was taken prisoner and there followed the bankruptcy of the Company of One Hundred Associates. Following the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France took possession of the colony in 1632. The city of Trois-Rivières was founded in 1634. In 1642, the Angevin Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière founded Ville-Marie (later Montreal) which was at that time, a fort as protection against Iroquois attacks (the first great Iroquois war lasted from 1642 to 1667).

text: Despite this rapid expansion, the colony developed very slowly. The Iroquois wars and diseases were the leading causes of death in the French colony. In 1663 when Louis XIV provided the Royal Government, the population of New France was only 2500 European inhabitants. That year, to increase the population, Louis XIV sent between 800 and 900 'King's Daughters' to become the wives of French settlers. The population of New France reached subsequently 7000 in 1674 and 15000 in 1689.[11][12]

text: From 1689 to 1713, the French settlers were faced with almost incessant war during the French and Indian Wars. From 1689 to 1697, they fought the British in the Nine Years' War. The war against the Iroquois continued even after the Treaty of Rijswijk until 1701, when the two parties agreed on peace. Then, the war against the English took over in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1690 and 1711, Quebec City had successfully resisted the attacks of the English navy and then British army. Nevertheless, the British took advantage of the second war. With the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, France ceded to Britain Acadia (with a population of 1700 people), Newfoundland and Hudson Bay. Under the Sovereign Council, the population of the colony grew faster. However, the population growth was far inferior to that of the British Thirteen Colonies to the south. In the middle of the 18th century, New France accounted for 60,000 people while the British colonies had more than one million people. This placed the colony at a great military disadvantage against the British. The war between the colonies resumed in 1744, lasting until 1748. A final and decisive war began in 1754. The Canadiens and the French were helped by numerous alliances with Native Americans, but they were usually outnumbered on the battlefield.[13]

text: Louisiana[edit]

text: On May 17, 1673, explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette began exploring the Mississippi River, known to the Sioux as does Tongo, or to the Miami-Illinois as missisipioui (the great river). They reached the mouth of the Arkansas and then up the river, after learning that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not to the California Sea (Pacific Ocean).[14]

text: In 1682, the Normand Cavelier de la Salle and the Italian Henri de Tonti came down the Mississippi to its Delta. They left from Fort Crevecoeur on the Illinois River, along with 23 French and 18 Native Americans. In April 1682, they arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi; they planted a cross and a column bearing the arms of the king of France. La Salle returned to France and won over the Secretary of State of the Navy to give him the command of Louisiana. He believed that it was close to New Spain by drawing a map on which the Mississippi seemed much further west than its actual rate. He set up a maritime expedition with four ships and 320 emigrants, but it ended in disaster when he failed to find the Mississippi Delta and was killed in 1687.[15]

text: In 1698, Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville left La Rochelle and explored the area around the mouth of the Mississippi. He stopped between Isle-aux-Chats (now Cat Island) and Isle Surgeres (renamed Isle-aux-Vascular or Ship Island) on February 13, 1699 and continued his explorations to the mainland, with his brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville to Biloxi. He built a precarious fort, called 'Maurepas' (later 'Old Biloxi'), before returning to France. He returned twice in the Gulf of Mexico and established a fort at Mobile in 1702.

text: From 1699 to 1702, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville was governor of Louisiana. His brother succeeded him in that post from 1702 to 1713. He was again governor from 1716 to 1724 and again 1733 to 1743. In 1718, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville commanded a French expedition in Louisiana. He founded the city of New Orleans, in homage to Regent Duke of Orleans. The architect Adrian de Pauger drew the orthogonal plane of the Old Square.

text: The Mississippi Bubble[edit]

text: In 1718, there were only 700 Europeans in Louisiana. The Mississippi Company arranged for ships to bring 800 more, who landed in Louisiana in 1718, doubling the European population. John Law encouraged Germans, particularly Germans of the Alsatian region who had recently fallen under French rule, and the Swiss to emigrate.

text: Prisoners were set free in Paris in September 1719 onwards, under the condition that they marry prostitutes and go with them to Louisiana. The newly married couples were chained together and taken to the port of embarkation. In May 1720, after complaints from the Mississippi Company and the concessioners about this class of French immigrants, the French government prohibited such deportations. However, there was a third shipment of prisoners in 1721.[16]

text: Dissolution[edit]

text: The last French and Indian War resulted in the dissolution of New France, with Canada going to Great Britain and Louisiana going to Spain. Only the islands of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon are still in French hands.

text: In 1802 Spain returned Louisiana to France, but Napoleon sold it to the United States in 1803. The French left many toponyms (Illinois, Vermont, Bayous...) and ethnonyms (Sioux, Coeur d'Alene, Nez Percé...) in North America.

text: West Indies[edit]

text: A major French settlement lay on the island of Hispaniola, where France established the colony of Saint-Domingue on the western third of the island[17] in 1664. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Antilles", Saint-Domingue became the richest colony in the Caribbean due to slave plantation production of sugar cane. It had the highest slave mortality rate in the western hemisphere.[18] A 1791 slave revolt, the only ever successful slave revolt, began the Haitian Revolution, led to freedom for the colony's slaves in 1794 and, a decade later, complete independence for the country, which renamed itself Haiti. France briefly also ruled the eastern portion of the island, which is now the Dominican Republic.

text: During the 17th and 18th centuries, France ruled much of the Lesser Antilles at various times. Islands that came under French rule during part or all of this time include Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Martinique, St. Barthélemy, St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent and Tobago. Control of many of these islands was contested between the French, the British and the Dutch; in the case of St. Martin, the island was divided in two, a situation that persists to this day. Great Britain captured some of France's islands during the Seven Years' War[19] and the Napoleonic Wars. Following the latter conflict, France retained control of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Marie-Galante, St. Barthélemy, and its portion of St. Martin; all remain part of France today. Guadeloupe (including Marie-Galante and other nearby islands) and Martinique each is an overseas department of France, while St. Barthélemy and St. Martin each became an overseas collectivity of France in 2007.

text: South America[edit]

text: This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Wording, and the need to add more relevant wikilinks to newly added material Please help improve this section if you can. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Brazil[edit]

text: France Antarctique (formerly also spelled France antartique) was a French colony south of the Equator, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio. The colony quickly became a haven for the Huguenots, and was ultimately destroyed by the Portuguese in 1567. On November 1, 1555, French vice-admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon (1510–1575), a Catholic knight of the Order of Malta, who later would help the Huguenots to find a refuge against persecution, led a small fleet of two ships and 600 soldiers and colonists, and took possession of the small island of Serigipe in the Guanabara Bay, in front of present-day Rio de Janeiro, where they built a fort named Fort Coligny. The fort was named in honor of Gaspard de Coligny (then a Catholic statesman, who about a year later would become a Huguenot), an admiral who supported the expedition and would use the colony in order to protect his co-religionists. To the still largely undeveloped mainland village, Villegaignon gave the name of Henriville, in honour of Henry II, the King of France, who also knew of and approved the expedition, and had provided the fleet for the trip. Villegaignon secured his position by making an alliance with the Tamoio and Tupinambá Indians of the region, who were fighting the Portuguese.

text: 1557 Calvinist arrival[edit]

text: Unchallenged by the Portuguese, who initially took little notice of his landing, Villegaignon endeavoured to expand the colony by calling for more colonists in 1556. He sent one of his ships, the Grande Roberge, to Honfleur, entrusted with letters to King Henry II, Gaspard de Coligny and according to some accounts, the Protestant leader John Calvin. After one ship was sent to France to ask for additional support, three ships were financed and prepared by the king of France and put under the command of Sieur De Bois le Comte, a nephew of Villegagnon. They were joined by 14 Calvinists from Geneva, led by Philippe de Corguilleray, including theologians Pierre Richier and Guillaume Chartrier. The new colonists, numbering around 300, included 5 young women to be wed, 10 boys to be trained as translators, as well as 14 Calvinists sent by Calvin, and also Jean de Léry, who would later write an account of the colony. They arrived in March 1557. The relief fleet was composed of: The Petite Roberge, with 80 soldiers and sailors was led by Vice Admiral Sieur De Bois le Comte. The Grande Roberge, with about 120 on board, captained by Sieur de Sainte-Marie dit l'Espine. The Rosée, with about 90 people, led by Captain Rosée. Doctrinal disputes arose between Villegagnon and the Calvinists, especially in relation to the Eucharist, and in October 1557 the Calvinists were banished from Coligny island as a result. They settled among the Tupinamba until January 1558, when some of them managed to return to France by ship together with Jean de Léry, and five others chose to return to Coligny island where three of them were drowned by Villegagnon for refusing to recant.

text: Portuguese intervention[edit]

text: In 1560 Mem de Sá, the new Governor-General of Brazil, received from the Portuguese government the command to expel the French. With a fleet of 26 warships and 2,000 soldiers, on 15 March 1560, he attacked and destroyed Fort Coligny within three days, but was unable to drive off their inhabitants and defenders, because they escaped to the mainland with the help of the Native Brazilians, where they continued to live and to work. Admiral Villegaignon had returned to France in 1558, disgusted with the religious tension that existed between French Protestants and Catholics, who had come also with the second group (see French Wars of Religion). Urged by two influential Jesuit priests who had come to Brazil with Mem de Sá, named José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega, and who had played a big role in pacifying the Tamoios, Mem de Sá ordered his nephew, Estácio de Sá to assemble a new attack force. Estácio de Sá founded the city of Rio de Janeiro on March 1, 1565, and fought the Frenchmen for two more years. Helped by a military reinforcement sent by his uncle, on January 20, 1567, he imposed final defeat on the French forces and decisively expelled them from Brazil, but died a month later from wounds inflicted in the battle. Coligny's and Villegaignon's dream had lasted a mere 12 years.

text: Equinoctial France[edit]

text: Equinoctial France was the contemporary name given to the colonization efforts of France in the 17th century in South America, around the line of Equator, before "tropical" had fully gained its modern meaning: Equinoctial means in Latin "of equal nights", i.e., on the Equator, where the duration of days and nights is nearly the same year round. The French colonial empire in the New World also included New France (Nouvelle France) in North America, particularly in what is today the province of Quebec, Canada, and for a very short period (12 years) also Antarctic France (France Antarctique, in French), in present-day Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All of these settlements were in violation of the papal bull of 1493, which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. This division was later defined more exactly by the Treaty of Tordesillas.

text: History of France Équinoxiale[edit]

text: France Équinoxiale started in 1612, when a French expedition departed from Cancale, Brittany, France, under the command of Daniel de la Touche, Seigneur de la Ravardière, and François de Razilly, admiral. Carrying 500 colonists, it arrived in the Northern coast of what is today the Brazilian state of Maranhão. De la Ravardière had discovered the region in 1604 but the death of the king postponed his plans to start its colonization. The colonists soon founded a village, which was named "Saint-Louis", in honor of the French king Louis IX. This later became São Luís in Portuguese,[1] the only Brazilian state capital founded by France. On 8 September, Capuchin friars prayed the first mass, and the soldiers started building a fortress. An important difference in relation to France Antarctique is that this new colony was not motivated by escape from religious persecutions to Protestants (see French Wars of Religion). The colony did not last long. A Portuguese army assembled in the Captaincy of Pernambuco, under the command of Alexandre de Moura, was able to mount a military expedition, which defeated and expelled the French colonists in 1615, less than four years after their arrival in the land. Thus, it repeated the disaster spelt for the colonists of France Antarctique, in 1567. A few years later, in 1620, Portuguese and Brazilian colonists arrived in number and São Luís started to develop, with an economy based mostly in sugar cane and slavery.

text: French traders and colonists tried again to settle a France Équinoxiale further North, in what is today French Guiana, in 1626, 1635 (when the capital, Cayenne, was founded) and 1643. Twice a Compagnie de la France Équinoxiale was founded, in 1643 and 1645, but both foundered as a result of misfortune and mismanagement. It was only after 1674, when the colony came under the direct control of the French crown and a competent Governor took office, that France Équinoxiale became a reality. To this day, French Guiana is a department of France.[20]

text: French Guiana was first settled by the French in 1604, although its earliest settlements were abandoned in the face of hostilities from the indigenous population and tropical diseases. The settlement of Cayenne was established in 1643, but was abandoned. It was re-established in the 1660s. Except for brief occupations by the English and Dutch in the 17th century, and by the Portuguese in the 19th century, Guiana has remained under French rule ever since. From 1851 to 1951 it was the site of a notorious penal colony, Devil's Island (Île du Diable). Since 1946, French Guiana has been an overseas department of France.[21]


document_title: Ross Geller

question_text: what does jack geller do for a living

question_tokens: what does jack geller do for a living

root

text: Ross Geller

text: Appearances[edit]

text: Ross is a paleontologist and has a Ph.D. from Columbia University. An ongoing theme of his narrative arc is his romantic feelings toward Rachel Green, an infatuation that began in high school. A theme of Friends is their on-again, off-again romantic relationship.

tag: p

text: Born on October 18, 1967, and raised on Long Island, Ross is the elder brother of Monica Geller. Ross and Monica are Jewish and see themselves as at least cultural Jews, with Ross taking a more active role in wanting to teach his son, Ben, about the faith. Ross gets divorced and is newly single in the very first episode because his wife, Carol, has realized she's a lesbian. Later he dates Rachel but it results in a break-up. Afterward, Ross gets married to Emily which doesn't last long. Also, he marries Rachel in Las Vegas when the two are drunk and then ultimately that too results in a divorce. In the whole series, Ross gets divorced 3 times.

text: A running theme in Ross' narrative is his competition with his younger sister, manifested through wrestling and paranoia. As children, they took part in an American football match for the Geller Cup every Thanksgiving. This ended in its sixth year after Monica "accidentally" broke Ross' nose. The siblings came up with a dance in primary school called "The Routine", which later on allowed them to perform in a New Year's Eve TV broadcast.[4]

text: When they were kids, Monica used to hate Ross because he always had his way and he was loved more than her as he was their parents’ first child. But eventually as the time passed and they grew up, she started loving him more than she used to and they also grew closer to each other though the competition between them was still visible as seen in "The One with the Football".

text: Ross often comes into conflict with his close friend, Phoebe Buffay. His rationality and Phoebe's eccentricity lead to conflict over evolution, gravity, and whether Phoebe's mother was reincarnated as a cat. It is also revealed that Phoebe once mugged Ross (stealing a copy of the comic book Science Boy that Geller had created) when they were teenagers. The two are roommates for a few weeks when a fire forces Phoebe to move into Chandler Bing and Monica's apartment and Phoebe want to give the newly engaged couple some privacy. In a "flashback" episode, they are alone at the bar and start kissing, but the moment quickly passes when Ross keeps bumping his head. Phoebe also helps Ross on numerous occasions, ultimately making him realize that he loves Rachel and they both are meant to be together.

text: Ross' best friend since college is Chandler. In college, they were in a band called Way/No Way, and Ross blamed Chandler when he was caught smoking marijuana. Chandler becomes Ross' brother-in-law after he marries Monica. Though they are best friends, at times Chandler gets annoyed with Ross' geeky behavior.

text: Ross is friends with Rachel Green, whom he has a crush on since high school. Rachel viewed Ross as ‘Monica’s geeky older brother’ during high school. Despite having a huge crush on her, he never told her and eventually let go of his feelings for her. But he again discovers feelings for her in the first episode of the series. They get close to each other and have on and off relationship. In the final season of the show, Rachel tells him that he means more to her than any other member of their group.

text: He is also close friends with Joey Tribbiani and helps him with movie and stage auditions. He kisses Joey once in order to help him practice a role as a gay man, only to find out that Joey had already done the audition and didn't get the part. Joey and Ross also briefly try to cut Chandler out of their friend group after he ignores them. Joey and Ross fall asleep together on the couch after watching Die Hard. Toward the end of the series, however, Ross and Joey are seen to become closer friends, often hanging out together after Chandler gets married.

text: Ross often tries to bring out the best of his friends in difficult situations. For instance, in season 2, he encourages Joey to audition for Another World after being fired from Days of Our Lives, despite Joey's refusal to present himself for a two-line part of a secondary character, in season 7, he buys Phoebe the bike of her dreams but threatens to take it away from her because of her reluctance to learn how to ride it. Also, when he discovers that Joey has a crush on Rachel, he tells him to tell her about it and go for it instead of hiding it, even though he has problems with the idea of Joey and Rachel being together. Above all Ross is a very sweet, loving and adorable guy who is always looking out for everyone's best interests and often the most mature compared to the rest of the gang, despite his ego, outbursts, and paranoia.

text: He has two children. Ross' son, Ben, was conceived while Ross and Carol were still married and born at the end of Season 1. Ross shares joint custody of Ben with his ex-wife Carol and her wife Susan.

text: Ben appeared in a total 16 (17) episodes and was played chronologically: as an infant by Michael Gunderson Season 1 to 2, by brothers Charles Thomas Allen and John Christopher Allen from Season 3 to 5, and by Cole Sprouse from Season 6 to 8.

text: Ross' daughter with Rachel, Emma Geller-Green, was born at the end of Season 8. Rachel's pregnancy was originally revealed in the season finale of Season 7. The conception of Emma was predominantly the result of a one-night stand, which was later revealed in the Season 8 episode, "The One With The Videotape".

text: Ross claims to have "given up a career in basketball" to become a paleontologist, and claims to have had the idea for Jurassic Park and Die Hard stolen from him. He also had major interest in music when he used to play keyboard for hours in the basement of their house in Long Island.

text: Ross had a pet in the earlier seasons of the show; a White-headed capuchin monkey named "Marcel".

text: Relationships[edit]

text: Over the course of the show, Ross dates a considerable number of women. He married three times and is divorced three times. His proclivity to marry and divorce is a running gag within the series.

text:
Julie. An old graduate school colleague, portrayed by Lauren Tom. She first appears in the final scene of the season 1 finale, returning with Ross from an archeological dig in China. They start dating in season 2 but break up after Ross discovers Rachel's feelings for him and he decides he wants to be with her instead.
Bonnie. A love interest (played by Christine Taylor) introduced to Ross by Phoebe, Bonnie is formerly a militant bald woman who no longer shaves her head. She enjoyed a sex-filled relationship with Ross, until a conniving Rachel broke them up by first setting Bonnie up to shave her head again, and later by revealing she was interested in reuniting with Ross.
Mona. A love interest he met at Monica and Chandler's wedding (portrayed by Bonnie Somerville), who later broke up with him when she found out that his roommate, Rachel Green, was pregnant with Ross's child. Ross becomes paranoid after Mona proposes to send out Christmas cards together, and in a panic decides to give her a key to his apartment. It is later revealed that Mona is unable to say "I love you" yet, and delivers what the female friends refer to as "an emotional slap in the face" with "I love spending time with you".
Chloe. Ross's only relationship with Chloe (referred to in a few prior episodes as "The cute girl from the copy place with the belly button ring") was a one-night stand during a "break" with his relationship with Rachel, which interferes with their attempt to get back together. Although only covered over two episodes in season 3, Ross' fling with Chloe would be the basis of the "We were on a break!" running joke that would last until the very end of the series.
Janice. Ross has a brief fling with Janice, Chandler's ex-girlfriend, in season 5. Phoebe said they would have very hairy children. Janice ironically dumps Ross because he whines too much. Ross, worried about how he would react, tells Chandler, who laughs.
Elizabeth Stevens. A pretty 20-year-old student who Ross teaches during his first year as a professor. The two go through a tremendous amount of effort to keep their relationship a secret from the faculty, as Ross would get fired for dating a student. He even tries to get on good terms with Elizabeth's father Paul (Bruce Willis), who in turn threatens to report him to the university. Ross eventually manages to blackmail Paul into pretending to like him by threatening to reveal Paul's embarrassing mirror dance routine to Rachel (who dates him briefly). Despite Paul no longer being a threat, Ross eventually realizes he sees no future in his relationship with Elizabeth and decides to break up with her due to her immaturity.
Charlie Wheeler. Ross meets Charlie (Aisha Tyler) in "The One With The Soap Opera Party".[5] She is a paleontologist who has recently joined Ross's department. She initially dates Joey before breaking up with him and gravitating toward Ross, after realizing she has more things in common with Ross. She eventually reconciles with her ex-boyfriend and breaks up with Ross.
Cheryl. A very attractive woman that Ross briefly dates. He decides he wants to pursue a relationship with her, but is stifled by her incredibly filthy apartment. Despite her own living quarters being littered with garbage and infested with all kinds of pests, she can't stand the "weird smell" of Ross' apartment, which is why she doesn't like being there. After Ross breaks off the relationship after being covered in all kinds of trash in an attempt to make out with Cheryl, Monica later visits her and offers to clean her apartment, revealing she "couldn't sleep" after Ross told her about it.
Jill Green. Ross very briefly dates Rachel's spoiled younger sister Jill (played by Reese Witherspoon) after her father sends her to New York to take lessons from Rachel in self-sufficiency. Although Jill actually finds Ross a geek, she dates him out of spite because Rachel is uncomfortable with it and tells her "she's always wanted what she couldn't have".

tag: ul

text: Rachel Green[edit]

text: Rachel is Ross's most significant relationship during the series. His attraction to her is established early on; Ross met Rachel through his sister Monica, who was Rachel's best friend in high school. He developed an unrequited crush on her, but never followed through on it. After leaving college, Ross married Carol, whom he had met at college, and had seemingly put his feelings for Rachel aside before he met her again in The Pilot.

text: They have an on-again, off-again dynamic throughout most of the show.

text: In the Season 1 finale, Ross has to go to China for his work so he asks Chandler to give Rachel a present on her birthday which he had bought for her. Chandler does give the present to Rachel during her birthday celebration while Ross is in China but also lets out that Ross loves Rachel, prompting Rachel to panic and start thinking about Ross in a romantic way. After Ross arrives back from China, Rachel goes to the airport to receive him on realising that she likes him, but she sees him with Julie and reluctantly backs off.

text: In Season 2 episode The One Where Ross Finds Out, Rachel is on a date with a guy when she confesses to Ross over the phone in a drunken state that she had feelings for him but now she is over him. Ross hears this message the next day at Monica’s apartment with Rachel begging him not to check his messages. Later, in the same episode they share a passionate kiss at the doors of Central Perk. Later he breaks up with Julie but Rachel decides she doesn't want to be with him after finding out that he had made a list, on the insistence of Chandler, comparing the good and bad qualities about her and Julie.

text: The two begin dating each other only from Episode 15 of Season 2 after in the earlier episode The One with the Prom Video it is revealed that Ross despite being two years senior to Rachel had decided to be her date on her and Monica’s prom, as Rachel's date had not arrived, only to be left disappointed as her date arrives and they both along with Monica and her date take off for the prom. Rachel famously kisses Ross on learning this revelation. However, they take a break from their relationship on their one-year anniversary together. That night, Ross cheats on Rachel, officially ending the relationship. They get together again at the end of Season 3 but again break up at the start of Season 4. Some of the later episodes show them to be still in love with each other such as when Ross cancels his Discovery channel show appearance to be with Rachel when she breaks her rib or when Rachel flies to London to tell Ross before his wedding with Emily, that she's still in love with him, only to realize that it would be better not to tell.

text: Ross and Rachel also marry each other after getting heavily drunk in Las Vegas. This marriage ends in a divorce after a failed application for an annulment.

text: In the 7th season premiere, after the news of Monica and Chandler’s engagement, Ross and Rachel kiss, and Monica is hurt by this as she believed that Rachel was trying to “steal her thunder”. The kiss is later revealed to have happened because Rachel was upset thinking about the fact that she was “not even close” to being engaged.

text: In the 8th season finale, Ross’s daughter with Rachel named Emma Geller-Green is born, as a result of their one night stand prior to Chandler and Monica’s wedding.

text: In the final episode of the show, when Rachel is moving to Paris for her job with a new fashion brand, Ross tells her at the airport that he loves her and asks not to leave. Rachel initially doesn't heed his feelings, but when the plane is about to take off, she realizes that she loves him too and gets off the plane. They profess their love for each other and decide to be together once and for all. Ross and Rachel eventually got married shortly after the series finale.

text: Carol Willick[edit]

text: Carol (Anita Barone for pilot episode, Jane Sibbett thereafter) is Ross's first wife and the mother of his son Ben. In the very first episode, Carol has just moved out of their apartment after coming out of the closet as a lesbian and leaving Ross for a woman named Susan Bunch, who she later marries.

text: In the early days, however, Ross and Carol seemed to have had a very passionate relationship. Carol is the only woman he's ever had sex with (and hence lost his virginity to) at the start of the series. It is also revealed they shared a steamy session at Disneyland behind the "Dutch children" in It's a Small World, which got them a lifetime ban from the theme park.

text: Ross maintains a fairly healthy relationship with Carol after their divorce and both decide to raise Ben together through shared parenting, but he doesn't hide his contempt for Susan as he believes she destroyed their marriage. He briefly considers getting back together with Carol and they even share a kiss at a sushi restaurant, but Carol makes it clear that she can't reciprocate his feelings and has chosen to be with Susan.

text: Carol's lack of romantic feelings towards Ross is reinforced in the flashback episode "The One that Could have Been" (season 6). Exploring what could have happened if Ross and Carol never got divorced, it is revealed that they have been on a sexual dry spell that's lasted for months. Carol is very excited when Ross proposes they have a threesome with another woman. Picking Susan, whom she met at her gym just like in the "real life scenario", the two girls end up mostly having sex without Ross. While explaining to Joey that he felt like a third wheel and ended up being so bored he made himself a sandwich, Ross realizes his wife is a lesbian all the same.

text: Emily Waltham[edit]

text: During the fourth season, Ross meets and falls in love with Emily Waltham (Helen Baxendale), a British woman who is set up with Ross by Rachel. Ross spontaneously asks Emily to move in with him. This escalates into a marriage proposal. The two plan a wedding in London, to which Rachel is invited.

text:
During the ceremony, Ross, upon seeing Rachel, has a slip of the tongue and says Rachel's name instead of Emily's during his vows.
Emily is furious and exits her own marriage. Emily however decides to forgive Ross, and reaches the airport but is annoyed to see Rachel and Ross boarding the plane together. She flees away again, and Ross follows her only to lose her and also Rachel goes to the place alone. Emily, later, calls Ross only to confront him by saying that he has to stop calling / harassing her relatives, but Ross makes her reveal her love for him. She said that she will return only if Ross stops being friends with Rachel. Unable to do so, Ross ends his marriage with Emily.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Ross Geller has become a well-known figure in pop culture, in particular due to his relationship with Rachel Green, his neurotic nature and his love for dinosaurs.

text: In 2015, a play titled Ross & Rachel debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[6]

text: In October 2016, Ross Geller was voted "the Best Friends Character" in an international poll held by Comedy Central, during six weeks of "FriendsFest" on the channel.[7]


document_title: Limestone

question_text: where does the carbon in limestone come from

text: Limestone

text: Description[edit]

text: Like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera. These organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts, and extraclasts.

text: Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert (chalcedony, flint, jasper, etc.) or siliceous skeletal fragment (sponge spicules, diatoms, radiolarians), and varying amounts of clay, silt and sand (terrestrial detritus) carried in by rivers.

text: Some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i.e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters (groundwater that precipitates the material in caves). This produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular (oolite) appearance.

text: The primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, building upon past generations. Below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters (see lysocline). Limestones may also form in lacustrine[2] and evaporite depositional environments.[3][4]

text: Calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits an unusual characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases.

text: Impurities (such as clay, sand, organic remains, iron oxide, and other materials) will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces.

text: Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock. When conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures.

text: Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams; particularly where there are waterfalls and around hot or cold springs. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the water leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls. Coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells.

text: During regional metamorphism that occurs during the mountain building process (orogeny), limestone recrystallizes into marble.

text: Limestone is a parent material of Mollisol soil group.

text: Classification[edit]

text: Two major classification schemes, the Folk and the Dunham, are used for identifying limestone and carbonate rocks.

text: Folk classification[edit]

text: Robert L. Folk developed a classification system that places primary emphasis on the detailed composition of grains and interstitial material in carbonate rocks. Based on composition, there are three main components: allochems (grains), matrix (mostly micrite), and cement (sparite). The Folk system uses two-part names; the first refers to the grains and the second is the root. It is helpful to have a petrographic microscope when using the Folk scheme, because it is easier to determine the components present in each sample.[5]

text: Dunham classification[edit]

text: The Dunham scheme focuses on depositional textures. Each name is based upon the texture of the grains that make up the limestone. Robert J. Dunham published his system for limestone in 1962; it focuses on the depositional fabric of carbonate rocks. Dunham divides the rocks into four main groups based on relative proportions of coarser clastic particles. Dunham names are essentially for rock families. His efforts deal with the question of whether or not the grains were originally in mutual contact, and therefore self-supporting, or whether the rock is characterized by the presence of frame builders and algal mats. Unlike the Folk scheme, Dunham deals with the original porosity of the rock. The Dunham scheme is more useful for hand samples because it is based on texture, not the grains in the sample.[6]

text: Limestone landscape[edit]

text: About 10% of all sedimentary rocks are limestones.[7][8]

text: Limestone is partially soluble, especially in acid, and therefore forms many erosional landforms. These include limestone pavements, pot holes, cenotes, caves and gorges. Such erosion landscapes are known as karsts. Limestone is less resistant than most igneous rocks, but more resistant than most other sedimentary rocks. It is therefore usually associated with hills and downland, and occurs in regions with other sedimentary rocks, typically clays.

text: Karst topography and caves develop in limestone rocks due to their solubility in dilute acidic groundwater. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes. Regions overlying limestone bedrock tend to have fewer visible above-ground sources (ponds and streams), as surface water easily drains downward through joints in the limestone. While draining, water and organic acid from the soil slowly (over thousands or millions of years) enlarges these cracks, dissolving the calcium carbonate and carrying it away in solution. Most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. Cooling groundwater or mixing of different groundwaters will also create conditions suitable for cave formation.

text: Coastal limestones are often eroded by organisms which bore into the rock by various means. This process is known as bioerosion. It is most common in the tropics, and it is known throughout the fossil record (see Taylor and Wilson, 2003).

text: Bands of limestone emerge from the Earth's surface in often spectacular rocky outcrops and islands. Examples include the Burren in Co. Clare, Ireland; the Verdon Gorge in France; Malham Cove in North Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight,[9] England; the Great Orme in Wales ; on Fårö near the Swedish island of Gotland, the Niagara Escarpment in Canada/United States, Notch Peak in Utah, the Ha Long Bay National Park in Vietnam and the hills around the Lijiang River and Guilin city in China.

text: The Florida Keys, islands off the south coast of Florida, are composed mainly of oolitic limestone (the Lower Keys) and the carbonate skeletons of coral reefs (the Upper Keys), which thrived in the area during interglacial periods when sea level was higher than at present.

text: Unique habitats are found on alvars, extremely level expanses of limestone with thin soil mantles. The largest such expanse in Europe is the Stora Alvaret on the island of Öland, Sweden. Another area with large quantities of limestone is the island of Gotland, Sweden. Huge quarries in northwestern Europe, such as those of Mount Saint Peter (Belgium/Netherlands), extend for more than a hundred kilometers.

text: The world's largest limestone quarry is at Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company in Rogers City, Michigan.[10]

text: Uses[edit]

text: Limestone is very common in architecture, especially in Europe and North America. Many landmarks across the world, including the Great Pyramid and its associated complex in Giza, Egypt, were made of limestone. So many buildings in Kingston, Ontario, Canada were, and continue to be, constructed from it that it is nicknamed the 'Limestone City'.[12] On the island of Malta, a variety of limestone called Globigerina limestone was, for a long time, the only building material available, and is still very frequently used on all types of buildings and sculptures. Limestone is readily available and relatively easy to cut into blocks or more elaborate carving.[13] Ancient American sculptors valued limestone because it was easy to work and good for fine detail. Going back to the Late Preclassic period (by 200–100 BCE), the Maya civilization (Ancient Mexico) created refined sculpture using limestone because of these excellent carving properties. The Maya would decorate the ceilings of their sacred buildings (known as lintels) and cover the walls with carved limestone panels. Carved on these sculptures were political and social stories, and this helped communicate messages of the king to his people.[14] Limestone is long-lasting and stands up well to exposure, which explains why many limestone ruins survive. However, it is very heavy, making it impractical for tall buildings, and relatively expensive as a building material.

text: Limestone was most popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Train stations, banks and other structures from that era are normally made of limestone. It is used as a facade on some skyscrapers, but only in thin plates for covering, rather than solid blocks. In the United States, Indiana, most notably the Bloomington area, has long been a source of high quality quarried limestone, called Indiana limestone. Many famous buildings in London are built from Portland limestone.

text: Limestone was also a very popular building block in the Middle Ages in the areas where it occurred, since it is hard, durable, and commonly occurs in easily accessible surface exposures. Many medieval churches and castles in Europe are made of limestone. Beer stone was a popular kind of limestone for medieval buildings in southern England.

text: Limestone and (to a lesser extent) marble are reactive to acid solutions, making acid rain a significant problem to the preservation of artifacts made from this stone. Many limestone statues and building surfaces have suffered severe damage due to acid rain. Likewise limestone gravel has been used to protect lakes vulnerable to acid rain, acting as a pH buffering agent. Acid-based cleaning chemicals can also etch limestone, which should only be cleaned with a neutral or mild alkaline-based cleaner.

text: Other uses include:

text:
It is the raw material for the manufacture of quicklime (calcium oxide), slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), cement and mortar.
Pulverized limestone is used as a soil conditioner to neutralize acidic soils (agricultural lime).
Is crushed for use as aggregate—the solid base for many roads as well as in asphalt concrete.
Geological formations of limestone are among the best petroleum reservoirs;
As a reagent in flue-gas desulfurization, it reacts with sulfur dioxide for air pollution control.
Glass making, in some circumstances, uses limestone.[15]
It is added to toothpaste, paper, plastics, paint, tiles, and other materials as both white pigment and a cheap filler.
It can suppress methane explosions in underground coal mines.
Purified, it is added to bread and cereals as a source of calcium.
Calcium levels in livestock feed are supplemented with it, such as for poultry (when ground up).[16]
It can be used for remineralizing and increasing the alkalinity of purified water to prevent pipe corrosion and to restore essential nutrient levels.[17]
Used in blast furnaces, limestone binds with silica and other impurities to remove them from the iron.
It is often found in medicines and cosmetics.
It is used in sculptures because of its suitability for carving.

text: Occupational safety and health[edit]

text: People can be exposed to limestone in the workplace by inhalation of and eye contact with the dust.

text: United States[edit]

text: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for limestone exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 10 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday.[18]

text: Degradation by organisms[edit]

text: The cyanobacterium Hyella balani can bore through limestone; as can the green alga Eugamantia sacculata and the fungus Ostracolaba implexa.[19]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
A stratigraphic section of Ordovician limestone exposed in central Tennessee, U.S. The less-resistant and thinner beds are composed of shale. The vertical lines are drill holes for explosives used during road construction.

Thin-section view of a Middle Jurassic limestone in southern Utah, U.S. The round grains are ooids; the largest is 1.2 mm in diameter. This limestone is an oosparite.

Photo and etched section of a sample of fossiliferous limestone from the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician) near Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

Biosparite limestone of the Brassfield Formation (Lower Silurian) near Fairborn, Ohio, U.S., showing grains mainly composed of crinoid fragments.

A concretionary nodular (septarian) limestone at Jinshitan Coastal National Geopark, Dalian, China.

Limestone from Lake Tai, used in gongshi, a Chinese stone art


document_title: The Iron Giant

question_text: who does the voice of hogarth in the iron giant

text: The Iron Giant

text: Plot[edit]

text: Shortly after the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1 in October 1957, an object from space crashes in the ocean just off the Maine coast, then enters the forest near Rockwell, Maine. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes goes to investigate and finds a giant robot being electrocuted as it tries to eat the transmission lines of an electrical substation. Hogarth turns off the station, and the Giant runs off. Hogarth tracks down and befriends the Giant, finding it docile and curious. When it eats the railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train, Hogarth tries to have the robot repair the damage, but the train collides with its head and derails. Hogarth helps usher the Giant away from the scene, discovering that its' damaged parts are drawn to the Giant and can undergo self-repair. Hogarth hides it in his family's barn. After dinner with his widowed mother, Annie, Hogarth reads comics to the Giant. It is impressed with the adventures of Superman, but agitated by how the villainous "Atomo the Metal Menace" is depicted. Hogarth calms the Giant by telling it "you are who you choose to be".

text: The recent incidents lead U.S. government agent Kent Mansley to town. He discovers evidence of Hogarth's involvement and rents a room in their house to stay close to the boy. Hogarth ditches Kent long enough to move the Giant to a junkyard owned by beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, where they are able to pretend the Giant is one of Dean's scrap metal sculptures. Nevertheless, the easily spooked Kent issues orders for the military, led by General Shannon Rogard, to move into town.

text: Hogarth enjoys his time with the Giant but is forced to explain the nature of death when they witness hunters kill a deer. One day, Hogarth is playing with the Giant using a toy gun, which unintentionally activates The Giant's weapons system, and Dean rescues Hogarth before one strikes him. The Giant reverts to its docile form and Dean orders it away for Hogarth's safety, but Hogarth gives chase. Dean realizes the Giant was acting in self-defense and quickly catches up to Hogarth as they follow the Giant into town.

text: The Giant saves two boys falling from a roof when it arrives, winning over the townspeople. Kent convinces Rogard to start an attack against the robot. The Giant exposes its' weapons again, and readily overpowers the military. Dean and Hogarth arrive and calm the Giant, but the military continues to fight it. Hogarth is knocked unconscious, and the Giant, believing Hogarth to be dead, becomes enraged and enters an automatic living weapon status, continuing its retaliation. Kent convinces Rogard to prepare to launch a nuclear missile from the USS Nautilus offshore if they cannot stop it. Dean and Annie revive Hogarth, and he helps return the Giant to its' docile state, while Dean explains the situation to the military. Rogard is ready to stand down when Kent panics and orders the missile launch. Rogard furiously reminds Kent that the missile is locked onto the Giant's current position and they will all be killed in the blast radius. Kent tries to escape but the Giant stops him, and Rogard's men hold him at gun point. Hogarth explains to the Giant what will happen when the missile strikes. The Giant says farewell to Hogarth and flies off to intercept the missile, remembering Hogarth's words about being who one chooses to be, and the Giant says, "Superman" just before collision. The missile explodes harmlessly in the atmosphere. As the townspeople and military are relieved to be alive, Hogarth is saddened by the robot's apparent destruction.

text: Some months later, the town has constructed a statue of the Giant in its memory, and Dean and Annie are starting a relationship. Hogarth receives a package from Rogard, a bolt from the Giant being the only remnant they could find. That night, Hogarth sees the bolt trying to move on its own, and he opens the window, letting the bolt roll free. The bolt joins many other parts as they converge on the Giant's head on the Langjökull glacier in Iceland. The Giant's head activates, and it smiles as it begins putting itself back together.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes, an intelligent, energetic and curious 9-year-old boy with an active imagination. Marienthal's performances were videotaped and given to animators to work with, which helped develop expressions and acting for the character.[9]
Vin Diesel as the Iron Giant, a fifty-foot, metal-eating robot.[10] Created for an unknown purpose, the Giant involuntarily reacts defensively if he recognizes anything as a weapon, immediately attempting to destroy it. The Giant's voice was originally to be electronically modulated but the filmmakers decided they "needed a deep, resonant and expressive voice to start with," so they hired Vin Diesel.[11]
Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley, a government agent sent to investigate sightings of the Iron Giant. The logo on his official government car says he is from the "Bureau of Unexplained Phenomena".
Harry Connick, Jr. as Dean McCoppin, a beatnik artist and junkyard owner. Bird felt it appropriate to make the character a member of the beat generation, as they were viewed as mildly threatening to small-town values during that time. An outsider himself, he is among the first to recognize the Giant as no threat.[12]
Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes, the widow of a military pilot and Hogarth's mother.
John Mahoney as General Shannon Rogard,[10] the military leader in Washington, D.C. who strongly dislikes Mansley.
M. Emmet Walsh as Earl Stutz, a sailor and the first man to see the robot.
James Gammon as Marv Loach, a foreman who follows the robot's trail after it destroys the power station.

James Gammon also voices Floyd Toubeaux

Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Lynley Tensedge, Hogarth's schoolteacher
Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas as the train engineers. Johnston and Thomas were animators and members of Disney's Nine Old Men. Bird cited them as inspirations for his career and incorporated their voices and likenesses into the film.[12]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The origins of the film lie in the book The Iron Man (1968), by poet Ted Hughes, who wrote the novel for his children. In the 1980s, rock musician Pete Townshend chose to adapt the book for a concept album; it was released as The Iron Man: A Musical in 1989.[11] In 1991, Richard Bazley, who later became the film's lead animator, pitched a version of The Iron Man to Don Bluth while working at his studio in Ireland. He created a story outline and character designs but Bluth passed on the project.[9] After a stage musical was mounted in London, Des McAnuff, who had adapted Tommy with Townshend for the stage, believed that The Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired by Warner Bros. Entertainment.[11]

text: In late 1996, while developing the project on its way through, the studio saw the film as a perfect vehicle for Brad Bird, who at the time was working for Turner Feature Animation developing Ray Gunn.[11] Turner Entertainment had recently merged with Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner, and Bird was allowed to transfer to the Warner Bros. Animation studio to direct The Iron Giant.[11] After reading the original Iron Man book by Hughes, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story and in addition, was given an unusual amount of creative control by Warner Bros.[11] This creative control involved introducing two new characters not present in the original book, Dean and Kent, setting the film in America, and discarding Townshend's musical ambitions (who did not care either way, reportedly remarking, "Well, whatever, I got paid").[13][14] Bird's pitch to Warner Bros. was based around the idea "What if a gun had a soul?"[15] He expanded upon his desire to set the film in America in the 1950s in a later interview:

text: The Maine setting looks Norman Rockwell idyllic on the outside, but inside everything is just about to boil over; everyone was scared of the bomb, the Russians, Sputnik —even rock and roll. This clenched Ward Cleaver smile masking fear (which is really what the Kent character was all about). It was the perfect environment to drop a 50-foot-tall robot into.[14]

text: Bird's sister, Susan, was shot and killed by her estranged husband before the film's story was completed. This motivated Bird to emphasize the anti-gun message of the film and the moralistic quote by Dean: "You are who you choose to be."[citation needed] The film was dedicated to Susan's memory.

text: Ted Hughes, the original story's author, died before the film's release. His daughter, Frieda Hughes, did see the finished film on his behalf and loved it. Pete Townshend, who this project originally started with, enjoyed the final film as well.[16]

text: Writing[edit]

text: Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, though Bird was somewhat displeased with having another writer on board, as he wanted to write the screenplay himself.[13] He later changed his mind after reading McCanlies' then-unproduced screenplay for Secondhand Lions.[11] In Bird's original story treatment, America and the USSR were at war at the end, with the Giant dying. McCanlies decided to have a brief scene displaying his survival, stating, "You can't kill E.T. and then not bring him back." McCanlies finished the script within two months. McCanlies was given a three-month schedule to complete a script, and it was by way of the film's tight schedule that Warner Bros. "didn't have time to mess with us" as McCanlies said.[17] The question of the Giant's backstory was purposefully ignored as to keep the story focused on his relationship with Hogarth.[18] Bird considered the story difficult to develop due to its combination of unusual elements, such as "paranoid fifties sci-fi movies with the innocence of something like The Yearling."[14] Hughes himself was sent a copy of McCanlies' script and sent a letter back, saying how pleased he was with the version. In the letter, Hughes stated, "I want to tell you how much I like what Brad Bird has done. He’s made something all of a piece, with terrific sinister gathering momentum and the ending came to me as a glorious piece of amazement. He’s made a terrific dramatic situation out of the way he’s developed The Iron Giant. I can’t stop thinking about it."[11]

text: Bird combined his knowledge from his years in television to direct his first feature. He credited his time working on Family Dog as essential to team-building, and his tenure on The Simpsons as an example of working under strict deadlines.[14] He was open to others on his staff to help develop the film; he would often ask crew members their opinions on scenes and change things accordingly.[19] One of his priorities was to emphasize softer, character-based moments, as opposed to more frenetic scenes—something Bird thought was a problem with modern filmmaking. "There has to be activity or sound effects or cuts or music blaring. It's almost as if the audience has the remote and they're going to change channels," he commented at the time.[18] Storyboard artist Teddy Newton played an important role in shaping the film's story. Newton's first assignment on staff involved being asked by Bird to create a film within a film to reflect the "hygiene-type movies that everyone saw when the bomb scare was happening." Newton came to the conclusion that a musical number would be the catchiest alternative, and the "Duck and Cover sequence" came to become one of the crew members' favorites of the film.[20] Nicknamed "The X-Factor" by story department head Jeffery Lynch, the producers gave him artistic freedom on various pieces of the film's script.[21]

text: Animation[edit]

text: The financial failure of Warner's previous animated effort, Quest for Camelot, which made the studio reconsider animated films, helped shape The Iron Giant's production considerably. "Three-quarters" of the animation team on that team helped craft The Iron Giant.[18] By the time it entered production, Warner Bros. informed the staff that there would be a smaller budget as well as time-frame to get the film completed. Although the production was watched closely, Bird commented "They did leave us alone if we kept it in control and showed them we were producing the film responsibly and getting it done on time and doing stuff that was good." Bird regarded the trade-off as having "one-third of the money of a Disney or DreamWorks film, and half of the production schedule," but the payoff as having more creative freedom, describing the film as "fully-made by the animation team; I don't think any other studio can say that to the level that we can."[18] A small part of the team took a weeklong research trip to Maine, where they photographed and videotaped five small cities. They hoped to accurately reflect its culture down to the minutiae; "we shot store fronts, barns, forests, homes, home interiors, diners, every detail we could, including the bark on trees," said production designer Mark Whiting.[22]

text: Bird stuck to elaborate scene planning, such as detailed animatics, to make sure there were no budgetary concerns.[18] The team initially worked with Macromedia's Director software, before switching to Adobe After Effects full-time. Bird was eager to use the then-nascent software, as it allowed for storyboard to contain indications of camera moves. The software became essential to that team—dubbed "Macro" early on—to help the studio grasp story reels for the film. These also allowed Bird to better understand what the film required from an editing perspective. In the end, he was proud of the way the film was developed, noting that "We could imagine the pace and the unfolding of our film accurately with a relatively small expenditure of resources."[23] The group would gather in a screening room to view completed sequences, with Bird offering suggestions by drawing onto the screen with a marker. Lead animator Bazley suggested this led to a sense of camaraderie among the crew, who were unified in their mission to create a good film.[9] Bird cited his favorite moment of the film's production as occurring in the editing room, when the crew gathered to test a sequence in which the Giant learns what a soul is. "People in the room were spontaneously crying. It was pivotal; there was an undeniable feeling that we were really tapping into something," he recalled.[14]

text: He opted to give the film's animators portions to animate entirely, rather than the standard process of animating one character, in a throwback to the way Disney's first features were created.[19][24] The exception were those responsible for creating the Giant himself, who was created using computer-generated imagery due to the difficulty of creating a metal object "in a fluid-like manner."[11] They had additional trouble with using the computer model to express emotion.[19] The Giant was designed by filmmaker Joe Johnston (best known for designing the Star Wars trilogy), which was refined by production designer Mark Whiting and Steve Markowski, head animator for the Giant.[18] Using software, the team would animate the Giant "on twos" (every other frame, or twelve frames per second) when interacting with other characters, to make it less obvious it was a computer model.[18] Bird brought in students from CalArts to assist in minor animation work due to the film's busy schedule. He made sure to spread out the work on scenes between experienced and younger animators, noting, "You overburden your strongest people and underburden the others [if you let your top talent monopolize the best assignments]."[19] Hiroki Itokazu designed all of the film's CGI props and vehicles, which were created in a variety of software, including Alias Systems Corporation's Maya, Alias' PowerAnimator, a modified version of Pixar's RenderMan, Cambridge Animation's Animo (now part of Toon Boom Animation), Avid Elastic Reality, and Adobe Photoshop.[25]

text: The art of Norman Rockwell, Edward Hopper and N.C. Wyeth inspired the design. Whiting strove for colors both evocative of the time period in which the film is set and also representative of its emotional tone; for example, Hogarth's room is designed to reflect his "youth and sense of wonder."[22] That was blended with a style reminiscent of 1950s illustration. Animators studied Chuck Jones, Hank Ketcham, Al Hirschfeld and Disney films from that era, such as 101 Dalmatians, for inspiration in the film's animation.[24]

text: Music[edit]

text: The score for the film was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen. Bird's original temp score, "a collection of Bernard Herrmann cues from '50s and '60s sci-fi films," initially scared Kamen.[26] Believing the sound of the orchestra is important to the feeling of the film, Kamen "decided to comb eastern Europe for an "old-fashioned" sounding orchestra and went to Prague to hear Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the Czech Philharmonic in Strauss's An Alpine Symphony." Eventually, the Czech Philharmonic was the orchestra used for the film's score, with Bird describing the symphony orchestra as "an amazing collection of musicians."[27] The score for The Iron Giant was recorded in a rather unconventional manner, compared to most films: recorded over one week at the Rudolfinum in Prague, the music was recorded without conventional uses of syncing the music, in a method Kamen described in a 1999 interview as "[being able to] play the music as if it were a piece of classical repertoire."[26] Kamen's score for The Iron Giant won the Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production on November 6, 1999.[28]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: Bird opted to produce The Iron Giant in widescreen—specifically the wide 2.39:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio—but was warned against doing so by his advisers. He felt it was appropriate to use the format, as many films from the late 1950s were produced in such widescreen formats.[29] He hoped to include the CinemaScope logo on a poster, partially as a joke, but 20th Century Fox, owner of the trademark, refused.[30]

text: Bird later recalled that he clashed with executives who wished to add characters, such as a sidekick dog, set the film in the present day, and include a soundtrack of hip hop.[31] This was due to concerns that the film was not merchandisable, to which Bird responded, "If they were interested in telling the story, they should let it be what it wants to be."[18] The film was also initially going to released under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment banner, the logo for which featured mascot Bugs Bunny in a tuxedo. Bird was against this for a multitude of reasons, and eventually got confirmation that executives Bob Daley and Terry Semel agreed. Instead, Bird and his team developed another version of the logo to resemble the classic studio logo in a circle, famously employed in Looney Tunes shorts.[31] He credited executives Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Courtney Vallenti with helping him achieve his vision, noting that they were open to his opinion.[18]

text: According to a report from the time of its release, The Iron Giant cost $50 million to produce with an additional $30 million going towards marketing,[4] though Box Office Mojo later calculated its budget as $70 million.[3] It was regarded as a lower-budget film, in comparison to the films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.[32]

text: Themes[edit]

text: The Iron Giant primarily deals with the concept of existentialism, as well as the nature of humanity. This is exemplified when Hogarth says to the Giant "You are who you choose to be". McCanlies commented that "At a certain point, there are deciding moments when we pick who we want to be. And that plays out for the rest of your life." McCanlies added that films can provide viewers with a sense of right and wrong, and expressed a wish that The Iron Giant would "make us feel like we're all part of humanity [which] is something we need to feel."[17] When some critics compared the film to E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Bird responded by saying "E.T. doesn't go kicking ass. He doesn't make the Army pay. Certainly you risk having your hip credentials taken away if you want to evoke anything sad or genuinely heartfelt."[29]

text: Release[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text:
"We had toy people and all of that kind of material ready to go, but all of that takes a year! Burger King and the like wanted to be involved. In April we showed them the movie, and we were on time. They said, "You'll never be ready on time." No, we were ready on time. We showed it to them in April and they said, "We'll put it out in a couple of months." That's a major studio, they have 30 movies a year, and they just throw them off the dock and see if they either sink or swim, because they've got the next one in right behind it. After they saw the reviews they [Warner Bros.] were a little shamefaced."

— Writer Tim McCanlies on Warner Bros.' marketing approach[13]

tag: table

text: The Iron Giant was a commercial failure during its theatrical release, resulting from poor promotion from Warner Bros. This was largely attributable to the reception of Quest for Camelot; after its release, Warner would not give Bird and his team a release date for their film until April 1999.[33] After wildly successful test screenings, the studio was shocked by the response: the test scores were their highest for a film in 15 years, according to Bird.[14] They had neglected to prepare a successful marketing strategy for the film—such as cereal and fast food tie-ins—with little time left before its scheduled release. Bird remembered that the studio produced only one teaser poster for the film, which became its eventual poster.[31] Brad Ball, who had been assigned the role of marketing the film, was candid after its release, noting that the studio did not commit to a planned Burger King toy plan.[34] In an interview with IGN, Bird stated that it was "a mis-marketing campaign of epic proportions at the hands of Warner Bros., they simply didn't realize what they had on their hands."[35]

text: The studio needed an $8 million opening to ensure success, but they were unable to properly promote it preceding the release. They nearly delayed the film by several months to better prepare. "They said, 'we should delay it and properly lead up to its release,' and I said 'you guys have had two and a half years to get ready for this,'" recalled Bird.[31] Press outlets took note of its absence of marketing,[36] with some reporting that the studio had spent more money on marketing for the intended summer blockbuster Wild Wild West instead.[19][33] Warner Bros. scheduled Sunday sneak preview screenings for the film prior to its release,[37] as well as a preview of the film on the online platform Webcastsneak.[38]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The Iron Giant premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, with a special ceremony preceding the screening in which a concrete slab bearing the title character's footprint was commemorated.[39] The film opened in Los Angeles and New York on August 4, 1999,[38] with a wider national release occurring on August 6 in the United States. It opened in 2,179 theaters in the U.S., ranking at number nine at the box office accumulating $5,732,614 over its opening weekend.[40] It was quick to drop out of the top ten; by its fourth week, it had accumulated only $18.9 million—far under its reported $70 million budget.[3][40] According to Dave McNary of the Los Angeles Daily News, "Its weekend per-theater average was only $2,631, an average of $145 or perhaps 30 tickets per showing"—leading theater owners to quickly discard the film.[37] At the time, Warner Bros. was shaken by the resignations of executives Bob Daly and Terry Semel, making the failure much worse.[37] T.L. Stanley of Brandweek cited it as an example of how media tie-ins were now essential to guaranteeing a film's success.[4]

text: The film went on to gross $23,159,305 domestically and $8,174,612 internationally for a total of $31,333,917 worldwide.[3][5] Analysts deemed it a victim of poor timing and "a severe miscalculation of how to attract an audience."[37] Lorenzo di Bonaventura, president of Warner Bros. at the time, explained, "People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered."[41]

text: Home media and television syndication[edit]

text: Stung by criticism that it mounted an ineffective marketing campaign for its theatrical release, Warner Bros. revamped its advertising strategy for the video release of the film, including tie-ins with Honey Nut Cheerios, AOL and General Motors[42] and secured the backing of three U.S. congressmen (Ed Markey, Mark Foley and Howard Berman).[43] Awareness of the film was increased by its February 2000 release as a pay-per-view title, which also increased traffic to the film's web site.[44]

text: The Iron Giant was released on VHS and DVD on November 23, 1999,[30] with a laserdisc release following on December 6. The VHS edition came in three versions—pan and scan, pan and scan with an affixed Giant toy to the clamshell case, and a widescreen version. All of the initial widescreen home video releases were in 1.85:1, the incorrect aspect ratio for the film.[30] In 2000, television rights to the film were sold to Cartoon Network and TNT for three million dollars. Cartoon Network showed the film continuously for 24 consecutive hours in the early 2000s for such holidays as the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.[45][46]

text: The Special Edition DVD was released on November 16, 2004.[47] In 2014, Bird entered discussions with Warner Bros. regarding the possibility of releasing The Iron Giant on Blu-ray. On April 23, he wrote on Twitter that "WB & I have been talking. But they want a bare-bones disc. I want better," and encouraged fans to send tweets to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in favor of a Special Edition Blu-ray of the film.[48] On September 6, 2016, the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time, titled the Signature Edition.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The Iron Giant received widespread critical acclaim.[49] Based on 135 reviews collected by the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant received an overall 96% approval rating; the average score is 8.2/10. The consensus reads: "The endearing Iron Giant tackles ambitious topics and complex human relationships with a steady hand and beautifully animated direction from Brad Bird."[50] On Metacritic, the film achieved an average score of 85 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".[51] In addition to its response from film critics, CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an "A" grade.[52] The Reel Source forecasting service calculated that "96–97%" of audiences that attended recommended the film.[37] As of 2015, Rotten Tomatoes ranks it the third most positively reviewed animated film made in the 1990s.[53]

text: Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it "straight-arrow and subversive, [and] made with simplicity as well as sophistication," writing, "it feels like a classic even though it's just out of the box."[54] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times compared it, both in story and animation, to the works of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, summarizing the film as "not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say."[55] The New Yorker reviewer Michael Sragow dubbed it a "modern fairy tale," writing, "The movie provides a master class in the use of scale and perspective—and in its power to open up a viewer’s heart and mind."[56] Time's Richard Schickel deemed it "a smart live-and-let-live parable, full of glancing, acute observations on all kinds of big subjects—life, death, the military-industrial complex."[57] Lawrence Van Gelder, writing for The New York Times, deemed it a "smooth, skilled example of animated filmmaking."[58] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal felt it "beautiful, oh so beautiful, as a work of coherent art," noting, "be assured that the film is, before anything else, deliciously funny and deeply affecting."[59]

text: Both Hollywood trade publications were positive: David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter predicted it to be a sleeper hit and called it "outstanding,"[60] while Lael Loewenstein of Variety called it "a visually appealing, well-crafted film [...] an unalloyed success."[61] Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly commented, "I have long thought that I was born without the gene that would allow me to be emotionally drawn in by drawings. That is, until I saw The Iron Giant."[52] Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed that the storytelling was far superior to other animated films, and cited the characters as plausible and noted the richness of moral themes.[62] Jeff Millar of the Houston Chronicle agreed with the basic techniques as well, and concluded the voice cast excelled with a great script by Tim McCanlies.[63] Amid the positive reviews, a mildly negative review came from The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter, who opined, "The movie — as beautifully drawn, as sleek and engaging as it is — has the annoyance of incredible smugness."[64]

text: WatchMojo.com ranked The Iron Giant number 6 on its Top 10 Animated Movies of the 1990s.[65]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The Hugo Awards nominated The Iron Giant for Best Dramatic Presentation,[66] while the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honored Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies with the Nebula Award nomination.[67] The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film a Children's Award as Best Feature Film.[68] In addition The Iron Giant won nine Annie Awards and was nominated for another six categories,[69] with another nomination for Best Home Video Release at The Saturn Awards.[70] IGN ranked The Iron Giant as the fifth favorite animated film of all time in a list published in 2010.[71] In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated The Iron Giant for its Top 10 Animated Films list.[72]

text:
Awards

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipients and nominees
Result

Annie Awards
November 6, 1999
Best Animated Feature Film
Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff, and John Walker
Warner Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Feature Animation
Won

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Effects Animation
Allen Foster

Michel Gagné
Nominated

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Character Animation
Jim Van der Keyl

Steve Markowski
Won

Dean Wellins
Nominated

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird
Won

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Kamen

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Alan Bodner

Mark Whiting
Nominated

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Mark Andrews
Won

Kevin O'Brien
Nominated

Dean Wellins

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Eli Marienthal
For playing "Hogarth Hughes".
Won

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Tim McCanlies (screenplay) and Brad Bird (story)

BAFTA Children's Award
April 9, 2000
Best Feature Film
Brad Bird, Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff, and Tim McCanlies

Florida Film Critics Circle
January 9, 2000
Best Animated Film
Brad Bird
Won

Genesis Awards
March 18, 2000
Best Feature Film - Animated

Hugo Award
September 2, 2000
Best Dramatic Presentation
Brad Bird (screen story and directed by), Tim McCanlies (screenplay by), and Ted Hughes (based on the book The Iron Man by)
Nominated

Las Vegas Film Critics Society
January 18, 2000
Best Animated Film

Won

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
January 20, 2000
Best Animated Film
Brad Bird

Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards
March 25, 2000
Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature

Best Sound Editing - Music - Animation

Nominated

New York Film Critics Circle
January 10, 2000
Best Animated Film

2nd place

Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Awards
January 9, 2000
Best Animated Film

Won

Saturn Awards
June 6, 2000
Best Home Video Release

Nominated

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
May 20, 2000
Best Script
Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies

Young Artist Awards
March 19, 2000
Best Family Feature Film - Animated

Best Performance in a Voice-Over (TV or Feature Film) - Young Actor
Eli Marienthal
Won

text: Legacy[edit]

text: The film has gathered a cult following since its original release.[35]

text: The Iron Giant appeared in Steven Spielberg's 2018 film Ready Player One, once again voiced by Vin Diesel and replacing Ultraman from the book, where he fights alongside the RX-78-2 Gundam against the antagonists Mechagodzilla.[73]

text: Signature Edition[edit]

text: A remastered and extended cut of the film, named the Signature Edition, was shown in one-off screenings across the United States and Canada on September 30, 2015, and October 4, 2015.[74] The edition is approximately two minutes longer than the original cut, and features a brief scene with Annie and Dean and the sequence of the Giant's dream.[75] Both scenes were storyboarded by Bird during the production on the original film but never finished due to time and budget constraints. Before they were fully completed for this new version, they were available as deleted storyboards on the 2004 DVD bonus features.[74] They were animated in 2015 by Duncan Studio, which employed several animators that worked on the original film.[74] The film's Signature Edition was released on DVD and for digital download on February 16, 2016.[76] An official Blu-ray release was available on September 6, 2016.[77] Along with the additional scene, it also showcases abandoned ideas that were not initially used due to copyright reasons, specifically a nod to Disney via a Tomorrowland commercial, which was also a reference to his then-recently released film of the same name, and a reference regarding the film being shot with CinemaScope cameras.[78]