James and the Giant Peach (1996)

An orphan with terrible aunts for guardians, befriends human like bugs who live inside a giant peach, who take the boy on a journey to New York City.Although I am not the biggest fan of "Nightmare Before Christmas", I love the aesthetic that Tim Burton and Henry Selick have. We get another taste of that here. Selick directs, Burton produced... it may be a bit less Burtonesque because it is based on a Roald Dahl book, but I feel like some of their sensibility still got in there, especially with the aunts.Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review, praising the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude." I would have to agree with that. I liked the live-action bits, but they seemed out of place and it might have been best to go full-animation.

I remember when I was a kid and would slip in my Nightmare Before Christmas VHS tape, one of the trailers that was on it was James and the Giant Peach. I always wanted to see it, but my parents didn't buy the movie. I think because the film at the time had gotten Luke warm reviews, but over the years it seems like James and the Giant Peach got a cult following and an audience to boot. After all, we don't really get some of these great animated films that were from the 90's. Plus whenever there's a dark family film, a lot of parents tend to look down on it. I think today's parents have become a little too protective in my opinion. However, I had the opportunity to see the film yesterday and gladly watched it. I admit, my hopes were maybe a bit high, but I can see why the reviews were mixed on this one.James Henry Trotter is a young boy who lives with his parents by the sea. On James's birthday, they plan to go to New York City. However, his parents are later killed by a ghostly rhinoceros from the sky and finds himself living with his two cruel aunts, Spiker and Sponge. He is forced to work all day and they threaten him with beatings to keep him in line and taunt him about the mysterious rhino and other hazards if he tries to leave. While rescuing a spider from being squashed by his aunts, James meets a mysterious man with a bag of magic greens, which he gives to James to make his life better When James is returning to the house, he trips and the green beans escape into the ground. One peach is soon found on a withered old tree, and it grows. The aunts use the giant peach as an attraction, making lots of money as James watches from the house, not allowed to leave. That night, James is sent to pick up the garbage. While doing so, he grabs a chunk of the peach to eat. A large hole appears inside the peach and James ventures inside, were he finds and befriends a group of life-size anthropomorphic bugs who also dream of an ideal home and decide to travel to New York.I think if I saw this as a kid, I would've adored it. As an adult, I see that there scenes that lead to no where and there are some things that are not explained in the film that are explained in the book. I remember reading the book in elementary school and if you didn't read the book, I think you would be totally lost with the whole killer rhino ordeal. Also the aunts are so one note, first off, how is it this kid has the kindest parents in the world with the nastiest sisters who are extremely ugly and obviously hate kids? Yeah, I'm sure when the parents were writing their wills they said "Now, if something happens to us, who will take care of James"…"How about your parents who call and write letters daily and adore him?"…"No, I don't think they'll like him living with them"…"True, how about your 2 evil ugly sisters who hate him and love to beat him?"…"Perfect!". However, the animation is absolutely wonderful and really takes you back into Nightmare Before Christmas, in fact, there is even a cameo appearance by Jack Skeleton. The songs are charming and all of the characters are great too, even if not consistent. Like I don't get how the spider says she doesn't like socializing with anyone, but is clearly singing and dancing with them in the next scene without complaint. But for the kids, this is a great film that gives them hope to dream. I wish I would've seen it as a kid. But I still like it despite the flaws, considering that I think I'm just nitpicking at this point. I can understand why James and the Giant Peach found it's audience and where it will end up in the classics one day.7/10

I first saw this soon after it first came out, when I was about 11 or 12. I was really disappointed in it then - I couldn't get over all the changes from the book.Fifteen or so years later, I've rewatched it, having become familiar with Henry Selick's other work. And this time I really enjoyed it.The animation is high quality, despite being less ambitious than Selick's two other major films (the animated parts of James and the Giant Peach make up a film only about half the length of Coraline, and there aren't any of the huge crowds of characters that filled The Nightmare Before Christmas).The songs, however, are nowhere near as good as those of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The less said about James' solo song at the start of the film the better. The only really good song in the movie also happens to be the only one that takes its lyrics from a rhyme in Dahl's book.Now that this film has surprised me by being better than I remembered, despite its big changes from the book, perhaps I should give Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory another chance to do the same...

A British orphan's, James Henry Trotter, dreams of emigrating to New York City are scuppered when his parents are killed surprisingly by a rhinoceros who appears 'from nowhere'. As a result, he is forced to live with his two spiteful aunts, Spiker & Sponge, who treat him like a labourer and feed him very bad food. One day, James receives a peach from a mysterious stranger. He explores the inside and enters in a strange world, which may lead to his dreams coming true again. James & The Giant Peach is based on Roald Dahl's weakest novel. Tim Burton and Henry Sellick's film adaption is a larger disappointment compared to the book. I, of course, mean no offence to them as their other films, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline prove a lot better than this garbage. Here are the reasons why James & The Giant Peach is toxic. What you, as a viewer, are analysing as you watch the film is a synopsis which is exactly the same as in the novel; completely random, lost and quite frankly, dumb. There is no reason why a rhino would eat a human being (or two as shown in the film), and in England as well. I'd probably understand if it was from a zoo, but that's where the characters belong. This brings me onto the next bad point; the acting. It is abysmal. There are too many repeated lines i.e. the aunts stating, 'Work, work, work' and lines such as 'How dare you disagree' said over and over again. Anybody who writes a screenplay needs to think carefully about the dialogue you use. Joanna Lumley was so much better as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous and Victoria's mother in The Corpse Bride. But it's Paul Terry who makes a huge mess of the film. He overacts and quotes some of the worst lines in cinematic history. Even the songs cannot grow any excitement. Instead they include the most overrated melodies and over-repeated songs. That's The Life? It'll tire anybody sitting on a seat in a cinema and cause butt-ache. The songs are absolutely abysmal and the film is simply the worst to have been associated with Walt Disney Pictures (distributor), the second being the equally toxic Pocahontas, whose songs ain't as bad as on this. Good animation work though.