James and the Giant Peach (1996)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Henry Selick

Writers (WGA):

Roald Dahl (book)
Karey Kirkpatrick (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

If you really don't go to the movies, you won't see...

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Spider | Peach | Aunt | Centipede | Magic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Simon Callow	...	Grasshopper (voice)
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Centipede (voice)
Jane Leeves	...	Ladybug (voice)
Joanna Lumley	...	Aunt Spiker
Miriam Margolyes	...	Aunt Sponge / The Glowworm (voice)
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Old Man
Susan Sarandon	...	Miss Spider (voice)
Paul Terry	...	James
David Thewlis	...	Earthworm (voice)
J. Stephen Coyle	...	Reporter #2
Steven Culp	...	James' Father
Cirocco Dunlap	...	Girl With Telescope
Michael Girardin	...	Reporter #1
Tony Haney	...	Reporter #3
Kathryn Howell	...	Woman in Bathrobe (as Katherine Howell)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some frightening images.

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | Finland:S | USA:PG (certificate #34530) | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Germany:6 (bw) | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:U | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Allied Filmmakers

Trivia:

Andy Partridge, of the British pop group XTC, was originally tapped to write the songs for this film. When Partridge backed out over the compensation he was offered, the producers called on Randy Newman instead. Partridge eventually released demo versions of the four songs he composed for the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When James is going to release the candle balloon, the candle is lying inside the balloon. In the next shot, the candle is standing upright on the chair next to the balloon.

Quotes:

Centipede: We're not lost.
Grasshopper: Then where are we?
Centipede: Somewhere up north. Or, possibly, very far south.
Grasshopper: What's your latitude? What's your longitude?
Centipede: Hey, hey, hey! That's personal, bud!

Movie Connections:

References Jaws (1975)

Soundtrack:

That's The Life (Reprise)

Colorful, Inventive Dahl Adaptation

Here's another inventive film, based on a book by the famous author of child books, Roald Dahl, who wrote "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory."

The animation, featuring stop-action stick figures, is outstanding, as are the colors. Each character is unique, like none I've seen before in other animated flicks. Not only the characters, but how they are dressed. (i.e. long gloves and stockings on a spider). The aunts in here are a real hoot to look at, particularly the one with the pronounced teeth.

The storyline is simple and there is absolutely nothing offensive including no typical Disney New Age baloney. The only warning I would give is there is a bit too much violence for very small kids and the ending is a bit silly for adults.

This is a musical, which I did not expect, and the songs are nothing special. There are not a lot of them: five to be exact. In all, good entertainment and a good visual and audio film for a nice DVD system.