Main Cast: Simon Callow, Joanna Lumley, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Pete Postlethwaite, Miriam Margolyes, Paul Terry, Susan Sarandon
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A young boy's discovery of a gigantic peach triggers an eventful journey across the sea in this strikingly designed and surprisingly twisted animated adventure. A live-action framing device establishes the dark yet fanciful mood one might expect from an adaptation of a Roald Dahl story, as young British lad James (Paul Terry) is orphaned by the death of his parents and forced to live with two cruel, repulsive aunts (played by noted British character actors Miriam Margolyes and Joanna Lumley of British TV hit Absolutely Fabulous). The visit of a mysterious stranger provides a means of escape, however, through a magic bag of "crocodile tongues" that bring about the appearance of the giant peach. The curious James soon winds up inside the fruit, at which point his body changes, and the film switches to a combination of stop-motion and digital animation. The new James meets up with a group of talking, oversized insects, including a vampish spider (voiced by Susan Sarandon), a sarcastic centipede (voiced by Richard Dreyfuss), and a matronly ladybug (voiced by Jane Leeves). These creatures become his traveling companions when the peach rolls into the Atlantic Ocean, and James and his new friends must brave a variety of dangers to reach the shore. Director Henry Selick provides further proof of the visual skill he demonstrated in The Nightmare Before Christmas, creating a fascinating, often eerie alternate universe, while Randy Newman provides the upbeat musical accompaniment. Young children may be disturbed by the story's creepier overtones, but the mixture of remarkable visuals, oddball characters, and off-kilter fantasy will appeal to all other audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
David Thewlis - Earthworm; Steven Culp - James' Father; Tony Haney - Reporter #3; Al Nalbandian - Cabby; Vanessa Redgrave; Mike Starr - Beat Cop; Guy Witcher; Mario Yedidia - Street Kid; Michael Girardin - Reporter; J. Stephen Coyle - Reporter; Girocco Dunlap - Girl With Telescope; Katherine Howell - Woman in Bathrobe; Chae Kirby - Newsboy; Jeff Mosley - Hard Hat Man; Susan Turner-Cray - James' Mother
Credit
Blake Russell - Art Director, Ros Hubbard - Casting, Brian Chavanne - Casting, Robin Gurland - Casting, John Hubbard - Casting, John S. Engel - Co-producer, Brian Rosen - Co-producer, Henry Selick - Co-producer, Julie Slinger - Costume Designer, Henry Selick - Director, Stan Webb - Editor, Denise Di Novi - Executive Producer, Jake Eberts - Executive Producer, Randy Newman - Composer (Music Score), Randy Newman - Songwriter, Richard Snell - Makeup, Harley Jessup - Production Designer, Hiro Narita - Cinematographer, Pete Kozachik - Cinematographer, Tim Burton - Producer, Scott E. Anderson - Special Effects, Agamemnon Andrianos - Sound/Sound Designer, Pete Kozachik - Special Effects Supervisor, Steven L. Bloom - Screenwriter, Karey Kirkpatrick - Screenwriter, Jonathan Roberts - Screenwriter, Roald Dahl - Book Author
Randy Newman wrote five new songs in addition to the instrumental scoring for Disney's stop-action film adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's story, borrowing the lyrics to one of the songs, the lively "Eating the Peach," from Dahl. His most characteristic efforts are "Family," which owes a lot to such earlier Newman soundtrack songs as "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story, and the gospel-tinged end title theme, "Good News," which he sings himself. The other songs are performed by cast members including Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon, along with some ringers providing "additional vocals." The instrumental sections provided effective scoring for the film's audacious visuals, but on their own sound like the background music they are. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Randy Newman (Arranger), Randy Newman (Vocals), Randy Newman (Producer), Randy Newman (Performer), Randy Newman (Orchestration), Chris Boardman (Orchestration), Simon Callow (Vocals), Jerry Hey (Horn Arrangements), Andy Hill (Executive Music Supervisor), Sue McLean (Assistant Engineer), Sue Sarandon (Vocals), Sally Stevens (Vocals), John Vigran (Engineer), Mervyn Warren (Arranger), Mervyn Warren (Producer), Frank Wolf (Producer), Frank Wolf (Engineer), Frank Wolf (Mixing), Geoff Foster (Engineer), Bob Badami (Music Editor), Deborah Keaton (Art Direction), Gavin Lurssen (Mastering), Dominic Fidelibus (Music Preparation), Julie Flahiff (Design), Miriam Margolyes (Vocals), Michael Skloff (Producer), Michael Skloff (Vocal Arrangement), Michael Skloff (Song Producer), David Thewlis (Vocals), Paul Terry (Vocals), Paul Hume (Engineer), Miriam Margolis (Vocals), Steve Bramson (Orchestration), Drew Harrah (Vocals), Don Davis (Arranger), Don Davis (Orchestration), Richard Dreyfuss (Vocals), Jane Leeves (Vocals), Jeff Glenn Bennett (Vocals), Shannon Erbe (Assistant Music Editor)
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James Henry Trotter finds himself living with his two abusive aunts, Spiker and Sponge, after his parents are killed by a rhinoceros. Life with his aunts is hard and he dreams of a better place, specifically New York City, a "dream like" place his parents had talked about. His dream comes true when a mysterious stranger appears with a bagful of magic green "crocodile tongues" which are supposed to make his life better. When James is returning to Sponge and Spiker's house, he trips and the "tongues" fall into the root of an old peach tree, affecting it and its inhabitants in amazing ways. One peach is soon found on the tree, and it grows to immense proportions. James ventures into the giant fruit were he finds and befriends a group of anthropomorphic insects who also dream of an ideal home (Mr. Old Green Grasshopper, Mr. Centipede, Mr. Earthworm, Miss Spider, Mrs. Ladybug, and Mrs. Glowworm). Mr. Centipede manages to cut the twig holding the giant peach to the tree, and the peach rolls away to the Atlantic ocean with James and his friends inside it. They use Miss Spider's silk to tie a hundred seagulls to the peach stem, allowing them to fly their way to New York City while going through a series of adventures such as facing a giant robotic shark, skeletal pirates in an old frozen galleon, and the rhino which is riding with the clouds. The group finally gets to New York City, where James stands up to his aunts and learns to face his fears.
The film begins with normal live-action for the first twenty minutes,[1] but becomes stop-motion animation after James enters the peach, and then live-action when James enters New York City, New York (although the mutated insect characters remained in stop-motion). Selick had originally planned for James to be a real actor through the entire film, then later considered doing the whole film in stop-motion, but ultimately settled on doing entirely live-action and entirely stop-motion sequences due to costs.[2] Unlike in the novel, James' aunts are not killed by the rolling peach (although his parents' deaths takes place as in the novel), and the film also has James dream of going to New York instead of simply winding up there.[1]
Reception
Although Dahl turned down more than one offer to make an animated film of James and the Giant Peach during his lifetime, his widow, Liccy Dahl, consented to let this film be made.[3] She said that, "I think Roald would have been delighted with what they did with James."[3]Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review, praising the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude."[4]
^ abNichols, Peter M. (2003). The New York Times Essential Library: Children's Movies. New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 134-136. ISBN0-8050-7198-9.
