A very satisfying movie.
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:50
Fresh:48
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: The arresting and dynamic visuals, offbeat details and light-as-air storytelling make James and the Giant Peach solid family entertainment.
Runtime: 79 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: This Disney film combines live action with stunning stop-motion animation as it tells the story of a child's fantastic adventure. In the live-action prologue, a recently orphaned British boy... This Disney film combines live action with stunning stop-motion animation as it tells the story of a child's fantastic adventure. In the live-action prologue, a recently orphaned British boy named James comes to own a bag of glowing, magical crocodile tongues. When he drops some of them near a tree, a peach grows--and grows, until it reaches gigantic proportions. One night, James crawls inside the fruit (at which point the film becomes animated) and meets the six fascinating insects that reside within. The bugs become his new family, and together they set sail in the giant peach, floating toward New York City. During their voyage, James and his antennaed friends experience wild adventures--and danger. And when they arrive in New York, they decide to make it their new home...and live happily ever after. [More]
Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite
Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis
Director: Henry Selick
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Jonathan Roberts, Steve Bloom, Karey Kirkpatrick
Story: Roald Dahl
Producer: Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi
Composer: Randy Newman
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Reviews for James and the Giant Peach
An ambitious project combining classic fiction, imaginative computer imagery and animated live-action footage.
This weird story has been transformed into a playful, visually arresting experience with more than a few allusions to The Wizard of Oz.
Marvelously inventive fairy tale based on Ronald Dahl's 1961 children's book.
This is a clever, enthralling little tale that, if the kids in the audience were a guage, should keep all but the youngest kids entertained through its 75 minute run time.
We fully anticipate the wrath of several generations of possessive children when we declare that the new Disney film of James and the Giant Peach is an improvement on Roald Dahl's 1961 backyard fantasy.
First-class family entertainment that will please everyone, particularly the young 'uns.
It will, I think, entertain kids for whom stop-motion animation is the last thing they're thinking about.
I hope we don't have to wait another quarter-century for the next great Dahl adaptation, but for a film as good as this one, I'll wait.
Despite a lightness of plot, it most beautifully captures the book's free-floating, fantastic sense of adventure and wonder.
The film is generally quite faithful, retaining the book's humor, familial spirit and even its darker edges.
This very unconventional tale is well-told with an imaginative combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, all colored with Selick's uniquely dramatic, preternatural aesthetics.
The story, which I am told varies a great deal from the book, just is not a very good one.
James and the Giant Peach, the latest animated film from Disney, is a technological marvel, arch and innovative with a daringly offbeat visual conception. But it's also a strenuously artful film with a macabre edge that may scare small children.
Mrs. Ladybug sums it all up with one marvelous line, though: 'It's better than aphids.' Who am I to argue?
This movie may not make headlines among all of the adults, but I predict it will among the kids.
On the whole, the movie is a success. I still hope that children and their parents will read this wonderful book together, but it's nice that there's a movie they can see, too.
Latest News for James and the Giant Peach
May 09, 2009:
Exclusive: The Art of Coraline with Henry Selick
Henry Selick, the animation mastermind behind such Certified Fresh classics as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach adds another gong to his cabinet with... More...
May 18, 2006:
Cuaron & del Toro to Do Dahl's "Witches"
Two of Mexico's most excellent filmmakers, Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro, are planning to get together and mount a new cinematic adaptation of Roald Dahl's "The... More...
April 05, 2006:
Selick Meeting with "Monsters"
Henry Selick, the wonderfully talented filmmaker behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, has set his sights on a new project: The very popular... More...
February 07, 2006:
"Shrek" Helmer Catches Barker's "Thief"
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a new partnership that should please all the Clive Barker fans out there: Seems that "Shrek 2" co-director Kelly Asbury will head... More...
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