Roald Dahl is a master of children’s literature, and I am perhaps one of his biggest fans. When I was a kid, I would leave the library with stacks of his books. From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Fantastic Mr. Fox and The BFG, The Witches, and The Twits, I blazed through every one of his wonderful books. When I was in third grade, I heard that a film version of James and the Giant Peach would be coming out into theaters, and I had my first fangirl flip-out. James and the Giant Peach did not disappoint third-grader me, and the Blu-ray James and the Giant Peach was a marvelous treat for a child-at-heart twenty-something me.
James (Paul Terry) lived an idyllic life with his parents until they were devoured by a rhinoceros at the zoo. James is sent to live with his evil aunts Spiker (Joanna Lumley) and Sponge (Miriam Margolyes) on a dark hilltop with no flowers, no other children, and no fruit trees save an old peach tree that has never had so much as a blossom. Spiker and Sponge are cruel to James and make him cook, clean, and do all the household work with the constant threat that if he doesn’t obey, the rhino that ate his parents will get him too. James’ luck changes, however, when he encounters a magical man (Pete Postlethwaite) who gives him a bag of magical green things made from crocodile tongues and says that these green things will bring him a miracle. James trips and spills the tongues which scatter and burrow into the ground, and shortly after, a giant peach begins growing on the old peach tree. Spiker and Sponge try to exploit the peach and charge tourists to see it, but soon James runs (or rather rolls) away with the peach and a band of oversized bugs.
James floats and later flies across the ocean atop of the giant peach with the dark and sexy Miss Spider (Susan Sarandon), the kindly Ladybug (Jane Leeves), the attention-hog Centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), the musically-gifted Grasshopper (Simon Callow), the easily frightened Earthworm (David Thewlis), and the nearly deaf Glowworm (Miriam Margolyes who also plays Sponge). Together with his new friends, James travels to New York City, finds his place in a new family, and conquers his fears of the unknown as shown in the form of a giant smoke rhinoceros.
James and the Giant Peach, like the also successful Fantastic Mr. Fox, is a story meant to be told through stop-motion animation. The story feels more like a parable or a tall-tale in the same way that Tim Burton’s Big Fish was told. Set pieces are exaggerated like the undersized lighthouse at the beginning of the film or Spiker and Sponge’s hilltop house. James and the Giant Peach is a fairy tale, pure and simple, and the production design reflects and emphasizes that aspect of the film.
Another remarkable part of James and the Giant Peach is the voice acting talent. Jane Leeves, Richard Dreyfuss, Simon Callow, and David Thewlis all give strong performances, but Susan Sarandon as Miss Spider is the stand-out of the cast. She quietly spins her webs knowing that she could eat most of the other passengers aboard the peach, but she chooses to show them mercy in the same way James showed her mercy. Miss Spider is a woman with a carnivorous past, and it is only due to James that she begins to open up and become a part of their mishmash family.
Today, this movie is significant to me in a way that it was not when I was in third grade. About a year ago, I moved to New York City. Like James, I understand the excitement and terror that go along with moving to New York City, a place that seemed larger than life growing up in the Midwest (or on a barren hilltop in England). He was taking the next step in his life the way that I did less than a year ago, though his New York is not quite like the one I live in now.
For film enthusiasts, James and the Giant Peach offers beautiful animation, great performances, and an imaginative story by Roald Dahl. For parents, there are lessons about friendship, doing what is right even if it isn’t easy, and looking fear in the eye and saying, “You have no control over me.” For kids, this is an entertaining movie, and now that James and the Giant Peach is out on Blu-ray, a new generation can fall in love with Dahl’s classic tale.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Special features include a making-of featurette, theatrical trailer, a music video for “Good News” by Randy Newman, and a game called "Spike the Aunts". The making-of featurette shows how stop-motion animation is done and has some good interviews with the voice actors as well as those working behind-the-scenes. I didn’t really understand the point of the "Spike the Aunts" game, but I expect it was thrown in just to add something extra for the kids.
"James and the Giant Peach" is on sale August 3, 2010 and is rated PG. Adventure, Animation, Children & Family, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical. Directed by Henry Selick. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Roberts, Steve Bloom. Starring David Thewlis, Jane Leeves, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Paul Terry, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Dreyfuss, Simon Callow, Susan Sarandon.
