James and the Giant Peach movie review

June 27, 2010 - #32/100
James and the Giant Peach (1996)

From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline comes James and the Giant Peach. When I was younger, I remember seeing bits and pieces of this movie, but I vaguely even remembered what happened. Anyway, an orphan named James lives with his two aunts. He is basically a slave for them, doing whatever they demand. A mysterious man shows up and gives James magic boiled crocodile tongues, which will grant any wish or desire. But, James trips and spills them everywhere. One of them ends up touching a peach, and the peach drastically grows. Venturing inside the peach, James meets a spider, a ladybug, a centipede, a grasshopper, and an earthworm. He then goes on an adventure, hoping to reach New York City. Part of the movie is in live action while the other part of the movie is in stop-motion animation. Growing up, I never read the book. So, I can't honestly say whether or not the movie closely follows the book. Overall, it was a good children’s movie. I think that I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had watched it at a younger age. The thing that probably bothered me the most is that the little kid who played James couldn’t sing well at all, and he had several singing parts throughout the movie. But, he was a pretty good actor. Personally, I enjoyed Henry Selick’s the Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline more than James and the Giant Peach.

I gave this movie 6/10 stars on imdb.com.