I guess I’ll start this attempt to ‘turn you on’ to Henry
Selick’s James and the Giant Peach with a simple question: do you like The
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)? Chances are, if you’ve seen it the
answer is yes! Now what if I follow that question with: who directed Nightmare
Before Christmas? I would venture to guess the majority of you would answer
with a resounding “Tim Burton!” You would be incorrect – Henry Selick, the
director of the film that I wish to turn you on to, is actually the director of
that brilliantly dark children’s flick. With James and the Giant Peach
(his second film and follow-up to the aforementioned Nightmare), Selick
tackles a novel from one of the most imaginative children’s writers, Roald
Dahl, and mixes both live action and the brilliant and meticulous stop motion
animation seen in Nightmare. So before I get into the meat of my
argument for this fantastical film let us recap: this film is from the director
of the cult classic Nightmare Before Christmas (often wrongly attributed
to Tim Burton!) AND it’s based on a book written by one of the most beloved and
imaginative children’s authors, Roald Dahl (most famous for Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory)! WHOA! However, I digress, it’s time to tell you why
this particular film is SO great!
Our story
opens on James, an unfortunate child recently orphaned. His parents were killed
in a freak rhinoceros attack and he was sent to live with his two grotesque and
evil aunts, Sponge and Spiker. Unsure if he will ever escape, he runs into a
strange man while attempting to save a spider from his nasty aunts. This man
offers James an escape from the dregs he is currently stuck in by giving him a
bag of magic crocodile tongues. Excited to see what enchanted future lies ahead
of him he accidentally trips up the stairs, losing all of his squirmy
mysterious tongues as they burrow into the ground. Deflated and upset James is
discovered by his gruesome twosome of aunts, but just as he is about to be
unjustly punished once again something amazing happens – a peach begins to grow
on the barren tree in their yard. All three of them stop dead in their tracks
and watch as this amazing peach swells and grows to an enormous size right
before their eyes.
Thus begins the fantasy that lies
ahead. Little did James know that an adventure of insane proportions is ahead
of him, for inside this giant peach are a centipede, a glow worm, a ladybug, an
old grasshopper, an earthworm, and the very spider that he had saved minutes
before, all growing to human size. The remainder of the film is the story of a
boy and his giant bug (and one arachnid) friends trying to make it to New York
(the place James’ parents told him they were going just before the rhino took
them from him). They hole up in their giant peach and find fun and ingenious
ways to utilize their giant fruit for transportation along the way.
So other than the extraordinarily
inspired narrative why should you purchase this film and run home to watch it
(by yourself, with your significant other, or, maybe especially, with your
children)? How about the darkly whimsical visual style and flare that Selick
brings to all of his films? If you aren’t familiar with the look of stop motion
animation, let me be the first to tell you it is quite possibly the most
visually stunning form of animation. The animators create a completely detailed
world within which they bring painstakingly designed puppets to life, frame by
frame. The result of the hours poured into this medium results in the one of
the most eccentric and fanciful visual phenomena. I know the visual nature of
film is usually a large part of my argument, but with a film created in this
medium it is hard not to rave about the visionary character and set design and the
creative and enveloping world that is unrivaled in it’s ability to stun with
childlike eccentricity. Taking a step back, the cast of the film is also
exquisite. With child non-actor Paul Terry as the lead, Joanna Lumley and
Miriam Margolyes (who has double duty voicing the Glow worm) as the cheeky
aunts, and the glorious voice cast of the bugs, Jane Leeves, Richard Dreyfuss,
Simon Callow, David Thewlis, and Susan Sarandon.
So to bring it all back and tie it
up into a nice bow of ‘turned you on-ness’ – the story, the look, the cast.
I’ve been watching this film since I was 10 years old so maybe I am a little
biased but I would have to say that Roald Dahl’s story is incredible, as is his
nature. No matter who you are the story is easy to fall into and get caught up
in. So crawl into the peach and join in the journey to the unknown. If you know
nothing about this movie or the story you are in for a serious treat.
- Edward
Hill
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