James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Starring Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margoyles, and Pete Postlethwaite
Featuring the voices of Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, and Susan Sarandon
Directed by Henry Selick
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***
Coming on the heels of his critically-acclaimed The Nightmare Before Christmas, director Henry Selick returns to the world of stop-motion animation, but mixes in some live-action bookends featuring young actor Paul Terry as the title character (that would be James...not the Giant Peach). Living in England with his horrific aunts (Miriam Margoyles and Joanna Lumley) after the death of his parents, James longs to escape his sullen life and visit New York City. One evening, he meets a mystical traveling guy (Pete Postlewaite) who gives James some magical "seeds" which grow a giant peach larger than most houses. In order to hide from his nagging aunts, James climbs into the peach, turns into a Claymation creation, and meets a motley crew of insects who call the peach their home.
Surprisingly, it's the live action segments of the film that work best. There's an absurdist, over-the-top quality to them that feel as if they were pulled right from the pages of Dahl's books. However, the stop-motion animation portion of the tale fails miserably. There's never any zip or excitement and the insect gang isn't the least bit engaging. Of course, they're forced to sing the least interesting songs possible (crafted by the overrated Randy Newman), but that's only a part of the problem. The biggest issue is that the story just flounders around once James is in the peach (which could be attributable to the original source novel...I never read this book, however).
The RyMickey Rating: D
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