James and the Giant Peach [Special Edition]

Director: Henry Selick

Overview

Just as the sweetness of the title fruit belies the bitter cyanide-laced pit within, so does this colorful adaptation of Roald Dahl's beloved book conceal the darker, nightmarish hues underlying most classic children's tales. With Tim Burton as the producer and Henry The Nightmare Before Christmas Selick as its director and utilizing the spooky, surrealistic designs of illustrator Lane Smith,, the same type of digital animation techniques that brought Toy Story to riotous life combined with stop-motion photography, and sprightly songs and scoring by quirk-meister Randy Newman, Disney's James and the Giant Peach is a film guaranteed to delight both older children (small ones may find some scenes a bit scary) and their parents. The magical tale begins in live action as the idyllic British life of young James is shattered when a fearsome rhinoceros gobbles up his parents. Orphaned James is then forced to move in with his cruel aunties who abuse and starve him. To ease the misery of his new life, poor finds solace in dreaming of visiting New York City. He imagines going there in the balloon he fashions from a paper bag and a candle. It drifts out the window and disappears. One day an enigmatic Old Man happens by. In an effort to console poor James, he hands him the lost bag filled with squirmy, green-glowing crocodile tongues, promising James that all will work out for the best. Unfortunately, James accidentally spills the magical tongues in his aunts' desiccated garden. The tongues immediately burrow into the roots of a long-dead peach tree and the next day the tree bears an enormous peach. One night, James, too hungry to care crawls into the peach (which the aunts used as a tourist attraction) and accidentally ingests a crocodile tongue. Suddenly he turns into an animated creature and runs into six lively insects that include a genteel grasshopper, a proper ladybug, an earthworm, an ingenious glowworm, a cynical wiseacre centipede with a Brooklyn accent and a Garboesque spider. The peach rolls into the sea and thus begins a fantastic journey to the Big Apple. Once afloat the travelers encounter a scary mechanical shark with a circular saw in its mouth that nearly devours the centipede until quick-thinking glow worm saves the day. The shark is not the only danger that awaits the disparate friends. Before reaching their destination they will also encounter a terrifying sunken ship populated by a real skeleton crew led by Captain Jack (Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack Skellington in a memorable cameo).

Product Details

Release Date:	09/14/2010
UPC:	0786936799446
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	PG
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:19:00
Sales rank:	12,595

Special Features

Behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film; "Good News" music video performed by Randy Newman; Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Joanna Lumley	Aunt Spiker,Voices
Pete Postlewaite	Old Man
Paul Terry	James (voice),James
Simon Callow	Grasshopper
Richard Dreyfuss	Centipede
Susan Sarandon	Spider
Jane Leeves	Ladybug
Miriam Margolyes	Aunt Sponge
David Thewlis	Earthworm
Pete Postlethwaite	Voices
J. Stephen Coyle	Voices
Steven Culp	Voices
Cirocco Dunlap	Voices
Michael Girardin	Voices
Tony Haney	Voices
Kathryn Howell	Voices
Jeff Mosley	Voices,Hard Hat Man
Al Nalbandian	Voices
Mario Yedidia	Voices,Street Kid
Bob Dini	Voices
Sally Stevens	Voices
Vanessa Redgrave	Actor
Guy Witcher	Actor
Al Nalbandian	Cabby
Mike Starr	Beat Cop
Girocco Dunlap	Girl With Telescope
Katherine Howell	Woman in Bathrobe
Chae Kirby	Newsboy
Susan Turner-Cray	James' Mother
Randy Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

Jonathan Roberts

Karey Kirkpatrick

Roald Dahl

Steve Bloom

Henry Selick	Director
Tim Burton	Producer
Rocky Capella	Stunts
Brian Chavanne	Casting
Denise Di Novi	Producer,Executive Producer
Jake Eberts	Executive Producer
Robin Gurland	Casting
Ros Hubbard	Casting,Casting
Pete Kozachik	Special Effects
Lynda Lemon	Special Effects
Mickey McGovern	Special Effects
Craig Mohagen	Special Effects
Steven Riley	Special Effects
Thomas F. Sindicich	Special Effects
Amy Hollywood Wixson	Special Effects
Jonathan Roberts	Screenwriter
Karey Kirkpatrick	Screenwriter
Roald Dahl	Screenwriter
Steve Bloom	Screenwriter
John Engel	Producer
Scott Anderson	Special Effects
Agamemnon Andrianos	Sound/Sound Designer