James and the Giant Peach (Special Edition)

Starring:Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, Susan Sarandon, Paul Terry (II), David Thewlis, J. Stephen Coyle, Steven Culp, Cirocco Dunlap, Michael Girardin, Tony Haney, Kathryn Howell, Chae Kirby, Jeff Mosley, Al Nalbandian, Emily Rosen, Mike Starr
Director: Henry Selick
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Roald Dahl's modern classic for children becomes a delightful combination of live action and stop-motion animation by the team that made The Nightmare Before Christmas: director Henry Selick and producers Tim Burton (Batman) and Denise Di Novi. The story concerns young James (played for real and through voice-overs by Paul Terry), who is orphaned and left in the charge of two cruel aunts (Miriam Margolyes, Joanna Lumley). Rescued by a mysterious fellow (Pete Postlethwaite), James ends up inside a giant peach, drifting over the Atlantic Ocean in the company of a gentleman grasshopper (voiced by Simon Callow), a fast-talking centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), an anxious earthworm (David Thewlis), a matronly ladybug (Jane Leeves), and a sexy spider (Susan Sarandon). The collection of actors and their creepy-crawly alter egos are a delight, especially when some of the song-and-dance numbers (tunes are written by Randy Newman) get everyone going. --Tom Keogh

Description

Take a bite out of Disney's delicious Special Edition of JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the popular children's book by Roald Dahl that inspired this imaginative film. This amazing mix of live-action, stop-motion animation and computer-generated special effects includes bonus materials never before available. When young James spills some magic crocodile tongues, a giant peach grows as huge as a house. Climbing inside, he embarks on a thrilling and magical odyssey that only the creative team from TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS could bring you. Along the way you'll discover the famous star voices of Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon, Jane Leeves (FRASIER), and Simon Callow (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), plus the inspired music of Randy Newman. Enjoy -- it's a peach of a journey!

Customer Reviews:

GREAT SONGS AND VISUALS MAKE THIS TIM BURTONS BEST ANIMATED FILM.......2007-03-31

I love this movie! The visual may not be a macabre as Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse's Bride, but the joyful songs by Randy Newman and the story pacing make this a big winner! This is a great film for the family,but there are some scary moments for the younger kids so beware! The DVD transfer is very good.

YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REAL RHINO!.......2007-03-16

James and the Giant Peach...one of the most beloved stories out there. I remember when I first read it back in fifth grade, all the way back in 1995. Our class had been introduced to Roald Dahl's stories, and we couldn't get enough. Going through nearly everything he wrote for kids and young adults, James and the Giant Peach always stood out. Not too long after reading a few dozen Dahl books, word got out that James and the Giant Peach was getting a movie. Talk about ironic, eh? The fact that it was done in the same puppet format as The Nightmare Before Christmas caught my attention (yes, I saw NBC in theaters before the current mall goth trend), and I couldn't wait to see it. Seeing it back then, I loved it. Seeing it again 5 years ago, it still ruled. Just the other night? Yeah, it still manages to hold up. And like the other two main puppet stop motion movies from the past decade, NBC and Corpse Bride, James went under appreciated. I don't remember it doing too hot in box office receipts, and there wasn't much merchandise for it. Heck, all I have is my 15" Grasshopper. And James' release on dvd is anything but "special", as the box would lead you to believe claiming this as the special edition. That's a shame too, because I'm sure if it were released today, it'd do a bit better. James and the Giant Peach is one of the best family movies I've seen, and the fact that I can still enjoy it at almost 22 years old (especially given how harsh I can be on things like this) really says something. And hey, the differences between the book and movie aren't much, so no book-purists are going to be knocking this one much!

If you read the book, you can skip this paragraph, but if not, here's how the story goes: James lived as a normal young boy with a great mom and dad. Unfortunately, they were eaten by a mad rhino one day. This caused James to live with his horrid aunts, Spiker and Sponge. They abuse him, underfeed him (his dinner is usually fish heads, uncooked), make him do all the chores, and yell at him if he questions them. Granted, James is a pretty annoying kid, but at his age, he shouldn't be treated like that. One day, an old man encounters him outside the house, and offers James a bag of neon green crocodile tongues. They're actually just little bugs that glow and hop around, and are full of magic. He gives them to James, but the kid trips and they go flying everywhere, going into the ground. Soon enough, Spiker and Sponge notice a peach growing on a dead tree. It continues to grow until it's probably a good 20 feet around. They charge people all across England to see it, and make some good money. But one night, James goes out to check the peach, and ends up going inside. After unknowingly ingesting one of the crocodile tongues, James completely changes in appearance, and comes across a group of huge talking bugs within the peach. He befriends them, they get outta Spiker and Sponge's grasp, and head towards New York, a place where James' parents were going to take him before their untimely demise. James and crew embark on quite a journey while making way to America, including fighting a huge mechanical shark, skeleton pirates, and fighting things like hunger and distrust.

Ok, I gotta get the so-called "plot holes" out of the way first. Yes, there's a mechanical shark that is never once explained. It appears out of the ocean, and goes to attack the peach. That's its purpose- peril for the gang. But when you see that the fish it consumes end up being the fish heads that James gets for dinner, I guess it makes a little sense. There are a few others that are around later in the movie, but none of them should bother you too much. If anything, the movie's more of a visual treat, seeing how amazing the puppet work was back in that era. The movie took 3 years to make, which is longer than most would care to put into movie, especially a stop motion one where you have to work hard just for one second of film. The grasshopper, centipede, spider, earthworm and ladybug puppets all look fantastic, and are full of character. The glow worm puppet looks like a robot fused with an old lady, but is barely seen. Some have complained that the crew of bugs is too stereotypical in that the grasshopper represents an English gentleman, the spider a French cafe dweller, the centipede a New York cabbie, and the ladybug a motherly figure. Given that none of them go too far into the stereotypes (the grasshopper breaks this several times just before the pirate scene), it's not a big concern, and if you're complaining about bug stereotypes, you take movies too seriously. The whole thing was a blast to watch, and I look forward to watching it with my daughter when she grows up. Sure, there are some potentially scary images, mostly of the rhino storm cloud, and one whole "bad" word (they even say "god" here! GASP!), but this is a straight up family movie, and if you have to shield your child's eyes and ears for things like that, you have my prayers. Besides, if anything, you should be shielding their eyes from Sponge in the bikini top when her and Spiker are tanning.

The picture transfer got an ok treatment. I saw a bit of grain, but nothing too serious. The movie was presented in full screen as well, and I know for a fact that some stuff is missing. It's obvious when you get group shots of the bugs and half of one is missing from the shot. I forget if that's how it was in theaters, but I wouldn't imagine so. The audio gets better treatment, making good use of surround sound on several occasions. The action sequences amazingly use the 5.1 track. It could still use a bit of cleaning though.

I seem to be having bad luck with special features and family movies these days, as James and the Giant Peach only has one worth mentioning. In addition to the usual trailers, song/music video and promotional materials, there's only one featurette, and it is the standard "it was great working on this movie!" fare...for under 5 minutes. Yep, that's all. You see a few voice actors, the director, and some behind the scenes footage, and it's done. Some special edition huh? The movie came out 10 years ago, so there went any hope of a 10th anniversary edition with more features. I guess we're stuck with this as the only release unless an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray one gets more, but I don't see that happening.

I really do love this movie, even if the kid that plays James is just barely less annoying than the one who played Charlie in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When he's in puppet-form, he's more tolerable, but not by much. This movie's all about puppets though, so animation fans will absolutely love this one. Most of the acting is solid, the songs are fairly good (not NBC standards, however), and it doesn't drag on in any places. I'd say that's all you need for a family movie. If Roald were alive at the time of its release, I'm sure he wouldn't have hated it like he did Willy Wonka. At least this thing has a lot of views from a child in it, and keeps things simple, the way it was intended. Besides, there are some great one-liners like the earthworm mentioning how his brother was cut in half, and how he now has two half-brothers. Here's hoping we get another stop motion movie sometime this decade. We need more people putting hard work into these things and less of the standard pampered animal ends up in the wild fare!

My all time favorite.......2007-01-17

This is one of my all time favorite movies. That is why I purchased it. Enjoyed watching it over and over again.

James entertains all ages.......2007-01-10

I love this movie, my kids love this movie, my grandkids love this movie. It is a movie for all ages. Very entertaining and provides a strong positive message.

Fill Yourself with Peach Delight!.......2006-11-30

This wonderful fantasy book is filled with tremendous fun for people that love to read magical fairy tale ages 8-13. This story has sad no-reason punishments and exciting revenge. I really recommend kids ages like me to read this book. To me, I think the book is better than the movie, since the book gives more details of the main idea and the movie... well, I'm not saying it's bad but, it just tells the story summarized and it's on TV. The story starts with a little boy named James Henry Trotter, the luckiest boy in the world. When James was 4 years old, his parents got devoured by a hazardous rhinoceros. The rest of his life he lives with his two evil, greedy aunts. Suddenly, a strange man gave James a pack of slimy crocodile tongues! When James runs too fast and drops the pack, it crawls into the ground. Then, when a growing peach comes, the adventure begins!

The Nightmare Before Christmas/James and the Giant Peach (Special Editions Two Pak)

Average customer rating:

Two Claymation Classics!
Movie for "middle-aged" kids and adults
BLank Movie!
Great movie
Good family fun meets Burton & Selick

The Nightmare Before Christmas/James and the Giant Peach (Special Editions Two Pak)
Starring: Danny Elfman , Chris Sarandon , Catherine O'Hara , William Hickey , and Glenn Shadix
Director: Henry Selick , and Tim Burton
Manufacturer: Touchstone / Disney
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

ASIN: B00004WL3E
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Amazon.com

The Nightmare Before Christmas
For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical-fantasy-horror-comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voiced by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternate universe called... Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick, this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen." --Jim Emerson

James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl's modern classic for children becomes a delightful combination of live-action footage and stop-motion animation by the team that made The Nightmare Before Christmas--director Henry Selick and producers Tim Burton (Batman) and Denise Di Novi. The story concerns young James (played for real and through voiceovers by Paul Terry), who is orphaned and left in the charge of two cruel aunts (Miriam Margolyes and Joanna Lumley). Rescued by a mysterious fellow (Pete Postlethwaite), James ends up inside a giant peach, drifting over the Atlantic Ocean in the company of a gentleman grasshopper (voiced by Simon Callow), a fast-talking centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), an anxious earthworm (David Thewlis), a matronly ladybug (Jane Leeves), and a sexy spider (Susan Sarandon). The collection of actors and their creepy-crawly alter egos are a delight, especially when some of the song-and-dance numbers (tunes written by Randy Newman) get everyone going. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Two Claymation Classics!.......2006-11-13

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
An enchanting film that can be enjoyed at ANY time of the year. The movie is at once bizarre, funny, creative and even surprisingly touching.
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
A delightful movie that preserves the magic of the book on which it was based.

Movie for "middle-aged" kids and adults.......2005-09-22

Great movies for those older children to watch with their parents - these movies will hold the attention of both age groups. I hesitate to recommend these movies to younger children because of some parts of the movie - parents, watch the movie first and make up your own mind. The graphics of both movies are top notch and coupled with a strong storyline makes for a movie that you will watch again and again.

BLank Movie!.......2004-12-26

The Night Mare Before Christmas and James & The Giant peach is one of many favorites of our familes. After opening on christmas the kids were so excited, the next day we sat to watch our movies. Night Mare Before Christmas started of skipping but did play so they kids were happy. James and the Giant Peach will not play AT ALL!!! none of our dvd playes or neighbors dvd players can read the disk, one point dvd player said there was no disk inserted! Did we get a blank bootleg copy and were to belive we paid a hwat we thought decent price for these brand new! Not Happy at all. Have bought several movies of amazon with no problems and it only take that one time to make you go somewhere else and to pass the word!

Great movie.......2001-10-04

This is one of my personal favorite movies. Since i was little I have always love claymation. Who better to do a claymation movie than Tim Burton. His visions are truely incredible. The creation and imagination of Tim Burton alone invokes ideas beyond the basic movie idea. If you haven't seen this or any other Tim Burton movie I highly incourage you pick one up and invite your friends over for a great movie experience.

Good family fun meets Burton & Selick.......2001-08-05

"The Nightmare Before Chirstmas: Special Edition," is a must have that would carry a six start rating if at all possible. "Nightmare," was the most amazing (and largest scale) film ever made with stop-motion animation.

The story of Jack Skelington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who wishes to take over Christmas. The movie is the claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindare meets an Edward Gorrey novel. The wide screen version is wonderful for that "in the theater feeling," and the special edition offers extras as seen on DVDs. There is a "making of" documentory, and the short black and white animated project of Burton's called, "Vincent." "Vincent," is the story of a little boy who wants to become Vincent Price when he grows up. The six minute animated film is narrated by Price himself. Also attatched is Burton's first (pre-Pee Wee) live action short: "Frankenweenie." The name gives a clear idea, it's a dog.

"James and the Giant Peach: Special Edition," is also in the wide screan version. Based on the popular (and dark) children's book by author, Roald Dahl (author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), this tale is whimsical and fun. A mixture of the stop-motion technology that had been expanded for "Nightmare," this film also uses computer animation for special effects, and live action scenes.

As a bonus, "James," also has a "making of," segment, and a music video for the films song, "Good News." Both, "James," and "Nightmare," have original trailers.

Great fun, "James," gives affirmations for childrens' abilities to accomplish things for themselves, and both ("Nightmare" is better) have wonderful musical numbers. Some of the inhabitants of Holloween Town (in "Nightmare") may be a little bit frightening for really young children, but all and all these aren't just for us older "kids," but can be enjoyed by children of any age.

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

GREAT SONGS AND VISUALS MAKE THIS TIM BURTONS BEST ANIMATED FILM.......2007-03-31

YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REAL RHINO!.......2007-03-16

My all time favorite.......2007-01-17

This is one of my all time favorite movies. That is why I purchased it. Enjoyed watching it over and over again.

James entertains all ages.......2007-01-10

I love this movie, my kids love this movie, my grandkids love this movie. It is a movie for all ages. Very entertaining and provides a strong positive message.

Fill Yourself with Peach Delight!.......2006-11-30

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