James and the Giant Peach

Another hybrid was released in 1996. This one, James and the Giant Peach was based off the 1961 RoaldDahl novel by the same name. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Paul Terry and Simon Callow, the film came $200,000 short of breaking even. But it did receive a nomination for Best Musical Score.

James (Terry) lived a happy lie with his parents, until they were eaten by a rhinoceros and he was sent to live with his aunts, Spiker (Miriam Margoyles) and Sponge (Joanna Lumley). One day, he meets a strange old man (Pete Postelthwaite) who gives him a bag of crocodile tongues, which he says can make his life better. James drops the bag on his way home, and the contents sink into the ground. Soon, a nearby tree tarts to bear a peach, which grows twice its size overnight. One night, James crawls into the hole and discovers a group of huge, talking insects (Callow, Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Sarandon, David Thewlis, and Miriam Margoyles). They befriend him and travel to New York City.

This movie has a lot wrong with it, the biggest being with Ms. Spider. She tells James that she’s a perpetual loner and the other bugs fear her. And normally, this would be a great character, having her defrost and become accepted by the other insects. Except, the way she describes herself and her situation is never seen. She’s almost always seen in the company of the other insects, dances with them in every musical number, and is the only one to accompany James after he decides to rescue Mr. Centipede when he goes to get a compass. Look, while I have a problem employing “show, don’t tell” in my fiction, I at least try to convey it. This movie just tells us that Spider is not well liked and is reclusive, but that’s never shown. At least Centipede and Grasshopper developed from their bitterness into their friendship. It was extremely fast, but it was there. None of the other bugs are all that interesting either. They’re just sort of there, without any real depth to their characters. And Paul Terry. Kid said he’d never act again after the spider bit him in that scene. Good thing too because he just cannot act.

And that’s another thing, this movie has no sense of pacing. We’re introduced to James’ parents and immediately after, they’re eaten by a rhino. We get one scene that shows how happy James is with them, but they don’t mean all that much to the audience. It’s also not explained just how they came about a rhinoceros. In the book, it escaped and ate them while they were shopping. It actually makes a little bit of sense. Though it would make more sense if rhinos were carnivorous.  It’s also makes no sense how it immediately disappears once James decides to stand up to it and face his fears. If it could be defeated so anticlimactically, then how did it eat his parents!?

Spiker and Sponge showing up in New York City is also completely idiotic. Especially when it’s shown that they drove all the way from England. They weren’t animated like James and the insects were, how did they do it? Really, they didn’t need to show up in New York City. There could have been a much better confrontation at that point.

Everything else aside, the sets and animation are good and interestingly designed and it’s got a nice soundtrack. But unless you’re going for an arthouse film, no amount of good music, sets, designs, and animation will be able to make up for bad pacing, acting, characterization, and massive story flaws.

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