14 Days of Halloween- James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach

After his parents die, James is sent to live with his aunts in their house atop a seaside hill. The two spinsters are quite impatient and hard on James, calling him names and ordering him to do endless chores. One day a man gives James magical beans, which he plants into the ground. Overnight the beans sprout into a tree, on which grows a peach that reaches an astonishing size. The beans also cause the surrounding insects to grow to human proportions and likewise give them the ability to speak. James joins the insects as they make a home inside the peach, cutting its stem and sending it down the hill and to New York City.

Rating- PG

Cast:

James- Paul Terry

Mrs. Ladybug- Jane Leaves

Mr. Grasshopper- Simon Callow

Miss Spider- Susan Sarandon

Mr. Centipede- Richard Dreyfuss

Earthworm-David Thewlis

Glowworm-Miriam Margoyles

Aunt Sponge- Miriam Margoyles

Aunt Spiker- Joanna Lumely

Narrator/ Magic Man- Pete Postlethwaite

This seems to be one of Tim Burton's lesser known works. Though a good deal of people recognize the film, they generally don't associate it with one of Burton's more well-known works, though it is a great movie. It contains a mixture of live action and Claymation, something not seen terribly often.

As someone who loves imaginative stories and movies, I can appreciate the works of both Roald Dahl and Tim Burton. I feel like the two are a great combination and this is not the only collaboration of the two.

James and the Giant Peach is a great and fun film to watch during the Halloween season. With talking insects, crabby old aunts living in a spooky old house and fruit that grows out of proportion, there's something quite magical about this movie and that makes it great for the Halloween season.

I give this movie a 4 out of 5.