James and the Giant Peach (Walt Disney Pictures Presents)

This terrific story is given the treatment it deserves by director Henry Selick and producer Tim Burton (who also made Nightmare Before Christmas together). Stop-motion, live action and special effects combine to bring this incredible story to life, and the effort is dazzling, even though the work is almost a decade old.

The dvd features are marginal at best. While it's nice to have the option of DTS or Dolby Digital sound, the other features do not merit calling this a special edition. You can hear the dialogue in English, French or Spanish, and subtitling is available in Spanish or for the hearing impaired. There is also a 4-1/2 minute featurette, a trailer and a Randy Newman music video. Still photos are categorized as Concept Art (9), Puppets (9), Behind-the-Scenes (36) or Live Action (18), and they can be seen as thumbprints or enlarged. There are trailers for NBX, Toy Story 2 and Lady and the Tramp 2. Menus are a bit clunky.

Great film. Mediocre DVD edition.


wonderful film.. but not 'special' enough....   June 26, 2002
P. S. Rouse (Los Angeles, CA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a wonderful & amazing adaptation of Ronald Dahl's classic book. A definite addition to anyone's dvd collection. the story as you many know, tells of James and how his wish to get away from his evil aunts comes true in the form of a giant peach. James floats away to NYC in a giant peach being carried by a flock of seagulls and lots of sticky spider web. He learns to stick up for himself... that he really can make a difference, that he indeed counts!

The voice talent is great and the story ties up nicely at the end. Keep in mind, this Ronald Dahl, and anything can happen! =)

As for the Special Edition features.. There isn't much here. A still-frame gallery, a short making-of piece, trailers for the movie, and "sneak peaks" (more trailers) for other movies that are already out on DVD. I was hoping they would have at least included a director's commentary (which is most often 'standard' with the Special Edition designation) but no such luck. It is still worth owning of course, but just don't expect much in the way of Extras. This film is definitely worth the repeated viewings!! Go now & get it!


Horrific? hardly...   October 26, 2003
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

just because something is animated doesn't necessarily mean that it's for children. it's rated PG for pete's sake! in my opinion, the positive aspects outway the negative. seriously, shouldn't the fact that sometimes life can be hard, but there is ALWAYS something YOU can do to make it better (with a little help from your friends) be a lesson every child should learn? james faced hardship and overcame it. he wasn't alone. he found friends. if your child can't accept the fact that life has ups and downs, perhaps you should re-evaluate your parenting skills instead of labeling this film "horrific". the fact that an Adult can't deal with the issues in this film to the point of not being able to watch it really terrifies me. i guess i find it "horrific" that people who are that sheltered are raising children. reality is a challenge.


claymagic !   October 7, 2000
Todd Gillette (Pulicke, KS)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

WOW ! Quite a disparity in the reviews for this one. As a 30-something who saw this twice in the theatrical run, I was entertained on an adult level as well as tickled from a child's point of view. The DVD looks great, especially with the original 1.66 format nearly filling the screen. I've noticed that reviews panning my favorite works seem to contain an unusually high number of spelling and grammatical errors : not to be snobbish, but it's difficult to take seriously feedback from those who are either 1) too lazy to communicate beyond a 6th grade level or 2) completely unaware of how uneducated they appear.


Dull   February 3, 2001
Shadowfire (College Park, MD)
9 out of 27 found this review helpful

Young James led a perfectly happy life - that is, until his parents were killed by an evil rhinoceros stormcloud. Now he must escape his harridan aunts and journey to New York City in a giant magical peach to fulfill his and his parents' dream. Yowza.

This is the sort of film where you realize that you are supposed to be entertained, but something isn't working. The whole thing is surreal and creepy, but there is far too much figurative language and imagery here - the thing screams "the world as seen through the eyes of an idealistic child". James' companions - Centipede, Ladybug, Grasshopper, Earthworm, Spider, and Glow Worm - are nicely characterized but completely flat parodies of the various social groups, but since most of the film is a passive journey, they have little to do but squabble. James faces a number of sophisticated dilemmas, including how to harness a flock of seagulls, and what there is to eat on a giant peach.

A bit less metaphor, and it would've been so much better...