James and the Giant Peach: Difference between revisions

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The book is about James Henry Trotter, a young boy who lived a happy life with his parents, until they were eaten by a rhinoceros ([[Ascended to Carnivorism|yes, really]]). Afterwards, he is sent to live with his abusive aunts, Spiker and Sponge. One day, James meets a strange old man who gives him a bag of magic "crocodile tongues", which can make James' life better. James accidentally drops the bag on his way home, which causes the contents to sink into the ground. Soon, a nearby peach tree starts to bear fruit, namely, the titular giant peach, which grows to about twice the size of the tree. One night, James crawls into a hole in the peach, and discovers a group of huge, talking insects (another result of the "crocodile tongues"), who befriend James, and they all decide to travel to New York City in the peach (initially by floating the peach on the Atlantic Ocean, then by flying through attaching seagulls to it) to start their lives anew.

 

The book was made into a 1996 live-action/stop-motion animated film from Disney, directed by Henry Selick (who also directed ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]''), and with songs written by Randy Newman. Despite doing poorly at the box office, and getting lukewarm reviews upon release, it has since become a cult-classic and is one of the better adaptations of Dahl's work, though it can be considered... trippy.

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* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: In the original book, the only major trouble in the journey is the confrontation with the Cloud People. In the movie, there's a mechanical shark, a trip to the North Pole with undead pirates and facing the Sky Rhinoceros.

* [[Alien Lunch]]: The foods the bugs sing about in "Eating the Peach"--like curried slugs and plates of soil with engine oil. Justified because they're, well, [[Don't Explain the Joke|bugs]].

* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: There's a bit of a disconnect with a spider and a centipede being amongst the other invertebrates. This is even lampshaded in the film, with Ms. Spider noting how the peach tastes "better than ladybugs" (with Mrs. Ladybug getting understandably miffed).

** This can be justified since just recently they got conscience.

* [[Conveniently an Orphan]] / [[Death by Origin Story]]: James' parents have a [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|bridge dropped on them]] so suddenly that it could well be a parody of these tropes.

* [[Cute Monster Girl]]: Miss Spider in the film. She's really more of a [[Dungeons & Dragons|Drider]] with a [[Nice Hat|beret]] and [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|French accent]].

** [[The Chick]]: The Ladybird

** [[The Obi-Wan]]: Green Grasshopper.

* [[Friendless Background]]: James was pretty much isolated while living with his aunts. Miss Spider also mentions that she never had any friends before meeting the other bugs.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: "HOLY SHIPWRECK!!!"

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Animated Films]]

[[Category:Sony Pictures Imageworks]]

[[Category:Children's Literature]]

[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]