James And The Giant Peach
Roald Dahl’s novel James And The Giant Peach may have been one of the only school issued books I enjoyed as a child, but Henry Selick’s film brought the book to life in a way not even I could have imagined. Mixing stop motion with live action, the film has a distinctly pleasing look and admirably perfect craftsmanship, one that only becomes more marvelous as you’re able to understand just what this “animation” achieved.
The story is one of absurdity and wonderment, as a child befriends some oversized bugs and lives in a giant peach, but it’s also a strangely touching story. From the mechanical shark, to the ghostly white Rhino, to James’ horrid Aunts, there’s a brilliant mix of both adventure and discovery that makes this story special for children.
Not to mention this also asserts Dahl’s crazy sense of creative brilliance, as each detail is so vibrantly insane. Adapting such things as the ones listed above shouldn’t have been an easy task, but Selick’s stop-motion mastery and equally beautiful imagination brought to life our robot shark and Rhino in a uniquely aesthetic way, one that kids never had to be afraid of. We knew they were bad characters, but the delivery presented even more sinister topics in a friendly manner children could still find mesmerizing. The technical merits of this movie are enough to make mature heads spin, and the joyously fun atmosphere is just icing on the cake.
I can’t tell you how many times I fantasized about traveling the world in a giant peach because of this movie.
