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Actors: Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Terry, Jane Leeves, Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes, Joanna Lumley
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about James and the Giant Peach |
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James Henry Trotter (Terry) is orphaned as a young boy when a malevolent rhinoceros kills his parents. He is now being raised by his evil and sadistic Aunt Sponge (Margolyes) and Aunt Spiker (Lumley). It is his dream to someday visit New York City and climb to the top of the Empire State Building. In his room one night he befriends a striped spider and in the morning saves it from being squashed by the aunts. He launches a homemade balloon, then the next day he meets a strange old man (Postlewaite) who promises wonderful things will happen to change his life.
Using the power of the magic worms now filling the paper bag he used for his balloon he can make his dreams come true. James trips and the worms spill out and infest a withered and dying peach tree. The tree produces the largest peach ever seen. The aunts exploit the curiosity to make money for themselves while making James work like a dog. James is drawn into the fruit where he is transformed into a storybook type character. He meets several insect friends the same size as he including a grasshopper, an earthworm, his friend the spider (Sarandon), a ladybug (Leeves), a glow worm, and a centipede (Dreyfuss).
The enormous peach is propelled through the air by one hundred seagulls harnessed with strings enabling them to sail high over the ocean. One day a huge, mechanical shark harpoons the peach. The friends must work as a team to free the peach to continue on their voyage. The group eats their way through the fruit while experiencing a detour to the frozen waters of the arctic. There they must battle underwater skeleton pirates to retrieve a much-needed compass to get back on the right path. Other hazards occur before they finally reach New York. The peach drops from the sky when James faces the meteorological rhinoceros. He falls onto the tip of the Empire State Building and is brought down by an enormous crane. Despite the appearance of his sinister aunts, James realizes his dream, and sets up a home from the peach pit in the middle of Central Park, and lives happily ever after with his insect friends.
--David Fletcher, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of James and the Giant Peach |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- fantasy story on present day Earth
Coming of age
Yes
he'll/she'll become:
- an adult (general)
Explore/1st contact
Yes
Explore plotlet:
- exploring a wondrous planet or phenomenon
If a cartoon...
- part real, part animated
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- slave
Age:
- a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/medium straight
Body type
- very skinny (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- English/British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- white/grey
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
- obsessed
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 90%-100%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn, straight
Body type
- fat (female)
Ethnicity
- British
Intelligence
- Ordinary Dumb
Physical condition
- healthy but a geeky weakling
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century (1970's to Present)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Tone of movie
- upbeat
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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