RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
88 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:7

Rotten:1

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: The arresting and dynamic visuals, offbeat details and light-as-air storytelling make James and the Giant Peach solid family entertainment.

Runtime: 79 mins

Genre: Childrens

Synopsis: This Disney film combines live action with stunning stop-motion animation as it tells the story of a child's fantastic adventure. In the live-action prologue, a recently orphaned British boy... This Disney film combines live action with stunning stop-motion animation as it tells the story of a child's fantastic adventure. In the live-action prologue, a recently orphaned British boy named James comes to own a bag of glowing, magical crocodile tongues. When he drops some of them near a tree, a peach grows--and grows, until it reaches gigantic proportions. One night, James crawls inside the fruit (at which point the film becomes animated) and meets the six fascinating insects that reside within. The bugs become his new family, and together they set sail in the giant peach, floating toward New York City. During their voyage, James and his antennaed friends experience wild adventures--and danger. And when they arrive in New York, they decide to make it their new home...and live happily ever after. [More]

Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite

Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis

Director: Henry Selick

Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Jonathan Roberts, Steve Bloom, Karey Kirkpatrick
Story: Roald Dahl
Producer: Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi
Composer: Randy Newman

[See More Credits]

Reviews for James and the Giant Peach

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

This irresistibly mad plot and the superb animation is only slightly let down by some of Randy Newman's more forgettable compositions.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/03/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite a lightness of plot, it most beautifully captures the book's free-floating, fantastic sense of adventure and wonder.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The vocal cast are great fun, and the animation is smooth and vibrant. Except for a few treacly songs, this is great entertainment for all.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

We fully anticipate the wrath of several generations of possessive children when we declare that the new Disney film of James and the Giant Peach is an improvement on Roald Dahl's 1961 backyard fantasy.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
09/03/08
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An extraordinary achievement.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/03/08
Jeremy Gerard
Jeremy Gerard
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In general the magic as well as the heart of Roald Dahl's novel has remained stubbornly on the page, leaving us with this overly mechanical copy, as appetizing as a once-flavorful peach that's been in cold storage for far too long.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment 1 Comment
02/14/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

James and the Giant Peach, the latest animated film from Disney, is a technological marvel, arch and innovative with a daringly offbeat visual conception. But it's also a strenuously artful film with a macabre edge that may scare small children.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It will, I think, entertain kids for whom stop-motion animation is the last thing they're thinking about.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
all

Latest News for James and the Giant Peach

May 09, 2009: Exclusive: The Art of Coraline with Henry Selick
Henry Selick, the animation mastermind behind such Certified Fresh classics as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach adds another gong to his cabinet with... More...

May 18, 2006: Cuaron & del Toro to Do Dahl's "Witches"
Two of Mexico's most excellent filmmakers, Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro, are planning to get together and mount a new cinematic adaptation of Roald Dahl's "The... More...

April 05, 2006: Selick Meeting with "Monsters"
Henry Selick, the wonderfully talented filmmaker behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, has set his sights on a new project: The very popular... More...

February 07, 2006: "Shrek" Helmer Catches Barker's "Thief"
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a new partnership that should please all the Clive Barker fans out there: Seems that "Shrek 2" co-director Kelly Asbury will head... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts
53% 53% David & Layla

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Your first look at the swashbuckler.

Vampires

Vampires

We rank cinema's bloodsuckers.

Avatar

Avatar

The full trailer for Cameron's epic.

2012

2012

12 facts about Emmerich's disaster flick.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
118
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
178
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
80
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
59
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
42
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
39
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
21
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
19
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
14
  • Ho, ho, ho! It's RT's Great Big Gift Guide!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
14
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
10
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
20
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
7
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
20
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • James and the Giant Peach at Rotten Tomatoes
  • James and the Giant Peach at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.