James and the Giant Peach directed by Henry Selick is about a boy name James (Paul Terry)who was a happy boy until his parents died. They were killed by a rhinoceros and because of that he goes to live with his two terrible aunts. When he bravely saves a spider then he finds magic boiled crocodile tongues. Right after that an enormous peach begins to grow in the garden. James decides to venture into this giant peach where he meets the spider he rescued and many other insects including a lady bug and centipede who become his friends. Together the strange group makes a plan to get to New York City and that is when the adventure really begins.
I enjoyed this movie as a child because of the claymation that was used in the film. It was very well done and I'm sure it took a while to get everything perfect. I know that creating a typical movie takes a great deal of time, but adding in the individual movement of each animated character made the filming even more intricate. Even though it is great children's film, I found that after watching it again as an adult it is also entertaining to a wider audience.
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I love this film. Selick is among the directors I follow when it comes to stop-motion/claymation movies. I like his quirky sense of design and the type of macabre stories he chooses.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite directors is Jan Švankmajer who made such classic films as Alice, Faust, and Conspirators of Pleasure, any of which I strongly recommend. He is a Czech filmmaker who is the major influence on Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam and the extraordinary Brothers Quay among others.