James and the Giant Peach (1996)

James and the Giant Peach (1996) is a whimsical, slightly spooky family adventure that blends live-action framing with lush stop-motion animation. You follow lonely orphan James, forced to live with two cruel aunts, who stumbles on a magical solution—a giant peach that becomes a strange, floating home. Inside he meets a motley crew of talking insects (a brave ladybug, a bold centipede, a clever grasshopper, a tender earthworm and a large, maternal spider, among others) and together they set off on an Atlantic-crossing journey toward New York City. Expect imaginative, hand-crafted visuals, Randy Newman–style songs, moments of laugh-out-loud banter and childlike wonder, mixed with a few genuinely tense encounters (sharks, terrifying cloud-men and the aunts’ wickedness) that keep the stakes high. The film is ultimately about courage, friendship and finding a family, serving up heartfelt emotion alongside darkly comic flourishes—an enchanting watch for kids and adults who appreciate inventive animation and a bittersweet, triumphant story.

Actors: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Pete Postlethwaite

Director: Henry Selick

Runtime: 79 min

Genres: Adventure, Animation, Family

6.4 /10 78 /100 6.7 /10 7.0 /10