Film Version
Although Roald Dahl turned down more than one offer to make an animated film of James and the Giant Peach during his lifetime, his widow, Liccy Dahl, consented to let a film adaptation be made in conjunction with Disney in the mid-1990s. It was directed by Henry Selick and produced by Denise Di Novi and Tim Burton, who both also had worked on the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas which was also a Disney project. The movie is a combination of live action and stop-motion due to costs. It was narrated by Pete Postlethwaite (who also played the wizard). The film was released on April 12, 1996.
There are numerous changes between the plot of the film and the plot of the book, although the film was generally well received. Liccy Dahl said that, "I think Roald would have been delighted with what they did with James." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review, praising the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude." The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman). It won Best Animated Feature Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
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