I have always found Tim Burton's dark style to be a little too grim for me, especially when I was a child. When I was presented with the chance to introduce one of Burton's films to my children with the new James and the Giant Peach Blu-ray/DVD combo, I thought it would be a great opportunity for our children to decide for themselves.I was so surprised that our three children were not bothered by the dark nature of this film at all. Even I was a little spooked by the smoky rhinoceros and Jame's two cruel, creepy, and abusive aunts. In spite of those two factors, I still found James and the Giant Peach to be an entertaining musical.
As a boy who had lost his parents, James was very confused about what family really is. He soon learned that individuals do not need to be blood-relatives in order to be a family. In fact, he learned that they do not even need to be the same species. Another prevalent theme in this film was teamwork.
One of the best parts about watching this movie is that our 6 year son just returned from a trip to New York City with us, so he was so excited to recognize the landmarks, such as the Empire State Building. Although that did make my son smile, his favorite part was the scene where the peach started to grow larger and larger. My favorite scene was when James transformed from a real boy into a fantasy character.
Even our 3.5 year old twins enjoyed watching this movie and the darker scenes did not bother them at all. I think the appeal to children is that everything is so fantastical and unbelievable about this movie that it really taps into their imaginations.
You can buy the Special Edition James and the Giant Peach 2-Disc Set on Amazon.com and from other major retailers of Disney movies.
Thank you to Click-Communications for sending us a sample Blu-ray/DVD set free of charge to base this review upon.
