Tim Burton was the producer here, and his gothic visual sensibilities seem to have rubbed off on the animation style. Which is good. But even so, the screenplay doesn't live up to the source material. The need (presumably Disney's) to turn Roald Dahl's typically rather dark and surreal tale into a neat Hollywood package just doesn't work in favour of the story (incase you don't know: Orphaned boy escapes evil aunts, flies across the Atlantic in giant peach accompanied by friendly insects). Too concerned with tidying up loose ends, the film doesn't fully embrace the fabulous subject matter (in fact there's a rather heavy handed and totally unnecessary bit of metaphor building in the last part of the film, ah so it's all about James dealing with the death of his parents DO YOU SEE?).
Actually this may be a bit harsh. The film is certainly enjoyable, it's just that it's far from a classic children's film which it had the potential to be. Cutting the live action segments which book-end the animation might be a good place start. But hey, it's enjoyable for children I imagine, and they are, after all, the target audience.
IMDB
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