On the anniversary of James and the Giant Peach’s release, Daily Star takes looks back at the Disney classic and the children that were tormented by the Tim Burton directed film
Disney’s James and the Giant Peach is pure nightmare fuel.
The unnerving fantasy film was released by Disney back in 1996 and is based on the iconic children’s novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.
The original story was already bleak enough but once Disney got Tim Burton on board to direct, things got waaay darker than anyone ever expected. Starring Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes and Susan Sarandon, the film follows a young orphan named James who lives with his aunts Spiker and Sponge.
One day, James acquires some bizarre neon, worm-shaped beans from a random old bloke (lots of red flags here) and shrinks before climbing into a peach, where he meets a number of strange new friends.
Mr Grasshopper, Mr Centipede, Ms. Spider, Mr Earthworm, Mrs Ladybug and Mrs Glowworm accompany James on a journey…to the Atlantic Ocean?
However, this isn’t the heartwarming fairytale you were expecting – on their escapades, the group is faced with a terrifying mechanical shark, an army of undead pirate skeletons and the rhinoceros that killed James’ parents. Later, Spiker and Sponge find the group and try to attack James with stolen fire axes.
A combination of live action and stop-motion, this film features deeply unsettling insect puppets the rhino is downright disturbing.
Over the years, many viewers have taken to social media to discuss the skin-crawling Tim Burton classic after reminiscing on their childhood. On Reddit someone posted: “James and the Giant peach was kind of a creepy movie.”
Others called it the “scariest” kids movie they’ve ever seen while one person tried to put a finger on what made the film so uncomfortable: “I dunno, that’s what makes the rhino and the robot shark so scary – there’s no [back] story for them.”
Elsewhere on the internet someone else wrote: “I wouldn’t say that I have nightmares but it does give me dreams that are weird and the bugs that are in the peach with James look so ugly that it’s scary.”
“To this day, James and the Giant Peach is the scariest movie I have ever seen, mostly because of the age at which I watched it. It made a lasting impression,” admitted another movie lover.
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