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In this episode of the Roald Dahl Retrospective, Patricia, Arun, and special guest Eli "The Hero of Tomorrow" Stone discuss about the 1996 animated Disney film James and the Giant Peach based on the 1961 book of the same name. It stars Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margoyles, Pete Postlewaite, Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, David Thewlis, Jane Leeves, and Susan Sarandon. The story focuses on a young boy named James Henry Trotter living a happy life with his parents having dreams of moving to New York City. However, his parents died by being eaten by a rhinoceros that escaped the zoo and James is forced to live with his mean aunts Spiker and Sponge. A mysterious old man gives James a bag of magical crocodile tongues to help James out of his troubles, but he accidentally dropped it and a small peach grows giant. James enters the giant peach and meets up with giant bugs who also want to get away from Spiker and Sponge. Together, they escape the aunts and partake in a journey to go to New York City.  

When the movie premiered in theaters, it was a box office failure making only $28 million dollars out of a $38 million budget despite getting good reviews from critics and releasing with little to no competition with other animated films. Even Roald Dahl's widow Liccy Dahl loved the movie and its depiction of James. Nonetheless, Disney wouldn't make another adaptation of a Roald Dahl book until 20 years later with The BFG (2016) directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie has become a cult classic for fans of Roald Dahl, Tim Burton, and Henry Selick. What do Patricia, Arun, and Eli think of the film? Listen and find out.