james and the giant peach

having loved 'nightmare before christmas', i was hoping this film would have the same mischievous dark fun as that one. although there is some of that, this one is no where near as good. granted, it is unfair to compare the two movies, but when the character designs are so similar in style and its made by many of the same people, thos comparisons are inevitable. this one follows the story of james, a boy who lives with his two evil aunts who use him as their own personal slave. as a most unusual peach begins growing on their land, they try to make some money on it by having visitors pay to see it. one night james decides to cut it from the tree and it slowly floats up into the sky! james catches a ride with it and finds that there are some pretty strange creatures living inside the giant peach! among them are a grasshopper, a lady bug, a centipede and others. as the peach floats across the ocean, james and his new friends find many things to do on it, including break into song! the songs are quite forgettable and could have really used danny elfman's dark brilliance instead of randy newman. another big problem with the film is that the story is so paper thin that it has a hard time filling the already short 80 minute run time. the movie is a failure, but a noble failure.