James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach (1996) is a family adventure film you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Henry Selick two years after The Nightmare Before Christmas. Based on Roald Dahl's novel, the story follows James, an orphan stuck with his two awful aunts, whose life changes the moment a vial of magic crocodile tongues shatters in the garden and a small peach tree starts growing something extraordinary.

The peach swells to the size of a house, and inside it James finds a crew of oversized talking insects and bugs ready for an ocean voyage — a Grasshopper, an Earthworm, a Centipede, Miss Spider, and a Glowworm, voiced by Richard Dreyfuss, David Thewlis, and Susan Sarandon, among others. Their destination is New York City, which James has only ever seen in a picture. The film blends live-action sequences with stop-motion animation.

Tim Burton produced, and his influence shows in the texture — warm enough for children, strange enough to linger. Watch James and the Giant Peach (1996) online on iFILM.