James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Stop-motion animation maestro Henry Selick gave us “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in 1993 and “Coraline” in 2009. Both are dark classics, more for child-like adults than children. Yet, his 1996 effort “James and the Giant Peach,” based on Roald Dahl’s book, has remained – sorry – a fuzzy memory. So, I gave it another watch. The set-up: Young orphan James (Paul Terry) escapes his cruel aunts via the giant fruit of the title, a massive, magical orb that houses friendly insects and spiders, and promises safe travel to New York City via land, sea and air. Selick surrounds this tale with a live-action opening and closing, both oddly foggy and painfully over-acted. But the animation is starkly beautiful – Selick takes us inside, around and over the peach, as puppet James and his friends cross the Atlantic. It’s the classic child-logic story every youngster, and some adults, wishes for. But “Peach” still is fuzzy, and never digs into the pit – sorry, again – of my brain. Jack Skellington appears in a good, scary bit. B