In last month’s post, “Little Bitty Pretty One,” I had mentioned that I’ve started re-reading Roald Dahl’s books that I enjoyed reading as a child as a way to connect with and entertain my inner child. 😊

One book that I recently read for the first time since 4th grade was James and the Giant Peach. I remember being so excited to watch the film in class after we finished the book. 😄

After I finished re-reading the book, I re-watched the 1996 film James and the Giant Peach for the first time since I was a kid. (This time I streamed it as opposed to watching it on VHS. 🤣)

I remember liking the book and loving the film when I was a kid, but what I didn’t remember was that there were many differences between the book and the film.

Since I don’t want to spoil anything in case you haven’t read the book and/or seen the film, I will just mention two.

Roald Dahl devotes a great amount of the book to talking about the Cloud People, but in the movie there aren’t any Cloud People. I am curious as to why they weren’t included in the film.

It seems that the Cloud People were replaced by the haunted sunken ship scene in the film. I love Halloween, so of course I love this scene in the movie. 😜👻

In the sunken ship scene, I noticed that Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas) is there but wearing a pirate hat. 😉🏴‍☠️

Another difference I noticed was that in the book, the peach randomly lands on the Empire State Building, but in the movie, James and his friends plan to travel there.

Have you ever read the book? Have you ever seen the movie? What are your thoughts about either or both of them?

I had forgotten that there are many songs in the film, and my favorite one is “Family.”

Lyrics:

Take a little time
Just look at where we are
We’ve come very, very far together
And if I might say so
And if I might say so too
We wouldn’t have got anywhere
If it weren’t for you, boy

Love is the sweetest thing
Love never comes just when you think it will
Love is the way we feel for you
We’re family, we’re family, we’re family
All of us and you

Think of where we’d be
If we were on our own
(We’d be dead!)
You’re what holds us all together
And if I might say so
And if we might say so too
We never could love anyone
As much as we love you

Love is the strangest thing
Love does exactly what it wants to do
Love…
Boy, you know it’s true
We’re family, we’re family, we’re family
Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me
And you!

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Without you there’d be no us

Love is the sweetest thing
Love does exactly what it wants to do
Love is the way we feel for you
We’re family, we’re family
We’re family
Me and you

How do you like the song and video? They make me feel so happy! 💜

The beginning of the video reminds me of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Grasshopper has really long legs like Jack Skellington, and he moves in the moonlight like Jack does. 😄

My favorite character in this film is the Glowworm. She just cracks me up. 😂My second favorite character is Spider because she is so assertive and can be so sassy. 😀

I love the lyrics of this song because they are so powerful.

When we are born, we are born into a family. As we grow older, we make dear friends who become our family too, and our family keeps growing! 💚

When you listen to this song, does it make you think of any friends that you consider family?

Wishing you well! 💛