The late Roald Dahl's "James and The Giant Peach" is a spectacular book. While ostensibly a children's book, the complex social themes and unquestionably somber tone define this as a decidedly mature story. As with other cinematic adaptations of Roald Dahl's work - "Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory" (starring Gene Wilder) and "The Witches" (with Angelica Huston) - the film loses much of the melancholia which pervades the book, unfortunately replacing it with misused joy and optimism.

The story centers around a young boy, who, trapped in an abusive relationship with his two wicked guardian aunts, uses magic to escape his downtrodden life.

The magic leads him into the fantasy world of a giant peach, where he is befriended by six enormous insects (two of which are the voices of Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss).

The film, produced by Tim Burton, incorporates the same stop-motion animation techniques as Burton's previous production, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (techniques not dissimilar from the classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" television special).

Additionally, a large portion of the film is live-action and there is also a short, but effective, dream-sequence incorporating a more traditional style of animation. The live action sequences incorporate a superior set design which captures a fantasy element in its surrealistic design, but fails to be as enticing as the animated sequences, thus clearly separating the movie into two distinct parts.

The animated sequences are, of course, spectacular and readily draw the audience's attention. The time-consuming work which produces this style of animation is well spent, and clearly presents characters' emotions and the theme of the film almost as well as traditional live-action styles.

From the book to the film, changes in plot (including a far inferior ending) and character (particularly the change of the evil elf to a magical old man) are quite disappointing.

However, taken on its own, the film is somewhat charming. The presentation of the characters is handled very effectively and in a style which should be easily understood by most older children and readily accepted by adults.

It is also an intriguing tale taken on the whole - one which should capture the viewers' attention for its duration.

The primary fault of the movie itself, however, is the incorporation of songs. This is not a story which lends itself to the musical genre, and the songs presented in the film seem out of place and forced.

It is disappointing to think that the musical sequences were incorporated to entice younger audiences who have become accustomed to the format through the popularity of other Disney films such as "Aladdin," "The Lion King" and "Pocahontas."