Sunday 22 November 2020

ONLINE BOOK READING REVIEW: James And The Giant Peach: With Taika And Friends: Parts 9 + 10 - The Roald Dahl Story Company.


Finally I’ve reached the final two episodes! In episode nine, Taika Waititi is joined by iconic New Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Anna Wintour.

The peach, racing through the sky, continues to go at speed - “How fast we’re going all of a sudden” the Ladybird said “I don’t think the seagulls like it anymore than we do” said James. An hour later, just before dawn, they spot an immense grey bat-like creature swooping down towards them, it circled the peach making loud melancholy sounds before flying off. James and the gang watch the sun rising.

I’m not sure why Waititi has suddenly decided to change all the voices and also talk at such speed that it’s a real struggle to tell what he’s saying most of the time. Even if he slowed down, the sudden change to waffled, over-exaggerated voices is painful to listen to and you wonder, if, like me, he’s just so fed up of the story and wants to get to the end.

At the break of dawn, they rise and stretch - and can spot land, streets and houses below them. Three thousand feet below them there’s hundreds of people walking and really tall buildings everywhere. “I’ve never seen anything like them before in England” said James. He soon realises that the buildings are skyscrapers and that they must be in America.

Far below them, in the city of New York - one million people below them, on their way to work, all looked up and spotted the giant peach above them, and ran to the nearest subway to take cover. The General rang everyone he could think of to shout orders. The Mayor of New York called the President of America in Washington DC to ask them for help; the President, eating his breakfast in his pyjamas at the time, getting ready for a nice relaxing round of golf, pushed his cereal away and started pushing buttons right and left to summon his admirals and generals for help. They thought the peach was a giant bomb - ready to hit the ground with an explosion at any time!

“Come on Centipede - bite through one of the strings!”, cried James. He manages to do so. “Why are we sinking?”, they cried. Soon an aeroplane wizzes above them, instantly cutting the remaining strings attached to the seagulls, sending the peach racing down towards the ground. The peach is plummeting to the ground faster than the speed of light. Those people who’d not quite yet made it to the subway for cover, scream, still believing it’s a bomb start getting to their knees to pray. “Goodbye Ladybird, goodbye Centipede” cries James. But soon the peach is stopped dead in its tracks when it lands on top of the spike of the top of the Empire State Building.

Episode 10 features JoJo Rabbit co-stars Roman Griffin Davis and Archie Yates.

It was really an amazing sight, and once people realised it wasn’t a bomb, they started to emerge and look up in awe. Police and firemen came out to intervene - some fainting in shock and having to be carried away. James cries out “Hello!” to the people below “don’t be afraid of us please, we’re excited to be here”. He introduces (in song no less) the creatures to the police, firemen and people of New York. James is delighted when once on the ground safety to finally be amongst other boys and girls his own age.

They all go on to be rich and successful and James living inside the stone of the giant peach which resides in its new home in Central Park.

Whilst this project by Taika Waititi is for a good cause, I wish he’d chosen a better Roald Dahl book! I remember why I didn’t like it that much as a child and even more so now as an adult I find it as dull as watching paint dry, however the various guest readers along the way have made it more bearable - my favourites being Ryan Reynolds and Josh Gad.

I hope more projects like this take place to carry on raising funds.

Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 20/11/20

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