Characters / James and the Giant Peach

James Henry Trotter

"When I had a problem, my mum and dad would tell me to look at it another way."

Played by: Paul Terry

The protagonist of the story, a young boy who yearns to get away from his horrible life with his abusive aunts.

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• The Ace: Since the bugs are all rather incompetent when it comes to finding practical solutions to problems they run into, James is the one they turn to for it, and as time goes on they also start to acknowledge him as their leader.
• Adaptational Wimp: James is a lot less outgoing in the film than his book counterpart, and ultimately has to take a level in badass to prove himself - this happens once his plan to get the peach out of the water works.
• Big "NO!": He exclaims, "No!" in the film when he gets separated from the bugs as they near New York City and the Rhino attacks them.
• Birthday Beginning: James celebrates his eighth Birthday with his parents in the beginning of the film. They surprise him to a trip to New York City. Unfortunately the rhino came along to spoil the fun.

• Break the Cutie: Back when his parents were still alive, James could never have been happier - but once he starts life with Spiker and Sponge, he loses his cheerful nature and becomes totally miserable.
• Character Development: In the movie, he starts off being very shy and vulnerable, especially around his aunts, but as time goes on, he gets braver and is able to give them a piece of his mind.
• Cheerful Child: In the book, James is actually quite upbeat and extroverted, which contrasts pretty starkly with his movie counterpart, who is considerably quieter and more worrisome.
• Conveniently an Orphan: His parents' death happens so quickly that it might as well just be a parody of this trope.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The loss of his parents affected him greatly, and living with his evil aunts seemed to be the end of all happy things in his life.
• Dream Sequence: He has a nightmare in the film about a caterpillar version of himself being threatened by Spiker and Sponge, who try to unleash the rhino on him after they spot him eating "their" peach.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He goes through quite a bit of hell to make a new life for himself in New York.
• Fate Worse than Death: Both the book and the movie make it quite clear that he would have felt better about being eaten by the rhino than going to live with Spiker and Sponge.
• Friendless Background: During his time with his aunts he was given no one to befriend and was kept around the house 24/7.
• Friend to Bugs: He makes friends with all the bugs.
• Happily Adopted: By the end, the bugs all adopt him and treat him like their own son, something that James is clearly happy about.
• The Hero: Not at the beginning, but when the bugs start to look at him as their leader and the brains of the group, he becomes brave and fearless enough to have this title.
• Hey, You!: Spiker and Sponge call him multiple names like a "lazy bug", "filthy nuisance", or "worthless little nothing". They apparently never call him by his real name.
• I'm Not Afraid of You: Says this exact phrase twice when facing the rhino near the end of the film.
• Irony: He tells his aunts that unlike him, they're the ones who are nothing because he went all the way to New York City despite the fact that they did the exact same thing.
• "I Want" Song: He has his own musical number in the film, "My Name is James", which is about his longing to get out into the world and make something of himself.
• I Should Write a Book About This: The end of the book says that he wrote the story himself as a way to respond to visitors continuously begging him to tell them about his adventure. The film does this too, but not quite as directly, saying again that James's visitors endlessly wanted to hear the story be told, but following it up with "he wished for a way to share it with everyone ... and that is exactly what you have just seen."
• Little "No": In the film when he finds that Spiker and Sponge have followed him to New York, he mutters, "No".
• Make a Wish: He makes one through his aforementioned musical number, and it is also what leads him to getting the crocodile tongues.
• Nice Guy: Despite all he had to go through during the time he was living with his aunts, James is still a kindhearted, optimistic, and forward-looking young man.
• Nightmare Dreams: In the movie, he has a nightmare about being a caterpillar and his aunts (who are still humans) chasing him.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: He is able to stand up to both the rhino and his aunts at the end of the film.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Does this in the movie right before he starts giving his aunts what for.
  Spiker: Come along. You're coming home with us.
  James: No, I'm not.
  (Beat)
  Spiker: What did you say?
  James: I said ... No! I'm! Not!
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a big one to both his aunts in the film after they find him in New York, calling them out on their abusive behaviour towards him and denouncing them as the real worthless nothings. Of course, Spiker and Sponge do not take this well.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: In the movie, he, Miss Spider, and the Centipede demonstrate this by being able to speak and fight undead pirates in freezing cold Arctic water. (It could possibly be an effect of the crocodile tongues, though.)
• Took a Level in Badass: He has his first heroic moment when he saves himself, the peach, and the bugs from becoming sharks' lunch by attaching seagulls to the stem of the peach, and this moment thus promotes him to The Hero.
• Toon Transformation: In the film, James goes from live-action to stop motion after swallowing a crocodile tongue. He reverts back to live-action after he lands on the Empire State Building and coughs out the crocodile tongue.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: There is a scene in the film where he convinces the Earthworm to stop being so negative about how the latter handled the shark attack, calling him a hero.
  • He also is on the receiving end of one of these from Miss Spider. After learning that she was the very same spider he rescued the day the peach grew to its gigantic size, he can't help but think of Spiker and Sponge, and expresses fear over the possibility of his aunts catching them before they can even make it to New York City.
    James: You were my first friend. Well, since I went to live with my aunts. They hated me!
    Miss Spider: Shh. Do not think of them now.
    James: But what if they find us? What if we don't make it to New York? I'll die if I have to go back to the way I was! They can't make me…
    Miss Spider: No one can make you do anything, James… if you do not let them. You are a brave boy.

Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker

L-R: Spiker and Sponge

Played by: Miriam Margolyes and Joanna Lumley

James's cruel and neglectful aunts who constantly nag him to do every last household chore and keep him cooped up in the household like a prisoner. In the book, they're fairly minor yet important characters. In the film, they act instead as the main antagonists as they survive the event that killed them in the book and go on to pursue James to get him and the peach back in their household.

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• Abusive Aunts: They treat James like a servant instead of a human being for no damn reason.
• Adaptational Villainy: They were certainly evil in the book, but in the movie, they actually try to kill James towards the end.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: They die in the book and, because they were so evil, Centipede sings rhymes about their deaths.
• Ascended Extra: In the book, they're crushed to death by the peach before James and co. even leave the former's home. The film has them survive this and become much more prominent becoming the most persistent threat of the film besides the Rhino.
• Asshole Victim: In the book, they get crushed to death by the peach once it starts rolling away. The film averts this, as they are in their car when it rolls over them, and they both survive.
• Ax-Crazy: Towards the end of the film, they try to kill James with axes, complete with slasher smiles.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: In the film, their roles are expanded to this, as they are the most persistent and personal threat that James and his friends face, culminating in one last showdown in New York when they try to get James back.
• Big Sister Bully: Spiker has playful shades of this.
• Cartoon Bug-Sprayer: In the film, they use this on a bug version of James in a nightmare he was having - they unleash the rhino on him through it.
• Child Hater: Comes with the territory of being a Roald Dahl villain. They have no qualms at all about being inexcusably cruel to young children in general, not just James.
• Crush the Keepsake: In the film, they rip up the map that James's mom and dad left for him.
• Delusions of Beauty: Spiker and Sponge spend an early scene praising their own looks and tearing down the other's, despite one being too fat and one being too thin, and both are as ugly in form as they are ugly in heart.
• The Determinator: Probably the only good thing there is to say about them. After "their" peach disappears in the movie, they go to ridiculously great lengths to try and get it back, even going as far as the Arctic.
• Disproportionate Retribution: They shoo a little girl away in the film all because she wanted to touch the peach.
• Evil Aunt: Two of them! They're James's aunts and treat him incredibly poorly.
• Fat and Skinny: One of the greatest exemplifications of this trope out there. This is taken to an extreme in the book, where Sponge looks like she would be more of a perpetual waddler than a walker, while Spiker would be thin enough to be easily bendable and do a forward roll without cracking anything. Downplayed in the film, where they are just typical fat and skinny — though played up when they appear in animated form in James's nightmare.
• Fat Bastard: Sponge. She may not be quite as bad as Spiker when it comes to total obnoxiousness, but she is certainly obese and very despicable.
• Faux Affably Evil: They come across this when they invite people to look at the peach with the utmost excitement of a child-loving person who wants to share wonders with the world... then make it clear they'll charge a lot for that and even force James to clean up after them while they enjoy their spoils and leave him with nothing.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: A mild case. Aunt Sponge is the Foolish, as she's quick to see the enormously large peach as nothing more than a delicious snack, while the Responsible Aunt Spiker instead realizes that they can make a fortune by charging admission to see the fruit.
• For the Evulz: Spiker and Sponge are the classic "pure evil villains". They just hate James for no apparent reason and they aren't even given a Freudian Excuse. They even have no problem casually talking smack about James' dad simply because he was a dreamer.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: In the book, Aunt Spiker wears steel-rimmed spectacles.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker are sisters, and while they have the ability to bond in a common cause—namely, tormenting James and forcing him to do every last chore in the house—they spend their time insulting one another when the boy isn't around. The trope even appears in poem form, with each aunt bragging about her supposed beauty and the other badmouthing her:
  Aunt Spiker: But don't forget, my dearest Sponge...how much your TUMMY shows!
• Gonk: In the film, they are made to look as grotesque as possible, especially noticeable in Spiker's case, seeing as she was played by former model Joanna Lumley.
• Greed: They use the peach as a tourist trap, with tickets only being one shilling. Only newborn babies (under six weeks old) are half-price, and those with cameras are charged double.
• Hate Sink: They serve as an object for hate, since the story has no real Big Bad, at least in the book. Even in the film where the Rhino is a far bigger immediate threat, they're not portrayed as anything but despicable women that earn everyone's hatred with their cruelty.
• Hey, You!: They never refer to James by his real name and only call him such derogatory names like "disgusting little beast" and "miserable creature". Even when being polite, they refer to him as "the boy".
• Humiliation Conga: They go through one of these, courtesy of the bugs, at the end of the film, where they are both wound up in Miss Spider's silk, their wigs are removed and then thrown out of New York by the crane holding them, presumably getting arrested after the fact.
• Jerkass: Foul-tempered, abusive, apathetic, greedy, and self-centered, they all but exist to make James’s parents look better by comparison.
  • They're even worse in the movie, where they take their hatred of James to bigger levels after he escapes in the giant peach, and they try to kill him with axes at the climax.
• Karmic Death: In the book, they could have escaped the peach when it began to roll, but Aunt Sponge rushes to recover their money box instead of fleeing. She trips and falls, and Aunt Spiker tumbles over her, leaving them crushed. Averted in the movie, where the peach runs over their car, and they both survive.
• Kick the Dog: Dear God, they love doing this to no end - just look at how they treat James for all that time and the Disproportionate Retribution they give to that girl who wanted to touch the peach.
• Lack of Empathy: They wouldn't have the slightest care if James wore himself out or got hurt doing one of those household chores.
• Laser-Guided Karma: See Humiliation Conga above. James, with the help of the bugs, is able to finally give them what they have been deserving for all that time and bring them to their supposed unfortunate end. In the book, the peach they tried to use for money crushes them, and in the film, it destroys their car and when they try to force James back into their services, they get humilliated and arrested.
• Lean and Mean: Spiker is "thin as a wire", and may be the meaner one of the two - this is shown in the film when she gets Sponge to whip James before Sponge responds with, "It's too early".
• Meaningful Name: Aunt Sponge is bloated and fat, like a sponge swelled with water. Aunt Spiker is angular and bone-thin, like a pointy spike.
• Pet the Dog: It's hard to miss, but as the peach is growing into giant proportions, Aunt Spiker can at one point be seen with her hands on James's shoulders almost affectionately as she excitedly comments on the miracle that they're witnessing. Aunt Sponge also quickly demands him out the tree in an a worried tone before the peach gets to big for the tree to support its weight. It's not much, but it's the closest either of them had gotten to showing James any sort of affection.

• Spared by the Adaptation: In the book, they are crushed to death by the peach, whereas in the movie, they survive the event with only their car getting totalled and even in the end are simply arrested and taken away after the bugs stop them from killing James.
• Starter Villain: In the book, at least. They only appear in the first third of the novel, and they're crushed by the giant peach when Centipede chews it free from its branch. The rest of the story is about James and his insect friends having various adventures. Averted in the film, when they follow the peach across the ocean and serve instead as a kind of Final Boss for James.
• Too Dumb to Live: In the book, they see the newly-freed peach rolling towards them and decide it's a good idea to try to outrun it in their panic, instead of jumping to the side. In the end, they trip and are crushed by the peach.
• Villainous Glutton: Aunt Sponge has shades of this, as she immediately starts fantasizing about devouring the giant peach as soon as she, Spiker, and James see it growing. She's downright obsessed with eating it until Aunt Spiker convinces her that it's worth more as a tourist attraction.
• Weight Woe: Zigzagged for Sponge. She sees herself as beautiful, but Spiker insults her for being fat. She shrugs this off, but the poem the bugs write about her has her trying to lose weight.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Cruel as they are, it takes a special kind of cruel to think of giving your offspring the names they have.
• Wicked Stepmother: Well, wicked aunts, in this case, but they qualify even with that little difference.
• Would Hurt a Child: They beat James regularly while he was living with them for the most mundane reasons and try to axe him in the movie when he exposes their poor treatment of him to the New Yorkers.
• You Are Fat: In the poem they recite, Spiker calls Sponge ugly for having a fat belly. Centipede also describes her as being twice as big as a rhino.

Centipede

"Let the biddies come! I'll take 'em both on! I'm indefeatable! I'm indivisible! I'm...in TROUBLE!"

Voiced by: Richard Dreyfuss (speaking), Jeff Bennett (singing)

A member of the group of bugs that James befriends. He is self-centered and narcissistic and takes longer to warm up to James than most of the others but eventually accepts him into the surrogate family that has been formed in the end.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: He is vain and attention-seeking in both incarnations, but in the film, he is so in an aggressive fashion rather than in a mischievous one in the book.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: However, there is also a pivotal point in the film where he realizes what a fool he has been when everyone is stuck in the Arctic and could potentially die because of him eventually risking his life to amend his mistakes rather than accidentally falling from the peach like the book. It's something that his book counterpart would never have done, so it's certainly saying a lot.
• Affectionate Nickname: When Mr. Grasshopper relieves him of his navigating task, he calls him "old sport" and "old boy".
• And I Must Scream: At one point in the book, he gets coated with paint that dries quickly, making him immobile and only able to communicate through muffled noises. Earthworm sees it as an improvement, and is very disappointed when the paint gets washed off.
• Attention Whore: Very much so. Out of the entire group of bugs, he is the one that strives to always have the attention of everyone else, much to their annoyance.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Shared with Mr. Grasshopper. When Mr. Grasshopper says that he's relieving him of his task, he says that he doesn't want to quit his task, despite trying not to doze off to sleep. He thanked Mr. Grasshopper for his kindness before falling asleep.
• Brooklyn Rage: In the film, he has a thick Brooklynese accent and is quite fierce-tempered, courtesy of Richard Dreyfuss voicing him. He even lampshades it after the robotic shark is defeated:
  "That'll teach you to mess with me, you overgrown sardine! I'm from Brooklyn!
• Butt-Monkey: Centipede suffers the most abuse out of any character that is not James, and in the book, he's quite proud of that - he doesn't take anything away from it.
• Character Development: In the film, however, he goes through a significant arc: he starts off as the Miles Gloriosus he is in the book, always making rousing speeches and bold claims but proving to be extremely incompetent when it comes to getting everyone out of a bad situatuion. He eventually realises how selfish he has been and turns himself into a pure-hearted hero.
• Curse Cut Short: When he gets caught by the undead skeleton pirates, he yells, "HOLY SHIPWRECK!!!". Sounds very much like he was going to say something else, doesn't it?
• Dead Hat Shot: In the film, this appears to be his fate, but he survives.
• Dem Bones: Again in the film, he, James, and Miss Spider face a band of undead skeleton pirates in a shipwreck underwater.
• Deadpan Snarker: He is by far the most sarcastic member of the main cast, and he frequently expresses his sarcasm quite openly and loudly, so the "deadpan" part could be downplayed.
• Defrosting Ice King: He is something of this towards James in the film; he is the one who takes the longest to warm up to him and is generally a jerk to everything. By the end he's developed as a person and treats James well.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: In the book, the Cloud People are pretty sinister from the get-go, but are too astonished at the sight of the flying peach to attack, so naturally, the Centipede calls them names and makes rude gestures just to prove he's not afraid of them. This is something the others call him out on for, but by then, the damage has already been done and the peach is well and truly under attack.
• Extreme Omnivore: The song he and the others sing about "eating the peach" is about a few of the many scrumptious dishes he's eaten over the course of his life, all of which are quite ... exotic.
• Foil: He and Miss Spider in the movie have a similar arc that involves defrosting, but while Miss Spider is reserved and aloof towards the other bugs but loving and affectionate towards James, Centipede acts outgoing among the others and is rather slow to accept James into the group.
• The Gadfly: He frequently drives the others nuts for his own amusement.
• Good Is Not Nice: He is extremely proud of that in the book and stubbornly refuses to change. In the movie, he starts off as this, but gets nicer as things progress.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the film, he jumps into freezing Arctic waters to save everyone's lives, but ultimately survives.
• Horned Humanoid: Centipede's mandibles grow out of the top of his head like a pair of horns.
• Interspecies Romance: Has one with Miss Spider in the movie after returning from the Arctic waters alive.

• Jerkass Realization: In the film, he is absolutely devastated when he realizes what his selfish behavior has led to, prompting him to make his Heroic Sacrifice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Centipede may be boastful, sarcastic and attention-seeking, but aside from that he is laid-back and goodhearted, and he does care for his friends. He really isn't that bad of a person at the end of the day.
• Large Ham: He was excitable and dramatic in the book, but it stands out more in the movie. Certainly fitting for him when you have Richard Dreyfuss voicing him!
• Meat-O-Vision: At one point in the film before the "Eating the Peach" song, he is so hungry that he starts to see everything and everyone around him as food.
• Miles Gloriosus: In spades. In the book, he's always going on about what a dangerous pest he is, but he's really pretty harmless. In the movie, he also brags about being a globetrotter, but his knowledge about navigation and geography are severely lacking. Turns out all his knowledge comes from the time when he lived between two pages of an old issue of the National Geographic magazine.
  Centipede: Very informative magazine, the Geographic. Wonderful pictures.
• The Millstone: In the book, his sole contribution to the party is gnawing over the peach stalk and getting it rolling. After that, he mainly makes nuisances of himself (though he does get some of the funniest lines and sings most of the books' songs).
• My God, What Have I Done?: After getting the peach lost and hearing everyone talk about meeting their end in the Arctic, he is utterly ashamed of himself. This prompts him to jump into the water to find a compass and ultimately save everyone's lives.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: This hits him hard in the movie when the others (mostly Mr. Grasshopper) call him out on his Blatant Lies and turn their backs on him. Cue him pulling off his Heroic Sacrifice.
• Nice Mean And In Between: To an extent, he is the Mean when compared to the other two male bugs - the Old Green Grasshopper being the Nice due to being the friendliest of the three and the most supportive of James, and the Earthworm being the In-Between due to being overly pessimistic and cynical but not doing anything insensitive like the Centipede.
• No Name Given: He's just "the centipede".
  • Although James uses Species Surname and calls him "Mr. Centipede"
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In the movie, Centipede starts to fend off the skeleton pirates before James and Miss Spider return to the surface, last seen grappling with the Giant Mook member of the crew. Cue the Dead Hat Shot which indicates his apparent fate, but then he emerges from the water completely alive and unharmed.
• Papa Wolf: He eventually shares this with the Old Green Grasshopper in the film. Don't threaten James in their presence - you'll regret it.
• Shout-Out: Jack Skellington's cameo is made very evident by the Centipede's line "A skellington? Jackpot!"
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Has this with Miss Spider in the movie, she is consistently annoyed by his antics and he enjoys riling her up with them, but it soon becomes clear that there's a mutual attraction involved. Notably, after Centipede seems to die fighting the skeleton pirates only to reveal he survived and got the compass she threatens him... And then gives him a kiss on the cheek for his bravery.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: He engages in this in both the book and film with different characters - in the book, the Earthworm is his rival due to his crippling pessimism, while in the film Miss Spider does this with him due to her lack of patience for his antics.
• Someone's Touching My Butt: A moment in the film where all the lights are out and everyone is in a heap. Centipede tries to pinch Miss Spider but ends up doing so to the Earthworm. In retaliation, Miss Spider tries to smack him but ends up smacking the Old Green Grasshopper instead.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: In the book, he sums up the deaths of Spiker and Sponge as a result of them killing Miss Spider's uncle - after all, everyone knows it's bad luck to kill a spider.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: In the movie, he, James and Miss Spider pull this off while by being able to speak and fight undead pirates in freezing cold Arctic water. (It could possibly be an effect of the crocodile tongues, though.)
• Teeth Flying: After getting kicked in the face by the Grasshopper, he spits out one of his teeth. The other bugs think it serves him right for lying to them and getting them lost in the Artic.
• Took a Level in Badass: Centipede is, when first introduced, extremely incompetent when it comes to getting the others out of a big problem. However, after pulling his Heroic Sacrifice, he becomes a true hero and earns back the respect of the other bugs.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Whilst in the book, he retains his snobbish attitude throughout, but in the film, he learns from his mistakes and becomes nicer to his friends as the things progress, particularly to James.
• "The Villain Sucks" Song: He sings one about Spiker and Sponge in the book after Miss Spider expresses her sadness over the death of her father. It's a rare example when it's sung after the villains' death.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With the Earthworm in the book, and with the Grasshopper in the movie... and kind of with Miss Spider in the movie as well, though their relationship has more than a hint of Slap-Slap-Kiss to it. He just seems to invite these kinds of relationships because he's just really good at ticking people off.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: At the end of the book, he becomes the spokesperson for a high-class firm of shoe and boot manufacturers, while in the film, he steps into politics to run for Mayor of New York, promising "The Moon and then some", although it's not made clear as to whether he won or not.

Old Green Grasshopper

"I've lived on this miserable hill for decades. There are no rhinoceri here."

Voiced by: Simon Callow

An elderly grasshopper who makes music (actual music, not just grasshopper sounds) with his body. He is one of the wisest bugs.

• Adaptational Jerkass: In the movie he's a bit of a snob and noticeably haughtier (particularly towards the Centipede) than in the book.
• Age Lift: Repeatedly stated to be the oldest of the bugs in the book. In the movie, he doesn't seem to be that much older (though he does claim to have lived on "that miserable old hill" for decades, and James still refers to him as "Old Green Grasshopper" a couple of times.)
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Shared with Mr. Centipede. After Mr. Centipede succeeds in finding a compass and tries hard not to fall asleep, Mr. Grasshopper relieves him of his duties as a way to make up for kicking him in the face earlier, despite Mr. Centipede saying that he doesn't want to quit his task. Mr. Centipede, touched by his kindness, thanks him before he falls asleep.
• Cool Old Guy: In the book. He's said to be old and he's wise and a good musician.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He may be kindly, old and cultured, but a kick in the face from a giant grasshopper hurts as much as you would imagine it would. Centipede learns this the hard way.
• Elegant Classical Musician: In the movie, Old Green Grasshopper has a violin, which he elegantly plays with both of his hands dancing across the strings. When James asked if all grasshoppers played the violin, Grasshopper replied, "All grasshoppers... try".
• High-Class Glass: Old Green Grasshopper is often seen in the movies wearing a monocle on his right eye, which James uses as an impromptu spyglass to look out at the mechanical shark rising up from the waters.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Mr. Centipede jumps in the water to find a compass, Mr. Grasshopper thinks he just killed himself and regrets being so critical of him.
  Mr. Grasshopper: Good heavens! He's committed pesticide. Oh, this is all my doing.
• No Name Given: He doesn't really have a name, but people always put "Old, Green" before his species, so "Old Green Grasshopper" is sort of his title.
• Parental Substitute: Of the three male bugs, he has the best relationship with James and takes on a fatherly role towards him from the start. Old Green Grasshopper is usually seen close by James and is quite protective of him. His smile towards James when the little boy is asking him about his music easily shows how fond Grasshopper is of James.
• Team Dad: As the oldest male bug in the group, he has this role by default, often settling their arguments (when not getting into one with the Centipede). He's also respected as the wisest of the insects.
• Your Size May Vary: In the book, he's the size of a large dog, but in the movie, he's several times taller than James.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and the Centipede develop this dynamic in the movie; they're always at each other's throats but get an Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moment or two.

Earthworm

"We'll all be squashed! Swatted! Smooshed!"

Voiced by: David Thewlis

A pessimistic, blind earthworm. He is the one who has the most rivalry with the centipede.

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: He wears a hat in the book and sunglasses along with a collar and bowtie in the movie.
• Adaptational Wimp: To add to his pessimism, he hides in a giant glove when James first mentions the rhino then has a freakout when he accidentally bumps into James but not realizing it's him due to his lack of sight.
• Eat Dirt, Cheap: Like all worms, he eats dirt. He mentions it in both book and film, going into more detail in the book. In the movie, when the other bugs are praising how good the peach tastes, his only remark is "it's not dirt, but it's not bad."
• The Eeyore: Always points out the negative and complains a lot. One time, he even complains about there being no problem.
• Expressive Mask: An unusual case in that his sunglasses change in response to his expressions as if they were his real eyes.
• Literal-Minded:
  • In the book, when James says, "Can't you see that...?", he replies, "How can I see? I'm blind!"
  • In the movie, James says that he defeated a giant shark single-handedly, to which the worm replies, "No-handedly!".
• No Name Given: His name is never revealed in the book or the film.
• Sunglasses at Night: To go with the usual portrayal of someone who's blind.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: In the book, he and the Centipede have the biggest rivalry but are also friends.

Ladybug

"There's no need to be frightened, dearie."

Voiced by: Jane Leeves

Another one of the big bugs. She is one of the friendlier bugs and doesn't tend to insult people like the Earthworm and Centipede do.

• Eat Dirt, Cheap: In the movie, she's the one who sings the "plate of soil with engine oil" line in the "Eating the Peach" song.
• Extreme Omnivore: According to the "Eating the Peach" song in the movie, she eats engine oil, which is not usually what ladybugs eat.
• Friend to All Children: Not only does she love James, but her biggest fear in the book is also finding out that her house is on fire and her children all gone. She also happily anticipates being surrounded by children in the "That's the Life for Me" song in the movie.
  • In the movie, instead of marrying the head of the fire department, she instead became an obstetrician and the headline reads with her delivering her 1,000th baby.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: She quite fearlessly rushes into the air to protect James and Old Green Grasshopper from the robot shark's projectiles. Later Grasshopper speaks with awe of her actions.
• Nature Lover: In the movie, when the bugs are singing "That's the Life for Me", she enthuses about sunshine, a park, and flowers.
• No Name Given: Like most of the other bugs, her real name isn't revealed.
  • But like with some of the other bugs she is referred to as "Mrs. Ladybug" in use of Species Surname.
• Team Mom: While Miss Spider is something of a Parental Substitute towards James specifically, Ladybug is maternal toward the whole group: she's plump, caring, and urges everyone to settle arguments without arguing. In the film, she even becomes New York's most talented obstetrician and delivers over a thousand babies!
• Unnamed Parent: Her name isn't revealed and she apparently has four hundred larvae.

Miss Spider

"It is in their nature to have fear of me. This I cannot change."

Voiced by: Susan Sarandon

The only bug with a real name, she is (as her name implies) a spider.

• Artistic License – Biology: She weaves nylon at the end of the book.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: James saved her from being killed by his Aunts, and she never forgot.
• Composite Character: In the film she has her base characterization and identity alongside the Silkworm's silk-producing role.
• Dark Is Not Evil: She's a spider, and in the movie, she was quite gothic, but she is very benevolent.
• Friendless Background: By her own admission in the film.
  James: You keep to yourself, don't you?
  Miss Spider: I prefer to be alone.
  James: I was alone for a long time once. I think it's much nicer to have friends, don't you?
  Miss Spider: I would not know.
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider: She becomes one of James's best friends, almost a family member.
• Goth: In the movie, she looks forward to being near a dead oak tree at night with "putrid vapors rising".
• Muscles Are Meaningless: She quite handily fights off several of the pirates with her skinny limbs.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: She mentions in the book that she, and her species in general, are often judged negatively, but they do nothing but good.
• Parental Substitute: Since she and James met prior to James's transformation, she develops a more maternal role for him. When she is getting James ready for bed, she gently tells him not to worry about his aunts and gives him a good-night kiss on the forehead.
• Species Surname: The "Miss" in her name implies that "Spider" is her last name.
• Seductive Spider: Her sexily husky voice, her lilting French accent, and her surprisingly alluring golden eyes (three eyeballs in each socket, no less) certainly make her fit this trope.
• Tsundere: Type B. She's very sweet towards a lot of the characters, especially James. Whenever she interacts with Centipede, she goes into tsun mode, insulting him and getting into arguments with him and occasionally hitting him. After Centipede saves her and James from the skeleton pirates, she says that she's not sure if she should kill him or kiss him.

Glow-worm

"I can't hear you, dear. I'll have to put my light on."

Voiced by: Miriam Margolyes

One of the bugs. She provides lighting for the peach's interior.

• Out of Focus: She's given the least amount of attention out of all of the bugs in the film, mostly just there to provide light for the peach.
• No Name Given: Like most of the bugs, her name isn't revealed.
• Scatterbrained Senior: She seems a bit senile, and appears to be the most elderly of the bugs.
• Vague Age: Is treated like an adult, but in real life, glowworms are larvae.
  • Although in her case she's likely a larviform female(fully adult female insect that retains many features of larvae) firefly.

Silkworm

A sleepy silkworm who has the least dialogue. She doesn't feature in the movie.

• Adapted Out: Nowhere to be seen in the movie.
• Artistic License – Biology: Claims to be running out of silk when she and Miss Spider are making silk to catch the seagulls and later on, she gets taught to spin nylon.
• No Name Given: Her name isn't revealed.
• Sleepyhead: Likes to sleep on the floor.

Rhinoceros

The rhinoceros that ate James's parents. In the movie, a smoke version of it appears inexplicably just before the peach reaches New York.

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• Adaptational Abomination: It's not indicated to be anything more than a regular escaped rhinoceros in the book. In the film it's depicted much more ambiguously but mainly appears to be an otherwordly demonic entity that attacks James specifically and appears as a cloudy monster with lightning powers.
• Ambiguous Gender: Nobody got the chance to tell if it was male or female.
• Ascended Extra: It is only mentioned once in the book, when it devoured James's mother and father, but in the movie, it plays a larger role, with James's aunts filling him with fear of it before he ultimately confronts it as the final obstacle to reach New York City.
• Ascended to Carnivorism: It eats James's parents even though rhinos are generally herbivores.
• Composite Character: It takes the role of the Cloud Men in the film as the harbingers of the climax.
• Knight of Cerebus: Unlike its literary counterpart which was simply an ordinary animal that escaped from the zoo, the rhinoceros in the film is an explicitly supernatural entity that is much more of a threat to James and his friends than Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge could ever dream to be.
• No Name Given: It isn't named.
• Rhino Rampage: It's a rhino who killed James's parents after escaping the zoo.
• The Spook: The rhinoceros in the novel was just an ordinary animal that escaped from the zoo and killed James's parents. This contrasts with the film version, which is a full-on Eldritch Abomination, but that's pretty much the only thing we know about it. We never find out what it is, where it comes from or whether or not it even exists in the first place.
• The Voiceless: It doesn't have dialogue.

James's parents

Played by: Steven Culp and Susan Turner-Cray

The parents of James, who unfortunately got eaten by the rhino.

• Deceased Parents Are the Best: They apparently raised James well before they died.
• Eaten Alive: A rhino ate them alive.
• Good Parents: They were apparently very fun, supportive parents.
• No Name Given: All we know about their names is that the father's last name is "Trotter".
• Unnamed Parent: Neither of them have names.

Relatives of the Bugs

In the book, Miss Spider's uncle and grandmother are mentioned, as are the ladybug's four hundred children. The movie mentions that the Earthworm had a brother who was split in two. Now he has two half brothers.

• Disappeared Dad: We don't know who the ladybug's children's father is.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: The ladybug's children. There are apparently four hundred of them.
• No Name Given: None of them are named.

The Police

Dubbed by: Marc Alfos (European French, 1996)

Several police officers that work in New York.

• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Only referred to by such titles as "The Head of the Cops".

Cloud Men

Mysterious people made of clouds that work to make weather.

• Adapted Out: They don't appear in the film.
• Freeze Sneeze: Discussed when they anticipate sneezing and nose-blowing as a response to the hailstorm they make.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: When the Centipede insults them, they throw things at him.

Seagulls and Sharks

A flock of seagulls that drive the peach along, and some sharks (there was only one in the movie) that tried unsuccessfully to eat the peach.

• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The seagulls tried to eat the Earthworm, but they also aided James and the bugs in their trip.
• Threatening Shark: Downplayed for the sharks, who churned the water to a froth, but didn't eat or harm anyone.
• The Voiceless: They can't talk.

Mysterious Old Man

"What would you say if I were to tell that the answer to all your troubles is right here inside this little bag?"

Played by: Pete Postlethwaite

The guy who gave James the crocodile tongue pills.

• Adaptational Nice Guy: While his role is unchanged between book and movie, in the book he's a lot more unhinged and comes across as borderline creepy. The movie version, while still mysterious and weird, is a lot gentler and more reassuring, speaking in a soft voice and telling James that he doesn't mean him any harm. He's also the one who (silhouetted, but it's clearly him) starts the demand to let James speak when Spiker and Sponge try to take him away.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When listing the ingredients for the magical pills, he lists body parts of animals, but finishes the list with "and three spoonfuls of sugar".
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the movie, he says, "And that is exactly what you have just seen," at the end to the audience.
• Cool Old Guy: He wanted to make James's dreams come true.
• Narrator All Along: At the end of the movie, he's revealed to be this; it helps that when he meets James, he speaks in a very different accent.
• No Name Given: Is one of the many unnamed characters.

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