James and the Giant Peach

An original puppet head used in the production of James and the Giant Peach, the 1996 fantasy picture produced by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick who had previously collaborated on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

This puppet head for the character of Mrs. Ladybug, voiced by Jane Leeves, was used during the production to bring the character to life using stop motion animation, in this instance the replacement method where Ladybug's mouth is an individual appliance attached with magnets which can be interchanged to provide the various expressions required on screen. While there were a number of differing appliances used to convey varying expressions the puppet heads were created in much lower numbers.

The puppet head is constructed from high quality resin with a detachable mouth appliance which features a magnet to the rear and various hand inscribed markings of letters and numbers. The head is accompanied by an original production used hat constructed of material with decorative features and metal to the interior of the brim allowing it to be posed, this can be screen matched to several scenes in the movie as the detail on the band is slightly different on each of Ladybug's hats, the handbag is also a production used original and of similar construction with a wire strap. The puppet head, hat and bag are presented on a partial replica body constructed from mixed media and hand painted by a professional artist creating an impressive display spectacle.

The puppet head and hat measure approximately 3" and 3.5" wide respectively with the whole body display measuring approximately 6" x 5" x 4". The puppet head remains in excellent production used condition with only very very minor paint wear, the hat and bag also remain in excellent condition with wear to the strap of the bag exposing the wire within, overall very fine.

An instantly recognisable and highly displayable artefact from this well received stop motion picture.