James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Richard Dreyfuss: Centipede

Photos 

Quotes 

• Grasshopper : This is an outrage! You are a disgrace to your Phylum, Order, Class, Genus and Spe...

  Centipede : Say it in English!

  Grasshopper : You, sir, are an asp!

• Centipede : I've sailed all the five seas. From the land of Bora Bora to the icy shores of Tripoli. Commodore Centipede, they used to call me.

  Grasshopper : Seven.

  Centipede : Huh?

  Grasshopper : There are seven seas, and Tripoli is in the Sub-Tropics, Commodore!

  Centipede : Trim the sails!

  Ladybug : There are no sails.

  Centipede : Start the engines!

  Earthworm : There are no engines.

  Centipede : I can't work with this miserable crew!

• Centipede : Why don't skeletons play music in church? Because they got no organs.

• [James has discovered he has changed] 

  James : It's like he said: Marvelous things will happen.

  Glowworm : Did he say, "Marvelous pigs in satin"?

  Grasshopper : No, dear lady.

  [He takes out a megaphone and speaks through it] 

  Grasshopper : Marvelous things will happen.

  [to James] 

  Grasshopper : Poor Glowworm, she's a little deaf.

  Earthworm : I, on the other hand, have exquisite hearing.

  Centipede : Oh, yeah? Well, listen to this...

  [He spits into his many hands and grabs the megaphone and yells into it] 

  Centipede : LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!

• [in the darkness] 

  Earthworm : [Centipede pinches him]  Ow! What was that?

  Centipede : Sorry, I thought you were the spider.

  Grasshopper : [Miss Spider hits him]  Ouch. What was *that*?

  Miss Spider : Excuse, I thought you were the Centipede.

• Centipede : We're not lost.

  Grasshopper : Then where are we?

  Centipede : Somewhere up north. Or, possibly, very far south.

  Grasshopper : What's your latitude? What's your longitude?

  Centipede : Hey, hey, hey! That's personal, bud!

• [the compass is lost during a storm] 

  Grasshopper : We'll be blown off course!

  Centipede : We'll wind up in Jersey!

• [everyone is discussing how to get the peach to New York] 

  James : We could... No, it's stupid.

  Grasshopper : Compared to what?

  James : Well, I suppose we could fly out.

  Centipede : He's right. It's stupid.

• Centipede : Time to go make a pest of myself!

• Centipede : Hey, Glowworm, how 'bout some light?

  Glowworm : I can't hear you. I'll have to put my light on.

• Spider : We are in the middle of the, how do you say, the big puddle.

  Centipede : Biggest puddle of 'em all, angel fangs - the Atlantic Ocean.

  Old Green Grasshopper : Technically, the Pacific is the biggest.

  Centipede : Well, that goes without saying.

• Centipede : Let the biddies come! I'll take 'em both on! I'm undefeatable. I'm indivisible. I'm...

  [James falls on him] 

  Centipede : ... in trouble!

• Centipede : I'm crazy about mosquitoes on a piece of buttered toast/And pickled spines of porcupines and a great big roast!/And dragon's flesh, quite old, not fresh, it costs a buck at most!

  Glowworm : Does it come with gravy?

  Centipede : It comes to you in barrels if you order it by post!

• [the centipede is being stretched out by the pirates; one approaches with an axe] 

  Centipede : It's Paul Bunyan. He's come to cut me some slack. Hey, aiming a little low, aren't you, buddy? He's going to cut me in half!

• James : We'll always be together, right?

  Centipede : Kid, you're stuck with us, for life.

• [on his experience of the world] 

  Centipede : I did live between two pages of The National Geographic. Very informative magazine, the National Geographic. Lots of nice pictures.

• Centipede : Holy shipwreck!

• Miss Spider : No one will be eating you James.

  Centipede : Naw, she'll just puncture your head and suck out the brains.

  Miss Spider : That I am saving for you.

• Centipede : [to metal shark]  Teach you to mess with me, you overgrown sardine! I'm from Brooklyn!

• The Grasshopper , Centipede : [to each other, after their fighting knocks the last of the food overboard]  NOW look what you've done!

• Centipede : Biggest puddle of them all, Angel Fangs. The Atlantic Ocean.

  The Grasshopper : Tecnically, the Pacific is larger.

  Centipede : Well... that goes without saying.

• Grasshopper : [he heard in the distance]  James! Up here!

  Glowworm : Hello! We're here!

  Centipede : Hey, buddy!

  Aunt Sponge : [stutters]  What are they?

  Glowworm : [they grab one of their strings with seagulls on top]  Young James.

  Centipede : Hey, Jimmy!

  Aunt Spiker : [he looks up in fright]  BUGS!

  Centipede : [the people looked at them]  Need a little help down there?

  Aunt Sponge : [screams]  GIANT BUGS!

  [Spiker and Sponge gasped in fright] 

  Centipede : HEY, YOU OLD BIDDIES!

  [blows a raspberry on them] 

  Aunt Sponge : [Spiker grabs Sponge's hand]  Help us!

  Ladybug : Whoo-ee! Here we are, dear.

  Earthworm : Hello, James!

  James : [looks up at them]  I TOLD you they were real.

  Grasshopper : Hello, old boy.

  Miss Spider : Requesting clearance to land.

  [they started to land on the peach, while Spiker and Sponge whimpers and shutters and James looks up at Miss Spider.] 

  James : Miss Spider, throw me a string.

  [she tosses down a strand of the Spider's thread. It's loop on the end just like it was when they captured the seagulls. James catches it and throws the lasso down down onto Spiker and Sponge] 

  Earthworm : Okay. Pull them up.

  Aunt Sponge : [they started pulling them up when Spiker and Sponge were screaming and shrieking]  HELP!

  Aunt Sponge : [then both screaming]  Where are we going?

  James : Spin them around.

  Aunt Sponge : YOU LITTLE...

  James : [the grasshopper pushes the Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge for a spin, they started screaming]  Wrap them tightly!

  [her wigs tore it off as Miss Spider spins out more silk as the Ladybug and the Centipede fed it up] 

  James : Tighter! Tighter!

  [Spiker and Sponge got wrapped up in Spider's Silk] 

  Beat Cop : Well, I'll be a...

  Beat Cop : [addressing the crowd]  The kid was tellin' the truth.

  [he saw muffled screams coming from inside a huge cocoon] 

  Beat Cop : [to the crane operator]  Get those two creeps OUTTA here!

  [the crane operator pulls the lever and the cocoon swings out into view]