ParaNorman (2012)

A misunderstood boy takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Directors:

Chris Butler, Sam Fell

Writer:

Chris Butler

Stars:

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 15 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kodi Smit-McPhee	...	Norman Babcock (voice)
Tucker Albrizzi	...	Neil (voice)
Anna Kendrick	...	Courtney Babcock (voice)
Casey Affleck	...	Mitch (voice)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse	...	Alvin (voice)
Leslie Mann	...	Sandra Babcock (voice)
Jeff Garlin	...	Perry Babcock (voice)
Elaine Stritch	...	Grandma (voice)
Bernard Hill	...	The Judge (voice)
Jodelle Ferland	...	Aggie (voice)
Tempestt Bledsoe	...	Sheriff Hooper (voice)
Alex Borstein	...	Mrs. Henscher (voice)
John Goodman	...	Mr. Prenderghast (voice)
Hannah Noyes	...	Salma (voice)
Jack Blessing	...	Slob Guy / Civil War Ghost (voice)

Storyline

In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual he must take up to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can.

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Plot Keywords:

curse | witch | ghost | talking to the dead | injustice | 

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Taglines:

It's all fun and games until someone raises the dead.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for scary action and images, thematic elements, some rude humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 August 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El alucinante mundo de Norman

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$14,087,050 (USA) (17 August 2012)

Gross:

$55,994,557 (USA) (28 December 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Laika Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story is set in the town of Blithe Hollow, whose name is a mash-up of two other ghost stories: Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit and Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

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Goofs

When Norman and company are driving away from the zombies and cause Norman's father to crash, the police officer crashes into the Babcocks' car from the direction the van has just headed rather than where it has just come from.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Movie Zombie: Grrr. Brains!
Grandma: What's happening now?
Norman Babcock: Well, the zombie is eating her head, Grandma.
Grandma: That's not very nice. What's he doing that for?
Norman Babcock: [chuckles] Because he's a zombie. That's what they do.
Grandma: He's gonna ruin his dinner. I'm sure if they just bothered to sit down and talk it through, it would be a different story.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, a short featurette shows a time-lapse video of the creation and modeling of the Norman figure used for filming.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Review: Summer Trailer Park Series (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Season of the Witch"
Written by Donovan (as Donovan Phillips Leitch)

User Reviews

A different kind of animated movie and approach. I really liked it!

This was a rather surprising movie. It's unlike any other modern animated movie and picks a new sort of approach, that should work entertaining for both adults and kids.

There is plenty of 'simple' stuff to enjoy for young kids in this movie but also the adults shall have no complaints about it. Throughout the years animated movies often had both stuff for both kids and adults to enjoy in this movie but I feel that the line dividing the two different forms of entertainment is getting more and more blurry. Instead the two things more often get effectively combined, with as a result more and more movies get released that aren't being too childish for adults or too mature for little kids. It's being perfect entertainment for just about everybody!

I do admit though that I was a bit surprised to see how horror orientated this movie was. Make no mistake about it, this is a horror movie. It might be a bit frightening for some children but obviously most shall be perfectly capable of handling it. Fantasy and movies can be a great outlet and also stimulant for children's imagination, this also includes horror orientated stuff. After all, most kids are of course perfectly capable of making a distinction between real stuff and fantasy.

And I do applaud this movie for not being overly fluffy or careful and protective toward children. Not that that this is being a completely dark, or scary, depressing movie to watch but overall it's being a tad bit more dark and daring than just an average animated movie.

It's really having a style and approach of its own, which just doesn't goes for its story or the fact that this is being a more genuine horror flick but also really for its comedy and characters. The characters all feel rich and very much alive (yes, even the dead characters!) and the humor is more clever and often dialog orientated, as opposed to having characters jumping around and falling and bumping into stuff. In that regard this movie also feels far more mature than just the average genre attempt.

And another important aspect about an animated movie; it's a really good looking one! It's using stop-motion techniques and it shows that this genre is far from outdated or dead. It's really something that gives the movie an unique look and feel. I don't know, it's perhaps pleasant that it's being something that allows the movie to feel 'fake' and true exaggerated fantasy-like, as opposed to CG animated movies, that are getting more and more smooth and realistic to watch.

It's also a movie with a great underlying message in it, that tells you it's OK to be different and there is nothing weird or wrong about it and you shouldn't just judge a book on its cover. It's still too bad this message was lost on some people and I'm talking about those who had a problem with its ending. It was perfectly suitable and fitted perfectly into what this entire movie was trying to tell you for the first hour and a half.

A surprisingly good movie in about every regard, that above all things is being perfectly fun and entertaining to watch!

8/10

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