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, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 19 wins & 45 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:

zombie | witch | curse | ghost | outcast | 

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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:

ПараНорман

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,087,050, 19 August 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$56,003,051

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$107,139,399

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Laika Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1 Auro 11.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Mintz-Plasse' 2nd Animated Film, after How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

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Goofs

In the film's Epilogue, after spending quite a bit of time together trying to escape zombies, Mitch refers to Norman's sister, Courtney, as "Cathy". This may be a goof, or may be an extremely subtle indication of Mitch's indifference to Courtney's attempted seductions. (Any further explanation here would probably be a spoiler.)

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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

References Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Really enjoyable

moviestoenjoy.wordpress.com

The makers of Coraline and the beautifully crafted but story-lacking 9 brought us another animated movie that did not disappoint. Paranorman was in fact a surprising movie. Unlike any other animated movie, this one picks a new sort of approach, that would probably entertain both adults and children.

The film was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR Camera. To generate the 3D effect, the camera was mounted on a special rig that would take one shot, then slide to a slightly viewpoint to take another shot. However, to generate all the different faces needed for the characters, the film company Laika used 3D printers.

The movie takes place in the creepy town of Blithe Hollow, whose name is a mash up of two other ghost stories, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit(1945) and Washington Irving's The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow(1949). Paranorman tells the story of 11 years-old Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit- McPhee), who can speak to ghosts. Unfortunately, Norman has no friends because people think he's weird. Even his father (voiced by Jeff Garlin) regrets how his son turned out to be. The movie is a little too horror oriented, but funny and suitable for children nonetheless.

The characters are well drawn, so you can understand each of their personalities: you have the nice fat kid called Neil (voiced by Tucker Albrizzi), the usual blonde teen (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the bully (voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the dumb jock (voiced by Casey Affleck). To be honest, my favorite was Neil.

To end with, Paranorman weaves a fantastically dazzling, consistently engaging and touching story. I really appreciated the level of maturity that has gone into this impressive stop-motion animation. A good movie in about every regard, that is fun and entertaining to watch, for both children and adults.