3D ParaNorman (2012); stop-motion animated comedy family film review

Poster artwork for the stop-motion animated comedy family film ParaNorman.

Frightful Fun by Linh

Director/writer Chris Butler has wanted to make an animated zombie feature film for over a decade and his directorial debut, alongside director Sam Fell, is a beautifully filmed stop-motion animated family film called ParaNorman with ghosts, witches and zombies. The film uses hand-crafted, hand-stitched and tangible doll figures and hand-made sets that are filmed in 3D. Some of the stores and businesses in the film are named after members of the crew, with the film referencing other horror films such as Friday The 13th, Night Of The Living Dead, The Sixth Sense, and the moving zombie hand from The Evil Dead.

GRANDMA'S GHOST: Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) sees his dead Grandma's (Elaine Stritch) ghost every day in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

ParaNorman is about a teenage boy named Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who lives in Blithe Hollow with his parents and older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick). Norman can see and speak with ghosts but everyone including his sister, tease him about it, and he is bullied at school by other students, particularly the school bully named Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). His only friend is another student named Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) who is bullied for being fat. Norman can see his dead Grandma’s (Elaine Stritch) ghost who appears in his home every day, and he often confides in her and watches horror films with her. One day after school, as Norman is walking home with Neil, an old and unkempt bearded man who claims to be Norman’s Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman), pulls Norman aside to warn him that a centuries-old witch’s curse that will raise the dead, is about to come true. Norman and Neil wonder about the curse and soon after, Uncle Prenderghast dies of a sudden heart attack. 

WITCH WARNING: Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) makes sure Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) knows about the witch's curse in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

Uncle Prenderghast’s ghost appears to Norman and makes him promise to stop the witch’s curse. Norman follows Uncle Prenderghast’s instructions but they fail to work and seven zombies that are three hundred years old, rise from the dead. The townspeople of Blithe Hollow take up arms to fight the zombies but the seven un-dead do not fight and they hide instead. Norman soon discovers it is not the zombies he needs to stop. Norman must stop the witch Aggie (Jodelle Ferland), who has returned to wreak havoc as a form of revenge against the seven zombies who wronged her three hundred years ago. Norman and his sister Courtney, his friend Neil, Neil’s older brother Mitch (Casey Affleck) and the bully Alvin work together to stop the witch’s curse.

BEATING BULLYING: Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) stops bullying Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and helps him fight the witch's curse in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

ParaNorman has many universal themes of friendship, courage and compassion that resonate with children and adults. The issues in the film include bullying, acceptance of your own and other people’s differences, and not to let fear change you or your perceptions of others. The film has emotional depth in dealing with being mentally/emotionally affected through fear expressed by others; as well as fear being instilled in you that others are dangerous. The violence towards the zombies by the townspeople is a depiction of fear and anger, where there is no attempt being made to understand and accept each other. Norman attempts to reach out to the witch Aggie through conversation and discovers she is just like him - a child who feels like an outcast because others are afraid of her differences. Aggie’s reaction is to make them feel the way they make her feel, thereby making her just as hateful of them as they are of her. The difference between Norman and Aggie is that he succeeded in breaking the cycle of bullying and fear by accepting his differences and being friends with the bully. ParaNorman is a thought-provoking and entertaining family film with a talented voice cast, excellent 3D stop-motion animation and inoffensive humour.

SCARY SCREAMS: Courtney (Anna Kendrick), Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) and Mitch (Casey Affleck) encounter zombies moving towards their car in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fel

Writer: Chris Butler (story)

Voice Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Ariel Winter, Jodelle Ferland, Bernard Hill, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein,Hannah Noye

Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight, Matthew Fried, Carl Beyer

Original Music Composer: John Brion

Cinematographer: Tristan Oliver (Director of Photography)

Film Editor: Christopher Murrie

Production: Nelson Lowry (Production Designer), Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell, Phil Brotherton (Art Directors)

Costume Designers: Deborah Cook

  

Running Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes