ParaNorman is a 2012 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (in his feature directorial debut), and written by Butler. Produced by Laika as its second feature film, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Ferland, Bernard Hill, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman. ParaNorman premiered in Mexico on August 3, 2012 and was officially released on August 17, 2012, by Focus Features.
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 I feel in love with a little ghost.
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It is the first stop-motion film to use a 3D color printer to create character faces, and only the second to be shot in 3D.
Plot
The movie is about Norman Babcock, an 11-year-old boy living in Massachusetts. He has the unique ability to speak with the dead, but nobody believes him, so he is often teased by his classmates and his family, but his best friend Neil Downe believes him. One day is the 300th anniversary of the witch's death, a large part of the culture of their town. Norman and his classmates later perform a school play about the witch's execution, but during the play, Norman gets a vision about the town's past, where he is being witch hunted.
He is later sent a message from his deceased uncle, who tells him that the witch is going to send a curse to the town if he doesn't stop it. Norman promises to stop the witch, but will he be too late?
Why It Rocks
- Wonderful and fluid stop-motion animation, especially for being the first stop-motion film to use full-color 3D printers for animation.
- Kodi Smit-McPhee is awesome as Norman. The same can be said about the other voice actors in the film and the characters they voiced, like John Goodman.
- Most characters are likable, especially the main protagonist, Norman.
- The sequence at the end credits showing how Norman's puppet was built and how he moved was very interesting.
- It proves that the "main character gets bullied for being different" cliche can be used in a good way.
- Lots of funny moments, such as when Neil plays with his ghost dog and when Grandma says "jackass".
- The plot twist is powerful.
- The character designs are well-made.
- The scene where Norman talks to the young girl was somewhat heartwarming.
- It had a great ending.
- Its message on accepting others for who they are and standing up against bullying is powerful.
- Amazing characters development, like the bully, Alvin used to not believe Norman that ghosts exist, but however, he did improved later.
Bad Qualities
- Similar to Coraline, the Laika film that came before it, it can get too inappropriate for a family movie at times. It's somewhat too scary and dark for younger kids, but it also contains many sexually suggestive references and some mild swearing.
- As mentioned earlier, it is structured on the "main character gets bullied for being different" cliche which has been done many times, even if this film puts it to good use.
Reception
ParaNorman received mainly positive reviews who praised its animation and humor. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives ParaNorman an 89% approval rating based on 183 reviews, with an average score of 7.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully animated and solidly scripted, ParaNorman will entertain (and frighten) older children while providing surprisingly thoughtful fare for their parents.". Metacritic gives the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews.". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a "B+" grade on an A+-to-F scale. It was a modest box office success, earning $107 million worldwide against its budget of $60 million. The film was nominated for that year's Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.