ParaNorman: "Not Believing In An Afterlife Is Like Not Believing In Astrology"

Director: Sam Fell
               Chris Butler
Writer:    Chris Butler
               Arianne Sutner
               Stephen Stone
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee
               Tucker Albrizzi
               Anna Kendrick
               Casey Affleck
               Christopher Mintz-Plasse
               Leslie Mann
               Elaine Stritch
               Ariel Winter
               John Goodman
Rating:    ****

There have been some extremely entertaining animated movies released this year, Admittedly most of them have been sequels, but they are still funny and entertaining none the less. This autumn see's two gothic and spooky cartoons being released, Tim Burton's Frankenweenie; and this film, Paranorman. A stop-motion film about a boy with an incredible, yet unbelievable, gift; a gift he must use to save his town, family and tiny amount of friends.

Neil & Norman(Albrizzi & Smit-McPhee)

Norman (Smit-McPhee) is a young boy almost completely outcast by his school, family and, well, the entire town. The reason for this cold treatment is down to his 'gift'; he was given the ability to see and speak to the deceased. While his strange behaviour seems normal to him and us (the audience), to the townspeople his eccentric lifestyle is just to bizaare for them to handle and accept. Of course, like any good kids movie, our lonely hero gets his chance to prove himself when a  dead and vengeful ghost of a witch summons a zombie army to attack the town; and army Norman must try and put a stop to, and quick.

Written by Chris Butler, the script for ParaNorman is warm, endearing and genuinly funny; aswell as having a beautiful underlying lesson of accepting yourself and others for your quirks and differences. With a batch of zany characters, including Norman's tubby sidekick Neil (Albrizzi), and his judgmental teenage sister Courtney (Kendrick), there is plent of variety to keep your attention.

Courtney
(Kendrick)

Despite initially coming across as a morbid, gothic and gruesome cartoon, it balances itself out with its impressive stop-motion animation. Each frame is filled with such detail and clarity, that you physically can't take everything in, but somehow it doesn't matter. It is a rich, colourful and joyous world, that both you and your children will get swept up into for it's entirity.

Thanks to the superbly magical stop-motion (that'll make your eyes glitter and shine) and a wonderfully entertaining script, ParaNorman is a real success. There are many treats for both the eyes and the ears, and I wholly reccomend you and your family go and experience them together.

ParaNorman - Trailer