ParaNorman’ is hardly dead weight

by Thomas Willett
August 23, 2012

Norman Babcock can speak to the dead and his nightlight When it comes to family entertainment, cartoons reign supreme. For years Pixar and Dreamworks Animation have banked off of this principle. While some of their work is held to high regard, it also sometimes prefers slapstick to substance. Laika Studios is trying to level the playing field with their sophomore effort ParaNorman. It is a stop motion animated film that has the protagonist combat zombies, witches, and ghosts. Does the movie go for the gusto and give the major studios a dose of healthy competition, or is stop motion a dead art form?
The story follows Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his adventures in Blithe Hollow as he discovers dark secrets from a scraggly man (John Goodman) that may rid him of his troubles. With his trusty sidekick Neal (Tucker Albrizzi), the two go on a journey that ends up leading to more than they were expecting. Along the way they are joined by Norman’s airhead sister (Anna Kendrick), Neal’s brother (Casey Affleck), and a school bully (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). With a van, the journey ends up feeling like a wacky parody of Scooby Doo, Where Are You, which is the best praise the movie can receive.

What makes ParaNorman an entertaining film is not the premise, which feels familiar. It is the execution and tone which stabilizes between high stakes horror and quick sight gags and one liners. The characters are also very entertaining. The one standout is Affleck as Mitch, who states the obvious with infectious precision. He isn’t the most crucial to the story, but with the lead character getting further into darker territory; it is nice to have some comedic relief.

This is not to say that the rest of the story lacks it. When zombies come into the mix, the town people panic in creative ways. Whether it is directly shooting them or inspired jump scares, co-directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell have successfully reinvented the zombie concept to be a story about caring for others. While it may feel hammered home in the third act, it manages to come across in a heartfelt manner. There may be plenty of legitimate scares, but this is foremost a movie that teaches the importance of listening and understanding in an entirely original way. It may make this more blatantly a kid’s movie, but a great one at that.

Most of all, Butler and Fell show off their horror genre knowledge with an impressive array of references. Besides the more obvious like Scooby Doo, Where Are You, there are numerous shout outs to Halloween, Frankenstein, the b-movies of director Ed Wood and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The score, which features heavy use of synthesizer, also feels like a nod to Goblin’s work on Dawn of the Dead. This is a movie that is unabashedly in love with horror and pays homage to it in such a way that doesn’t sacrifice story.

This is a very progressive kid’s move. Besides making the paranormal characters sympathetic, there are also subtle explorations to nontraditional lifestyles including gay characters and people who reference adult video stores. This movie manages to be edgy without exploiting differences for comical relief. Where movies like Shrek would get a kick out of making literal toilet humor, ParaNorman does it in a way that is both clever and benefits the story. This movie manages to have a childlike sense of wonder and have humor of that mindset, but it does it earnestly, which keeps it from ever feeling crass.

It is a shame that stop motion animation is so tedious. Along with the superb Coraline, Laika Studios are not only masters at exploring deeper themes within morose content, but their style also pops out. Where majority of their competitors are strictly CGI, they fuse it together with stop motion and create something totally original. With exception to Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, there are very few movies that ParaNorman can be mistaken for. It also helps that in a time when it is considered cutting edge for Pixar to have a female protagonist, Laika is miles ahead by exploring how to have a diverse cast. They may not have the reputation that Pixar has, but their work shows promise.

Where Dreamworks Animation is content with releasing Madagascar sequels that demand little of their audience, it is nice to have a family movie that may not appeal to everyone, but definitely brings the fun back to the story. With a great blend of CGI and stop motion, ParaNorman stands out as the children’s movie for those that enjoy scares. It also helps that while crass, it never feels insulting. This is not as shiny and perfect as Brave. Thankfully, that benefits Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s brilliant vision. The only downside is the waiting time until we are treated with another top notch Laika Studios production.

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