ParaNorman

Cute Undead Things!

The undead in ParaNorman weren't so cute, but the movie itself was cute in the extreme sense of the word. I went to see it for the stop motion animation, and stayed for the everything.

This is a personable tale about a little boy who feels like a freak. Norman can see and talk to those who have passed on. Expired. Gone to the taco shop in the sky. Basically, Norman can interact with the dead, and people treat him differently because they don't want to acknowledge his weird gift. It makes everyone uncomfortable around him, including his immediate family. So poor Norman is alone, misunderstood, and only feels like a normal kid when conversing with the dearly departed. But not everyone is ready to steer clear of Norman, and a surprise visit from his estranged uncle will show Norman a higher purpose for his unusual ability.

I've always loved stop motion animation, dating back, of course, to The Nightmare Before Christmas. The level of dedication it takes to create a feature length film using this method is mind boggling to me, and I respect the heck out of it. I can't imagine how annoying it could get just trying to film a character blinking. Blinking, for Pete's sake! So I had to see ParaNorman, especially after I saw the teaser trailer that featured Donovan's Season of the Witch. That's my jam!

And I was not disappointed! This is one of the best stop motion animation movies I've ever seen. I know, it sounds like blasphemy, and you want to smack me upside the head for disrespecting Nightmare, but hear me out. The characters in this movie are so life like in their personalities and actions that it's hard to hear the voice actor behind them. You think of the character's voice as belonging to them, not to some guy in a studio. I feel like every character was flushed out, and given an identity, down to their individual mannerisms and asymmetrical features.

Norman has a fascination with zombies, and he has so much zombie merchandise that it made me giggle.  Because he can see dead people, and can relate to them because they don't judge him for being different, he can hide from the world in the fiction of zombies. But he learns that he can accept friendship and let go of his barrier. Daw. The cuteness, once again, was touching. Go see it already, and cry tears of understanding and joy like I did! You're going to be surprised at who your favorite characters are by the end of the film.