ParaNorman

One of the nominees for this year's nominees for Best Animated Film Oscar, ParaNorman is an oddly unsatisfying stop-motion film, shot in 3D. Of course at home I saw it in 2D, but it's mixture of horror and comedy didn't sit right with me. I didn't hate it, but I found it somewhat annoying.

Norman is an 11-year-old boy living in a town something like Salem, in that it has a history of a witch trial and thus the tourism is built around it. Norman has an interesting talent--he sees and speaks to the dead, which leads to him being labeled a freak and ostracized. He has an eccentric uncle with the same affliction, who tells him he must continue a tradition of keeping a witch's curse from happening.

The film has a lot of affection for horror films, as it opens with Norman watching a zombie film while his grandma's ghost sits with him, knitting. But I found something wrong--would a kid who is plagued by the ability to speak to ghosts love horror films? Wouldn't he try to shut that out of his life, and be devoted to something distinctly non-horrific, like chess or stamp collecting, instead of having a bedroom wall plastered with zombie posters and a ghoulish toothbrush?

Nevertheless, Norman heeds his uncle's advice and heads to the old graveyard, where he is joined by his only friend, a fat kid, and later by the school bully. Those who accused the witch are resurrected, and terrorize the town, until Norman realizes that the dead are just trying to be released from the curse and are really, really sorry. So Norman has to face down the witch, who turns out to be a distant relative of his who was also only 11 years old when she was tried.

ParaNorman is a bit grown up for a kid's animated film, but of course I guess kids are up for almost anything, even the walking dead. Perhaps more horrifying is the way Norman is treated--by the bully, by his older sister, and especially by his father, who sees him as a black sheep. The film's anti-bullying message resonates well considering 300 years ago being eccentric could get you hanged for being a witch. There's also a landmark moment late in the film when a character reveals he is gay, supposedly the first such character in a children's animated film. Kudos to that.

But something about the film didn't click with me. The directors are Sam Fell and Chris Butler, and perhaps the film looked great on a big screen and in 3D, but it doesn't translate well to the small screen. Some of the droll humor works, but not always. The voice acting, with Kodi Smit-McPhee as Norman and a cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Jeff Garlin, and Leslie Mann, does fine, but it didn't the heights for me. I found Frankenweenie to be a better supernatural animated film.