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Title: ParaNorman (2012)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kodi Smit-McPhee | ... | Norman Babcock (voice) | |
| Tucker Albrizzi | ... | Neil (voice) | |
| Anna Kendrick | ... | Courtney Babcock (voice) | |
| Casey Affleck | ... | Mitch (voice) | |
| Christopher Mintz-Plasse | ... | Alvin (voice) | |
| Leslie Mann | ... | Sandra Babcock (voice) | |
| Jeff Garlin | ... | Perry Babcock (voice) | |
| Elaine Stritch | ... | Grandma (voice) | |
| Bernard Hill | ... | The Judge (voice) | |
| Jodelle Ferland | ... | Aggie (voice) | |
| Tempestt Bledsoe | ... | Sheriff Hooper (voice) | |
| Alex Borstein | ... | Mrs. Henscher (voice) | |
| John Goodman | ... | Mr. Prenderghast (voice) | |
 |
Hannah Noyes | ... | Salma (voice) |
| Jack Blessing | ... | Slob Guy / Civil War Ghost (voice) | |
In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual he must take up to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
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The makers of Coraline and the beautifully crafted but story-lacking 9 brought us another animated movie that did not disappoint. Paranorman was in fact a surprising movie. Unlike any other animated movie, this one picks a new sort of approach, that would probably entertain both adults and children.
The film was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR Camera. To generate the 3D effect, the camera was mounted on a special rig that would take one shot, then slide to a slightly viewpoint to take another shot. However, to generate all the different faces needed for the characters, the film company Laika used 3D printers.
The movie takes place in the creepy town of Blithe Hollow, whose name is a mash up of two other ghost stories, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit(1945) and Washington Irving's The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow(1949). Paranorman tells the story of 11 years-old Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit- McPhee), who can speak to ghosts. Unfortunately, Norman has no friends because people think he's weird. Even his father (voiced by Jeff Garlin) regrets how his son turned out to be. The movie is a little too horror oriented, but funny and suitable for children nonetheless.
The characters are well drawn, so you can understand each of their personalities: you have the nice fat kid called Neil (voiced by Tucker Albrizzi), the usual blonde teen (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the bully (voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the dumb jock (voiced by Casey Affleck). To be honest, my favorite was Neil.
To end with, Paranorman weaves a fantastically dazzling, consistently engaging and touching story. I really appreciated the level of maturity that has gone into this impressive stop-motion animation. A good movie in about every regard, that is fun and entertaining to watch, for both children and adults.