What if you took the kid from SIXTH SENSE, turned him into a stop-motion animated character, surrounded him with other bullying kids, but then unleashed an ‘undead’ attack on the town? You would have PARANORMAN, a family film featuring Norman, a little guy that can see ghosts and such. Everyone thinks he’s a little crazy from the looks of the trailer, but opinions turn around quickly when supernatural things break loose.
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road, Let Me In) did the voice of Norman. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Super-Bad), Anna Kendrick, John Goodman and Leslie Mann also voiced in the film. This appears to be Chris Butler’s first venture into being the writer / director of a feature film, following his work on CORPSE BRIDE and CORALINE. Sam Fell (The Tale of Despereaux) co-directed. it’s interesting to see Focus Features getting into some Family stuff. They are more known for the insightful independent sort of material.
Just to see how different the classic technique of Stop-Motion animation really is, this ‘Making of ParaNorman’ video should provide some fun insight into the process:
I’m glad to see the art form that Grand Master Ray Harryhausen made famous is still alive and thriving. CGI and 3D modeling aren’t the only ways to tell a good kid’s story.
PARANORMAN comes out August 17th.
Loading tweets...