Product Description From the makers of Coraline comes the story of Norman, a boy who must use his ability to see and speak with the dead to save his town from a centuries-old curse. In addition to spooky zombies, he’ll also have to take on mysterious ghosts, wily witches and, worst, of all, clueless grown-ups. But this young ghoul whisperer will soon find his paranormal abilities pushed to their otherworldly limits. Featuring the voice talents of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin and John Goodman, it’s a frightfully funny and magically thrilling adventure for the whole family in eye-popping stop-motion.Bonus Content: Preliminary Animatic Sequences Peering Through the Veil: Behind the Scenes of ParaNorman Featurettes Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Chris Butler and Director Sam Fell .com Norman sees dead people. Heard that one before, right? The good news is that even though the cultural reference that entered our collective consciousness way back with The Sixth Sense is the conceptual spark, it's not a clichéd mark against ParaNorman. Neither is it some psychodramatic plot twist in this charming and ingenious stop-motion animated kids' story about a little boy who shares the world with the ghosts who are living all around him. The paranormal stuff is just a part of everyday life for sensitive, lonely Norman and it doesn't freak him out one bit. It started when his grandmother died and she decided to stick around for him. Even though his parents and teenage sister think it's a little weird that he believes she's still living with them, nothing could be more normal for Norman. But she's not the only one whose spirit is still roaming. Everywhere he goes, Norman makes friends and talks with the ghosts who float about all over the place, which not surprisingly makes him seem a little weird to all the other kids at school. Fortunately Norman makes friends with another living misfit named Neil, who believes in his unusual gift and remains a staunch sidekick even after the whole town is threatened by an ancient curse. It's this aged secret that turns out to be the cause for all the restless souls strolling around in the first place. The plot thickens considerably when the founding fathers rise from their graves as zombies (who everyone can see), and it falls to Norman to set things right. The threat they carry harks back to a centuries-old witch-hunt that put a harmless little girl named Aggie on trial by the tribunal now wandering around town in varying states of decrepitude and still cursed by their misdeed. The whole thing turns into a pretty intense piece of haunted horrors, with the burden falling on Norman to release Aggie's innocent spirit and send the zombies back to their graves before the town succumbs to her very real supernatural wrath. The action may get a little too scary for littler kids. There's lots of fire and brimstone, and even though the zombie antics are played for laughs, some of the characterizations border on the genuinely gruesome. But the style is wonderfully sophisticated (it comes from the company that produced Coraline), with terrifically anthropomorphized renderings of human and ghost/zombie figures alike. Everything feels wickedly baroque and shot through with a sustained creepiness that is kept mostly at bay with a script that packs plenty of gags. The voice performances are lively and vibrant, with a cast that includes John Goodman, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, and Elaine Stritch. When Norman faces off with Aggie in the dark and stormy finale, some children may be holding on to Mom and Dad tight (and they may be holding back), which is ultimately to ParaNorman's credit. Just as much credit goes to the fact that the story and design direction allows for the laughs to balance out the frights for both the parents and the kids. --Ted Fry
I**E
Such a cute movie for a family movie night!
I loved this movie! So cute. Great lessons to learn!
J**C
Paranorman! Awesome!
Great flick!
S**M
Amazing stop motion, Great story, VERIFIED PURCHASE!
I saw this film in the theater on the premier night in 3-D. The 3D was amazing. Not gimmicky, not just thrown in as an excuse to charge more for admission. AMAZING. I wanted to wait until I actually owned the product which is the home video release before I review. Notice verified purchase. The menu is using Universal Studies generic menu which, I am not crazy about as I like a custom menu. That aside, the BD transfer quality is top notch. You could see all the details Laika studios pays attention too like the pattern in the concrete, and the clothing the characters wore. The video quality is comparable to the theater. I want to get a 3D tv so I can watch movies like this in 3D at home.StoryA kid from a small town with a dark history is a medium, he see's dead people. He is also weird and misunderstood by everyone but his friend Neil. The story has great messages about bullying and tolerance. I don't want to spoil it, but I saw it with 4 year and 6 year old. The 6 year got the message, the 4 year old not so much. Mildly scary in some scene, but nothing an intelligent child cannont handle.VisualsLaika!, The studio that brought use Coraline and Corpse Bride. This is the best stop motion animation I have ever seen. They were hired by Tim Burton and formed their own studio. I believe the first film to utilize a 3D printer for the film. I read in the Wired article Norman alone has something like 9000 separate faces, with over 300 hand sculpted hairs. Ridiculous attention to detail. They also used an advance process for the 3D shooting multiple frames with a high end Nikkon SLR. At the theater I was blown away by the 3D. I also love the story. A modern take on issues such as bullying and tolerance.Special Features/Extra'sWill followup on this, with an update, Remember this is a Home video/ Blu Ray review not a film review.
L**C
Paranorman teaches Life Lessons!!!!
I for one thoroughly enjoyed Paranorman! It was a beautifully, animated movie from the minds of people who are gifted in their craft to bring us this spooky (kind of), funny, heart-warming comedy of the 2012 year. I loved Paranorman because it had a lot of good morals in it.1. Mob Mentality- We see this in every society, a group of people who have stopped actually "thinking" and decided to just play "follow the leader" when throughout history it has always lead to heartbreak, destruction, mayhem, violence, and other ignorant and primitive behavior.2. Killing of the Innocence- To not go into too much detail so that I do not spoil the movie, this movie showed the importance of thinking before one acts. As many spiritual ethics like Buddhism,teaches, to not act or speak when your heart is tainted or bitter. Also, to not judge so quickly with what you are afraid of. Many human beings unfortunately suffer from being afraid of "The Unknown" which gets them into a lot of trouble for their actions. Karma is real! The Golden Rule(s) apply to all! Just because you are afraid of something does not mean that you have to act violently, or primitively upon that situation. "One must think first before they act or speak"3. ParaNorman I love this movie for all of its moral issues. I will not go into detail! I would rather have many more people watch this movie and enjoy it as I did and come away from it thinking for themselves more, because they have seen how horrid, and primitive their actions can become when one thinks that using fire against fire will work... it does not and it never will!A BIG AND HUGE THANK YOU!!!!! To everyone in the making of this film! I'm so happy you made this film and tackled some moral, and social issues that many people struggle to understand and are not exposed to all that often! Well done! I'm a huge fan of this movie! :D
S**A
I loved it
I watched this movie in the theaters twice. And loved it both times. Now I just placed my order for the blue ray and DVD.The movie was a bit on the scary side. As a grown woman, I was a bit scared in the beginning too and at one point thought to myself " WT heck? I thought this was a kid's movie!". Then again, I'm a chicken and don't usually do horror at all. I did notice kids crying and parents walking out but midway through the movie it settled down and you stopped being scared. Or even disturbed. And that is what makes this movie beautiful. It didn't surprise me that the director said he was inspired by his own experience as a kid bullied. I think anyone who has been bullied ( and dare I say bullied others) probably can see a bit of themselves in Aggie and Norman and the other characters.This movie was sophisticated and showed values of empathy, kindness, bravery, sympathy, acceptance and most of all, forgiveness. All of which Norman displays in his quest. I thought it would be a great movie for kids. Judging the response from some of the adults, they could learn something from this movie too.I don't believe the morality in the move was all over the place as some have mentioned. I kind of thought it was pretty consistent with what many kids who face bullying experience and the moral dilemma a society and it's people find themselves.Update:I just saw the movie on DVD. Spoiler alert: The last scenes music is different from the movie in theatres. Too bad, because the music really made the scene in the end interesting. I dont get the discrepancy in the soundtrack.
B**N
Great movie, expired digital code
Paranorman's a great movie. I had the DVD but I wanted the Blu-ray /digital for the upgraded visual quality and the convenience of digital. So I purchased the Blu-ray digital HD combo October 8th 2024 only to find out that the digital codes are expired.
M**I
A Halloween Favorite
I watch it a couple times a year.
J**.
One of my favorites
This is one of my favorite movies can’t wait to watch
Trustpilot
4 days ago
2 weeks ago
