The Werewolf Hotel: August 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

ParaNorman is incredibly charming, and lovable. It may initially alienate some younger viewers with its Halloween style but they shouldn’t be deterred. It’s more late-nite schlock than gore-fest. It’s contemporary, challenging, and has enough ribbing to appeal to everyone.

Computer generated movies are catching up to stop-motion aesthetics. At first glance it’s a challenge to the eye to notice that the sets and the characters were created out of hard materials; metal, plastics, textiles. This fact grants ParaNorman an allure beyond its direct and lovable charm, there’s that second meta level of appreciation. It’s not talent with computer software that astounds an audience but the deft of the artisans’ craft.

That being said, perhaps ParaNorman kissed the style-ring of CG too often to truly stand out from the CG crowd. Perhaps, in an effort to not be too closely associated with Rankin & Bass, it stepped in the shadows of the looming CG giants, Pixar and Dreamworks. Character design, jokes, and emoticon signs took cue from past CG movie successes.

ParaNorman wants and deserves to be enjoyed. It may be weird at times but it’s too valuable to be ignored out of fear.

ParaNorman was directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, written by Chris Butler