ParaNorman

ParaNorman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written byChris Butler
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTristan Oliver
Edited byChristopher Murrie
Music byJon Brion[1]
Production
company
Distributed byFocus Features (North America)
Universal Pictures (International)
Release dates
  • August 3, 2012 (2012-08-03) (Mexico)
  • August 17, 2012 (2012-08-17) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[3]
Box office$107.1 million[3]

ParaNorman is a 2012 American animated comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler.[4] Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Ferland, Bernard Hill, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman. It is the first stop-motion film to use a 3-D color printer to create character faces, and only the second to be shot in 3-D.[5] In the film, Norman Babcock, a young boy who can communicate with ghosts, is given the task of ending a 300-year-old witch's curse on his Massachusetts town.

The idea of ParaNorman came from Butler, who thought making such a movie for kids could help express the challenges kids face growing up, after realizing that zombie films often contained a degree of social commentary. Production of the stop-motion animation feature took place at Laika's studio in Hillsboro, Oregon for three years, with the animating stage of production lasting about two years and beginning in late 2009. Instead of using traditional 3-D format cameras, the studio had sixty Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR cameras film the movie. Jon Brion composed the film's musical score.

ParaNorman was officially released on August 17, 2012, by Focus Features.[6] It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, script, entertainment value and humor,[7] and was a modest box office success, earning $107 million worldwide against its budget of $60 million.[3][8][9] The film was nominated for that year's Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.

  1. ^ Goldberg, Matt (June 14, 2011). "Jon Brion to Score Laika's 3D Stop-Motion Animated Feature PARANORMAN". Collider.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  2. ^ "ParaNorman (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. July 11, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "ParaNorman". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  4. ^ Buchanan, Jason. "ParaNorman (2012)". Allmovie. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  5. ^ Roper, Caitlin (August 2012). "The Boy with 8,000 Faces". Wired.
  6. ^ "ParaNorman To Open August 17, 2012" (Press release). LAIKA. May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference RT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "2012 Recap (cont.): Losers". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  9. ^ "Travis Knight (President & CEO of LAIKA) Talks PARANORMAN, Audience Reactions to the Film, Laika's Future Plans, and More at the VES Awards". Collider. February 13, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2013.