ParaNorman: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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* [[Freaky Is Cool]]: This trope is the reason why Neil befriends Norman.
* [[Freaky Is Cool]]: This trope is the reason why Neil befriends Norman.
* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: The witch's ghost used to be {{spoiler|a sweet girl that had the power to see ghosts.}} Her [[Shock and Awe|other]] [[Animated Dead|terrifying powers]] appeared after {{spoiler|she was hanged.}}
* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: The witch's ghost used to be {{spoiler|a sweet girl that had the power to see ghosts.}} Her [[Shock and Awe|other]] [[Animated Dead|terrifying powers]] appeared after {{spoiler|she was hanged.}}
* [[Genre Savvy]]: The bar owner, once realizing the man asking for help isn't drunk or crazy and there's really zombies, she shouts, "KILL 'EM IN THE HEAD!"
* [[Genre Savvy]]:
* [[George Lucas Throwback]]: Basically ''[[The Goonies]]'' meets ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''.
* [[George Lucas Throwback]]: Basically ''[[The Goonies]]'' meets ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: It's really [[Up to Eleven]]. Which is a good thing for a movie pushing its' PG rating. Here's some of the things:
** When ghost Grandma asks what's going on. {{quote|'''Norman''':"Sex and violence."}}
* [[Gypsy Curse]]:
** Neil looking at his mom's exercise video and pausing it, the frame shows a woman bending over away from the camera.
** A scene showing the real sentencing of the Witch, {{spoiler|which shows she's just a little misunderstood child.}}
** Alvin trying to "dance" and a part where he's humping the floor, while looking at one of the girls he's trying to impress.
** {{spoiler|During the confrontation, Agatha was just her powers to almost murder Norman, merely by slamming him into objects and debris.}}
** {{spoiler|Mitch}} turns out to be gay.
* [[Gypsy Curse]]: {{Spoiler|What Aggy does on Blithe Hollow, just for her unjust condemnation.}}
* [[Hartman Hips]]: Courtney and her mom.
* [[Hartman Hips]]: Courtney and her mom.
** Taken to extremes with the aerobics instructor [[All Men Are Perverts|Neil likes to freeze-frame on]].
** Taken to extremes with the aerobics instructor [[All Men Are Perverts|Neil likes to freeze-frame on]].
* [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]: Norman is not exactly Mr. Popular in town, for reasons mentioned above in [[Cool Loser]].
* [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]: Norman is not exactly Mr. Popular in town, for reasons mentioned above in [[Cool Loser]].
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: This happens to Norman after he learns that the witch {{spoiler|was just an eleven years old when she died}} and {{spoiler|her ability to talk to ghosts}} was the reason why she's accused of witchcraft.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]:
* [[Hollywood History]]: An [[In-Universe]] example from the school play about the curse is admitted to be historically inaccurate. {{spoiler|The play is a stereotypical hideous old crone, whereas the real witch was a scared little girl persecuted for something she, herself, didn't understand.}}
* [[Hollywood History]]:
* [[Homage]]: To [[Scooby Doo]]. The sheriff mutters "[[Meddling Kids]]" and later "Jinkies" (a line that Velma frequently uses), when she almost crashes her car.
* [[Homage]]: To [[Scooby Doo]]. The sheriff mutters "[[Meddling Kids]]" and later "Jinkies" (a line that Velma frequently uses), when she almost crashes her car.
** One of the Para Norman movie posters does this:
** One of the Para Norman movie posters does this:

Revision as of 07:32, 15 March 2018

I See Dead People
There's nothing wrong with being scared, Norman, so long as you don't let it change who you are.
—Grandma Babcock

Para Norman is a stop-motion animated comic horror film from Laika Animation Studios -- better known for their success with Coraline -- that was released in August 17, 2012. It was directed by Chris Butler (the main storyboard artist on Coraline) and Sam Fell (an Aardman alumni and director of Flushed Away), based off a script written by Butler.

The film follows the titular protagonist, Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), living in a small town in Massachusetts. With the "gift" of speaking to the dead, Norman is called an outcast by most of the town, most of which populated by childish adults and a nasty population of kids. When the town comes under siege by zombies, ghosts and witches, only he can actually save the town from these creatures, not to mention a centuries-old curse on the town.

A trailer can be seen here. Be warned, some of the imagery rivals Coraline in scariness.

Tropes used in ParaNorman include:

Neil: It's just because I'm fat and I have asthma and I sweat when I walk too fast and my lunchbox has a kitten on it, and I have irritable bowel syndrome.

  • Bring My Brown Pants: Alvin attempts to flee from the zombies, exclaiming "I think I peed my pants!"
  • The Bully: Alvin.
  • Casanova Wannabe: Alvin attempts to woo girls but isn't successful.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Norman's ability to speak to the dead becomes useful when the town comes under siege by supernatural forces.
  • Cool Loser: Norman happens to be able to speak to the dead, but is considered an outsider in the community. However, this is somewhat justified when you really consider from everyone else's perspective how this is a kid who is going around claiming he speaks with dead people.
  • Cool Old Lady: Grandma Babcock.
  • Cosmetic Horror: This happens to the school drama teacher; her makeup is awful, worst is her green facial mask that's so bad that only talking to her saves her from being mistaken for one of the zombies.
  • Crapsack World: Much of the trailer shows the rundown suburb that the protagonist lives in. And of course...
  • Creepy Child: According to most of the town, Norman is this and so is the little girl who is the "infamous" witch.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: The town's ghosts, who are friendly. Ditto with the zombies, since all they want is to atone for their sin of killing a "witch", who was just angry about the wrongs done to her.
  • Dumb Blonde: Courtney, though it looks like she dyes.
  • Dumb Jock: Mitch.
  • Dumb Muscle: Mitch and Alvin.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Norman has to fight a "witch" to protect a town that mostly scorns him, only to find that the townspeople realize that the ghosts and undead are real and are willing to assist with the crisis. At the end, Norman is hailed as a hero with a cool ability.
  • Everything's Deader with Zombies: The first creature to invade Blithe Hollow. Oh, and it gets worse...
  • Evil is Petty: The witch cursed all of Blithe Hollow to be attacked by the zombies of those who tried her. Subverted, since Aggy cursed the zombies to go through the same thing as she did.
  • Executive Meddling: The aerobics instructor's butts aren't as...detailed as they appear in the teasers and trailers.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: Norman's irises and pupils are faceted. No other character has eyes like his, so it's not a result of the heavy stylization in the film.
  • Fat Best Friend: Neil.
  • Favoritism Flip Flop: At the ending of the film, Alvin explains to some girls that he and Norman have been very close for years. It's true in a sense, since Alvin was Norman's bully.
  • Fighting for Survival: When the townspeople encounter the zombies they do what every sane person does, but it turns out to be unnecessary.
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Foot Focus: Briefly with Courtney when she paints her nails.
  • Foreshadowing: The practice session of the school play, including the line about the witch's portrayal being historically inaccurate.
    • While watching the B-Movie's opening, Norman's Grandma made the weird suggestion that instead of running to the hills, the girl in the film could've at least tried to reason with the zombie.
  • Freaky Is Cool: This trope is the reason why Neil befriends Norman.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: The witch's ghost used to be a sweet girl that had the power to see ghosts. Her other terrifying powers appeared after she was hanged.
  • Genre Savvy: The bar owner, once realizing the man asking for help isn't drunk or crazy and there's really zombies, she shouts, "KILL 'EM IN THE HEAD!"
  • George Lucas Throwback: Basically The Goonies meets Night of the Living Dead.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: It's really Up to Eleven. Which is a good thing for a movie pushing its' PG rating. Here's some of the things:
    • When ghost Grandma asks what's going on.

Norman:"Sex and violence."

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