ParaNorman is not only the best animated film I’ve seen this year, it’s
one of the best films of 2012, period. This stop-motion-style movie, directed
by Chris Butler and Sam Fell (Flushed Away), fills a void left by
Pixar’s surprisingly disappointing Brave, released earlier this
year. Finally Pixar’s crown passes to the animators at LAIKA, who previously
worked on Henry Selick’s Academy Award-nominated Coraline.ParaNorman is the story of Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a boy born with the ability to speak to the dead and foresee the terrible events of the future. When an ancient witch’s curse threatens the Massachusetts town of Blithe Hollow, Norman is the only hope the once-puritanical borough has for salvation.
