Trailer Tuesday: ParaNorman (3D)

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2012 is shaping up as a great year for lovers of stop-motion animation. Last Tuesday we profiled The Pirates! Band of Misfits and on Friday the first theatrical trailers for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, and ParaNorman (3D) were released. All 3 movies are out later this year.


ParaNorman is an original story from Laika, the same animation studio behind 2009's Coraline - one of my favourite animated films and Top 3 3D movies of all time. ParaNorman looks to be in the same offbeat, creepy vein as its predecessor. Kodi Smit-McPhee voices Norman Babcock, a young, fright-haired boy misunderstood and dismissed by everyone around him, including his own family. Norman has a special secret ability though - he can speak to dead people. And this makes him a vital figure when a centuries-old witch's curse triggers a zombie invasion of his home town. John Goodman, Casey Affleck and Anna Kendrick also provide voices.

Much like Coraline, ParaNorman is probably not going to be appropriate for very young children, but older audiences who appreciate a little kookiness should be in for a real treat (you can also check out the atmospheric teaser trailer here). Plus, the family-friendly horror comedy should tide us over while we wait for a film version of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book - which also deals with a boy who has stronger relationships with the dead than the living.

ParaNorman opens in North America on 17 August. South African audiences will have to wait until 9 November, though, to watch the film.

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