I was really excited to see ParaNorman. I remember cackling during the trailer in the theater every time that little Igor kid would come on. And this would happen every time I saw the trailer. So when ParaNorman arrived from Netflix, I immediately put it in my DVD player.
That funny Igor kid never showed up.
It turns out that the movie I was excited to see was Frankenweenie. It was about a half hour into the movie that I realized this. Oops.
ParaNorman is an enjoyable movie, even if it’s not the movie I meant to watch. I didn’t laugh during it as much as I did during the trailer for Frankenweenie, but it is still a well told story. It’s like The Sixth Sense for kids. Young Norman sees dead people, a lot of dead people. There’s a cool sequence where he’s walking down the street and we see all the ghosts that he sees. It basically turns his quiet suburban commute into the crowded streets of Manhattan. A lot of people are dead, and they all want to talk to Norman.
I was surprised to see ParaNorman earn a Best Animated Feature nomination. It was not even in the same league as Wreck-It-Ralph. But I can see why kids would love this movie: ghosts, parents who just don’t understand, kindhearted fat jokes. What more could a kid want?
Still, I hope Frankenweenie is better.