--- title: "ParaNorman" year: 2012 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/paranorman" fi1m_score: 76 critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 18 published: "2026-09-17T06:48:23.948281+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T06:48:37.130561+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # ParaNorman (2012) Directed by Sam Fell, Chris Butler · 1h 33m · MPA PG · Family, Animation, Adventure, Comedy **Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 70 from 18 reviews *In a sentence:* The dead are polite, the living have pitchforks, and Grandma’s ghost has the best seat on the sofa > Laika’s stop-motion ghost story is handsome, funny and frightening in the right places, with a middle that runs in circles and a moral said twice too often. Stay for the last twenty minutes, which earn the rest. ## Synopsis Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) sees ghosts and talks back to them. In Blithe Hollow, a small American town that has built its tourist trade on hanging a witch three centuries ago, he walks to school chatting with the dead while his parents Sandra and Perry (Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin) worry and his sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) dies of embarrassment. His late grandmother (Elaine Stritch) still watches horror films with him from the sofa. Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) bullies him; Neil Downe (Tucker Albrizzi), the other outcast in his class, decides they are friends. Then a dying relative tells Norman the witch’s curse is real, that a book must be read at her grave before sundown, and that keeping the dead in the ground is now his job. ## Review Chris Butler and Sam Fell have made a stop-motion horror comedy for children that takes the horror seriously. The bones are old Hollywood: a boy nobody believes, a town with a bad secret, a curse due at sundown. Butler’s script wants to be a zombie film, a school comedy and a lesson about mobs, and for most of its 93 minutes it manages all three at once. It is good, often better than good, and it dawdles in the middle in ways a film this short should not. The pleasure is in what Laika’s animators can do with their hands. Nelson Lowry designs Blithe Hollow as a town that has sold itself to its own gift shop: a witch on every sign, a witch on the water tower, a witch’s hat on the roof of the burger bar. Norman’s bedroom is wallpapered in zombie posters and his slippers have teeth. Tristan Oliver shoots it low and close, in bruised purples and the orange of streetlamps at dusk, with the focus so shallow that the backgrounds fall away as they would on a real set, because they are one. The puppets’ faces are swapped out frame by frame, so a mouth can twist further than plasticine has any right to. Smit-McPhee gives Norman a flat, tired voice, a boy who has stopped expecting to be listened to, and it is the right choice; the jokes land because he never asks for them. Tucker Albrizzi’s Neil is the opposite, a cheerful lump who treats being bullied as weather, and their friendship is the best thing in the film. Anna Kendrick makes Courtney’s contempt for her brother sound like love with the volume turned down. Elaine Stritch, as the grandmother who has died and not moved out, has a handful of lines and takes every one home with her. Butler and Fell know their horror. The film opens on a cheap zombie picture playing on the Babcocks’ television, and the shadows, the slow shuffle and the screaming blonde all come straight from the drive-in. Jon Brion’s score leans on a wailing electronic line and a fairground organ, the cheap frightening sounds of a Saturday matinee, and it is funnier for being played straight. The school pageant, in which Mrs. Henscher (Alex Borstein) has the children re-enact the hanging in cardboard hats for a hall of proud parents, made us laugh out loud and then wince. It is a nasty little scene about a town that has turned an old cruelty into a day out. The middle sags. Once the dead are up and the town is running, Butler has too many people to move around: two families, Sheriff Hooper (Tempestt Bledsoe), a mob, a book, a grave, and a set of dead judges led by Bernard Hill’s Judge Hopkins. Christopher Murrie cuts the chases briskly, but a chase is still a chase, and there are three where one would do. The moral, that people lash out at what they do not understand, is said aloud more than once, and the second time we could feel the film checking that the children at the back had got it. Then the last twenty minutes arrive and the film becomes something else. We will not describe the turn it takes with Aggie Prenderghast (Jodelle Ferland). What we can say is that the sky above Blithe Hollow tears open in a storm of crackling yellow light, the animation stops being a joke, and a PG certificate began to look to us like an optimistic estimate. We were frightened, properly, and then moved more than we had expected by a film that had spent an hour making gags about brains. It is worth the wait. [*Coraline*](https://film.one/film/coraline) (2009), the studio’s first feature, was the tighter film: one house, one door, one bad mother. *ParaNorman* is friendlier and untidier, and it has the better ending. Watch it with children old enough to enjoy being scared, which is not the same as all children, and turn the lights down. It runs 93 minutes and carries a PG that we would read as a challenge rather than a promise. *Fi1m score 76, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like ParaNorman, and the praise gathers in one place: Laika’s stop-motion animation. Review after review singles out the detail of the hand-built town and the staging of the horror set pieces. Beyond the craft, the reviews warm to the macabre humour, the nods to old horror films and the portrait of a lonely boy who sees ghosts, which several take as the film’s emotional centre. The reservations are almost all about story. The plot, built around a witch’s curse and a town overrun by zombies, is called unfocused, ambling and overcrowded, and more than one critic finds its message about fear preachy. Even admirers concede it drags in places. The spread is wide: The Playlist is close to unreserved in its enthusiasm, while The Hollywood Reporter finds it only fitfully involving and Eye for Film calls it lifeless despite its technical ambition. Empire judges it a step down from Coraline. ### Reviews we read (18) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (NYT Critic’s Pick): The critic finds the film a beautiful-looking, charmingly heartfelt 3-D stop-motion animation about a boy who sees ghosts and zombies. She highlights its assortment of hair-raising frights alongside the emotional core and strong voice performances. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/movies/movie-review-paranorman-about-a-boy-and-zombies-with-elaine-stritch.html) - **Time Out**, Cath Clarke (4/5): The critic praises the beautifully hand-crafted stop-motion animation and dazzling visuals from Laika, along with the ghoulish humor and brilliant gags, while noting the sophisticated plot involving a witchhunt curse drags a bit at times. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/paranorman-1) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (75/100, inferred): The film is an entertaining if unfocused stop-motion zombie comedy that mixes gross-out horror gags with coming-of-age themes. Newman singles out the ingenious and detailed animation for praise while noting it falls short of Coraline's focused storytelling. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/paranorman-review/) - **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): The review highlights Laika's prime 3D stop-motion animation in this witty comedy thriller with a worthwhile message, noting impressive staging of horror action and a nicely melancholy mood leavened with dry humour, though it is sometimes thin dramatically. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/paranorman/5044825.article) - **The AV Club**, Tasha Robinson (B-): ParaNorman boasts smooth stop-motion and visual detail but fails to commit to one tone, resulting in an overcrowded and preachy story. Only the ending horror sequence sticks the landing effectively. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/paranorman-1798173860) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): The film is a likable scary story about a lonely boy who sees ghosts and must save his town from zombies and a witch's curse. It offers engaging entertainment with a solidly constructed storyline and hints of Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/13/paranorman-review) - **Vulture** (70/100, inferred): ParaNorman is a charming if ambling film with a low-key, sensitively rendered portrait of an awkward child. It offers irreverent humor and some pathos but feels aimless at times. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2012/08/movie-review-paranorman.html) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (65/100, inferred): ParaNorman is a stop-motion feast for the eyes but less so for the soul. It excels visually but falls short in emotional or thematic depth. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-paranorman-is-a-stop-motion-feast-for-the-eyes-less-for-the-soul-45808/) - **Slant Magazine**, Chris Cabin (60/100, inferred): The film pays lip service to sociological issues and film styles rather than focusing on character or story development. It offers visual delights and a clever message about humanity but chooses easy laughs over depth. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/paranorman/) - **The Times**, Kate Muir (60/100, inferred): This stop-motion animation from the Coraline studio features a boy who sees ghosts in a witch-hunt town overtaken by zombies. There is plenty for adults to enjoy, including great one-liners, while children will be just the tiniest bit scared. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/paranorman-3d-bc7blb29xfs) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (30/100, inferred): The film is an amusing but only fitfully involving animated caper about a boy who communicates with the dead. It comes up short on story and character development despite technically assured stop-motion animation. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/paranorman-film-review-355849/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A): The critic calls ParaNorman one of the best films of the year for its visual wonder, emotional depth and assured blend of horror homage with genuine heart and character investment. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-brilliant-animated-movie-paranorman-is-one-of-the-summers-biggest-and-best-surprises-20120804/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (8.7/10): ParaNorman is a sharp, witty comedy with a ton of heart that puts a thoughtful twist on the zombie genre. The critic singles out the clever spin on the misunderstanding between humans and zombies, highlighting the film's message about fearing what we don't understand. [Read](https://collider.com/paranorman-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Ryan Lambie (4/5): The critic praises the macabre humor, visual craft, and emotional ending of ParaNorman, noting its strong individual scenes and homage to classic horror, while finding the supporting characters somewhat bland. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/paranorman-review/) - **HeyUGuys**, Joe Cunningham (4/5): The critic finds ParaNorman an affectionate and fun introduction to horror for kids, with strong voice work from the supporting cast and a retro vibe that works well in the first act. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/paranorman-review/) - **Digital Spy**, Emma Dibdin (4): The review highlights the film's visually rich animation and emotional core centered on childhood loneliness, commending the witty characters and poignant resolution despite some plot messiness. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a405299/paranorman-review/) - **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): The film is sweet and freaky fun for kids (and adults) with the right sensibility, delivering chills and thrills without traumatizing. It blends ghoulishness and hilarity in stop-motion animation while working in a moral about how fear causes people to lash out at others. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/paranorman-review-sweet-and-creepy-horror-show-kids-who-arent-too-easily-terrified-52216/) - **Eye for Film**, David Graham (40/100, inferred): The review praises the technical ambition and stop-motion craft but finds the story convoluted, characters archetypal and the overall film lifeless despite its subject matter. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/paranorman-2012-film-review-by-david-graham) ## Details - **Director:** Sam Fell, Chris Butler - **Director:** Sam Fell, Chris Butler - **Writer:** Chris Butler - **Cinematography:** Tristan Oliver - **Editor:** Christopher Murrie - **Music:** Jon Brion - **Production design:** Nelson Lowry - **Producer:** Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner - **Cast:** Kodi Smit-McPhee as Norman Babcock (voice); Tucker Albrizzi as Neil Downe (voice); Anna Kendrick as Courtney Babcock (voice); Casey Affleck as Mitch Downe (voice); Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Alvin (voice); Leslie Mann as Sandra Babcock (voice); Jeff Garlin as Perry Babcock (voice); Elaine Stritch as Grandma Babcock (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 33m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 17 August 2012 - **Genres:** Family, Animation, Adventure, Comedy - **Budget:** $60 million - **Box office:** $107 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtiT5PlKD3k ## Where to watch in the US - Hulu: streaming, hd - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Disney+: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, sd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, IE, IL, IT, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, PT, SE, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2013: Best Animated Feature (nominated) - BAFTA Film Awards 2013: BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Feature Film (nominated) - Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 2012: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated) - Critics' Choice Awards 2012: Best Animated Feature (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Coraline* (2009), Fi1m 85: Laika’s first feature: stranger, tighter, and the button eyes will stay with you. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/coraline.md) - *Kubo and the Two Strings* (2016), Fi1m 83: The same studio at its most ambitious, with paper birds and a grieving boy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kubo-and-the-two-strings.md) - *Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit* (2005), Fi1m 87: Aardman’s monster film in plasticine, gentler than this and just as funny. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wallace-and-gromit-the-curse-of-the-were-rabbit.md) - *The Monster Squad* (1987): The live-action version of this idea: kids versus the classic monsters, rude and fond. - *Mary and Max* (2009), Fi1m 80: Australian stop-motion about two lonely outsiders; sadder, odder, for slightly older viewers. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/mary-and-max.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/paranorman