So I’m going to be honest and say I’m surprised that this movie is only rated PG. Not that there’s some bloodbath of a battle scene or anything like that, just that the humour was aimed for adults, which honestly I loved… But I’m not so sure parents who took their young child would… then again I don’t remember seeing any little kids in the theatre. The jokes and witty comments were hilarious and I was laughing so hard I almost choked on a piece of popcorn, twice. The movie starts off with an eleven year old boy named Norman (voice: Kodi Smit-McPhee) watching TV with what we later learn to be his dead grandma; the whole base of the movie, him being able to communicate with the dead, reminded me a bit of the Sixth Sense; yet less of a thriller and more of an adventure with good humour. Like Coraline (2009) the stop motion camera used to create this animated adventure gave a mesmerizing, if not creepy effect. Cinematographer Tristan Oliver (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit) did a stunning job.  Also, comparable to Coraline was the the format of the movie, it felt like one for a video game; the characters had to perform one task and when it was done they were faced with another and so on. This caused the movie to seem choppy and rushed, the events jumped around a lot but it prevented the audience from being bored, it was definitely not dragged on and I’m surprised to say it left me wanting more... maybe it was the popcorn. Also similar to Coraline was the short length of the movie. ParaNorman’s run time it 93 minutes, only seven minutes less than the 2009 adventure of the eerie dolls with button eyes. The movie also reminded me of a lot of different Scooby Doo movies, and not only just the police saying “if it weren’t for those meddling kids.” Skip to the bottom of the article to see which Scooby Doo movies and why. Overall though I would say the film is short and sweet, I enjoyed it but there were still many plot holes…

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

Agatha Prenderghast, the town’s witch who we learn to be an eleven year old girl who was executed for being a witch, is portrayed as an innocent girl with similar abilities as Norman. We believe she was simply a kid who could see ghosts. If this is the case, how could she have the power to put such a curse on the town? I could give the benefit of the doubt and say she did in fact have magical powers and Norman was just relating to her about being different, but it didn’t seem like it. Also, if you saw a zombie on the street, would your first reaction be to get a stick and attack it? Well maybe if you’re Superman, but let’s be realistic here… Then again we are talking about zombies.

All Scooby- Doo

Movies:                   The kids drove a van to get around, one that looked awfully similar to the Mystery Machine.

All Scooby- Doo

Movies:                   Of course the supposedly “hot” guy is driving the van, Mitch here and Fred in  .                               Scooby Doo.

All Scooby-Doo

Movies:                  The pretty girl falls for the driver, in Scooby Doo it was Daphne and Fred, in     .                              ParaNorman its Courtney and Mitch.

Scooby Doo on

Zombie Island:        Well the obvious one, they were facing zombies but most of all, the zombies     .                              ended up being good.

Scooby Doo and

the Witch’s Ghost:  Yes they face someone who was accused of being a witch many years ago                                                                 and it involves a book to stop her.

I recommend seeing ParaNorman, is it better than Coraline? I don't think so, but is it good? If your willing to choke on popcorn laughing, definitely.