How Paranorman Tricked The Audience
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Published 2022-10-08
(Sorry about any audio/visual issues in this. There were production issues)
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Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/JustStopYT/
Edited by: twitter.com/MRCakeDragonMan
Stills by: twitter.com/EggyDaxy
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Set up & Foreshadowing
5:09 - Fear and Prejudice
11:53 - Stop Motion
All Comments (21)
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I know it's not a big plot point, but I friggin love how the grandma's unfinished business is that she wants to take care of Norman. Like, it's such a sweet thing, and also contributes to the subversion of the whole movie.
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I really loved how they animated Agatha throughout the movie. Her green cloud form gives her an opposing, almost omnipresent demeanor, but think her phantom form at the climax is where the movie's animation really peaks.
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“We were scared..” “of what?” “Of her..” That was always my favorite part of the movie. U can tell they regret their actions but what they did simply isn’t forgivable like y’all killed a kid
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I think what I love about Paranorman so much is just how the villain was just a broken, miserable, shaken girl essentially punished for something she herself didn't understand. I did love the touch that the "zombies" (aka the Puritans who punished Agatha) looked forlorn once the curse was broken, implying that while they are free, they know they are to be punished for what they did to her. Good film, but god damn so heartbreaking.
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I started crying when I saw that Agatha couldn't have been older than 10, this movie really highlights why cult/mob mentality is one of my only genuine fears in this world since it can move even good people to do absolutely abhorrent things.
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In fairness, if rotting human corpses and what I can only describe as a ‘witch storm’ happened at the same time, I, too, would assume it’s not exactly a benign happening.
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I honestly really enjoy that kind of foreshadowing like the grandma's "Why don't they just talk it out?". Those moments where one line of dialogue almost spoils the twist, but it's such a small thing that you don't catch on. Also, one little bit of detail is that near the end, the film uses smear frames. Not cgi either, they used stop motion for the smear effect. It really goes to show how dedicated they are to their animation to design face models just for a small, quick moment.
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“Megamind”, “Book of Life” and Paranorman” are the definition of masterpieces!
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Little correction: Agatha's mother could not have been hanged before Agatha was. Probable Outcome: She, Mildred Prenderghast (had to look that one up), had to continue living in order to supposedly create the "ritual" to keep Agatha asleep. She would later have another child to continue the Prenderghast name and pass down the ritual until Norman's era. Side note: seeing this movie's style compared to the other Laika movies makes me wish they'd do a Psychonauts movie too.
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Another tragic kinda story that might be implied is also part of the name. Because Norman's uncle and Agatha share the same last name, that means that Agatha had a male family member with the same powers. While it's possible that it was an uncle, I think it'd be more tragic to have it be a brother. Someone who also ostracized their sibling, but feeling ashamed decided to read their sibling a story from their shared childhood to help her rest.
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Honestly, one of the things I loved about the movie was the sister didn’t get with the jock at the end. Not just because of queer representation, but she didn’t deserve him. Throughout the whole film, except for the last twenty minutes, she was bitchy and bratty towards Norman, following her father’s lead. It’s way better that she has at least some semblance of a consequence for that behavior, even it’s the irony of chasing someone who’s unavailable to her.
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Everytime I watch this, Aggie and Norman at the tree brings me to tears. Such an amazing, emotional film.
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That reveal towards the third act was absolutely dark, but absolutely brutal and faithful to the Salem Witch trials. The story has such misdirection, though we have such bombs in foreshadowing that should have really prepared us. We go in watching as a comedic take on a curse by a witch, and zombies rising - then we come to the reveal. Everything we knew, everything we trusted - boosh. Who are we? How do we keep going on knowing the world is a struggle?
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ParaNorman and Coraline are movies I watch every year they really hold up. Kinda sucks but understandable that stop motion is less of a thing nowadays. At least we still get stop motion movies sometimes.
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Liking horror and stop motion is just confirmation that you have good taste.
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You forgot the biggest subversion in the film: When Courtney asks Mitch if he wants to go to the movies with her, he says “You’re gonna love my boyfriend, he’s like a real chick flick nut”, much to Courtney’s dismay For real though: That caught me off guard when I was a kid
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I never thought about the exact reason as to why Agatha cursed the jury. Not for revenge, but so they would eventually feel the same thing she felt. That's absolutely fantastic
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12:00 I just watched the documentary about Phil Tippett the other night (10/10 stars) and I do feel sad that stop motion is a struggling art form (you can tell the rapid takeover of CGI kind of broke his heart). I think there will always be people keeping it alive, but it takes a special mind set and a lot of patience. Fun fact though, Toby Froud, the baby from "Labyrinth," grew up to be one of the animators on "Paranorman."
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Fun Fact: Paranorman is the first animated movie to feature an Openly Gay Character
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I am a huge fan of Laika. I actually own Coraline, ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Boxtrolls. I didn't like Boxtrolls as much as their other productions but it still is a marvel in its own rights. Although I love Coraline, ParaNorman is also a favorite of mine. Kubo is my all time favorite of theirs though. It's beautifully done and I feel it doesn't get as much love.
