Between Madagascar 3, Brave, and Ice Age: Continental Drift, the 2012
Summer Movie Season has been absolutely saturated with family-friendly animated
films, each with a defined audience and massive commercial appeal, but based on
questionable subject material and marketing tactics, I was afraid that the same
just couldn’t be said for ParaNorman. Parents certainly wouldn’t question taking
their children to see colorful and sarcastic animals or positive and heroic
role models, but how was anyone supposed to react to an animated film focusing
on…zombies? Dark subject material aside,
it certainly didn’t help that the few bankable names associated with ParaNorman were pushed aside in
marketing tactics in order to spend time trying to sell the amicable and
kid-friendly nature of…zombies. Granted,
stop-motion animation has certainly proven itself successful in the past, and
trailers did highlight a few truly clever jokes, but ParaNorman still just seemed out of place in relation to the types
of films one would expect to find at the summer box office. So, more out of sheer curiosity than a
genuine interest in the story that would be told, I decided to give ParaNorman a chance and see if it could
hold its own against the other strong animated features in recent memory.
With truly impressive animation
complimenting an engaging and surprisingly deep story, I certainly did enjoy ParaNorman more than I initially
expected, and yet I cannot help but feel that this “family” film failed to
appropriately cater to its intended audience.
With its central character gifted with the ability to speak with ghosts
and tasked with protecting his family and friends from an ancient witch’s curse
and newly-risen zombies, the narrative certainly didn’t shy away from horror
elements, and I can definitely see it scaring smaller children. And, time-and-again, I have praised recent
animated features from striking an appropriate balance of humor that can appeal
to both children and adults, but with ParaNorman,
there were more than a few jokes that crossed the line and could pave the way
for some very difficult conversations for parents trying to placate the
curiosity of young moviegoers…trust me, some of the parents in the audience
were NOT happy. If this newest animated
feature had been released during Halloween, it could have been a fairly safe
way for younger audiences to enjoy the spooky holiday spirit, but during the
Summer Movie Season, parents definitely need to do a little more background
research before taking the whole family.
So, even though there is nothing blatantly wrong with ParaNorman in terms of film quality or
entertainment value, my lower recommendation has to do with the fact this
newest animated feature limits its strongest levels of appeal to an extremely
limited niche audience.
