December 27, 2014, 5:00 p.m. — Laika Studio Day
ParaNorman
2012. USA. Directed by Chris Butler, Sam Fell. With the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Tucker Albrizzi, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jeff Garlin. Laika’s second feature is a horror comedy set in a haunted town in modern-day New England. Norman is a psychic boy with unappreciated powers that allow him to converse with the dead. Defying clueless parents and bullying classmates who doubt his predictions of doom, he explores graveyards, awakens zombies, and battles ghostly storms in an effort to reverse a 300-year-old witches’ curse with therapeutic lessons in tolerance and self-help. The film excels on the basis of its singular character design, outstanding production values, and distinctive visual effects that benefit from groundbreaking advances in puppet engineering. Courtesy of Focus Features. 93 min.
