If Pixar is the animation house that can make sweet stories beat with a heart of gold, then “Coraline” animators Laika can be held responsible for the same thing – only their creations have a bit more blackened humanity to them. We’ve seen that reflected in the trailers for their upcoming stop-motion animation venture “ParaNorman,” and it’s interesting to see that they’re carrying this mentality over into their promotional materials as well.
In some pretty clever and spooky newspapers created to promote the film, Laika has done wonders to introduce the uninitiated to the world of the film, which follows a boy named Norman who’s ability to communicate with the dead makes him key in the survival of his hometown against a centuries-old curse. The faux newspapers shed a little light on the town of Blithe Hollow, who seem to be experiencing a little rotten luck over Christmas, Easter weekend, and Valentine’s Day – with everything from their resident Easter Bunny being mugged to some general bewitching going on. It paints the town of the film as a quirky one, with full-length columns proving that the town itself is rather familiar with the supernatural.
We’re assuming there are some plot elements from the film here, with one newspaper headline of The Blithe Hollow Bugle reading “City Planners ‘Acting Like Zombies,’” which clearly seems to go along with what we’ve seen in film’s early previews. Laika unleashes “ParaNorman” stateside on August 17th, boasting a cast that included Kodi Smit-McPhee, Leslie Mann, John Goodman, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, and several others. Suffice to say, we’re definitely anticipating this one (especially with that Jon Brion score in the mix). [Kinopoisk]
