PARANORMAN (2012)
Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: Shout! Factory
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), BD (A)
Rating: PG
Duration: 101 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR 2160p HD Widescreen (2.40:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Chris Butler & Sam Fell
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, John Goodman
ParaNorman (2012) is another kid-friendly slice of stop-motion animation from the imagination wizards at Laika Studios, wherein a small town comes under siege of a centuries old witch's curse which unleashes a zombie horde upon the populace. The only hope is a misfit kid named Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who has the ability to speak with the dead. The stylized and imaginative stop motion feature is ripe with ghouls, ghosts and witchy atmosphere, its also heartwarming and rib-ticklingly funny. The Shout! Factory 4K UHD offers a new 4K restoration, plenty of archival extras, a booklet, and limited edition Steelbook packaging.
Audio/Video: ParaNorman debuts on the 4K UHD format courtesy of Shout! Factory, touted as a "New 4K restoration", presenting the film 2160p UHD widescreen (2.40:1) with the benefit of Dolby Vision HDR color-grading. Like Coraline this is a very attractive looking 4K upgrade with new levels of fine detail that enhance the stop-motion visuals, the Dolby Vision HDR adding a new full-bodied color-grading and improved contrast levels that is an appreciable uptick over the previous Blu-ray edition. Audio comes by immersive Atmos remix that refreshes the sound scape with new depth and clarity, the surrounds get quite a nice workout during the more action-based sequences.
All the extras are on the accompanying Blu-ray disc, no new extras but well over 2-hours of featurettes, deleted scenes, feature length storyboards, trailer, still galleries and featurettes galore with some cool behind-the-scenes peeks at the making of this stop-motion animation classic.
The 2-disc set arrives in a slick looking limited edition Steelbook packaging with artwork by artist Kevin Tong adorning both the outside and inside of the Steelbook. Inside there's the same 12-page booklet that accompanied the previous LAIKA Studios Edition with writing on the film by film writer Bill Desowitz. Both the Blu-ray and UHD discs feature excerpts from the key art used on the Steelbook.
Special Features:
Disc 1 (4K UHD):
- NEW 4K Restoration
- NEW Dolby Atmos 7.1 Mix
Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
- Feature-Length Storyboards (92 min)
- Inside LAIKA Featurette-Revisiting the Puppets with LAIKA’s Animation Team (10 min)
- Inside LAIKA Discovering the Characters and Effects of ParaNorman Featuring Never-Before-Seen Animation Test Footage (13 min)
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Chris Butler and Co-Director Sam Fell
- Peering Through the Veil: Behind-the-Scenes of ParaNorman (40 min)
- You Don’t Become a Hero By Being Normal (3 min)
- A Norman Childhood (2 min)
- Playing As A Profession (2 min)
- Making Norman (2 min)
- This Little Light (1 min)
- Have You Ever Seen A Ghost (2 min)
- The Zombies of ParaNorman (2 min)
- Still Galleries: character Art (2 min), Concept Art (2 min), Behind-the-Scenes (2 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
