History WesternAnimation / ParaNorman

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The exact time period of the movie is a bit fuzzy. All the [=TVs=], most of the cars, and the movies that Norman watches seem to come from TheSeventies, but all the kids have cell phones and Internet access, and during the school play, all the parents (as in literally ''[[FunnyBackgroundEvent all]]'' the parents) have 2000s-era video recorder cameras.

* EntertainmentAboveTheirAge: Norman is only about nine, but he frequently [[NightmareFetishist watches violent horror movies]].

* AnAesop: Multiple. "Don't let fear make you do bad things," "bullying of any kind is wrong," and most importantly, "revenge is wrong." Interestingly, it's not the protagonist who needs to learn the last one; instead, he teaches it to the accused witch.
** A meta example would be Mitch being the first openly gay character in a mainstream children's animated film (though this isn't revealed until the last few minutes of the film). The creators have gone on to state that this reveal is tied to the overall message of the film of not judging people.
** The above example with Mitch also implies that just because someone has faced discrimination or is a part of a group that faces discrimination, it does not mean that they are above displaying the same mode of behavior, nor is it justified for them to do so.
** Just because people are mean to you, it doesn't mean you should be mean back; it will only make things worse.
** Alternatively, even if it seems that everyone loathes you or hurts you, there's always someone out there who ''does'' love you.
** People often do or say cruel things when they're scared. Control your fear, lest it control ''you''.
** Don't automatically take your own viewpoint for correct. All of the problems in the film are caused by a lack of critical thinking, on both the apparent good and evil sides. First it applies to the Puritan jury who killed Agatha out of fear, then to the people in the present day hunting down the zombies in a mob, and finally to Agatha herself for condemning the Puritans to be zombies.

* TheMentor: Norman's wise (but dead) grandmother, who tells him it's okay to be afraid so long as that doesn't change who you are, [[AnAesop neatly encapsulating one of the film's major themes]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: Fans have likened the art style and the feel of the film overall to VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}} -- appropriately so, as the art style of the game was inspired by stop-motion animation.
** It could also be seen as this to WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}. It's made by the same studio, in stop-motion, and it's about an 11-year-old kid going up against a supernatural threat.
** Interestingly enough, it arguably qualifies as one to ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland''. Both are very dark, deconstructive, and cynical movies about a cast of young people fighting the accursed undead that (initially) no one believes are real. They also have a nearly identical plot twist at their cores: the supposedly evil zombies who are apparently "hunting" the protagonists were responsible in life for the female villain(s)' StartOfDarkness, and the zombies are actually trying to ''help'' the protagonists to be freed from their curse and [[TheAtoner atone for the evil they did]] when they were alive.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine It’s all fun and games until someone raises the dead.]]]]

* AnachronismStew: The book to stave off the witch's curse is a storybook retelling of "Literature/SleepingBeauty". While the story existed in oral tradition all over Europe (and its colonies) for centuries, this version clearly owes much to Creator/CharlesPerrault's version of the fairy tale, which wasn't translated into English until 1729, seventeen years after Agatha's execution.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The exact time period of the movie is a bit fuzzy. All the [=TVs=], most of the cars, and the movies that Norman watches seem to come from the 70s, but all the kids have cell phones and Internet access, and during the school play, all the parents (as in literally ''[[FunnyBackgroundEvent all]]'' the parents) have 2000s-era video recorder cameras.

The film follows the titular protagonist, Norman (voiced by Creator/KodiSmitMcPhee), living in a small town in Massachusetts. With the "gift" of speaking to the dead, Norman is considered an outcast by the majority of the town, most of which is populated by [[AdultsAreUseless useless adults]] and nasty kids. When the town comes under siege by [[ZombieApocalypse zombies,]] [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], and [[WickedWitch witches]], only he can actually save the town from these creatures, not to mention a three-hundred-year-old curse.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Norman is not exactly Mr. Popular in town, for reasons mentioned above under CoolLoser.

* CoolLoser: Norman happens to be able to speak to the dead, but is considered an outsider in the community. However, this is somewhat justified when you consider that from everyone else's perspective, this is a kid who is going around claiming he speaks with dead people, with no apparent proof.

* AnachronismStew: The book to stave off the witch's curse is a storybook retelling of "Literature/Sleeping Beauty". While the story existed in oral tradition all over Europe (and its colonies) for centuries, this version clearly owes much to Creator/CharlesPerrault's version of the fairy tale, which wasn't translated into English until 1729, seventeen years after Agatha's execution.

* HotWitch: When the people of Blithe Hollow capitalize on the execution of a supposed witch in its colonial past, most of them use the WickedWitch archetype. A billboard for the casino, however, depicts her as a young woman in a skimpy outfit with a wad of bills in her generous cleavage. The real "witch" was an 11-year-old girl named Agatha Prenderghast.

* BareYourMidriff: Courtney, with her tiny little pink jacket.