Norman is the designated "weird kid" in school because he claims he can speak with ghosts. He can. In one of this animated features first scenes he's walking down the street, seemingly talking to himself--then it switches to his point of view and we see dozens of ghosts, from soldiers to 1950's housewives. There's even a ghost dog that's cut in half. It's the 300th Anniversary of the town. However, there's a curse upon the townspeople. Their Puritan founders had put a witch to death--and if the curse isn't averted each year then the dead will come back to life. This particular year the person responsible for keeping the curse at bay is Norman's crazy uncle, but the uncle dies. He becomes a ghost and tells Norman that it's now his role to appease the witch, by reading a story from book. It doesn't work. The dead come out of the ground--but they're more afraid of the living people who want to blow their brains out, a clever reversal of the stereotypical zombie flesh-eating scenario. Norman befriends the zombies--who are actually the corpses of those Puritans. It all comes down to a confrontation between Norman and the vengeful witch, who surprisingly turns out to be a little girl. It's a good animated movie, not a great one.
Norman is the designated "weird kid" in school because he claims he can speak with ghosts. He can. In one of this animated features first scenes he's walking down the street, seemingly talking to himself--then it switches to his point of view and we see dozens of ghosts, from soldiers to 1950's housewives. There's even a ghost dog that's cut in half. It's the 300th Anniversary of the town. However, there's a curse upon the townspeople. Their Puritan founders had put a witch to death--and if the curse isn't averted each year then the dead will come back to life. This particular year the person responsible for keeping the curse at bay is Norman's crazy uncle, but the uncle dies. He becomes a ghost and tells Norman that it's now his role to appease the witch, by reading a story from book. It doesn't work. The dead come out of the ground--but they're more afraid of the living people who want to blow their brains out, a clever reversal of the stereotypical zombie flesh-eating scenario. Norman befriends the zombies--who are actually the corpses of those Puritans. It all comes down to a confrontation between Norman and the vengeful witch, who surprisingly turns out to be a little girl. It's a good animated movie, not a great one.
