Never judge a zombie by his rotting flesh. That's the simple truth behind the brilliant and ghoulish stop-motion feature "ParaNorman" from Laika Entertainment ("Coraline").

Unequivocally original with breathtaking stop-motion animation (stay to the end of the credits for a very brief demo of Norman's creation), "ParaNorman" is easily the best animated film of the year. The overly exaggerated human and zombie features, in and of themselves, are incredibly imagined. Each character is uniquely defined and represented, making Norman's world rich with detail and expression. Writer and director Chris Butler's script about a young boy struggling with his sixth sense of seeing dead people is razor-sharp, fiendish and packed with edgy humor and laugh-out-loud dialogue.

"ParaNorman's" message is simple and strong: don't judge people - even dead people. Norman is an outcast at school. Playground gossip about him seeing ghosts has made the young boy a social deviant.