October 26, 2016

If you’ve been following along on my editorials here on Bumhouse.com, then you may know what a huge advocate for home 3D I am. I’ve already listed out 5 recommendations, then 5 more and then another 5 to own! But I’ve specifically reserved a slot this week to pick 6 animated movies available in home 3D that are ideal for the holiday season. After all, some of the best looking 3D comes from the animated world. The following, paired up with my 10 kid-friendly recommendations from earlier this week should give you plenty of great spooky flicks to watch with the whole family this Halloween!

PARANORMAN

ParaNorman follows the shy and awkward Norman, who regularly converses with his grandma who thinks it’s too cold in the living room. Oh yeah, his grandma is recently deceased. It seems Norman has the ability to see and communicate with the dead! The town bares a witch’s curse, and when Norman’s crazy estranged Uncle tries to warn him about the validity of the hex, suddenly zombies arise and it’s up to Norman and his misfit friends to lift the curse! It’s a really sweet story, punctuated by Jon Brion’s terrific score. And naturally, it looks great in home 3D!

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

Who knew that Adam Sandler and his motley crew of usual suspects could perfectly capture the essence of a great monster mash like MAD MONSTER PARTY and portray animated versions of the great Universal Monsters? But that’s the deal with the fun HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA. Dracula (voiced by Sandler) becomes incredibly concerned when his young daughter meets a boy from the outside world, and suddenly become curious about life beyond his high-end resort castle he owns and operates. But maybe the outside world has a new outlook on monsters these days? With the voice talents of Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Kevin James, Andy Samberg, Molly Shannon, Selena Gomez and Jon Lovitz, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA is a good time with all of your favorite monsters!

MONSTER HOUSE

There’s always that one creepy house in the neighborhood everyone knows to stay away from. But what if that scary house is actually alive and a monster itself? For 3 teens, that’s the harsh lesson they discover when they step up to grumpy Mr. Nebbercracker’s house! Can they stop this monstrous house before Halloween arrives? This 2006 feature was one of the earlier 3D animated experiments for this sort of kid-friendly creepy tale, and it turned out to be a fun romp. Director Gil Kenan went on to helm the 2015 POLTERGEIST remake.

CORALINE

Based upon the book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline Jones is a bored girl, living in a new house that stumbles upon a door to a mirror version of our world, but in this alternate world, it’s the ideal versions of everything she wants. Her parents are attentive. Everything looks and feels more vibrant and positive. But the more time she spends in that world, the slowly it starts to unravel, as her mother’s doppelgänger wants her to stay forever! Oh yeah, everyone in the alternate world has button eyes. So that’s kind of creepy. From Henry Selick, the director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, this was Laika Studios first major breakthrough into the 3D animated world. They’ve got 3 of the 6 titles on this list!

FRANKENWEENIE

FRANKENWEENIE, the full length feature may have arrived in 2012, but it’s actually based on one of the very first short films Tim Burton ever made. And hence, that’s probably why it’s reminiscent of the vibrant and fun manic energy of early Tim Burton work, which was fiercely original & unique and came at a time long before the auteur tackled mostly already established properties. A boy’s best friend is his dog. So, for Victor, he can’t bare to lose his best buddy. In typical Frankenstein fashion, he manages to bring his pup Sparky back to life and some wacky hijinks ensue! This is one of Burton’s best!

THE BOXTROLLS

Another one from Laika Studios, in THE BOXTROLLS, a young boy is orphaned and abandoned when he’s discovered by a group of underground dwellers known as “box trolls.” They raise him as one of their own, but there comes a point where he realizes he’s different. After a series of rash disappearances among the box troll community in the outside world, they decide to investigate and the boy starts to learn his actual heritage. It’s a movie whose tagline states “dare to be different,” and it’s a wonderful tale of embracing those differences. Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost and Tracy Morgan all add their voice talents to another stellar looking 3D title.