A Gnome Named Gnorm

1990 film directed by Stan Winston

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1990 (1990)

Running time

84 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

A Gnome Named Gnorm (also known in some markets as Upworld) is a 1990 fantasy buddy comedy film directed by Stan Winston and written by Pen Densham and John Watson. The film stars Anthony Michael Hall, Jerry Orbach and Claudia Christian, and is about a Los Angeles police detective who teams up with a gnome to solve a murder.

Plot

Gnorm is just an average gnome who lives underground, but he wants to impress another gnome romantically by doing something heroic. He takes the "lumen", a stone that must be brought to the surface (called "Upworld" by the gnomes) to be exposed to the sun to recharge it. When he gets to the surface, he witnesses a murder and the killer ends up with the lumen. Detective Casey (Hall), who was working a sting operation with the murdered man, is blamed for botching the sting, and the man's death. Wanting to catch the killer to clear his name, he accidentally discovers Gnorm, and they team up.^[1]

Cast

Anthony Michael Hall as Detective Casey Gallagher
Jerry Orbach as Captain Stan Walton
Claudia Christian as Detective Samantha
Eli Danker as Zadar
Mark Harelik as Detective Kaminsky
Robert Z'Dar as Reggie
Pat Crawford Brown as Female Mourner
Joseph R. Sicari as Ferril
Greg Kean as Budd
Michelle Johnston as Stripper
Wren T. Brown as Hearse Driver
Rueben Grundy as Cop #1
Guy Garner as Cop #2
Gnorm is played by several actors,^[2] and is voiced by Rob Paulsen

Production

The movie was filmed under the title Upworld in 46 days, and was completed in early 1989, except for the ending.^[3] The film's writer and supervising producer, John Watson, said he wanted to make something in the vein of E.T. meets 48 Hrs..^[3] Director Stan Winston had initially shot the film with a more poignant ending, but said that after screening the film with a live audience he decided to change to a more humorous ending as he felt the tone didn't work with the rest of the film and re-shot the ending to be more humorous in keeping with the tone of the rest of the film.^[3]

Release

Due to the bankruptcy of Vestron Pictures, the film wound up in limbo without experiencing a major release.^[3] A Gnome Named Gnorm was given a straight-to-video release on April 20, 1994.^[4]

References

^ "Upworld (1990) : Plot Summary". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
^ "Upworld (1990) : Full cast". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Vandehey, Tim (April 1991). "Upworld". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
^ "Up World (1993)". TCM. Retrieved June 21, 2024.