A Gnome Named Gnorm

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.

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, 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. The film's writer and supervising producer, John Watson, said he wanted to make something in the vein of E.T. meets 48 Hrs.. 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.

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