LAIKA’s new film, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS opens tomorrow… but does it live up to their innovative reputation? It certainly does, with one slight (Eh… big. It’s pretty big…) problem.
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS is the story of a magical young boy who finds himself on a mission to solve the mystery of his fallen warrior of a father, while avoiding evil spirits that will do anything to stop him. Along the way, young Kubo encounters Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who help guide him on his journey. Together, the three of them set out to find out just what happened to the greatest samurai who ever lived, and finally find an end to his tale.
Let me start off by saying that the story of KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS is incredible. Set in Japan, the film honors the heritage and culture of the country in a magical and enchanting way. LAIKA never disappoints when it comes to story. The same can be said for the look of the film. The rich colors, details in emotions, hair, the elements, etc. are all breathtaking, and draw the audience in. It’s hard not to get lost in the beauty. I can’t say enough great things about Travis Knight. He always picks incredible stories that are original, layered, and saturated with issues that are pertinent to humanity.
Art Parkinson from ‘Game of Thrones’ is the voice of young KUBO, and he does an incredible job. His sort spoken voice and incredible laughter bring life to the character. I could tell you how incredible Theron and McConaughey are as Monkey and Beetle, but you already know that, because they are incredible actors. This, however, leads me to the part where I talk about my one big problem with the film…
It’s the blatant Hollywood ‘white-washing.’ Really? All three of the main characters are white? In a Japanese film? It’s 2016… This has been a major issue with films in the past couple of years. It’s been all over the media. It was a huge scandal with the Oscars. Someone had to think that this would be a slight problem. I’m just saying, maybe they should have gone back and corrected this… Or at least included a person of color in one of the three main roles.
I can’t end this review without mentioning Regina Spektor and her incredible rendition of The Beatles song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” I normally hate Beatles covers because I am a HUGE Beatles fan, but she did a phenomenal job. I love it!
OVERALL RATING : 4 out of 5 stars
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KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGSis an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA. Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Akihiro (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award® nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Recently, I got the chance to sit down with stars Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey, along with director Travis Knight, who also happens to be the President and CEO of LAIKA. Check out some of the highlights below!
Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award® winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award® nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award® nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Travis, what was it about the screenplay that fell into your goals of LAIKA from the very beginning?
KNIGHT : Well, we started LAIKA about ten years ago, and we had a pretty simple mandate which was make movies that matter… To tell stories that were rich… that were provocative… that were thematically challenging, and that had info to say about what it’s like to be human. We always want to do new, interesting stories. We want to explore aspects of the human condition this story really spoke to me because when I was a kid I love the big, epic fantasies with this film was. At the same time, when I was eight years old I went to Japan for the first time. I was a kid who grew up in Portland, Oregon so being in Japan was unlike anything else I’d ever experienced. It was a real revelation for me. It’s a kind of art that’s lived with me for my entire life. So, this film really ticked those boxes for me.
‘The Great Jang-Gemu’ filmaker said that every boy wants either wants a train set or to make a martial arts movie. I didn’t have a train set so this is my martial arts movie.
I know that there’s a lot of influence here… Not just Akira Kurosawa, but also Hayao Miyazaki .. How much did those influences way on you while making the film?
KNIGHT : Well, we draw inspiration from a lot of different places, and, you know, probably the two biggest filmmaker- influences were Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki. For Kurosawa, it was the way he made films, which was, you know, this incredible composition, and cutting, and staging, and lighting and his work with shapes. But it was not just the way he made films, it was what he made films about. He always explored something really meaningful… things like existentialism and humanism. He’d really explore different aspects of what it means to be human in the human society… in the human family that we live in. That was an important aspect of what we did in this movie. For Hayao Miyazaki, I think, you know… I’ve been a fan of his for 20 years. The interesting thing for me is… Miyazaki has a half a dozen films that were either inspired by or set in Europe, and I love the way he internalizes, and synthesizes, and then weaves into his own art, different cultural influences. The same kind of prism that Miyazaki applied to Europe was what we wanted to apply to Japan. That same vitality and love for this incredible culture, we tried to apply to Japan in this movie.
For Art, Charlize, and Matthew… You’ve seen the film. I’d love to know what you thought?
PARKINSON : I loved the film. I just thought it was really, really beautiful. It was a very detailed film. Some of the key moments that stood out to me were the relationships that Kubo had with his mother, and the way he, sort of brought characters to life with his music and his origami. I like to think that I bring characters to life with what I do. It was really, sort of, cool to see, and to have something in common with the character.
THERON : I absolutely loved it! I feel terrible that I haven’t had a moment to talk to Travis about this. This is literally the fist time, so this is kind of my love song to you. [She looks at Travis] The first moment that I met Travis… when we started having a conversation about this, there was something very clear about what he was trying to set out to do. I think it was finding a way to, kind of, tell a story through great character, but also through a real sense of the world. It was very hard for him to talk about character without talking about world. And to see the film finally, and see the celebration of both of those things so beautifully and seamlessly done, I was so inspired by it, really. I have such admiration for the time, and the patience, and the passion that has to go into that. You know, as actors, we step in and the embodiment is in broad strokes. With this, it’s painted with such a small brush. It’s such a find brush. I sit here today in just complete awe of what that is. Of course, on top of all of that, the story, to me, is incredibly moving, and really layered and conflicted, and covers a lot of things that I think we are sometimes scared to address with children. I think it’s so true to what LAIKA stands for and what their films have represented. And that thematically, there really isn’t anything that you can’t explore, in an interesting way, through children’s eyes, and tell and teach the children. Yeah! I’m so happy to be a part of it. I never thought I would get to do something like this.
MCCONAUGHEY : Yeah. LAIKA before LAIKA, before, and with this, has not really ever made material that pandered to kids. It’s never been like, “Oh, that’s just a kids’ movie with kids’ themes.” There always considered adult themes, but things that every child can understand and digest. I got to watch it with my wife and my two eldest children, who are seven and five. There were tears. I think my wife said she cried about nine times. And then there was also laughter. And then there was something that the kids saw. The had tough questions afterward. They enjoyed the ride, but they came and asked. They were scared at the right times. They saw someone overcome fears. We got to talk about that. They got to equate that to things in their own life. You don’t get that in every animated film. So, we adults, we quite enjoyed it, and the kids loved it… and they’re 7 and 5. So, I think it’s a very impressive piece of work. It was obviously impressive when I met with Travis, we met for the first time for lunch to see how they do what they do, and I think it’s fully realized in the final film. I really enjoyed it.
Kubo has two very special special mentors helping him on his journey. Can you share any special mentors that you’ve had helping you on your life journey?
PARKINSON : For me very special mentor to me is my mother,and she’s right in the back there. She brought me up, and whenever I was coming up, working in this industry, on film and TV, she was my mentor because there was no one else really to teach me how to handle things. My mom was a very special mentor in every aspect of life, whether it be sports, or school, or acting. She’s always very supportive. I think the maternal instincts of a character like Monkey… I can relate that to my mother. Yeah. I also have a mentor in my father because he’s a little bit more fun, and a little less strict… like Matthew’s character Beetle. Yeah, he actually… he was the one in the film… whenever Beetle let him use the bow and stuff… my father let me try it out, and things like that. I can relate ti the film very well, and the mentors.
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS hits theaters August 19, 2016
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Prepare for Kubo’s epic quest with an all-new motion poster.
Take a sneak peek at the magical adventure by watching a recently released clip that showcases the bravery of Beetle, voiced by Matthew McConaughey.
Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA. Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Hashi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Director: Travis Knight
Writers: Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (“ParaNorman”)
Voice Cast: Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro, Rooney Mara, and Matthew McConaughey
Kubo’s quest begins nationwide August 19, 2016 from animation studio LAIKA and Focus Features.
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Here’s a look at the gorgeous new trailer for KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS.
The film is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from animation studio LAIKA.
Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Akihiro (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro).
But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known.
With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Focus Features will release the movie nationwide on August 19, 2016.
LAIKA, the award-winning animation studio nestled in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, celebrates 10 years of bold and memorable filmmaking this month. For a company whose name means “little barker” in Russian, Portland, Oregon-based LAIKA has made quite a noise in the global film industry over a relatively short time.
With its world-class filmmaking team, LAIKA pushes the boundaries of family entertainment and animated movies, redefining what stories can and should be told through the art form.
“When LAIKA began we had a simple goal: to make movies that matter,” says Travis Knight, LAIKA’s President and CEO, who also is lead animator and a producer on its films. “LAIKA is devoted to telling new and original stories in new and original ways.”
“We aspire to make films that are bold, distinctive, and enduring,” Knight continues. “We are committed to telling stories that are thematically challenging, aesthetically beautiful, emotionally resonant, and a wee bit subversive. By combining stop-motion animation with cutting-edge creative approaches, we’ve embraced the fusion of art and craft and technology, honoring tradition while looking toward the future. We invented new systems and technologies for liberating the camera, to make our films more cinematic. We created new techniques for building and animating our puppets, to make our characters more lifelike and to connect more immediately and intimately with audiences. We discovered new processes for integrating practical and digital visual effects, to make our worlds more authentic. But we’re never satisfied. There’s an inherent restlessness at LAIKA. We always want to challenge ourselves.”
LAIKA began its unconventional cinematic journey with Coraline in 2009, continuing with ParaNorman in 2012 and The Boxtrolls in 2014. All three films featured LAIKA’s unique and innovative 3D stop-motion and CG hybrid technique. LAIKA’s original distribution partners, Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, remain the studio’s collaborators to this day. “We have the bravest distributors in the world,” says Knight. “They are lionhearted souls who took a chance on a ragged band of misfits from Oregon. Together, we share an abiding love for original stories and inventive storytelling.”
In addition to numerous critics’ awards and multiple Annie Awards (the animation community’s Oscars equivalent), all three of LAIKA’s feature films have been nominated for Academy Awards, BAFTA, and PGA Awards. The Boxtrolls also received a Golden Globe nomination; ParaNorman was cited as the year’s best animated feature by more critics’ groups than any other film in 2012, and Coraline was named one of the American Film Institute’s Top 10 Films of the year. “These last ten years have been magical,” says Knight. “But as I look forward, I’m more excited for what the future holds. We’re just getting warmed up.”
Knight, who makes his directorial debut with LAIKA’s next film, Kubo and the Two Strings (release date: August 19, 2016) adds, “Stripping everything else away, we’re simple storytellers. We’re the heirs of flamboyant stage magicians, plainspoken raconteurs spinning yarns around a campfire, and knuckle-dragging troglodytes scrawling stick figures on a cave wall. We believe telling stories is one of the prime functions of the human mind and spirit. A good story can elicit empathy, opening us up to new possibilities, to new ways of thinking, to recognizing the shared humanity in which we all participate. And, in the end, that’s ultimately LAIKA’s reason for being.”
LAIKA FILMOGRAPHY
Coraline (Release Date: February 6, 2009) Combining the visionary imaginations of two premier fantasists, director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and author Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Coraline is a wondrous and thrilling, fun and suspenseful adventure and the first stop motion film ever to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3-D, unlike anything moviegoers had ever experienced before. In Coraline, a young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home and save her family.
Voice Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. Produced by Bill Mechanic, Claire Jennings, Henry Selick, Mary Sandell. Based on the book by Neil Gaiman. Written for the Screen and Directed by Henry Selick.
ParaNorman (Release Date: August 17, 2012)
In the comedy thriller, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul-whisperer bravely summons up all that makes a hero – courage and compassion – as he finds his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Voice Cast:Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman. Produced by Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight. Written by Chris Butler. Directed by Sam Fell, Chris Butler.
The Boxtrolls (Release Date: September 26, 2014)
This comedic fable unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher, who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.
Voice Cast: Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, and Simon Pegg. Produced by David Bleiman Ichioka, Travis Knight. Screenplay by Irena Brignull, Adam Pava. Based on the book Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow. Directed by Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable.
Kubo and the Two Strings (Release date: August 19, 2016)
Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA, the film follows clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Hashi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and Kamekichi (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara) to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Voice Cast: Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Art Parkinson, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro. Screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. Produced by Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight. Directed by Travis Knight.
Check out the wonderful first trailer for KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA.
Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling fantastical stories to the people of his seaside town. But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a mythical spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta.
Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family and his heroic destiny.
The all-star cast also includes George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and Brenda Vaccaro.
Directed by Travis Knight and written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (PARANORMAN), Focus Features will release the new movie from animation studio LAIKA nationwide on August 19, 2016.
“It won’t change who you are. Cheese, hats, boxes-they don’t make you who you are. You make you!”
Get ready to enjoy a masterfully crafted Dickensian world with stunningly well animated-characters and witty dialog. If you’re familiar with CORALINE and PARANORMAN, LAIKA Animation Studio’s previous works, THE BOXTROLLS will come as no surprise. As before, the visuals are worth the price of admission and as before, I was left hungry for more.
THE BOXTROLLS itself is a well-told fantasy full of silliness and whimsy, but there’s depth and meaning as well. It could be argued that this is a kids film about ethnic cleansing and genocide(!), but it’s all handled in the best possible taste. Somehow they managed to pull this off without ever being too heavy-handed, scary, or inappropriate. An example of this would be the villain’s henchmen, who spend much of the film in the mistaken belief that they’re the good guys. It’s not so much a film about good vs evil, as it is good vs foolishness. THE BOXTROLLS also presents a fantasy world with a visible class system, where aloof aristocrats are so distracted with their ridiculous hobbies that real world problems are neglected. Cheesebridge, the locale, is a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. You could easily spend another viewing just taking in the beautifully detailed sets full of crooked buildings on cobble-stoned streets, and the immaculately tailored costumes, all of it so tactile and vivid you’ll want to reach out. If you’re the kind of person that would love to interact and play around with all these props and puppets, I recommend seeing THE BOXTROLLS in 3D. It’s like having them right there in front of you. Aside from the window dressing, there’s good characterizations all round. The Box Trolls themselves are particularly adorable, and their antics are endlessly amusing. The talent involved with the stop-motion animation makes THE BOXTROLLS a joy to behold.
THE BOXTROLLS is a future classic, destined to be fondly remembered for years to come and on January 20th , you will be able to enjoy it at home with the thrilling Blu-ray/DVD combo release from Focus Features. We Are Movie Geeks got a sneak peak at the package:
THE BOXTROLLS is presented in a flawless 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that showcases the film’s grim period wonders beautifully. I do not have a 3-D TV but the high definition image on the flat Blu-ray is as crisp and refined as any animation fan could hope for. Edges are sharp and clean and textures are incredibly revealing. Even minuscule frame-by-frame facial variations are wonderfully apparent, without any blip, blemish or significant artifact to report. Colors are striking and vibrant, primaries are rich and rewarding, black levels are suitably ominous, and contrast is dialed in perfectly. I don’t have a single complaint. This is an amazing presentation.
The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is just as impressive as the video with plenty of fun, demo-worthy moments throughout.
The Blu-ray 3D – Blu-ray – DVD – Digital HD package is loaded with extras:
– DARE TO BE SQUARE: BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE BOXTROLLS
VOICING THE BOXTROLLS: The tremendously talented cast members of The Boxtrolls discuss what it’s like to voice an animated puppet, what each actor brought to his/her role, whether their personalities were similar to their characters, and more.
INSIDE THE BOX: The directors, producers, and creative supervisor of character fabrication Georgina Hayns share the challenges of crafting characters who are inside a box.
THE BIG CHEESE: ALLERGY SNATCHER: The directors and producers are joined by Brian McLean, director of Rapid Prototyping, to discuss how the animation studio LAIKA creates the faces for their puppets. The big story here – literally! – is how Snatcher’s face changes shape due to his cheese allergy.
DECONSTRUCTING THE DANCE: Discover how LAIKA combined traditional stop-motion animation with visual effects in order to create the beautiful ballroom dance sequence – and how costume designer Deborah Cook met the challenge of creating costumes that could flow during a dance scene.
THINK BIG: THE MECHA DRILL: Standing 5 feet tall and weighing over 75 pounds, the Mecha-Drill is the largest stop motion puppet/prop ever created by LAIKA. Follow its creation from design to completion.
– Five featurettes that take you inside the magical world of the Boxtrolls:
THE NATURE OF CREATION
TROLLS RIGHT OFF THE TONGUE
ALLERGIC TO EASY
LET’S DANCE
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
– FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTORS ANTHONY STACCHI AND GRAHAM ANNABLE
THE BOXTROLLS was a weird, completely original experience and the new Blu-ray is recommended for fans of this morbid animation masterpiece.
LAIKA and Focus Features, the two companies behind the Academy Award-nominated Coraline and ParaNorman and the current Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award-nominated release The Boxtrolls, today announced production on their fourth collaboration, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS.
LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight and Focus CEO Peter Schlessel made the announcement today. Knight, an Annie Award-winning animator, is making his directorial debut on KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS.
The new movie, from an original screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (ParaNorman) is a sweeping, swashbuckling adventure set in a mythical ancient Japan. It is being brought to life at LAIKA’s Oregon studios via the company’s innovative 3D stop-motion and CG hybrid technique. In addition to directing, Knight is producing KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS with Arianne Sutner (ParaNorman).
The all-star voice cast includes Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Charlize Theron; Academy Award nominees Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Brenda Vaccaro; and Art Parkinson, who plays Rickon Stark on Game of Thrones and who is providing the voice for the title character of Kubo.
In the epic fantasy, scruffy, kindhearted Kubo ekes out a humble living while devotedly caring for his mother in their sleepy shoreside village. It is a quiet existence – until a spirit from the past catches up with him to enforce an age-old vendetta. Suddenly on the run from gods and monsters, Kubo’s chance for survival rests on finding the magical suit of armor once worn by his fallen father, the greatest samurai the world has ever known. Summoning courage, Kubo embarks on a thrilling odyssey as he faces his family’s history, navigates the elements, and bravely fights for the earth and the stars.
The movie will open in theaters nationwide domestically on August 19th, 2016. It is the first movie in the new three-picture partnership between LAIKA and Focus.
“Kubo and the Two Strings is a rare gem,” said Mr. Knight. “It’s a gripping yarn woven from Japanese folktales and mythology, with lost civilizations, mystical origami, noble heroes, star-crossed lovers, and blood-curdling monsters. At once epic and intimate, Kubo is a funny, intense, and ultimately uplifting fairy tale draped in some of the most bizarre and exciting imagery I’ve ever seen. Most importantly, it’s deeply moving. It’s a story that means something, a story that deserves to be told. In short, it’s a LAIKA movie. And with a poetic script, sublime cast, and our freakishly talented artists and craftspeople, Kubo will be a strange, stirring, and altogether stunning film. I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
“LAIKA raises the bar on animated movies as a creative art,” said Mr. Schlessel. “Each picture Focus does with them is unique yet identifiably theirs. Travis and Arianne have convened a wonderful group of animators, actors, and artisans to tell a story that moviegoers of all ages will be transported by.”
Coraline (2009) earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). ParaNorman (2012) garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, GLAAD Media Award, PGA, and Academy Award nominations, won two Annie Awards (the animation community’s Oscars equivalent) and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. The Boxtrolls has earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film this year.
LAIKA and Focus Features, the two companies behind the hit animated feature THE BOXTROLLS, will continue their partnership on LAIKA’s next three projects. Focus CEO Peter Schlessel and LAIKA President and CEO Travis Knight made the announcement today.
As with the three movies that the companies have partnered on previously, Focus will distribute the next three movies domestically, and Universal Pictures International will release them overseas.
Focus opened THE BOXTROLLS nationwide last weekend to a $17.3 million gross, marking the biggest debut yet for a LAIKA movie. THE BOXTROLLS follows the successful and acclaimed Focus and LAIKA animated films CORALINE (2009) and PARANORMAN (2012), each of which grossed over $100 million worldwide.
CORALINE earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI) with an AFI Award. PARANORMAN was cited as best animated feature film by more critics’ groups than any other 2012 animated feature; and earned BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film.
THE BOXTROLLS has also been released in 16 international territories to date, including the United Kingdom, where it was #1 at the box office for two weeks in a row; and Australia, where after just over two weeks it has already grossed more than either Coraline or ParaNorman did during their entire runs.
Mr. Schlessel commented, “I am very pleased to continue our relationship with our friends at LAIKA. Travis and his company have elevated the art of animated films and we are proud to be part of their success.”
“Focus and LAIKA are kindred spirits,” said Mr. Knight. “Over eight years and three films we’ve forged an incredible bond over a shared love for, and commitment to, bold, distinctive, and enduring stories. Peter and his superlative team have created a welcoming home for original voices and enriching, challenging filmmaking. They’re the bravest studio in the world. We look forward to many ongoing cinematic adventures with our Focus/Universal family. The best is yet to come.”
In celebration of the newly released film THE BOXTROLLS, Sir Ben Kingsley sat down with a small group of press to talk about his voice over work, and his new project LEARNING TO DRIVE. Check it out below!
A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.
You haven’t done much voice work before, was that what attracted you to the role? And was it fun playing that kind of character?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : I haven’t done much of this before and I was sent the most beautiful script which rang true. The honest starting point for a family film I think is a very bold, very mature move — orphans. And they go through a struggle. They fight some very dark forces and they achieve their own light, and their own friendship and their own future. To present this as a family film is very refreshing, because I’m sorry to say that I think family films often wipe off the top two generations of the family and say anyone taller than this table won’t like this movie. It’s stupid, because that’s not a family film. But this is and it will have resonance for all the members of the family that see it. I say it’s rooted in truth because I can tell a good script from a bad. My training in my former years… I had no training, sorry. My former years as an actor were with tremendously good writers, one in particular, and therefore the way that this rang true, the way the patterns of human behavior in terms of loneliness, of longing, of care, of nurturing, of loss, of greed, of power, of indifference, they’re all there on the canvas. They’re all beautifully etched. So it was not a great leap for me to say, “Absolutely, yes,” to the script. Then I saw the drawing of the chap and saw that he was very different from me and therefore my voice would have to come from a different place. I’d have to find a voice that resonated from a very different place and would include all those frailties, those inadequacies, those longings, those addictions, delusions, narcissism, vanity. The guy’s a mess, held together by an absolute determination to be admitted into a club that does not want him. Because it’s so perfectly written, any actor would recognize, “Well, that’s the worst thing to do to that guy.” The worst thing you can do to that guy is to say, “You can’t come in,” because sooner or later, he’ll smash the door down. And he does. He demonizes a whole tribe of people who actually have nurtured and looked after an orphan beautifully, who are creative, inventive, loving, bonded. And they create their own civilization by what upper ground throws away. They never steal. They actually just use what is discarded and they make their world out of it. So given that the character was so beautifully presented to me as a portrait artist, my portrayal involved finding a voice that was completely relaxed, not my own. So I invited the recording studio to build a kind of airplane seat. It took five minutes. They had everything in the studio. It took them five minutes. They had everything there — the reclining chair, something to put my feet on. They were great. Moved the microphone, moved the script panel, and I did the whole thing reclining, lying down. It also helped me not to make physical gestures. When we speak, we tend to augment our language with our mannerisms. If I did that, it would perhaps lessen, shrink, what I was giving the animators. If I had to push something with my physical gesture, it means my voice isn’t doing enough. So I was completely still, which I found very, very freeing, as you say. I didn’t impose many limits on myself other than of course the character’s journey and his narrative function in the piece. Tony was mostly in the studio with me in England, not in America, and he helped me a great deal by letting me know that certain vocal mannerisms that I acquired as the character were great gifts to the animator. He said, “The animators will love that. When you do that, they can do all sorts of extraordinary things with it.” So I played with elongating my vowel sounds. I played with putting the letter ‘H’ where it shouldn’t be in a word to try and sound posh. All those little mannerisms, he encouraged me to really make them part of my bit of the portrait. Then the rest of my portrait, which is unprecedented for me, is to say, “And the other department do my body language.” I’ve never done that before. It’s always been me that I delegated the whole lot, because I had to, to the animators, to the guys who work with these people.
Knowing that, once you saw it, what was your impression and what struck you?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : They put something together, a speech that Snatcher gives to his goons, to his stooges, about ambition, how in some people, some creatures are of limited ambition and will be locked in their own small ambitions and world and others are capable of great ambition. And it’s actually politically a horrible speech when you examine it. It’s pretty nasty. I enjoyed very free reign, lying down in the studio, letting this voice come out, and I saw this clip. He’s walking down a flight of stairs and they accompanied one of my words with an amazingly narcissistic gesture of brushing back these awful threads of hair that he has hanging down. And I thought, “I have nothing to worry about. Absolutely everything I’m trying to do is there in that puppet.” Extraordinary exercise really.
I found it interesting that the adults had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and that can be the viewpoint of someone who’s five, six, or seven
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Whether it’s the viewpoint or not, the fact is that if you’re going to offer a story, narrative to the audience about orphans struggling, you have to have a tidal wave against which they have to struggle. It can be indifference. It can be abandonment. It can be incarceration. It can be domineering cruelty. But in the narrative our heroine and hero have to struggle through the darker side of life and I congratulate LAIKA on having the courage to say, “Look boys and girls, it’s not a bowl of cherries.” That is really courageous because I don’t think anything is learned by feel good movies.
Looking at your vast body of work, speaking to the comedic elements of the character.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Absurd, really.
(con’t): Do you see elements of Richard III?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Absolutely. The wonderful thing about Richard III is in his first soliloquy is in front of the audience and he explains exactly how he’s feeling and how he’s going to behave. He tells them, “Look, I’m mangled and wounded and I’m going to get the crown.” And Snatcher is in a sense, he can’t take rejection. There’s a reason for that, I don’t know the reason. But there’s a reason that he has an utter inability to be rejected. It turns him into a maniac. I saw a splendid version of Richard III ages of ago, and I could see what he was doing, but I could see why. I wasn’t allowed to join into why and really the why in Richard is it hurts to be me. I think there is something about the villains that I’m able to play that isn’t villainous. They’re vulnerable and wounded. I use that with Archibald Snatcher. Richard III and Othello — because he begins the play I’ve just been passed over for promotion and the world will suffer. And it does. At the end of the third act, Othello is responsible for seven deaths.
There’s a theme of transformation and there’s a huge difference between the hero and the villain. The hero just wants to transform into someone who knows who he is and the villain wants to move up the ladder, even though it’s shown very clearly that …
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : He’s allergic to it…
(con’t): And it’s not like kids movies where he’s brought down by the destruction of a machine. He does himself in where he has the choice to turn away. He even seems to know what’s going to happen and he does ti anyway. That’s almost tragic. Did you find that tragic element to it?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : I totally embraced the tragic element of his demise. He’s arc is doomed because of the way he’s been constructed. The way he has arrived, the way the God’s have made him, fashioned him that way. There is, in the script and in my portrait and hopefully in bigger context of the movie, there is that thread of tragedy, absurdity, danger, redemption, reunification, all the threads. I definitely warmed to the wound that will eventually consume him. Cheese is a great metaphor for success or power and power will absolutely corrupt Snatcher. And he has the choice. He thinks by being empowered that he can conquer the addiction. It happens to other people. It won’t happen to me. Bang!
You’ve got a lot of interesting projects coming up, can you talk about some of the ones you’re most excited for people to know about?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Where do I begin [laughs]. LEARNING TO DRIVE, I’m particularly fond of. ROBOT OVERLOARDS, I’m looking forward to that one. That’s going to the London Film Festival. But, LEARNING TO DRIVE coming to Toronto, I’m excited to see, not how it’s received, how it touches people and attracts them.
You come from different cultures. I’m fascinated by different culture. You have families and grandkids… do they all get together. What does it look like at your house over the holidays?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : It’s very hard for an actor to answer that because an actor, my pattern of life is so random that there are no such things as Holidays with a capitol H because I could be anywhere in the world and my children appreciate this. And as long as we keep in touch by email and telephone, everything is fine. No one ever says, “But it’s family.” No one ever says that. For me, that’s nonsense. Family is family over the internet, over Skype over telephone. Love is love, you don’t actually have to go through a ritual to prove that you love somebody. They all know dad’s very busy and I’ve looked after them well. They’ve all got homes, thanks to good ole dad. They’re happy, safe and loved.
