It’s a genuinely amazing time for animation. Just do a head count; between movies like Zootopia, Inside Out and Frozen, there’s no shortage of animated feature films that appeal to both children and adults, alike. The upcoming Laika film Kubo and the Two Strings will seemingly take that concept to the next level by taking audiences to a world of music and ancient mysticism. Don’t believe me? Check out the film’s latest trailer to become enthralled by its absolutely mind-blowing balance of sentimentality, magic, and amazing animation.
Try watching that trailer without becoming too awestruck. Taking place in an ancient and mystical Japan, Kubo and the Two Strings centers on a young, musically gifted boy named Kubo who cares for his mother. He has an uncanny ability to use his guitar to conjure up beautiful, magical performances on the street for people in his small Japanese village. When an ancient force awakens and threatens to tear his entire life apart, he must go on the run and find a magical suit of armor that once belonged to his father.
Beyond just looking like an amazing story, Kubo and the Two Strings has gone to great lengths to bolster its voice cast. As Kubo progresses on his perilous journey, he meets numerous mystical characters voiced by A-list actors such as Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, and numerous others.
Like all good animated feature films, Kubo and the Two Strings seems to strike the perfect balance between family friendliness and dark maturity. It tells the type of story that children can easily access, without pandering; parents will likely appreciate it just as much as their kids. We've said it before: the best animated films understand that kids can handle a mature story, and don’t pander to their audience.
Animation studio Laika has become one of the most easily dependable sources for high quality stop-motion animation over the last few years. Bare in mind that this movie is not a computer-generated film made to look like stop-motion, it’s a genuine, feature length, stop-motion movie. In addition to Kubo and the Two Strings, the company also produced recently critically acclaimed movies such as The Boxtrolls and ParaNorman. Basically, these guys know their way around a solider stop-motion feature. If Kubo and the Two Strings ends up being as good as it looks from the trailer, we can likely expect Laika to become the world champion of animation very soon.
We will bring you all of the latest and greatest news related to Kubo and the Two Strings as it becomes available. The film features a star-studded cast that includes the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Art Parkinson. The film will hit theaters on August 19.
