I just watched the newest trailer for Laika’s Kubo and The Two Strings and it makes me happy. Even though they’ve completely changed how stop motion film making by utilizing 3D printing technology, they’ve still managed to capture all the same warmth that you’d expect from movies like Nightmare before Christmas and James and The Giant Peach, or the short films of Aardman Studios’ Wallace and Grommit. I can’t imagine that I’ll look back at CGI films in 20 years and feel this sort of timelessness.
The film, which sets a small boy, who is still learning of his own powers, on a quest to recover a mystical armor so he can defeat a great evil. The trailer gives a sense of the level of danger an excitement the film will present us, but also a great window into the film’s sense of humor. I’m really looking forward to this.
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. 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.