Snubbing Pixar and Dreamworks, The Red Turtle and Your Name, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association today named the following five nominees for its annual Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature: KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS Laika; Focus Features MOANA Walt Disney Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI Rita […]
Posts Tagged ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’
Posted in 
Tags: 
The Shocking Number of This Year’s Animated Features That I’ve Seen
November 11th, 2016 
Charles Kenny The answer may surprise you. None. The answer is none. Not a single film in Variety’s list of those currently eligible for the Oscar’s so much as made it within viewing distance of my eyeballs. This isn’t necessarily a comment on the quality of this year’s films. Certainly there are some very well-received among the […]
Kubo’s Box Office Performance Hides Bigger Troubles
September 2nd, 2016 Charles Kenny Coming from a studio with an established track record in making uniquely crafted stop-motion films, and with a story this is much more interesting than most of the other summer fare, Kubo and the Two Strings ought to be a home run of a film. Its failure to become a smash hit however hides bigger […]
COMMENTARY: Children or Adults? Can “Kubo” Find It’s Audience?
September 1st, 2016 Charles Solomon From Pinocchio and Fantasia to The Iron Giant, the history of animation is littered with good, sometimes great, films that failed to reach the audiences they deserved on their initial release. Sadly, Kubo and the Two Strings seems to be the latest addition to that list. Its hard to say why the film hasn’t done […]
Interview with Travis Knight on Directing “Kubo”
August 17th, 2016 Jackson Murphy Travis Knight is the President and CEO of Laika, the stop-motion animation studio behind Oscar-nominated hits Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls. Their latest feature, Kubo and the Two Strings, opening this weekend, marks Knight’s directorial debut. He told me about some of the decade-long efforts of the studio, bringing Kubo to life, and a “mind-blowing” […]
Charles Solomon Reviews: “Kubo And The Two Strings”
August 15th, 2016 Charles Solomon Travis Knight’s Japanese-influenced Kubo and the Two Strings ranks as the best film the artists at the Portland-based Laika Studio have made, with a strong story, assured direction and strikingly original designs. One-eyed Kubo (voiced by a very appealing Art Parkinson) is a street performer in a seaside village, supporting himself and his widowed mother […]
Laika Offers a Rare Look at its Wondrous Wares
August 8th, 2016 Jerry Beck Today through next Sunday, August 14th, you can get a rare look at the actual stop-motion character figures, infinitely detailed sets and technical apparatus that have helped make Laika the Oscar-winning studio it is today. Following that odd, frequent theme park tradition of lengthy titles that the public shortens themselves anyway, Universal Studios Hollywood is […]
Two New Behind The Scenes Featurettes From “Kubo And The Two Strings”
July 29th, 2016 Jerry Beck Two – count ’em two – new mini-docs have been made available from Laika Studios that only whet your appetite for their latest, Kubo and The Two Strings. Discover the myth of Kubo by watching this new featurette, dropping today, which includes commentary from director Travis Knight, actors Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey and incredible […]
There’s One Award that Kubo Does Deserve to Win
Not withstanding Variety’s opinion that Kubo and the Two Strings is the film that justifies giving an Oscar to Laika, there’s another award that the film is nominated for that would produce a large boost for the studio in a unique way. Very very few animated films earn a nomination for the Costume Designers Guild […]