It has been 10 years since one of the best animated movies of the 21st century was released, but it barely made back its budget in theaters. In 2016, Laika had made its name as one of the best stop-motion animation studios alongside Aardman Animations. Up to that year, the studio had released the brilliant horror movie Coraline, the scary yet fun ParaNorman, and the creepy The Boxtrolls. The first two movies were huge success stories, but The Boxtrolls still gets overlooked, making a decent box office take with positive reviews, but not on the level of the two previous films. However, two years after The Boxtrolls, Laika released its true masterpiece, a movie that barely broke even at the box office.
On August 19, 2016, Laika released Kubo and the Two Strings, the best movie the studio has ever released, and it only went on to make $77.5 million on a $60 million budget.
Kubo and the Two Strings seemed like a difficult sell when Laika released it in 2016. Its previous movie received positive critical reviews and a decent box office, but it was a difficult film for mainstream audiences thanks to its form of stop-motion and the Boxtrolls’ designs. The thing with Kubo and the Two Strings is that the movie took place in early feudal Japan, and a historical animated film shot in stop-motion wasn’t exactly the form of animated film setting the world on fire at that time. Kubo faced competition from Zootopia and Moana that year, and it was the Laika film that fell short.
While Zootopia and Moana are incredible movies in their own right, Kubo and the Two Strings was better than both of them. The story follows a 12-year-old boy with only one eye named Kubo who lives with his ill mother in a mountain cave near a village. Kubo has a magical stringed instrument known as a shamisen that he can use to manipulate origami, which he does to make money from the people in the village by putting on shows for them. However, Kubo also has a dark past. His mother is the daughter of the Moon King, and this supernatural being wants Kubo for himself.
There is also the story of Kubo’s missing father, a brave samurai warrior named Hanzo, who went missing years before. When Kubo’s aunts find them and attack, Kubo is sent to safety with a snow monkey charm he carries that came to life and became Monkey. He also meets a cursed amnesiac samurai named Beetle, who offers to help protect Kubo as well. There are twists and turns that involve both Monkey and Beetle, and the ending offers up a spectacular action sequence unlike anything seen in a stop-motion animated film.
Sadly, the movie suffered at the box office, only making $17.5 million more than its budget. However, critics praised the film, awarding it a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. While the audience score was slightly lower at 86%, it still remains a widely praised movie. In comparison, Zootopia only sits slightly higher, at a 98% critical score, and Moana just below it at 96%. In all, 2016 was an incredible year for animation, and Kubo and the Two Strings deserves to have their name mentioned along with the others.
Because of the stiff competition in 2016, Kubo and the Two Strings didn’t win any Oscars, although it could have won Best Animated Feature in many other years. Zootopia won that year, and it was much deserved, while Kubo was part of a group of runners-up that included Moana, My Life as a Courgette, and The Red Turtle. The movie also received a second nomination, this one for Best Visual Effects. It lost to the live-action remake of The Jungle Book. Impressively, Kubo was the only animated film in that category, which also included Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
As the film has reached its 10-year anniversary, it deserves to get a lot more respect than it has received. It didn’t win an Oscar, and it barely made back its budget, but its heartfelt story, beautiful stop-motion animation, and incredible musical score make it a movie that remains just as rewatchable as Zootopia and Moana. It shares Zootopia’s themes of fitting in and Moana’s tale of saving one’s family, but it never seems to get the same recognition when people talk about these films. It is also important to know that Zootopia got a sequel and Moana got a live-action remake, but Kubo remains content to stand on its own. In that area, Kubo and the Two Strings stands proud as one of the best animated movies released in the 21st century.
