Kubo and the Two Strings is a 2016 American stop-motion action-adventure film directed by Travis Knight and produced by Laika. The screenplay, written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler, revolves around Kubo, a 12-year-old boy with an eyepatch. Kubo's left eye was stolen in infancy, and he must subdue his corrupt family members now coming to get the other eye. The film features the voices of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei, and Matthew McConaughey. [1]
The film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 13, 2016. [2] Focus Features released it theatrically on September 9. [3] Worldwide, the film grossed nearly $70 million on a $60 million budget. [4] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Kubo and the Two Strings holds a rating of 97%, based on 192 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. [5]
Kubo and the Two Strings garnered awards and nominations in a general animated film category at several award ceremonies. At the 89th Academy Awards, it was nominated in the categories Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects; it was the second animated film to be nominated in the latter category, following The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). [6] It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and Best Animated Feature at the 22nd Critics' Choice Awards. The film received the second-most nominations at the 44th Annie Awards, one fewer than Zootopia 's 11, and won Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation, Production Design, and Editorial in an Animated Feature Production, with seven other nominations.
Kubo and the Two Strings was named best animated feature film at the 12th Austin Film Critics Association Awards, the 29th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, the 70th British Academy Film Awards, the 21st Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, the 10th Houston Film Critics Society Awards, the 88th National Board of Review Awards, the 20th Online Film Critics Society Awards, the 21st San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, and the 15th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards.
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Awards | February 6, 2017 | Best Movie for Grownups who Refuse to Grow Up | Kubo and the Two Strings | Won | [7] [8] |
Academy Awards | February 26, 2017 | Best Animated Feature | Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner | Nominated | [9] [10] |
Best Visual Effects | Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff | ||||
ACE Eddie Awards | January 27, 2017 | Best Edited Animated Feature Film | Christopher Murrie | [11] | |
Alliance of Women Film Journalists | December 21, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Travis Knight | [12] [13] | |
Annie Awards | February 4, 2017 | Best Animated Feature | Kubo and the Two Strings | [14] | |
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production | David Horsley, Eric Wachtman, Timur Khodzhaev, Daniel Leatherdale and Terrance Tomberg | ||||
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production | Jan Maas | Won | |||
Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Shannon Tindle | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Travis Knight | ||||
Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall and Ean McNamara | Won | |||
Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Mark Garcia | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Art Parkinson | ||||
Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Marc Haimes and Chris Butler | ||||
Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated Feature Production | Christopher Murrie | Won | |||
Austin Film Critics Association | December 28, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Kubo and the Two Strings | [15] [16] | |
British Academy Film Awards | February 12, 2017 | Best Animated Film | Travis Knight | [17] | |
British Academy Children's Awards | November 26, 2017 | Feature Film | Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner | Nominated | [18] |
Chicago Film Critics Association | December 15, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Kubo and the Two Strings | Won | [19] |
Most Promising Filmmaker | Travis Knight | Nominated | |||
Cinema Audio Society | February 18, 2017 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Animated | Tim Chau, Tim LeBlanc, Darrin Mann, Carlos Sotolongo and Nick Wollage | [20] | |
Columbus Film Critics Association Awards | January 5, 2017 | Columbus Film Critics Association Awards for Best Animated Feature | Kubo and the Two Strings | Won | [21] |
Costume Designers Guild | February 21, 2017 | Excellence in Fantasy Film | Deborah Cook | Nominated | [22] |
Critics' Choice Awards | December 11, 2016 | Best Animated Feature | Kubo and the Two Strings | [23] | |
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | December 13, 2016 | Best Animated Film | [24] | ||
Florida Film Critics Circle | December 23, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Won | [25] | |
Golden Globe Awards | January 8, 2017 | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | [26] | |
Golden Tomato Awards | January 12, 2017 | Best Wide Release 2016 | 8th Place | [27] | |
Best Animated Movie 2016 | 3rd Place | ||||
Houston Film Critics Society | January 6, 2017 | Best Animated Feature Film | Won | [28] [29] | |
National Board of Review | January 4, 2017 | Best Animated Film | [30] | ||
New York Film Critics Online | December 11, 2016 | Best Animated Film | [31] | ||
Online Film Critics Society | January 3, 2017 | Best Animated Feature | [32] | ||
Producers Guild of America | January 28, 2017 | Best Animated Motion Picture | Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner | Nominated | [33] |
Ray Bradbury Award | May 20, 2017 | Outstanding Dramatic Presentation | Mark Haimes, Chris Butler and Travis Knight | Nominated | [34] |
San Diego Film Critics Society | December 12, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Kubo and the Two Strings | Won | [35] [36] |
San Francisco Film Critics Circle | December 11, 2016 | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | [37] [38] | |
Satellite Awards | February 19, 2017 | Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature | [39] | ||
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association | December 18, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Runner-up | [40] | |
Toronto Film Critics Association | December 11, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Travis Knight | [41] | |
Village Voice Film Poll | January 6, 2017 | Best Animated Feature | "Kubo and the Two Strings" | Won | [42] |
Visual Effects Society | February 7, 2017 | Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature | Steve Emerson, Travis Knight, Brad Schiff and Arianne Sutner | [43] | |
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature | Kubo – Adam Lawthers, Jeff Riley, Jeremy Spake and Ian Whitlock | Nominated | |||
Monkey – Andy Bailey, Jessica Lynn, Kim Slate and Dobrin Yanev | |||||
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature | Hanzo's Fortress – Phil Brotherton, Emily Greene, Nick Mariana and Joe Strasser | ||||
Waves – David Horsley, Takashi Kuboto, Daniel Leatherdale and Eric Wachtman | |||||
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature | Water – David Horsley, Timur Khodzhaev, Peter Stuary and Terrance Tornberg | ||||
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | December 5, 2016 | Best Animated Feature | Kubo and the Two Strings | Won | [44] |
Women Film Critics Circle | December 19, 2016 | Best Family Film | Nominated | [45] | |
Travis Andrew Knight is an American animator, producer, director, actor, and former rapper who has worked as the lead animator and current CEO for the stop-motion animation studio Laika, and directed the films Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and Bumblebee (2018). He is the son of the Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
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