When a Tale of Magic Mirrors the Lives Behind It
Some films are a visual treat, while others are a visual treat and make you feel things, and Kubo and the Two Strings is one of those stories. Laika’s epic stop-motion animation is ostensibly a story for children, but the emotional weight of the story and its characters is borne not just by the animators, but by the real people who voice the characters, and whose life stories are rich with personal, emotional, and artistic journeys. The themes of the work center around family and resilience, and are somehow intrinsically linked to the voice actors’ life stories.
A Story Told Like a Folktale Around a Fire
The film opens on a quaint little seaside village in Japan. The small boy who we focus on is Kubo. He is blind in one eye, but has a gift for telling stories and performing magic with origami. With the aid of a magic shamisen, Kubo performs magical origami theater to the delight of the villagers. Kubo has a sick mother who is sick with trauma and chronic illness. For her sake, Kubo has learned to be careful to respect Kubo’s rules not to be out after dark. But as in all of the best folktales, the story is about the dangers that come when rules that must be respected are broken. Kubo has a dad of legend, but as the story begins, Kubo is out past curfew. In the process of searching for his dad, Kubo accidentally conjures dark magic in the form of the wicked Sisters and Moon King, the very evil spirits who are responsible for the not-so-legendary loss of Kubo’s family.
In a matter of moments, Kubo’s world is destroyed, he is then joined on a journey by Monkey, stern, wise, and protective, and Beetle, a happy, amnesiac samurai with traces of Kubo’s father along with him. The trio must recover three pieces of legendary armor so that Kubo can confront the Moon King and take back the part of the soul he lost so long ago.
With the moon and stars surrounding him, Kubo must go on a quest along with his companions, which become more batteries where he himself must not only play with weapons but with emotions and music that provide the backdrop with the weapons as well. The final part of the film is where Kubo, with the moon and stars surrounding him, learns and discovers that compassion can outweigh vengeance. This part of the film is the soft part of the story that remains and stays with you as the credits start rolling.
Because of the craftsmanship done on Kubo, along with the journey the voice actors went on and the understanding of the roles, what gives Kubo the emotional backbone is also the understanding rest of the actors had and how almost seamless and how predestined it seemed, with roles that almost fit perfectly.
Art Parkinson (Kubo) As a Promising Young actor
Parkinson’s performance in Game of Thrones, although celebrated, did not prepare people for what Kubo required: genuine, raw emotional vulnerability. While growing up in a small Irish town, tied to a less relatable context, he was anchored in the character’s struggle of displacement; the diffuse traverse between childhood and adolescence. Parkinson connected deeply with Kubo’s heroism: the immeasurable courage required to bravely enter a self-defeating situation most people avoid.
Parkinson’s character voice acting is a magnificent manifestation of the sensitivity, strength and courage he had to muster alone to traverse the world: the world of self-discovery, of growing up. The sincerity in his voice acting performance for Kubo is unique and straight from the heart. It invites the listener to experience the character losing the essence of growing up, the character, Kubo losing the defences of childhood.
Charlize Theron (Monkey): A Warrior Formed Through Real-Life Struggles and Unmatched Challenges
Charlize Theron and her years of struggle and overcoming the adversities that life threw at her Victories that life threw at her winning an oscar, overcoming the traumas of her childhood, rising to the fame of winning an academy and becoming a star at the oscar, the traumas from her childhood, her winning a oscar, becoming a star winning an academy, becoming a oscar, becoming a star at the oscar, becoming a winning an oscar, overcoming the traumas from becoming, winning oscar Theron and her years of struggle and overcoming the adversities that life threw at her damages that, winning an oscar, becoming a star winning an academy, becoming a oscar, becoming Theron and her years of struggle and life, winning oscar, overcoming the traumas from becoming, winning oscar, overcoming the traumas from winning oscar, overcoming the traumas from winning oscar, overcoming the traumas from winning oscar value her fierce and beautifully complex performance, In her performance of Monkey, she displays the strength of her survival, but also the surviving tenderness of an ad.
To no one’s surprise, she embodies Monkey, whose emotions really anchor the movie, and her deep voice brings to life the emotions of a mother who has genuinely loved, lost and moves on to fight, changing the bond with Kubo to a living and realistic one.
Matthew McConaughey (Beetle) – The Charming Artisan of Reinvention
Without a doubt, McConaughey also perfectly plays the half-forgotten warrior of Kubo, with the heart of a gentle and humorous warrior, who brings a lot of light to Kubo’s otherwise dark journey and who displays a lot of heart and humor himself. He began to record his performance and to undergo the transition from a comedy movie star to a more serious, albeit, no less critically, acclaimed movie star. After this transition, he was selecting more and more serious and challenging roles that did require from him a lot of emotions.
Beetle’s character— the animation voice actor and actor Matthew McConaughey— also mirrors the character’s journey of reinvention. Beetle’s slight, sweet, and almost goofy optimism, mixed with a partially concealed longing, reflects McConaughey’s own revival, which leaves him with most of the melancholy he carries throughout his own journey. His performance, juxtaposing warmth with an ingrained calm melancholy, added most of the levity to the film, which is an amazing feat considering how much of that levity warmth came from a lack of levity.
Five Years of Production
A noteworthy fact that is definitely less known is that much of the emotion showcased in the film comes from improvisation. In animated films, voice actors typically record lines separately without the other actor present. Parkinson and McConaughey, however, improvised throughout recording the entire film, leading to many of the bizarre and endearing quirks that define the relationship.
Animated films also frequently spend less time or budget, or both, on the emotional projection of the characters. Theron put more than sufficient effort into her animation voice acting and more than should have been necessary bloody exhaustion so that the emotional core of Monkey would reflect the tender requests made by the director, who had her own experiences with motherhood. She based many of Monkey’s lines on such maternal conversations and recounting, adding emotional richness and deep honesty to her character.
A Film That Resonates Like an Old Indian Folk Poem
When it comes to stories, Indian audiences tend to favor stories where music serves a healing purpose, where the legacies of families are of paramount importance, and where the battle of good versus evil occurs within one’s self rather than being an external confrontation. Kubo and the Two Strings shares these textures. The film’s message– that love conquers loss, memory sustains one, and the stories of the dead are kept alive– resonates deeply with individuals raised with the timeless tales of grandparents told under the glow of a dim lantern.
Indian cultural values are particularly reflected in the film’s ending. Kubo chooses not to battle the Moon King violently, and in this, he demonstrates the cultural value of reminding one that hearts can change when compassion is offered.
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