Film

Kubo and the Two Strings

Name: Kubo and the Two Strings
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Released: 2016
Cast: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Brenda Vaccaro, Ralph Fiennes

A stop-motion fairy tale from Laika that looks handmade in the best sense — every fold of paper, every strand of hair, tugged into place by real hands. It's a quest story about grief, memory, and the stories we tell to survive loss, wrapped in samurai myth and genuinely unsettling monsters. Beautiful, sad, and braver than most things marketed to kids.

TMDb rating

7.6

If you liked this

Coraline2009

Same studio, same tactile stop-motion witchcraft, and the same willingness to actually frighten children rather than just pretend to. If you loved Kubo's texture, this is where Laika's house style began.

But Colder and more claustrophobic — there's less warmth here, and the horror is more domestic than mythic.

ParaNorman2012

Another Laika film about a kid burdened with a strange gift and a town's buried history, funnier and goofier than Kubo but with real teeth underneath.

But Broader comedy and a suburban American setting make it feel slighter next to Kubo's mythic scale.

Spirited Away2001

Miyazaki's masterpiece shares Kubo's DNA almost exactly: a child navigating a spirit world, parental loss lurking underneath, animation used to make grief feel like wonder instead of despair.

But Hand-drawn rather than stop-motion, and its dream logic is looser — some viewers want more plot scaffolding.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Throne of Blood1957

Kubo's samurai mythology, its sense of inherited violence and honor, is lifted almost directly from this kind of mid-century Japanese epic — the son inherits the father's war, not just his sword.

Kurosawa's black-and-white samurai tragedy is the ancestor Kubo is quietly bowing to — the honor codes, the ghosts, the doomed warrior fatalism all trace straight back here.

But Subtitled, slow by modern pacing, and entirely without magic or comic relief — this is myth played dead serious.

The Boxtrolls2014no page yet

More Laika craftsmanship, this time in a grubbier, funnier register, but still built around an orphaned kid figuring out who his family really is.

But Weirder tonal mix of slapstick and class satire — lacks Kubo's emotional focus and mythic weight.

The Iron Giant1999

A lonely boy, an absent father, and a huge destructive force he has to reckon with and ultimately tame — the emotional shape is startlingly close to Kubo's.

But Traditional 2D animation and a Cold War American setting give it a very different flavour.

Song of the Sea2014

Irish folklore, a grieving family, and animation so painterly it feels like folk art in motion — a gentler cousin to Kubo's grief-soaked mythmaking.

But Slower and more melancholic throughout, with less of Kubo's adventure momentum and monster set-pieces.

How to Train Your Dragon2010

A father-son rift, a coming-of-age quest, and a hero who has to grow into a legacy he didn't choose — the adventure engine Kubo runs on, in a Viking costume.

But Glossier, funnier, and considerably less melancholy — this is comfort food where Kubo is something stranger.

Wolfwalkers2020

Cartoon Saloon's gorgeous hand-drawn myth about a girl caught between two worlds, with the same reverence for folklore and craft that makes Kubo feel handmade and sacred.

But More overtly political undertones about colonization, and a very different animation style entirely.

The Nightmare Before Christmas1993

The stop-motion film that made this whole aesthetic mainstream — gothic, musical, gleefully strange, and a reminder of how far the medium had to travel to reach Kubo.

But Musical numbers and Halloween-Christmas mashup silliness are a world away from Kubo's quiet sorrow.

Anomalisa2015

Same painstaking stop-motion puppetry Laika perfected, turned away from wonder entirely and pointed at adult despair — proof the medium can carry any register, not just children's myth.

Stop-motion animation used for something Kubo never attempts — adult loneliness, a failing marriage, a one-night connection that can't fix anything. The craft is just as meticulous, the mood is bone-dry sadness.

But No adventure, no monsters, no children — this is a quiet, uncomfortable film about a miserable man's midlife crisis.

Departures2008

Strip away the monsters and moon spirits and Kubo is really about the rituals we use to carry our dead with us — Departures tells that exact story without a single special effect.

A grounded, Oscar-winning Japanese drama about a man who becomes a ritual mortician and slowly learns to honor the dead instead of fearing them — Kubo's themes with no magic to soften them.

But Live-action, slow, and entirely realistic — nothing fantastical happens, and it asks for patience Kubo never demands.