Animation· 2016· Adventure

Kubo and the Two Strings

by Travis Knight

Kubo and the Two Strings: it draws on 2 recorded sources.

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What influenced Kubo and the Two Strings

The works this one is recorded as drawing on.

The Hidden Fortress

Film · 1958

InfluenceMEDIUM

Travis Knight calls Kurosawa the towering influence on Kubo and the Two Strings and named The Hidden Fortress in particular: a quest across a hostile country by a ragtag band built around an unlikely young hero.

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Real-world influences

Events, places, movements and ideas outside fiction that this work is recorded as drawing on.

Mythology & Folklore

Real world

Real-world influenceHIGH
  • Japanese folklore

Laika's film is a quest tale in a mythical Japan, drawing on Japanese folklore for the Moon King, the spirits of the dead honoured at the Obon festival and the magic of origami brought to life.

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About the work

Kubo and the Two Strings

Set in feudal Japan, the film revolves around Kubo, a young boy who wields a magical musical instrument and whose left eye was stolen during infancy. Accompanied by an anthropomorphic Japanese macaque charm and a human/stag beetle hybrid, he must embark on a quest to defeat his mother's baleful twin sisters and his ominous grandfather, the Moon King, who is responsible for stealing his left eye.

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