My love of The Legend of Zelda stems from a deep connection to the stories told in the games. This love of story has colored my opinions and emotions about the series since I first played Ocarina of Time in the early 2000’s. It is one of the reasons my favorite games are Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword; each game tells an epic story about Link’s coming of age.

One of the purest expressions of storytelling is film, a medium that many video games have long mined for inspiration. In our age of streaming, fast digital downloads, and instant gratification, I still enjoy going to see movies in theaters. For me, there is still something special about viewing a film in a dark theater. There is a special sense of wonder in watching our heroes rise and fall, meditating on the tragedies and triumphs of life, and being overcome with emotion in the darkness of a movie theater.

As an avid film fan, I often spend my time seeking trailers and googling release dates. With that in mind, one of my favorite films of the past decade was a joyful surprise: Kubo and The Two Strings. Released in August 2016, the film is an example of the magic of great filmmaking. The film is one of the most beautiful and evocative animated films ever created, a result of Laika Studios’s unbelievably detailed stop-motion techniques. It is a stirring film about a mother’s love, a young boy’s loss, and the power of storytelling. With a top-notch voice cast and brilliant visual design, the film -s an impressively complex animated film that translates well to both young and old viewers.

Of all the films from the past decade, Kubo and The Two Strings is the film that reminds me most of The Legend of Zelda. The story focuses on a boy seeking to understand his role in the world and realizing his full potential. Kubo is film that wows the audience with dramatic set pieces, fearsome adversaries, and evocative scenery. When I sat down to re-watch the film this month, I felt a sense of unbridled joy that is similar to how I feel when I play Zelda. Four years later, the film is still one of the most unique, ambitious, and magnificent animated films ever to grace the silver screen.

A Wonderful and Wild Journey

Kubo and The Two Strings is a lush animated film set in feudal Japan. The film is inspired by Japanese myth and legends, and the film uses this mythic setting to tell a story of love, loss, and coming of age. The story focuses on Kubo, a one eyed boy with a fabled and tragic heritage. Kubo spends his life caring for his mother, who drifts in and out of consciousness. Kubo makes his living as a street performer in the local town, using his magic and music to tell stories. Like Link in Ocarina of Time, Kubo uses his instrument to channel his magic and power. The talented Kubo plays a two stringed instrument and is able to fashion living origami creature from paper.

Kubo makes what little money he can from the enthusiastic villagers before returning to care for his mother at night. In their twilight meals together, Kubo’s mother tells the youngster wonderful stories about his father Hanzo, a brave and caring warrior. Kubo desires to know his long-lost father, but cannot venture away from their seaside cave because of his grandfather: the celestial Moon King. Kubo’s mother reveals that it was The Moon King who stole Kubo’s eye, and Kubo’s evil grandfather is still searching for the boy in order to take his remaining eye. Like many heroes of mythology, Kubo is a half breed who inherits the humanity of his father and the celestial powers of his mother.

Kubo’s adventure begins when he ventures out at a festival after dark, summoning the attention of the sinister forces that pushed his mother into hiding. Separated from his mother, Kubo is assisted by two unusual companions: a charismatic anthropomorphic snow monkey (Monkey) and a lovable beetle samurai (Bettle). With these amazing companions, Kubo must seek out a mystic sword, armor, and helmet to protect himself against his grandfather.

Much like Link’s epic adventures in Hyrule, Kubo’s journey takes him across the gorgeous and dangerous landscape of Japan. Kubo, Monkey, and Beetle engage in thrilling battles against many foes including a massive skeleton, a mysterious sea monster, and Kubo’s nefarious aunts.

Stop-Motion Magic

Kubo and The Two Strings is visually stunning as it has a staggering amount of visual detail. Much like The Wind Waker, the art style and design choices for the film result in a finished product that will age gracefully into the future, regardless of how technology advances. If you look at any screenshots from the film, it is easy to identify them as part of Laika Studios’s beautiful film. Overall, the gorgeous art style reminds me of great games like Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time, though Kubo and The Two Strings does have a dark color palette.

Laika Studios,  a company based in Oregon (U.S.), created Kubo and The Two Strings using incredibly sophisticated stop-motion and CGI techniques. In fact, Laika is one of the few studios that are currently making ambitious stop-motion animated features in a crowded animated market. While the stop-motion animation techniques have been suffering from under-exposure as fully computer-generated films have taken over, Laika’s methods integrate some of the best digital technology available to filmmakers and animators (check out this article for more detail on the process at Laika Studio). While using this time-consuming animation style has not always paid off at the box office, the results of their efforts are truly wondrous to behold and the film has an incredible amount of detail in each frame.

For Kubo and The Two Strings, Laika Studios took their game to the next level to create something unforgettable. The attention to detail and craftsmanship within the film is staggering. Whether it is Monkey’s individual tufts of white hair or Kubo fiery red kimono, the detail in each character is comparable to anything created by Disney or Pixar’s computer-generated animated films. Each character in Kubo and The Two Strings has hundreds of unique expressions that are manipulated and swapped out to convey complex emotions. In addition to these smaller stop-motion characters, the film makes use of massive sets and enormous animated puppets that convey a sense of size and scale that rivals that of the best Zelda game. The massive skeleton featured above and the gorgeous Leaf Galleon feel like they would fit perfectly in a Zelda game.

Dramatic Animated Sequence

Kubo and The Two Strings has some of the most dramatic sequences of any animated film. Laika Studio holds nothing back in its pursuit to make Kubo’s journey come to life. Before even introducing its characters, Laika Studios boldly throws the viewer into a truly intense sequence, a moment that is both sad and beautiful, setting the stage for the dramatic story that will follow.

The highlight of the film is a dramatic fight scene between Monkey and the masked Sister (Kubo’s Aunt) on a small ship. The dramatic fight sequence takes place on a stormy sea with lightning flashing around the two characters. Monkey and Sister engage in a brutal duel for survival. Monkey wields a sword and Sister wields a chained Kusarigama. The sequence demanded an incredible amount of time and effort from the production team, but every moment of the sequence is amazing. It feels like a sequence that could fit right into Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, one of the best martial arts films ever made. In a world where big budget action films rein supreme, it is amazing that Laika Studios has fight choreography and action sequences that stand toe with toe with those films.

The final battle between Kubo and The Moon King is another great sequence within the film. The confrontation reminds me greatly of Ocarina of Time‘s last battle. Like Ganon, The Moon King sheds his human-like form and reveals his monstrous soul. The massive serpentine enemy dwarfs Kubo in size, resulting in a suitably epic showdown for the fate of Kubo’s future.

The Wonder and Joy Of Life

Despite the overall mythic quality of Kubo and The Two Strings, the joy of the film’s storytelling is in its universality. Kubo focuses on the joy and pain of life that all people experience. Whether it is an illness, an accident, or old age, all humans struggle with feelings of loss throughout our lives. Whether we are young or old, we all question where we come from and we all seek who we are meant to be. Kubo’s journey from lonely street performer to fully-realized hero is a perfect representation of this important lifelong quest. Both Zelda and Kubo and The Two Strings tell the story of children growing into wiser, more confident people who are ready to seize their destiny.

One of the other prevailing themes in the film is love and the connection we have with those we love. Kubo’s mother, represented in the film by Monkey, fears what will become of her son after she is gone. Ultimately, Kubo’s mother learns that her story will live on through her son, who continues to utilize all the wisdom and love she bestowed on him. With each step Kubo takes, it becomes clear that each new generation inherits wisdom and pain from past generations. Kubo learns from his mother and father’s courage, while rejecting the cruelty of his Celestial relatives. In the end, Kubo demonstrates that all people have a choice about what they hold on to from the past and what we chose to leave behind.

While Kubo‘s story is visually stunning, great care was also taken with its audio elements to truly immerse the audience in the story. As important as the writing and production were to the story, the music and voice acting are equally important. One needs only to listen to Koji Kondo’s iconic Zelda scores to know that music is an essential part of storytelling. And Kubo‘s soundtrack, composed by Dario Marianelli, contains a superb blend of playful joy, heart-wrenching sorrow, and evocative love. It’s a mature soundtrack that adds nuance to the scenery and set pieces constructed for the film, using Kubo’s string instrument as a key voice within the soundtrack.

The voice acting is also impressive. With a list of voice actors that include Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, George Takei, and Ralph Fiennes, each character feels incredibly vibrant and alive. Theron is especially powerful, playing the dual role of Kubo’s Mother and Monkey with mix of wit, ferocity, and tenderness that anchors the film. In contrast to his more recent serious personas, McConaughey anchors many of the laughs as the silly and endearing Beetle. Rooney Mara is haunting as the cruel sisters of Kubo’s Mother, twins who hide their hatred behind intimidating masks. And last among the cast, Ralph Fiennes is excellent in a small but key role as The Moon King. In a matter of seconds, the actor moves between pleasant and terrifying. Overall, the films music and voice acting add another dimension to a film that is already a technical masterpiece.

Conclusion – A Magical Film That Never Found Its Audience

In contrast to its magic, Kubo and The Two Strings was a box office disappointment that demonstrated that not all ambition is rewarded appropriately. The film was released in August 2016 and it only grossed $77 million worldwide against a budget of $60 million. Overall, while the film wouldn’t necessarily be considered a bust, it would not be a financial success either. The film may have been too mature for young audiences, while also losing out to older viewers who might not normally see an animated film. In fact, Laika Studio is still struggling to attain financial success, despite continued critical and audience acclaim.

Much like The Legend of Zelda, Kubo and The Two Strings is an ambitious project with a complex and moving story. The film captures the joy and pain of growing up in a beautiful way. Of all the films that have been made in the past decade, this is the film that comes closest to capturing the spirit of The Legend of Zelda. Go watch it now!

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Sean Gadus is an Associate Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He loves playing video games, reading books, and geeking out about all things Star Wars and Batman. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time. He loves perfectly silent movie theaters. He currently rewatching Star Wars Rebels and getting emotional over Season 7 of The Clone Wars.