Kubo and the Two Strings/Trivia

Acclaimed Flop: The film failed to reach $70 million on a $60 million budget, despite the fact that it's beloved by both critics and the audiences alike.
Actor Allusion:
- The villager which is portrayed by George Takei exclaims "Oh my!"
- Ralph Fiennes portrays a villain, who is a pale-skinned magical immortal. Complete with a callous attitude towards Muggles that he transforms into a giant snake for the climatic battle.
  - Fiennes again for transforming into a dragon.
  - Don't forget, this isn't the first time that he was King.
  - Or a stop-motion animation film's villain.
- Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa narrated Overwatch's short film "Dragons", which also has a Hanzo.
All-Star Cast: The cast are mostly big names, even those that did the minor characters, like George Takei, Charlize Theron, and Ralph Fiennes, just to name a few.
Box Office Bomb: Despite its near-universal acclaim, Kubo is one of 2016 Summer Bomb Buster. The production only budget is $60 million, $100 million (including advertising). Box office: $69.9 million.
Chinese Mythology: The Chinese's Zŭxiān bǎohù, a belief that one's ancestors will protect them in a form that involves bringing charms, talismans, or familiars to life, which what Monkey is.
Kubo and the Two Strings took five years to make.
Compressed Hair: The human characters have real human hair, but it's stylized with silicone rubber.
Fake Nationality: Most of the cast aren't Japanese. Ralph Fiennes attempts to bury his English born accent when portraying the Moon King, the results: Overpronouncing his Rs.
- McConaughey had to practice speaking without his trademark Texas drawl.
Hey, It's That Voice! Seems that the Warden decided to have a quiet life after getting defeated by Katara and some earthbenders in a prison uprising.
- The Moon King was a British General and Lord, who didn't know that James Armistead was a patriot spy, surrendered in Yorktown, and lost the American Revolution.
- Beetle played for the baseball team the California Angels, who needed a miracle for their losing streak.
- Hashi is an aristocratic patron, who bids for against a rival for Sayuri's virginity.
- Kameyo also cares for another fatherless boy, er, man.
- Turns out that Kubo is the youngest Stark son.
- Miane works for the Shredder as his hitman.
- Miho used to serve tea as one of the Yukimoto Teahouse Geisha.
In Memoriam: This film was dedicated to the late Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro.
Impossibly Cool Clothes: The Sisters' feathered capes include 183 feathers, all individually handmade and kept together with piano wire and woven into ball joints of the spine.
- Each feather can be slide over without getting stuck.
- There's also the 861 laser-etched and uniquely sized feathers, which gave its raven cloak appearance.
Rookie Red Ranger: This is Travis Knight's first film.
Shown Their Work: The LAIKA animators attended an origami and kirigami convention, just to become experts in the art form.
So My Kids Can Watch: Matthew McConaughey wanted to be in the film, so there can be a character that his kids can enjoy. Plus, his kids love the Plucky Comic Reliefs in movies.
- He went even further: while McConaughey was preparing for his role as Beetle, he practiced different voices in front of his kids, asking them which was the funniest.
X Meets Y: Laika uses both Stop Motion and Computer animation to bring Kubo and the Two Strings to life.
Puppet Show: The yokai puppet for the "Garden of Eyes" is six feet tall.
- The creatures' eyeballs are made of a metal mesh, which covers the whole sphere. The pupils are LED lights.
- Hayns, one of LAIKA's supervisor of the puppet lab considers the Sisters as one of the highlight of her career. These puppets are the "Most proud of in her entire career."
- The Hall of Bones set took 360 square feet.
Odd Friendship: Laika teamed up with Stratasys, a 3D printing company, to make the puppets.
Latex Space Suit: LAIKA made a full-body fur suit for Monkey. It's the first of its kind, since it's comprised of silicone, which cut in a tattered and cut row fashion.
Voices in One Room: Averted. The voice acting was recorded first and individually. The actors record saying their lines differently, until they got the correct one.