Interview: Travis Knight, Director of Kubo and the Two Strings

The Future of LAIKA

JE: I’ve noticed a recurring trend in LAIKA films where they are more coming-of-age period pieces. Is there any other period or civilization you’re looking forward to visiting?

TK: Undoubtedly. The thing I love about animation is that you’re always building these entire worlds. Nothing exists, and it’s all just a notion and ideas. By the time you get to the end of it, these things physically exist. We’ve brought these things to life with our hands. It’s a fully lived in and realized world and I just love that. There are so many different stories I want to tell, so many different worlds I want to explore and so many different genres I want to dive into. Animation is a very powerful visual medium that we can use to basically tell any kind of story. I love the potential of what you can do in animation, and it’s so sad to see that so much of it is all the same. It’s one of the reasons that we’re not even remotely interested in making sequels. We make original stories, so once we’re done with a story and the characters, that’s out final statement on the story and that character. That’s why that very last frame in the movie is so bittersweet for me.

JE: Just like the end of a good book.

TK: Yeah, it’s depressing slightly. It’s great because we give it out to the world and now it belongs to the world, but there is something that’s deeply sad about it as well. When I think about the films that we are going to be developing in the next couple of years, it excites me to know just how different they are. People are really going to be surprised. If people think they’ve got LAIKA pegged and they think they know what kind of movies we make, I think they’ll be surprised down the road.

JE: I know it takes a long time to create one of these films, but I read that LAIKA is planning on releasing a film every year.

TK: That’s the ultimate goal. In fact, this film and the next marks the first time we’ve actually overlapped physical production of two films. So while we were still shooting Kubo, the next film was ramping up and we were shooting that as well. We’ve never done that before.

JE: Will you also be directing the next film or at least helping in the animation department?

TK: Oh god, no! I will definitely animate on it and I’m producing it, but there’s only so much of me to go around. This film wrecked me, but there will definitely be more films in the future that I will direct. The goal is to put out one film a year, so we really have to work hard to find ways to be more efficient, but I think in about 5 years we’ll get on that cycle.

Jon Espino

Jon would say that as a writer, he is a self-proclaimed film snob and a pop culture junkie. Always gives his honest, critical, and maybe a little bit snarky opinion on everything. He's very detail oriented and loves anything involving creativity and innovation. You're better off asking him who his favorite director is rather than his favorite film. So beware and get ready to be entertained. You can contact him at jon@theyoungfolks.com or follow him on twitter @DystopianHero. (Also, he doesn't always refer to himself in the third person, but sometimes he just has to).