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

Moongirl and LAIKA Sequels

JE: While we’re strolling down memory lane, I recently rewatched your short Moongirl. It’s full of ideas and potential for expanding the world. Do you think you would ever make a feature length film out of it?

TK: No. I can say that with complete conviction and certainty because i love that story and I think there was some mythology we developed that can move beyond that. The thing about the way we make movies is that we always to tell new and original stories. Like, this is the Kubo universe and this is our story about this kid and this world and these characters, and now that’s done and we move on to the next thing. As sad as that can make me at times to leave that world behind, it still exists and it can be part of people’s lives. I’m not interested in making sequels and I can appreciate that that’s a rarity in this business.

JE: On behalf of film viewers everywhere, I’d like to thank you for that approach.

TK: Look, there are legitimate business reasons behind it, and there can be great sequels. The Godfather 2 is as good a film as any to have ever been made. [Star Wars V] The Empire Strikes Back is an extraordinarily good film, so obviously there are exceptions to the rule. I think by and large, sequels are watered-down versions of the original.

JE: They’re also very limiting and constrictive.

TK: Yeah. See, the way I approach a movie is that I set out tell a story on the most meaningful moment in a person’s life. Otherwise, why are we going to go watch this thing if it’s something that doesn’t really matter or has any significance behind it. What is a sequel then? The second most meaningful experience in their life? Do you just crank up the volume just so it becomes crazy sensory overload? I think we see that in a lot of sequels, but I’m just not interested in making those kind of movies. I want them to have resonance and I want them to have meaning. That’s why I’m not at all interested in a Kubo 2. Now, there might be a property that we take on in the future with a big story that might warrant multiple films, but until that happens, we’re not interested in making sequels.