The National Board of Review announced today that it has chosen Laika’s stop-motion/cg-hybrid film Kubo and the Two Strings as its best animated feature of 2016.
Laika president and CEO Travis Knight directed Kubo from a script by Marc Haimes (Trollhunters) and Chris Butler (Paranorman). The original story and character designs were brought to the studio by industry veteran Shannon Tindle.
The 107-year National Board of Review has presented year-end awards for cinema since 1929, and an animated feature award since the year 2000. The New York-based group, comprised of a “select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students,” is respected for its picks, though its choices tend to have little impact on voters of the larger film awards.
