Collaboration - Kubo and the Two Strings - The Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey is a formula used in ancient myths as well as modern day books and movies. The original concept of the Hero's journey was made by Joseph Campbell in his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and a refined version was made by Christopher Vogler in "The Writer's Journey".

(The Hero's Journey Diagram, 2018)

This theory can be applied to many modern movies where an adventure takes place, including the 2016 film Kubo and the Two Strings.

Ordinary World - Kubo is a storyteller who takes care of his sick mother. He is not allowed to stay up after dark, as his mother fears her sisters and father will come and take Kubo away from her.

Call to Adventure - Kubo, convinced by a lady in the town he lives near, stays up after dark to try and talk to his father at an annual festival. Residents light a lantern to aid their ancestors in the spirit world. He stays up after dark and his aunts appear to take him.

Refusal of the call - He runs from his aunts, not wanting to engage them. He tries to go back to the cave in which his mother resides to be safe. His mother wants him to find his fathers armour, so she helps him escape but Kubo doesn't accept this and tries to stay with his mother only to fail.

Supernatural aid - From the beginning of the film he's had the power to control paper with his guitar. But in this instance his mother, with the last of her power, takes his guitar and stops his sisters, making Kubo escape. She also brings Kubos monkey statue to life, so he has aid from that as well. His mother dies in this last act.

Crossing the first threshold - Kubo gets three questions from the monkey, and wastes them all trying to figure out what exactly happened. He refuses to accept this as reality, and mocks the monkey. As he asks what to do, the monkey mentions his fathers armour again. He slowly accepts what he has to do, and falls asleep. In the morning an origami man appears to guide them, and Kubo follows him, finally crossing the first threshold. His guardian in this sense is his inability to accept whats happening.

The Road of the Trials - Kubo learns that his magic to control the paper is now stronger, and the stronger he gets, the more dangerous things will be. Kubo learns to control his magic more. He meets a samurai, claiming to be his fathers apprentice, and he vows to help Kubo on his way. They continue to follow the origami man. As they journey on, they come across a cave and fall down into its deepest parts. There they find part of his fathers armor, The Sword Unbreakable. It turns out to be a fake and a trap, and there they must fight a giant skeletal monster. They struggle at first, but Kubo manages to find the real sword just in time.

Kubo, still learning about his powers, manages to build a boat out of leaves, thus proving his pwoers are growing and that he's controlling them. The samurai teaches Kubo to shoot an arrow, as they all learn about eachother and start to get along as friends.

Belly of the whale - While on the long lake they find that the second piece of armor is under the lake. The samurai jumps in to get it and when he doesn't come back for a while Kubo jumps in after him. The monkey gets attacked by Kubos aunts. Whilst underwater, Kubo gets attacked by a beast that controls his mind. All our protagonists in this case are in their own respective "belly of the whale".

Meeting with the Goddess - Kubo discovers that the Monkey and the Samurai are actually his mother and father reborn.

Woman as temptress - In a dream, Kubo meets with his grandfather, the one who wants his other eye, and the antagonist of this story. He tells Kubo where the last piece of armor is, however Kubo is unaware the man was his grandfather, and that this is a trap.

It was from here that identifying the stages became a little trickier. Not only are they in a slightly different order, but they don't exactly match up exactly with these steps of the monomyth.

(Kubo and the Two Strings, 2016)

Atonement with the father - This stage, doesn't exactly exist within the final acts, but rather throughout the film itself. Kubo gets acceptance from the Monkey (his mother) and the Samurai (his father) in the times he starts to realize who they are.

Apotheosis - When the protagonists arrive at the location of the last piece of armor, it does indeed turn out to be a trap. The aunts attack them, but they manage to hold her off. It is at this point that the aunt kills the father, and the mother, due to injuries, dies too, but not before Kubo, in a fit of passion, kills the Aunt. In this moment of realizing who he is and where he's from, he realizes what he must do, and achieves his full strength in power.

Ultimate Boon - In the beginning of the film, Kubo lives in a village, which happens to be the place where he got his Call to Adventure. In order to get the real last piece of armor, he must return there. This being his Ultimate Boon, where he returns to the village, and gets the last piece of armor.

Refusal of the return - This stage is nonexistent, Kubo does not hesitate to return to his original task, and bravely goes back to the village and gets the last piece of armor. This way he can defeat his grandfather, who was the real villain all along.

Magic flight - The final big fight of the film is when Kubo confronts his grandfather after returning to the village. The grandfather turns into a giant bug like creature when Kubo refuses to give him his eye, and they fight.

Rescue from without - Once the battle is over, and Kubo has defeated his grandfather, Kubo chooses not to kill his grandfather. Instead the grandfather loses his memories. This in its own way can be a rescue from without. But just after this, the village people are seen to be alive and come and tell the grandfather his "story", albeit a fake one. In this sense, the village people saved Kubo.

The crossing of the return threshold - This step is nonexistant as well, as there is no "final" fight, and there is no crossing of this threshold. Kubo accepted long ago that this was what he had to do.

Master of two worlds - This one is slightly harder to put into context with this movie. As Kubo has been the Master of two worlds throughout. He knew about his powers to control paper since the beginning, and also had a knowledge of the village, and the mothers past.

(Kubo and the Two Strings, 2016)

Freedom to live - Kubo completes the annual festival with the rest of the village, speaking to his mother and father, and seeing their spirits off as the movie ends. He is free to live in this world with the village, and knowing that his mother and father are looking over him.

Bibliography:

Images:

The Hero's Journey Diagram. (2018). [image] Available at: https://d1y9uiksrn06av.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/hero-chart.jpg [Accessed 1 Oct. 2018].

Kubo and the Two Strings. (2016). [DVD] Directed by T. Knight. United Sates: Laika.