Claydream: The Will Vinton Documentary

It is a great irony animation-filmmaker Will Vinton scored tremendous success with his commercial work, but was undone by bad business decisions. Despite the popularity of his “California Raisons” campaign and three seasons of The PJs, a primetime TV collaboration with Eddie Murphy, he lost control of the studio he built. His frustrating story offers applicable lessons for aspiring animators throughout Marq Evans’ documentary, Claydream, which opens Friday in Los Angeles (and is now playing in New York).

With Closed Mondays, his first film to receive heavy festival play, Vinton and co-director Bob Gardiner won the Academy Award for animated short. They had a bad breakup shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Gardiner’s questionable working methods undermined his promise, while Vinton steadily gained prominence in the industry.

Sadly, Vinton’s first and only full-length feature, The Adventures of Mark Twain was mishandled by its distributor. Yet, the success of the “California Raisins” and Domino’s “Avoid the ‘Noid” commercial campaigns generated a lot of revenue for his studio. However, the Raisins could have earned so much more, if Vinton had negotiated a part of the merchandising rights. Sadly, face-palm-worthy business decisions will be a recurring theme in Claydream, especially when he brought in Phil Knight as an investor.

Yes, that is Phil Knight of Nike, which actively lobbied against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. What kind of corporate citizen opposes such a measure? Apparently, the sort that wrested control of Will Vinton Studios from its founder. It is now known as Laika.

What makes Claydream so compelling is that it is equal parts film and business documentaries. If Vinton, who died in 2018, might have made more masterworks like Mark Twain, if he had better understood and more proactively managed the business side of the studio. Knight’s son Travis, who now runs Laika, is only seen in deposition footage and his old (excruciatingly painful) rap video, but it might have better served Laika’s interests had he sat for an interview. His father, who obviously never intended his deposition video would see the light of day, comes off terribly.

MoMI Winter Warrior: Kubo and the Two Strings

It was hard being a troubadour in Edo-era Japan. Remember the blind biwa player in Kwaidan? Life ought to be easier for Kubo. At least he still has one good eye (and he plays the shamisen). However, his mean old immortal grandfather and his two wicked aunts have their sights set on that remaining peeper (and his soul to go with it). When his faltering mother can longer protect him, Kubo must set of on an archetypal fantasy quest in Travis Knight’s Kubo and the Two Strings (trailer here), which continues screening this afternoon and tomorrow at the Museum of the Moving Image.

Kubo grew up believing his father was Hanzo, a heroic fallen samurai, but it is hard to say how much stock he should put in what his mother Sariatu says. She somehow saved him from the roiling seas during the prologue, but the head injury she sustained apparently caused progressive damage. Nevertheless, Kubo takes care of her as best he can with the proceeds of his storytelling performances. Unfortunately, it turns out everything Sariatu said was true, as Kubo finds out when he is finally caught outside after dark.

When her father the Moon King finally detects Kubo’s presence, Sariatu uses the last of her magic to whisk Kubo away and animate his snow monkey charm to serve as his protector. To face his grandfather, Kubo will have to recover an enchanted sword and the matching breastplate and helmet. Fortunately, he will have the help of “Little Hanzo,” an origami samurai apparently invested with the vestiges of Hanzo’s spirit, through Kubo’s own magic. Along the way, they will recruit the help of “Beetle,” one of Hanzo’s comrades-in-arms, who was magically transformed into an amnesiac insectoid warrior, but remains quite handy with a bow and arrow.

Kubo is easily the best film from the Laika animation studio yet, representing a quantum leap improvement over The Boxtrolls. Technically, their work has always been accomplished, but the story and characterization of Strings are considerably richer and weightier. Some will say the “twists” are too obvious, but they are not meant to be surprises, but rather to deepen the sense of tragic fate.

Even though Kubo plays the shamisen, it is impossible not to hear echoes of Kwaiden and scores of other Japanese myths and legends in Strings. Yet, the structure is as comfortable as a lived-in sweater for fans of Tolkienesque fantasy. The voice-over performances are all first-rate, with Charlize Theron really surprising with “Monkey’s” feistiness. It might be slightly problematic for some that Asian voice talent was only cast in supporting roles, including George Takei and Minae Noji (a General Hospital alumnus) vocally portraying villager Hosato and his namesake daughter Minae, but big names like Theron and Matthew McConaughey really help sell and book commercial animated properties (and one could argue anime dubs offer plenty of precedent).

The animation has never been an issue for Laika, but the way they integrated stop-motion for the figures and CG for the backdrops in Strings constitutes their best work yet. There is a reason why it keeps coming back (MoMA’s Contenders, MoMI’s Winter Warrior workshops and screenings). It definitely deserves to be in contention for best animated feature, ranking between the prepackaged studio hits and GKIDS’ sophisticated gems. Recommended for animation fans of all ages, Kubo and the Two Strings screens this afternoon and tomorrow at MoMI. Happy New Year.

Boxtrolls: Laika Gets Square

They are total squares, but good guys usually are. The question is whether these subterranean tinkerers can change their nature. They will have to if they hope to survive a rogue exterminator in Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi’s The Boxtrolls (trailer here), the latest stop-motion feature from the Laika animation studio, which opens this Friday in New York.

The humans live above, in vaguely Victorian Chessebridge, while the Boxtrolls live in the tunnels below, demonized by the ignorant people above. Only venturing up at nights, the preternaturally handy Boxtrolls survive fixing up cast-off items and scavenging from the garbage. Unfortunately, their numbers are dwindling ever since the Dickensian Archibald Snatcher declared war on the Boxtrolls in hopes of joining the White Hats, Cheesebridge’s ruling elite.

When confronted by humans, the Boxtrolls instinctively play possum, retracting their heads and limbs into their boxes, turtle-like. Eggs is the exception. His body does not work the same way, because he is actually a human boy adopted as an infant by the gentle Boxtrolls. Despite their nurturing, he is still hardwired slightly differently. To avoid extinction, the other Boxtrolls will have to become more like Eggs, before Snatcher finishes his grim business.

Yes, there is a genocide theme running through Boxtrolls, which is always fun stuff in children’s film. Frankly, the treatment is probably too heavy-handed for parents who try to shelter their children and presented too glibly and off-handedly for those who like to challenge their kids. Tonally, the Boxtrolls is just bizarrely half-pregnant.

Nevertheless, the artistry of the Laika animators is undeniably. The expressiveness of the figures and the richly realized details of their world are quite impressive. It is a shame a little bit more effort was not dedicated to the story, loosely adapted from Alan Snow’s Here Be Monsters! Just once it would be nice to see the adults recognize the glaringly obvious merit of their young ones’ warnings, especially for a total creep like Snatcher, but that will not be happening this time around.

Ironically, some of the cleverest bits in Boxtrolls come towards the end, so if you go, stick with it. As is often the case, the 3D has its moments, but probably is not worth the surcharge. If you appreciate the art of animation than it is quite a feast, but as a discrete film, it is not the most well balanced meal. If animation is bacon, consider it Adkins-friendly. Possibly too intense for small tykes, The Boxtrolls is recommended for stop-motion fans when it opens this Friday (9/26) in a variety of New York theaters, including the AMC Empire.