From Modest Beginnings to an Explosion of Creativity

The Korean film industry is still celebrating the achievements of The Roundup: No Way Out, which became the second movie in the series in two years to take the lead in the yearly box office. But this shouldn’t obscure the other success story that took everyone by surprise during the first half of 2023. In a sector that hasn’t yet fully recovered from the middle-term consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the changes in consumer behaviors, animation films became a force to be reckoned with, not limited anymore to a young audience. Japan’s animation, in particular, had a strong showing. The sports drama The First Slam Dunk resonated with a whole generation that grew up with the manga and the animations series in the 1990s to draw in 4.69 million viewers, while Suzume managed to outpace Shinkai Makoto’s earlier success, Your Name, with 5.53 million admissions. The two movies are currently ranking third and second in the 2023 box office so far. The baton was then passed to the U.S.-Japan coproduction Super Mario Brothers, whose 2.39 million tickets sold in Korea added to the film’s impressive worldwide haul. Pixar’s latest Elemental opened to a slow start but his numbers have been growing steadily thanks to positive word-of-mouth and now just crossed the 3-million admission mark. But where are the homegrown animations, you may wonder. The Summer, from a director who already drew comparisons with Shinkai, was released in June to high praise, and it's worth remember that Train to Busan director, Yeon Sang-ho, first made his name as the director of animated films The Kings of Pigs (2011) and The Fake (2013). Although it still has some way to go if it wants to challenge the US and Japan in terms of popularity, Korean animation has been around for quite some time and have carved a niche of their own, from pioneering classics to cutting-edge wonders. It would be worth retracing its history through 6 movie picks spanning 70 years or so.  

​A Story of Hong Gil-dong 

The First One: A Story of Hong Gil-dong​ (1967), by Shin Dong-hun

It all began in 1967 when Shin Dong-hun, in parts inspired by the classic age of Disney animation, released Korea’s first animation feature. Legendary folk hero Hong Gil-dong, a Korean Robin Hood, was already known long before as the protagonist of a classic Joseon Dynasty-era novel, but it was Shin’s brother, Dong-woo, who made him popular among the youth when he turned it into a comic book in the 1960s and gave him now iconic appearance (a yellow hat and a blue garment). This film, based on this latter version, captivated audiences and the surprise hit ignited a first golden age for Korean animation.  

​Blue Seagull 

The first R-rated Korean animation film: Blue Seagull (1994), by Oh Joong-il

Fast forward to 1994. The animation landscape changed radically with the democratization of television sets and the broadcasting of US and Japanese animated series, like the aforementioned Slam Dunk. Some producers took note of the more mature content that could be found in Japanese productions and created in Blue Seagull Korea’s first R-rated animated feature. A bold move considering the limited target audience on an emerging market, but this was offset by an aggressive promotion strategy, its claim as the first Korean film to use CGI animation (for some scenes), and a star-studded voice cast (Choi Min-soo, Kim Hye-soo, and Uhm Jeong-hwa). All these efforts paid off as the movie sold around 450,000 tickets, a considerable amount at the time this film, thus demonstrating the immense potential market for Korean animation films that dared to challenge the norms. Although it was met with negative reviews, it paved the way for titles with more somber topics like Yeon Sang-ho’s The Kings of Pigs (2011). 

​My Beautiful Girl, Mari 

Putting Korean animation on the world’s map: My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002), by Lee Sung-gang

In 2002, My Beautiful Girl, Mari took the animation world by storm when it became the first Korean film to win the Grand Prize at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, aka the biggest animation-related event on the festival circuit. While A Story of Hong Gil-dong was emulating Disney-like Western animation and Blue Seagull challenged Japanimation, Lee Sung-gang opted for a unique visual style oozing charm and personality. This poignant tale of a young man's journey through his surrealistic dreams proved that the local industry had ambitions beyond the mere subcontracted works for big foreign studios. 

​Wonderful Days 

A melting pot of animation techniques: Wonderful Days (2003), by Kim Moon-saeng

A year later, Wonderful Days broke new ground with its distinctive visuals blending CGI and real-life miniatures for the sci-fi backgrounds and traditional 2D animation for the characters. With this clever strategy, the film avoided falling into the uncanny valley of 3D rendered photorealistic human faces, unlike the Japanese Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within released just two years prior. Its captivating post-apocalyptic world resonated with audiences and the title became one of the early Korean films to have a following outside of Asia.

​Leafie, A Hen into the Wild 

A popular success both at home and abroad: Leafie, A Hen into the Wild (2011), by Oh Sungyun

In 2011, Leafie, A Hen into the Wild took flight and brought Korean animation to unprecedented heights, becoming the highest-grossing Korean animated film of all time. This heartwarming tale, centered around a determined hen's quest for freedom and motherhood, struck the right balance to be as entertaining to the youngest as it is enjoyable for their parents, not unlike the best of Pixar’s works. Its success demonstrated the growing popularity and influence of Korean animation, as it still often makes its way onto the showing list of film festivals around the world.

​Mother Land 

The renaissance of Korean stop-motion animation: Mother Land (2022), by Park Jae-beom

Finally, we arrive at the final step, a remarkable stop-motion animation that gives us a preview of what to expect from Korean animation in the coming years. Mother Land (2022) was celebrated as a return to form for a technique that had been introduced in Korea by Heungbu and Nolbu in 1967 and had only been used once for a feature film since then, in Kongjwi and Patjwi (1977). The film, which tells the tale of a girl from the Siberian tundra venturing into the Northern Land to find the red bear from the legends who could save her ailing mother, earned his young director, Park Jae-beom, the Wildflowers Film Award for Best New Director.