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Hyemin Park
Professor Elizabeth Birmingham
English 382
24 November 2013
Korean Animation, It is time to see the light
There is a saying by Walt Disney Company which is the largest media company, and
established as a leader of American Animation industry. This is the saying:
Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive.
This facility makes it most versatile and explicit means of communication
yet devised for quick mass appreciation (Walt Disney).
As the saying of Walt Disney Company, Animation is the unique film genre which can handle
various themes by using the images. I also have grown by seeing the animated TV series
and films when I was young. However, that was all the animations for me, and I did not
watch any animated TV series or films after I went to middle school. Furthermore, almost
animated TV series and films that I have watched were from Japan or America. That was the
starting point of my paper.
There is a strong stereotype about animation films in Korea that they are only for the
children, not for the adult. The adults in Korean even do not consider the animation film
when they are going to the movie theater. It is very odd when we watch an animation movie
in the theater with friends who are over 20 years old or high school students. For this reason,
Korean animation films had never become the box-office successes that their producers had
hoped. Although Korean animated films had not received universal or domestic recognition
so far, they have the potential to success because many of them released these days are very
remarkable and noteworthy.
To support my idea, I have organized my paper into three main sections, and two of
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them have sub-sections. In the first section, I provide some background knowledge of Korean
animation industry and film: history of Korean animation, and Current situation of Korean
animation industry. In the second section, I introduce a noteworthy Korean Animation film,
The King of Pigs (2011), which was first animated film to screen at Cannes (film society
lincoln center ) : introduction of The King of Pigs, reviews and reception of this movie, and
analysis these receptions. I end my paper with a third section that offers my view about the
future of animation industry in Korea.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF KOREAN ANIMATION
History of Korean Animation
At first, many animation films were being imported and introduced into Korea in the
past. Many short animation and news clips were usually run before the film starts, such as the
early works of Walt Disney, so many Koreans were exposed to quite a few animated films
(Giammarco A Brief History of Korean Animation Part I: The Early Years par. 4). There
was an attempt to make Koreas first animated film, of which the title was Gaeggum, which
means Dog Dreams in English (par. 5). However, unfortunately, it was never completed. It
merely proves the signs of life of the animation industry in Korea as early as the mid-1930s.
The main reason of being failed to make this film was the lack of funds (par. 6).
It was not until 1950s that Korean animation began developing chiefly as commercial
advertisements. Even though, during most of 1950s, this era was dominated by the import of
foreign animation films and most of them were Disney films, there was a little attempt to
make animation clips (par. 16). For example, many animated advertisement came out, such as
Lucky Toothpaste television advertisement, a digestive aid advertisement called
Hwalmyeong-su, and the director Shin Dong-heons advertisement for Jinro Soju
(Giammarco A Brief History of Korean Animation Part I: The Early Years par. 17-19).
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In the 1960s, in earnest, Korean animation film had developed gradually. However,
there were also barriers for the development of Korean animation film. As Korea was under
the control of a military government of 1961, government put the stronger regulations and the
Motion Picture Law was enacted in 1962 which included some very strict rules and
regulations. Furthermore, the government hoped to consolidate the number of production
companies, so the 71 companies in existence before the law were reduced to just 16.
Unfortunately, even these few companies had a hard time meeting the government
requirements, finally the total number of production companies in 1963 had fallen to just four
(Giammarco A Brief History of Korean Animation, Part II 1967-1972: The First Wave par.
1). Another barrier was an increase in censorship. Directors could not make the films which
deals with realism or saying social criticism, and the obscenity laws also applied (par. 2).
Although there were severe difficulties for making films, many animation films came
out in 1960s. In 1965, Kim Soo-yong's children's drama, Even The Sky Is Sad, had a huge box
office success. In 1967, children's movies began in earnest with Monster Wangmagwi,
Yonggary, and Monster From The Deep opening in theaters. Furthermore, the first full-length
animated film, Hong Gil-dong was come out, and Korea's first stop-motion animation,
Heungbu And Nolbu, was also released (par. 3). At this time period, many films such as Hong
Gil-dong, Hopi And Chadol Bawi, General Hong Gil-dong and Prince Hodong and the
Princess Of Nakrang were all based on traditional legends and folk stories, and also each film
contained elements that made them unique (par. 7). After 1960s, many Korean animation
films and TV series had keep releasing. The major works of them would be Dooly the Little
Dinosaur, Robot Taekwon V (1976), Youngsim (1980), and Space Gundam V (1983).
In 1994, the government recognized the economic potential of animation, so it started
to actively promote this industry. It helped to start the Seoul International Cartoon &
Animation Festival in 1995, and provided more support for struggling animation start-ups
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(A Bright Future for Korean Animation). By the late 1990s, Korea made about 50 percent
of the worldwide subcontract market (A Bright Future for Korean Animation).
Current situation of Korean Animation industry
These days, Korean animation industry puts the emphasis on not only making the
film, but also making TV series, such as the most popular animation series recently, Pororo
the Little Penguin. Many of Korean animation companies are producing TV series and other
contents that are popular all over the world, both on their own and in partnership with
international companies (A Bright Future for Korean Animation). Furthermore, recently,
there are many Korean animation films and these movies are receiving attention from
domestic audiences, and also many films were awarded. For example, Wonderful Days (2003)
excited fans with its cutting-edge mix of eel animation and computerized techniques (A
Bright Future for Korean Animation) and this was screened at many Film Festivals
(Wonderful Days). As Korean electronics and manufacturers lead the way in 3D television
industry, Korean 3D technologies in animation films are moving ahead (A Bright Future for
Korean Animation). In conclusion, many creative and productive animations keep releasing
these days.
However, compared to Japanese animation or American animation, the world of
animated films in Korea is tiny. To be specific, now in Japan, there are over 430 production
studios (Anime), but we just have around 120 animation studios (Korean animation), and
there is no globally well-known animation studio or directors. In addition to this, there is a
problem of lack of fund for the making films. Since many adult people usually do not watch
the animation films, many producers and the companies do not want to make them. This is
because they cannot make the profit and there is a pathetic return on their investment.
Although the government tried to help this industry to actively promote, the support of the
government for the animation industry is very slight and it is not helpful in the aspect of the
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capital.

KOREAN ANIMATION, THE KING OF PIGS (2011)
Introduction of The King of Pigs
The king of pigs is a Korean animated drama film directed by Yeon Sang-ho (The
King of Pigs). This film was his first full-length animated feature film and accomplished a
triple crown, which is the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award,
Movie Collage Award and DGK Directors Award, at 2012 Busan International Film Festival.
In November of that same year, the movie was released in theaters and grabbed over 19,000
admissions, according to the Korea Box Office Information System. Even though these
numbers may not seem huge, it is a very remarkable phenomenon in consideration that this
movie is a kind of an indie film (Kim). Furthermore, this film was selected to be screened in
the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival (The King of Pigs).
The director, Yeon Sang-ho, is a new director in Korea. He graduated from
Sangmyoung University with a degree of Occidental painting and established Studio Dada
show in 2004. He released short animations, such as The Hell: Two Kinds of Life (2006) and
Love is Protein (2008). The film, The King of Pigs (2011), is his feature debut (Yeon Sang-
ho). Furthermore, recently, he released another film, The Fake (2013), and this film has won
the best animated film at the Gijn International Film Festival in Spain. The background of
this film is a village on the verge of being submerged. This film revolves around the minister
who deceives the villagers and a drunk, the only person who knows the minister's true colors
('The Fake' Wins Animation Prize in Spain). He keeps doing his working creatively and
receiving domestic and universal recognition because of the characteristic that he depicts the
dark side of Korean society plainly and frankly by using the unique genre of Animation.
This films genre is thriller and the atmosphere of the film is heavy and dark. This
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film shows the aspect of Korean young peoples society directly. The plot of this film is like
this. After Kyung-mins business goes bankrupt, he kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his
anger, he finds his former middle school classmate Jong-suk and calls Jong-suk up (Lee).
Jong-suk now works as a ghostwriter for an autobiography, but he dreams of writing his own
novel (The King of Pigs). Finally they meet together for the first time in 15 years. Kyung-
min and Jong-suk both hide their own current situations and begin to talk about their middle
school days. At their middle school, students were classified by their wealth and grades.
Kyung-min and Jong-suk were at the bottom. Students who were very weak and had no
power were called "pigs", so Kyung-min and Jong-suk were called pigs. Furthermore, they
were bullied by dogs", a ruling class. When Kyung-min and Jong-suk were bullied by the
dogs they got angry, but couldn't do anything against the dogs, and they just accepted their
situations. At that time, Chul-yi appeared and suppressed the dogs who bullied the weak by
beating them severly. After that, Kyung-min and Jong-suk became to rely on Chul-yi and
played with him. Now, after finishing talking, Kyung-min leads Jong-suk to their middle
school grounds, and reveals the shocking truth to Jong-suk of what happened 15 years ago
(The King of Pigs).
Reviews and reception of this movie
After the film released, it received domestic and universal recognition because this
film was quite different from existing works. I will introduce two reviews of this film from
Maggie Lee and Miguel Douglass.
According to Maggie Lee, The King of Pigs shows the arrival of a raw, dark, adult-
oriented genre of independent animation in Korea. Yeon Sang-hos screenplay-direction
stands out by telling directly about the particulars of Korean society. He criticizes and satires
on class inequality by showing ugly, pitiless, and mightily provocative people. Like Lee,
Miguel Douglass says that The King of Pigs is not a film that considers itself lightly, as we
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can see the opening part of the film. We as viewers are subjected to plentiful displays of
animal cruelty, sexual harassment, horrific physical violence and even suicide for almost
during the entire running time. Yeon Sang-Ho who also wrote the script has said that many of
the characters and incidents in the film are based on his own experiences when he was young.
By adjusting between fiction and fantasy, he graphically recounts the events of bullying
through the films narrative. Therefore, he vividly creates a world only focusing on the cold-
heartedness among characters. Thus, both Lee and Maggie think positively about the theme
of this film.
However, in terms of technique skills, they have a different point of view. According
to Lee, The level of violence and gore in this animation film is same as Korean action or
revenge films. Actually, it is much more graphic and stylized by using animated format.
Furthermore, the pain of main characteristics is represented as very realistic, and it makes
people enough to wince. In the fight scene, it is seriously merciless and brutal, but it also
effectively shows how cruelty dehumanizes person in the process, especially bullying on
someone or weak person. Therefore, this film depicts a class gradation in Korean society and
shows how it depraves human interaction. Interestingly, the attacker of bullying really breaks
weak persons spirit, so the act of bullying is not physical but mental.
(Fig. 1)
In contrast, according to Maggie, Even though a film certainly concerns itself with
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attempting to handle the topic of bullying, this film is severely hindered by its effectiveness
as an animated film. In terms of a visual, it looks like very amateurish attempt rather than a
professional display of technical skill because the budget capacity of the film was definitely
low. Of course, one should not judge the merit of a film merely on its budget. However, the
limited budget primarily works against the film and seriously decreased much of the
emotional weight of material in the film. For example, the scenes that a characters emotional
downfall often changes into a comical instance of just how the animation quality is truly
impaired. If the film has worked as a live-action film, it would be more effective and I believe
it would show a powerful testament to the effects of bullying.

(Fig. 2)

In contrast with Maggies opinion, Lee keeps saying that Technically skillful and
highly cinematic in its storytelling, this film proves that it is still possible to produce quality
animation film with only $150,000 budget. Human figures are made to look beastlike, brutal
and distorted by sketching in masculine strokes on a dusky, dark color palette. The main
characters features, such as misery and spite, are well refracted as clenched teeth or the
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eyebrow.
However, according to Maggie, Even though we can applaud this film for
courageously trying to deal with a difficult and taboo subject, this film also stumbles
concerning its implement. The technical deficits continually come up throughout the film,
and these features do not help the relevancy and importance of films topics, and just distract
the viewers. However, we cannot deny that this film is an animated film that handles a
serious issue and dilemma of bullying within South Korea fairly well. However, there are
some technical issues and structural flaws that remove any meaningful commentary about the
destructive ramifications of bullying in the society and surrounding.

(Fig. 3)

Analysis these receptions
When we look into these reviews, we can notice two important points from The King
of Pigs: one is that Korean people can break their stereotypes about animation films with this
movie as a momentum, and the other is that this film shows the possibility of success in
Korean animation industry.
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First of all, this film serves as a momentum to break the strong stereotype of an
Animation film in Korea. As I said before, Korean people have a strong stereotype and
prejudice about animation films. People think that animation films are only for the children,
not for the adults. For this reason, many adults do not watch animation films, except some
globally famous films. Because of this stereotype, it is very difficult that animated films
succeed and receive attention from domestic audiences. However, this film is for the adults,
and it breaks the strong stereotype of animation film. This is because the theme of this film is
very heavy and it handles the dark side of Korean society and social problem in Korea. The
school violence has always been an issue in Korea, but now it is more serious than ever
because violence in schools with young people is at a high and harsh, and school violence is
increasing by forming massive juvenile group gangs. In addition to this, there is no legal
punishment on the attacker of school violence, and the school wants to hide the truth in order
to save its reputation. Moreover, the system of preventing further school violence is not well
established in Korea. Therefore, the punishment on the attacker of school violence is slight in
comparison with the nature of crime, and the victims of school violence are not well
compensated in any way. This school violence is well depicted and portrayed in the film. To
be specific, by revealing the past story among main characters, the film frankly shows how
school violence is happened and victims of school violence are suffered. Furthermore,
although the victims are suffered and bullied, anyone including parents, teachers and adults
did not help the victims, and they just neglect and leave this kind of situation. By showing
this, it urges people to think about this social ill again. Moreover, because of the cruelty and
vivid description of violent scene, teenagers under 19 cannot see this movie. From this, we
can notice that this film is really aimed at the adults, not the children. Although it is an
Animation film, we cannot see this film just having fun, and it makes people think about our
society again. As Lee says that the film effectively demonstrates the cruelty of bullying on the
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weak and the dehumanization in the process, the theme of this film has a strong storytelling.
Moreover, Miguel says that the director tackles the serious dilemma in Korea and this point is
very worthy of applaud. In conclusion, by targeting at the adults and describing the social
issue in Korea graphically, this film refutes the stereotype about Animation films in Korea.
Furthermore, the idea that the director files a complaint against society by using the genre of
Animation is very creative.

(Fig. 4)

The other important point is that this film shows the potential future of Korean
animation film. Although this film was made with low budget, this film portrayed the ugly
truths of school violence vividly by using 3D dummy animation technology. 3D dummy
animation captures the overall layout and animations in 3D. Then it draws them in 2D. 3D
dummy animation technology is well shown in the scene when Chul-yi fights with other
students on the school rooftop. Only when there is a need for exact detail, such as a crease in
some clothing or the changing direction of the wind, a traditional 2D method was employed
(Kim). Actually, in Korea, we use the existing source as the background of painting to save
money when we make an animation film. However, they did not use this way, and they all
painted from beginning to end newly (Studio Dada show). Therefore, it was a very labor-
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intensive working, but by the help of the students from the Animation Department of the
Chungkang College of Cultural Industries, Studio Dadashow, which is the director Yeon
Sang-hos animation production company, was able to finish some 50,000 drawings in the
relatively short period of five months, all because of the 3D dummy animation technique.
Unfortunately, the company closed down after finishing this film because it was hard to
maintain the studio (Kim). Although they were lack of the budget, they did not give up their
own ways to produce the film and finally they did it. Like as Lee mentioned, that the pain and
the fight scene among characters were depicted very realistic, the message and image are
both well depicted in the film by using 3D technique skills. Of course, there is also a defect in
the film, as Miguel said that the visual looks like an amateurish attempt and there is a
problem in a technical issue and structural flaw because of the low budget. However, when
we consider that this film was Yeon Sang-hos first animated film and there were some
restrictions for making fully perfect films, I think this film shows the development possibility
of Korean animation films.

VIEW ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ANIMATION INDUSTRY IN KOREA
In my opinion, the future of animation industry in Korea is quite bright. Although the
history of Korean Animation is short and there is no well-known animation studio or directors
in Korea, many recent animation films show the bright future of Korean animation industry.
The typical example of this statement would be The King of Pigs, which I mentioned and
analyzed before.
Of course, many Korean animation films leave much to be desired, such as the
limited theme or weak storylines. To be specific, because of the stereotype that animation
films are for the children, the theme of animation films in Korea usually handles family,
humanity, or kind of morality. For this reason, the storyline is kind of trite. Furthermore, the
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plot of Korean animation films is really weak and poor when we compared with the excellent
technique skills or graphic skills of them. In addition to this, there is a problem of lack of
fund when making films. Although the government makes an effort to support animation
industry financially in Korea, the backing is too slight to help the financial lack of animation
industry fully. As well as this, the strong stereotype about animation films in Korea is also the
big barrier for the development of Korean animation films.
Although there are numerous barriers for the growth of Korean animation industry,
the clear view for the future of Korean animation films is quite bright when we solve those
problems in a calm and orderly way. This is because the history of Korean animation film is
really short, so I think that we have enough time to advance further. Recently, the theme and
plot of animation films are becoming more diverse, and Korean animation industry wants to
make unique films and take a new departure to draw an interest by using indigenous elements
of Korean culture and society. For example, Leafi a hen into the wild (2011) is the typical
example of this statement, because this film is based on a well-known Korean childrens book
by Hwang Sun-mi in Korea. For this reason, this film caught popularity at that time, because
many people read that book, and they were curious about the animated film version of this
book. Moreover, there are some films which are targeted at the adults, such as The king of
Pigs (2011) and The Fake (2013). Through this kind of films, Korean people could have an
opportunity to change their stereotypes about animation films, and adults are watching
animation films increasingly these days. In addition to this, the government should support
the animation industry financially. If animation industry in Korea is fully funded, people in
animation industry can make more exquisite and higher quality films. Furthermore, if a solid
storyline and skilled voice actors are backed up with excellent technique or splendid graphic
skills in animation films, it would be better and the future of Korean animation films will
look much brighter. This is because there are many talented people to produce animation
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films and the technology in Korea. Besides, the technique skill is fully developed and shows
decided superiority compared to other countries.

I am filled with emotions as I write down this paper. This is because I could realize
and look back the greatness of Korean animation films. Actually, most of my friends do not
know about Korean Animation exactly and they could not come up with the title of Korean
animation films easily. I was one of these people, before. However, after writing this paper
and researching about Korean animation films, I could notice they keep developing and I
thought that we should not treat animation industry lightly. Furthermore, I could change my
stereotype that animation is only for the children. Many adults could get the message from
animation film, and sometimes the message in animation film is more powerful than normal
film. I hope that many Korean people change their perception of animation film, and the
industry of animation in Korea grows more and more.












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Work Cited
Giammarco, Thomas. A Brief History of Korean Animation Part I : The Early Years.
koreanfilm.org. n.d. Web. Oct 06, 2013.
Giammarco, Thomas. A Brief History of Korean Animation, Part II 1967-1972:
The First Wave. koreanfilm.org. n.d. Web. Oct 06, 2013.
Hoad, Phil. South Korean animation: is the underdog finally having its day? the guardian.
Jan 22, 2013. Web. Nov 08, 2013.
Maggie Lee. The King of Pigs: Film Review. Hollywood reporter. Dec 07, 2011. Web.
Dec 03, 2013.
Miguel Douglas. The King of Pigs Review. isugoi.com. Feb 19, 2013. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. A Bright Future for Korean Animation. Animation April/May 2011: 44-45. Web.
Nov 06, 2013.
n.p. Anime. Wiki. n.d. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. Korean animation. Wiki. n.d. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. Studio Dada show. dadashow.tistory.com. Nov 30, 2010. Web. Dec 04, 2013.
n.p. The King of Pigs. Film Society Lincoln Center. n.d. Web. Nov 24, 2013.
n.p. The King of Pigs. Wiki. n.d. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. 'The Fake' Wins Animation Prize in Spain. english.chosoun.com. Nov 26, 2013. Web.
Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. Wonderful Days. Wiki. n.d. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
n.p. Walt Disney. BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc. n.d. Web. Oct 06, 2013.
n.p. Yeon Sang-ho. hancinema.net. n.d. Web. Dec 03, 2013.
Seong hoon, Kim. Korean Films at Cannes 2012 - The King of Pigs. koreanfilm.or.kr. May
05, 2013. Web. Dec 03, 2013.

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Anime
Leafie, a Hen into the Wild. Seong-yun Oh. MK Pictures, 2011. Film.
The Fake. Sang-ho Yeon. Studio Dadashow, 2013. Film.
The King of Pigs. Sang-ho Yeon. Studio Dadashow, 2011. Film.
Wonderful Days. Moon-saeng Kim. End Game Productions Inc., Masquerade Films,
Maxmedia, Tin House Productions, 2003. Film.
Image
The King of Pigs. Sang-ho Yeon. Studio Dadashow, 2011. Web.
Fig. 1<http://www.flixist.com/flixclusive-interview-yeun-sang-ho-the-king-of-pigs-
211293.phtml>
Fig. 2 <http://www.cineheroes.net/critique-the-king-of-pigs-de-yeun-sang-ho-paris-
cinema-2012>
Fig. 3 <http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-king-of-pigs-2011-movie-review/>
Fig. 4 <http://dadashow.tistory.com/326>