Key Industry of the 21st century

Korea's animation industry is founded on the production know- how and technology it has accumulated and honed over 30 years of working with the animators of various advanced countries. Now, as young animation fanatics armed with creativity are emerging on the scene, Korea is starting to make its mark on the world.

by Paek Chang-hwa

The history of animation production in Korea is not short. The country's first animated move Hong Kil-tong was produced in 1967. The animated TV series Robot Taekwon V was made in 1976 and introduced some unique new characters.

New creative animation began to boom around the time of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The TV networks took the lead in producing creative animated works and this let to a boom in animated movies for theaters.

By far the most successful of the animated movies has been The Little Dino Dooly, whose central character pushed aside Walt Disney characters to become the favorite character of Korean children. Recently, the move was exported to Germany, where it has been receiving favorable reviews. While the animated works of Europe are criticized for being overly violent and commercial, Dooly is attracting wide attention overseas because it nurtures the dreams and feelings of children.

Future animation leaders

Under its policy to build the foundations of new intelligent industries for the 21st century, the Korean government started its support for the animation industry and went on to demonstrate its support with the establishment of an animation academy inside the movie complex in Yangsuri. The academy opened in March 1993 with the aim of fostering not just technological skills but also talented young animators. The first class had 12 students from diverse backgrounds, including a master's degree holder, an interior designer and a genetic engineer, all fired with a passion to become the leaders of Korea's animation industry.

There are also young animation lovers burning the midnight oil in Namsan, in the heart of Seoul. With the goal of becoming the high temple of the local animation industry, the Seoul Animation Center was opened there in March this year. Fifteen teams ranging from cartoon creation groups to potential animation producers have taken up residence in the center and, charged with the task of producing results within the next two years, they are playing out the drama called "Sleepless in Namsan".

South of the city in the government's Venture Building in Soch'o-dong, 15 animation teams are working to build the foundation for a new industry. With the ambition of becoming a city of animation, Puch'on is planning a wide range of animation- related events and laying the foundation on which to build up the animation industry. It seems there will be a true boom in the animation industry.

Bright future

A cartoon producer at a TV network, Kim Jong-kyu, who believes that the local animation industry has a bright future, said: "Animation has broken away from the cell drawings of the past to become a high-tech 3D video industry using computers. The real issue is the securing of high-quality contents filled with imagination and creativity." So long as the government lends its full support to the industry and ensures that the conditions are right for young animators to work actively, the potential is there.

Iron Deva, produced by Kim Hyuk of B29 Enterprise, is Korea's first digital animated work to use the new computer technology digi-cell. It made its premiere in January and showed the world the standard of digital animation in Korea. Negotiations are now under way to export the movie to Japan and the United States.

Other digital works in production include futuristic sci-fi movie called Thelma, made by Korea Global C&A, which takes Shakespeare's Hamlet as its central motif, and White Dog, made by Project White Dog 2002, which has a native Korean breed of dog as its main character.

The key to the success of digital animation is making the best use of detailed computer composition. In this context, it is significant that the science fiction movie Yonggary, which debuted in July, achieved international presales of US$3 million.

Expanding horizons

The key to any science fiction movie is the effective use of the latest computer techniques and special effects. Yonggary will prove a test case of the standard of Korea's digital video production industry. Made by Yonggu Art Movie, Yonggary has brought together experts in the industry with the aim of expanding the horizons of the animation business.

As the third largest animation production country in the world, Korea's animation market is worth 500 billion won and is growing at a rate of 25 percent each year. In the past, the focus was on quantitative growth, but the emphasis is now on qualitative growth on the road to becoming a leading player in the film and video industry of the 21st century.