'Green Days' release date in South Korea 16/06/11
Oh, I've been waiting for this film to be released since 2005 so it had better be good! It looks gorgeous and with Studio MWP producing it, well, it will have the fine drawing detail that I love in animation. I think the Japanese animator Makoto Shinkai set the bar really high with his now signature intricate detail in anime and he has obviously influenced MWP -which is great- as it says to viewers that the creators actually care.
Look, a lot of early 70's and 80's Koreanimation didn't really factor in ultimate viewer enjoyment in the production process and there was a lot of sloppy work released back then that should have been drawn anew before release. That was really part of the 'hurry-hurry' era back then but, we are in the second decade of a new millenium now and there are no excuses.
Anyway, Studio Meditation With a Pencil have been working on this film since back in 2005 and I know this because I went to the Seoul Int' Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) back then and I talked with the rep at the MWP stand before taking a pamphlet for what was then a work in progress to be titled 'Dinosaur and I'. I was impressed with the fine detail in the pamphlet way back then and it seems they've continued on with that goal of lovely clean lines, even though the title is now 'Green Days'.
Ohhhh, the poster is lovely too- love the retro housing. The whole film is going for a retro memories of South Korea during the 80's and 90's... probably without mention of the 'rush-rush' nature of the era though.
Green Days poster 2011:
2005 pamphlet for 'Dinosaur and I':
Dinosaur and I pamphlet rear:
pamphlet p2:
pamphlet p3:
2011- The Restoration Begins!
Well, the good news is that six posters have been restored and mounted on canvas now and they have been framed using conservation framing techniques.
The Korazy collection is using Studio M Restoration in Sydney as Michael there does excellent work and he's restored and backed original Toulouese Lautrec posters before. I trust him as he's restored posters that hang in galleries around the globe. It's going to take a long time to restore and frame an entire collection so this will be an ongoing effort over the next 2-3 years.
Recent Acquisitions
2011
Well, I've (Alex) been back in Australia since 2006 and apart from completing an Ma. in Writing from Swinburne university-- which allowed me to write a thesis on Koreanimation-- not too much has happened with the Korazy collection.
The possibility/probability of further pursuing a PhD on the subject through RMIT is looking like more of an option and hey, I was referenced in an academic textbook published by Monash University on cultural flows coming out of Korea last year. For the moment though, I'm just a part time law clerk who is deciding upon a thesis topic. Thinking about the way culture flows from U.S. bases as a thesis topic at the moment. Hmm...
The good news is that I'm still collecting Koreanimation posters and have been able to procure some beauties along with some uninteresting examples. The collection demands that I keep feeding it; it's numbering around 122 posters now but still wants more!
Friends have suggested that I register the collection with the Guiness Book of Records though I don't know as I'd hate to do that and then have my competitive collecting friend at the Cine Palace in the Heyri artist's colony take the record- he has A LOT of original Korean cine posters and has authored a book on the subject.
Nonetheless, here are some acquisitions from the last 3 years that 'Kabbu' and the animation museums probably do not have- HA HA. Some were located at SICAF and some from elsewhere.
Robot King (2008) white version
Robot King (2008) grey version left. Ghostface right.
Origami Warriors right
Wonderful Days (French). Apart from the size variations available from commercial poster sites, the Korazy collection now has 5 different posters for Wonderful Days- some of the Korean release posters were very impressive CG works. One good thing about the French (ha-ha) is that they're more willing to show/distribute Koreanimation films than other nations are.
Aeon Flux U.S. video promo poster circa late 1990's
Yeah, some are looking at this and thinking 'That is not Koreanimation' but eh, I think it is. Peter Chung was born in Korea and came back to Korea to oversee the creation of the Aeon Flux series.
Truly, there has never been an animation that was anywhere near as cerebral as Aeon Flux was. It's still my all time favorite animation... hmm, okay, so Cowboy Bebop might be my all time fav but Aeon runs a very close second.
If you haven't tried Aeon, seek it out as the writing is deliberately ambiguous- allowing the viewers to interpret as they will. Along with Futurama, this is one show that needs to be resurected.
MTV, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? BRING AEON FLUX BACK IN AN ANIMATED FILM AND WE'LL FORGET ALL ABOUT THAT DREADFUL LIVE ACTION FILM.
Peter Chung changed Koreanimation forever with Aeon Flux and Reign and he deserves the title 'Industry Pioneer.' Please excuse the SPC tomato tins.
Pigmateo
Yobi The Five Tailed Fox.
Africa. Thanks to Roberto who worked at Dongwoo for a while and was able to procure this signed poster and the Pigmateo poster from them.
Launch News
This site went online on Aug 7th 2008. Yipee! That's fantastic news.
Sad News
Aus+NZ art and culture mag 'Lino' is no more. Lino was one of the first magazines to run an article on the Korazy collection. Thanks Lino.
*Retro News
( *News that's a little bit late but wasn't relayed in any depth elsewhere)
Back in 2006 I interviewed a few cartoon producers in Seoul and one of those interviews was partially included in the Swindle magazine article from early 2007. That interview with the producer from Meditation With a Pencil Studios (MWP) Mr. Mo Sang Jun, touched upon Sang Jun's unique idea to turn popular Korean TV dramas into animated films and serials. In late 2007 the MWP animated version of Hello Francesca was revealed to Korean audiences on broadcast TV. Whilst the Korazy collection hasn't been graced with the presence of an original poster for the show, they look like this:
MWP under Mr. Mo push creativity and their animation adaptation of the drama MISA was an interesting avenue to take. The live action drama MISA: I'm Sorry But I Love You --which was a real Korean tear-jerker-- had an Australian connection to it as around a fifth of it was filmed in Melbourne.
Unfortunately, ani-Misa has had bad sub-titles slapped on it which is really disappointing because the animation was of a very high quality. Once again, a Korean animated production fails due to poor communication. MWP could have fixed this problem by spending around $400 on a native speaker to ensure the subs made sense and flowed, before sending the 'finished' product off to be mass-produced.
Why bothering offering up beautiful flowers if you're going to cover them in rags?
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