There have been hundreds of toons brought to life in South Korea over the years and it would be impossible for me to list them -- see the extensive list of cartoons made by Rough Draft Korea in the article section just for one studio's output-- so here a just a few to whet the appetite.
Iron Man 007
1976. An insane farrago where Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets to us) copies, a giant robot and some James Bond adventure is melded together so as to offer extra value to the discerning consumer. This clip is in Spanish and is from somewhere in the middle of the film. Ahh, the insanity.
I'm Sorry, I Love You
2005. Ah, the soppy love song brings back memories. This was a live action series shot in Seoul and Melbourne Australia that was then turned into an animation by the same producer. I (Alex) briefly interviewed him (Mo)back in 2005.
This studio makes the gorgeous looking, highly detailed animation that I love. And the ballad is pure K-pop sop... you know when it's this soppy that someone's going to die tragically.
Yogurting
2005. Animated video clip primarily of dancing. Yogurting was a game that went on line in 2005 and has since almost entirely been switched off and yet it lives on in the cyber realms where Western Otaku dance to it.
The relatively short life spans of many games has meant that the effort of animators is quickly forgotten in computer gaming. The cartoon animation industry in Korea has lamented the fact that many new animators ignore toons, to work on games instead because of the money in gaming.
The Appreciation Conundrum: If animators work on cartoons they'll get lousy pay but people will revisit their work in ten years time. On the other hand there's more money to be made in animating games though people get bored with games quickly and tend not to revisit them.
2006. Okay, this film has an incredibly violent animated scene where little blue smurf-like enemies are mown down with glee. That scene alone has given the film a weird cult status.
Is this what happens when young creatives are forced to do military service at the DMZ? Or is imagining slaughtering Smurf-like creatures a deconstruction of retro pop toon culture? Some have suggested this is getting back at dumb Western smurfs while others have suggested the smurfs are North Korean soldiers. Hmm?
I don't know who is being killed or why but I do recall that when this was released there was an Aachi and Ssipak bus seen all over Seoul and I (Alex) went and got some post cards from the A&S bus when it was parked near my digs, before heading to KOCCA -- the South Korean Government's cultural promotion/incubator-- and getting three variant posters from the film.
2011. Wow- check out the grittiness. This is what the South Koreans do well (gritty stuff) and I'm yearning to see this when it's released and
dubbed into English.
Pororo
The Little Penguin
Totally for the kiddies here but very popular nonetheless. CG animation.
Ragnarook
Ongoing. Ragnarok began life as South Korean comic or manwha before becoming a popular online game and animation. The animation is a Korean/Japanese production and due to its global popularity the franchise will more than likely be added to over the next few years, making it even bigger.
