Dreams Come True
by Song Jung A in Seoul
Far East Economic Review
Issue cover-dated January 13, 2000South Korea's sizable animation industry is trying to produce its own characters for the international market in addition to drawing popular cartoons for foreign studios.
What do Bart Simpson, Beavis andButthead have in common? All three, of course, are obnoxious American cartoon superstars. But they have another shared attribute: The animation that brings their characters to life is done primarily in South Korea.They aren't alone: South Korean artists also now draw Tweety Bird and Spiderman. In fact, the country's animators churn out about 30% of the world's animation--only the United States and Japan are more prolific. The South Korean government estimates the industry--comprising about 200 animation houses employing 20,000 people--earned $85 million in overseas revenue in 1998, primarily from subcontract work for foreign producers. The domestic market produced 317 billion won ($281 million at the current exchange rate) in revenue in 1997.
Today, subcontractors face intense competition from companies in other Asian countries such as China, Taiwan and the Philippines. South Korea's share of global subcontracting work is down to about 40% from 80% in the mid-1980s. That has forced the industry to focus on producing original works for export. "We've always dreamed of producing our own works but felt we lacked funds and talents to do it," says Lee Choon Man, president of Seoul-based Plus One Animation, which does the bulk of the animation for Beavis & Butthead and has worked on the 101 Dalmatians cartoon series for Disney. "Now, we don't have a choice. It has become a matter of survival."
And Seoul wants the industry to survive. "The government plans to develop animation as a high-value industry in the long run," says Lee Young Youl of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, adding that sales of goods and computer-game software linked to cartoon characters are areas for growth.
The government is putting some money where its mouth is: The Korean Film Commission provides subsidies of up to 10 billion won a year to boost the industry. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism requires South Korean broadcasters to devote at least 35% of animation programming time to home-grown productions. The figure will rise to 50% next year.
Their help is starting to pay off. South Korean animators have been drawing for big foreign producers since the early 1970s, but were usually locked out of the production process, says Lim Ji Moon, international marketing manager at animation house Seoul Movie. But now, with almost 30 years of experience and a growing number of young animators returning from studies abroad, the industry is gaining confidence in character design, recording, editing and marketing, Lim says.
With his pouty lips and sleepy eyes, Dooly the Dinosaur is by far South Korea's most popular animated-film character. Seoul Movie made him a star in 1996 when it adapted a long-running comic book series into the feature film Little Dinosaur Dooly. Hundreds of thousands of kids dragged their parents to South Korean theatres to see the film and Dooly will soon have his own TV series. Dooly products have so far generated about 2 billion won in revenue for the firm. Dooly also has an overseas audience--early last year German media group Beta paid $250,000 for the right to distribute the film in Germany.
Another local star emerged on the small screen last year. Sunwoo Entertainment and Korea Broadcasting Co. teamed up to produce Milo's Bug Quest. The 26-episode series was three years in the making and cost $6.5 million to produce--the most expensive animated production ever in South Korea. U.S. distribution company Fremantle recently purchased the right to sell the series in the U.S. and Sunwoo also has deals with distributors in about 20 European countries.
But the likes of Dooly and Milo are still hard to find. Seoul Movie's Lim says that's because perennial subcontractor status has stifled animators' creativity and made it difficult to invent a character with universal appeal. Local animators insist that will change; the important thing is that they remain among the most skilled artists in the world. They also believe that South Korea's high computer-literacy rate gives them a long-term advantage over Asian competitors. "We are advanced in digital animation thanks to an abundance of young talent and a relatively small technological gap with advanced nations," says Han Chang Wan, a professor at the cartoon and animation department at Sejon University in Seoul.
If South Korean animators hope to make it on their own in the big time, Han says, they must market their productions more aggressively and make themselves known in the international market.
One way to get the word out is through international co-productions. Ameko Entertainment recently signed a deal with DIC Entertainment, Disney's subsidiary for international co-productions, to produce a 40-episode TV series, Super Duper Sumos. The companies will split profits and DIC will have worldwide distribution rights, except in South Korea. The series is to begin airing on South Korean TV at the end of this year; the companies expect it to generate 98 billion won in profits in three years. Ameko also will send some animators to the U.S. to work with Disney. "We hope to learn their strategy in pre-production by working with them side by side," says Ameko President Dong H. Chung.
As more South Korean animation companies set their sights on the global market, they are putting most of their revenue from subcontracting work into original productions. "As long as we keep trying, we will gain the know-how sooner or later" and create our own international hits, says Lee Kyo Jung, executive director at the Korea Animation Producers Association. After all, aren't most cartoons about stretching reality?
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