SOUTH KOREAN ANIMATION The success of South Korean animated series

SOUTH KOREAN ANIMATION

THE SUCCESS OF SOUTH KOREAN ANIMATED SERIES

By Alessandra Maccaferri

South Korea continues to make successful animated series which inspire the development of many highly coveted consumer products. Here is the latest news and previews of some of these animation studios.

Tori’s picture diary

South Korea is extremely active in the animation sector and year after year its productions have grown in number and quality. The well-designed, colorful, and original characters lend themselves to a wide variety of product categories. Here is the latest news from a few of these established case studies.

CrazyBird Studio, founded in 2000, manages several IPs from animated series, movies, and webtoons, among others. One of these is Boing: The PlayRanger, an animated preschool series set in Playville playground, where the lion Boing and his friends are city rangers. Through their teamwork they convey important values such as friendship, communication, overcoming difficulties, responsibility, a sense of humor and above all collaboration. After two seasons of the series The Secret of Supertransformation, a 72-minute feature film, is in the works. The movie is a prequel to the series that tells the story of Boing moving to Playville and starting the academy that made him a super playranger, ready to courageously protect his city.

Poster of the Animated Feature Film Boing – The secret of Supertransformation

At the December 2020 online Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), CrazyBird Studio also announced the production of preschool series Chatty Tori Tori starring Tori Tori, an extremely funny little girl who inspires young viewers to laugh and dream through the exaggerated fantasy world particular to animation. The series is 24 episodes of 11 minutes, in Korean and English language, and will be completed by July 2021. Also starring the same characters, Tori’s picture diary, is a 72 x two-minute episode series planned for a December 2021 delivery. In each episode a short story is told through musical nursery rhymes.

Chatty Tori Tori

Operating since 2013, Anyzac is a studio specializing in 3D animation and in creating any type of content with the input of a large group of experts. Their first property was the animated series Zombiedumb, where a human girl fights young zombies who gather on Moon Street. Zombiedumb generated two television seasons and lots of consumer products in the apparel and toy categories, such as plush and action figures. Anyzac recently launched the Time Traveler Luke series, where adventure and action save the day. Burdened with a mission as “keeper of the relics,” Luke uses a mysterious elevator to embark on a journey through time in search of his

Zombiedumb

grandfather Paul. But he meets Indiana, another time traveler who wants all the world’s treasures for himself. Thus begins the fight between the boy who tries to save the world’s relics and Indiana who wants to steal them. Next is In: app, an animated comedy, sci-fi and fantasy series, currently in production and which will air in 2021. It shows how life goes on inside a smartphone, where there is always something to do, and you never rest. Novice cops Robin and Jacky take care of every problem, and they immediately jump into action whenever a mistake occurs. Jacky follows the rules, while Robin follows his instinct. In addition to presenting its new properties at ATF, Anyzac Studio also announced that due to its growth in recent years, it will adopt an outsourcing strategy for the care of its projects going forward.

Monster Studio is an animation studio founded in 2015 by Jihwan Jung and Hyunah Ko, who previously participated in the production of major animated series such as Pororo and Princess Sofia. Bread Barbershop is their first original project which debuted in Korea in 2019 and is quickly gaining great international success. With a 6–10-year-old target audience, the series is set in a world where all the characters are different types of food. The protagonist is a slice of bread, Bread Pitt, a master cake designer who welcomes baked goods such as cupcakes to his Barbershop. The hairdos he creates are elaborated

In:app

Products inspired by the TV Series Bread Barbershop

decorations, which somehow manage to positively transform the lives of customers, solving their problems. After gaining immense popularity at home, the series was launched on Netlfix in Europe and in America in spring 2020, gradually landing in the top 10 most viewed World TV programs on the popular streaming platform. In Korea the second season is currently airing on seven channels with excellent results, including first place on Tooniverse. The licensed products from the series have spread widely in bars, cinemas, and shops, as well as in supermarkets and bakeries. New licensing agreements have allowed for the development of different product categories such as toys (sets with action figures, paper toys...); stationery (boxes, notebooks, diaries...); publishing (coloring books, sticker books...); games (mobile game Bread Run); food (cupcake BreadBarber shop X Manofin, cookie Pulmuone...); and many more. Even a line of children’s dental hygiene products was recently created, featuring kids’ toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash.

Toothpaste Bread Barbershop Brush Bread Barbershop