Korea’s untapped animation potential1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMany Americans still remember the dancing purple clay animated raisins from the classic California raisin commercials of the late 1980s.
At that time, the anthropomorphic figures were a big hit on television “• so much so that California vineyards saw a boost in sales of the fruit.
Jean Poulot, a professor of Konkuk University who has lived in Korea for 10 years, described the current state of animation in Korea, where the medium is treated as a minor area of film. Calling this perception “endemic,” he said he even felt resentful toward Koreans’ “light” attitude toward the art.
Even when a Korean animated movie, “Oseam,” was announced as the Grand Prix winner at the 28th Annecy International Animation film festival, Koreans still failed to embrace the medium. “Oseam” failed to attract a large audience on its home turf, despite the praise it received overseas.