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Korea's animation industry is enjoying continued growth, emerging from a subcontractor to a source of original creations with rich stories and characters. Now, global industries are viewing Korean animators as partners in planning and creating fantastic works of art.
Creating an original animated story with rich colorful characters placed in a fantasy world has never been an easy task for Korea. Attracting a global or even domestic audience was out of the question especially when animation giants like Walt Disney and Miyazaki Hayao were the ones capturing the imaginations of young Korean kids.
In the past, faced with limited animation technology and an under-funded industry, Korea was simply a sweatshop churning out animation products ordered by companies overseas. Working as a subcontractor was as good as it gets. But the situation has changed for Korea.
In recent years, Korea's animation industry has enjoyed steady growth, raising its profile from a mere subcontractor to a global partner in planning stories and developing unique characters with wider appeal.
The Korea Culture and Content Agency says the size of the domestic animation market grew to US$314 million in 2003. The number of animated works that has been produced has risen 25 percent from 2002 to 2003. Korea sold overseas US$11.4 million worth of rights to locally made animated films in 2003, a whopping 45 percent increase from a year ago.
As Korea is one of the global leaders in information technology, local companies involved in 3-D and digital animation technology have also been gaining more recognition abroad.
Arirang News
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