HanHo Studio in Seoul, one of the first animation studios in Korea, today offers both traditional and digital ink and paint services. Photos courtesy of HanHo Company Ltd.

Over the last ten years the animation industry in South Korea has grown beyond what had to have been the wildest dreams of its early pioneers. Today, South Korea is undoubtedly the largest supplier of television animation in the world. Industry estimates are not always precise, but no one would argue that in peak production years the country's production houses can turn out over a thousand half-hour (22 minute) episodes. While some may argue about the quality of overseas animation, no one has ever turned out the quantity of work to compare to this Asian dynamo. How did this all come about and how did the Korean animation industry grow into this 5,000 pound gorilla? What does the future look like for this high flying industry? Let's see.

In the Beginning...
Exactly how this all started depends, like many things, on who you ask. In 1960 two men, Mr. Dong Heon Shin and Mr. Chung produced a 6-minute animated short for AFKN (Armed Forces Korean Network) titled I am Water. This small educational film might be called the Genesis of Korean Animation.

In the following years some work came into the country from Japan but this was almost exclusively ink and paint work. One of the early companies working with Japan was TBC, a broadcasting company which no longer exists. TBC is credited with performing assistant animation on a show titled Golden Bat.

In 1968 a company, International Art Production, began re-doing a series of single reel shows featuring classic animation characters such as Betty Boop, Krazy Kat, Felix and even Porky Pig. These old theatrical shorts were being copied frame by frame and being reproduced in color. This company was run by Mr. Jeong Yoon Song and Mr. Tayk Kim.

Several years later in 1973, the same Mr. Kim would hook up with Steve Hahn and open Dong Seo Animation. Dong Seo is important because it will morph into HanHo which will become a major player in the formative years of Korean animation. However, in 1973, Korean animation was still just beginning and mostly limited to ink and paint work from Japan. Dong Seo Animation broke ground by joining up with Ralph Bakshi and supplying in-between animation on features War Wizards and Hey Good Looking.

An animator at AKOM studio.

In the early years, the Korean animation industry was a bit rough and tumble. The Korean business culture was not always well understood by Westerners and in turn, Korean producers did not always understand their Western clients. Steve Hahn came to be seen by many as the epitome of the tough Korean producer. Hahn's style was more direct and confrontational than other studios in the region, such as those in Taiwan or Japan, where saving face and avoidance of open conflict was a more natural way of dealing with problems. The Koreans were the New Yorkers of Asia. They worked hard, played hard and didn't pull any punches both literally and figuratively. When it came to face, Korean style was more in your face. They fought equally among themselves with partnerships quickly forming, exploding apart and reforming all over Seoul. This highly competitive and volatile business atmosphere began to form in 1979-80 when Steve Hahn opened his new company, MiHahn. He received work from Ruby-Spears on their show Plastic Man. This work came to him with the help of Jerry Smith, who was trusted by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Smith had been sent to Taiwan by Bill Hanna in 1978 to help James Wang set up Cuckoos Nest, but, in what would become a reoccurring theme, he had a falling out there and so was ready to try a new start up in 1980 with Steve Hahn in South Korea.