Programming Profile

South Korean studios have driven the boom in Koreanimation for many years. This week, content export agency Kocca is showcasing new animated Korean series from 21 companies via C21 Digital Screenings, while outlining its strategy for the future.

 

South Korea might today be known for talent formats like The Masked Singer and dramas like The Good Doctor, but long before it began exporting content in those genres, it was selling animated programming to the international market.

 

Early success stories include Pororo the Little Penguin from Iconix Entertainment, which debuted on educational broadcaster EBS in 2003. It soon travelled the world, airing in more than 100 countries, including on prestigious broadcasters such as TF1 in France and Cartoon Network in Scandinavia and Spain.

 

With the cute little penguin opening doors the world over, plenty of other Korean toons followed her to the international market. Super Wings from FunnyFlux Entertainment debuted on Tooniverse in South Korea in 2014 and later aired on Sprout in the US, KiKa in Germany and Discovery Kids in South America, to name just a few of the broadcasters.

 

More recently, Sing Along With Pinkfong Baby Shark, from SmartStudy, has been behind 125 apps in 164 countries, with cumulative downloads exceeding 200 million, while the Pinkfong YouTube channel has more than 37.7 million subscribers.

 

Aurora World series Yoohoo to the Rescue, meanwhile, was Netflix’s first animated Korean original series, launching in 2019. Spun off from Aurora’s earlier KBS hit Yoohoo & Friends, the show was coproduced with Italian partners. RoiVisual’s Robocar POLI is another South Korean animation hit, debuting on EBS back in 2011 and going on to air in more than 140 countries around the world.

 

There are other shows worth mentioning, such as Pucca from Vooz Character System and Dibo the Gift Dragon from Ocon Studios, but Pororo, Super Wings, Baby Shark, Yoohoo and Robocar POLI are the five of the country’s top animated exports, according to Chulmin Kim, team manager of animation and character licensing business team at South Korean cultural content export agency Kocca.

 

“In 2018, the South Korean animation industry made US$174.5m, a 20.5% increase compared to the previous year. Exported animation has shown an annual average rise of 13.4% since 2016,” he says. “The income generated is at US$7.88m, an increase of 3.6% from the previous year. With an average annual growth of 3.7% from 2016 to 2018, this makes a favourable balance of trade of US$166.66m between imports and exports for Korea.”

 

A dive into some more Kocca data adds further detail to Kim’s outline. Animation accounted for US$115.65m (34.4%) of South Korea’s total content exports of US$336m in 2014, rising to US$126.57m (39.5%) the next year. By 2016, animation generated US$135.6m (32.9%), jumping to US$144.9m (39.9%) in 2017 and rising further to the US$174.5m (36.5%) cited by Kim for 2018.

 

Animation is obviously as central to the Korean Wave of content spreading around the globe as formats and drama. But which countries and regions are the biggest markets for South Korean toons?

 

Breaking the data down further, Kim says: “Looking at the exports of the domestic animation industry by region in 2018, it generated exports worth US$91.78m to North America, accounting for 52.6%, more than half of the total exports.” That year’s exports to North America also represented an increase of 21.9% compared to the previous year. Other big markets for Korean animation include Europe, which generated US$33.3m (18.9%) in 2018, up 6.1% year-on-year.

 

“The reason for success in North America and Europe is that a high number of Korean animations are planned at the initial stages, with the character styles, animation genre and storylines designed to appeal to the North American and European markets,” says Kim.

 

Other Asian markets are also buying Korean animation. Exports to Japan, for instance, stood at US$32.68m (18.7%) for 2018, up 23.5% year-on-year, while the China territories of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan generated US$7.63m (4.4%) that year, an increase of 248.7% on 2017’s figures.

 

Kocca’s current data goes up to 2018 but since then there have been plenty of factors that will have impacted Korean animation exports, and the growth of streaming platforms around the globe is certainly one them.

 

“Various platforms, such as OTT and IPTV, that are emerging can bring new challenges and profits to animation, like other content streams. In particular, the advent of Netflix, which has abundant financial power, and the expansion of [Korean OTT service] Wave, three telecom companies, IPTV, and YouTube are providing an environment in which content can be consumed in more diverse ways in response to the demand for animation through existing TV, theatre and mobile platforms,” says Kim.

 

Covid-19 is another factor that has impacted animation in South Korea. While Kim says the effect of the production shutdown on animation companies “was not significant” because technology allowed work to continue remotely, the impact of the lockdown on viewing of animation certainly was.

 

“According to a survey conducted by Kocca, animation was viewed on average for 51.9 minutes per day before the Covid-19 outbreak. Since the outbreak, there has been an increase of 22.9% [to 63.8 minutes per day], and it is predicted to rise by 7.7% when everyday life returns,” he says. “This situation, where more time is spent at home, and the increasing number of viewers watching video platforms, leads to more opportunities for animated content.”

 

It’s through this New Normal that Kocca is now helping to steer the South Korean animation industry. Kim says the support offered by Kocca can be divided into two areas: production and distribution. In animation production, Kocca supports projects at every stage, whether it’s planning, development, production or post, and it extends to content intended for all platforms, ranging from TV to theatres, mobile, internet, performance video, virtual reality, media facades and emerging technology.

 

In the distribution space, Kocca’s activities include encouraging businesses to raise awareness of domestic long and short animations through supporting local screenings of locally produced animation. It also sponsors overseas film festivals for Korean short animation, inspiring Korean creators while raising global awareness of Korean shortform animation. Last year, for instance, six animated Korean films received awards at six film festivals.

 

“Regardless of the size, all animation companies maximise profit creation and increase the bargaining power of the industry by utilising the various platforms, expanding the consumer markets for new age groups and entering overseas markets with animation in its planning, production and distribution stages. Kocca’s challenge is to build awareness,” says Kim.

 

With South Korea designated as Country of Honour at this year’s Mipcom, some 38 companies from the country are participating in the online event. A total of 21 of them are featured in Kocca’s playlist on C21 Digital Screenings this week, with several in production on new animated series that will be completed in 2021.

 

Kim’s selection of the highlights starts with new slapstick comedy Tata & Kuma (52×2’30”) and comedy adventure series The Amazing 12 (52×11’), both from Seoul studio 5Bricks, and Studio Aragon’s movie mystery The Vampire Moon. Another studio, Anyzac, has a new smartphone-themed animation called INAPP, while Aurora World, the company behind pioneering Korean toon Yoohoo & Friends, has a new series called Simply Sally on offer.

 

Also being showcased on C21 Digital Screenings this week is Neon Creation’s DeeDee, TOBOT Galaxy Detectives from Young Toys, Loco’s Princess Pring in the Birthday Kingdom and Studio Moggozi‘s imaginative The Little Dreamer GGUDA (52×7’), about five kids who live on a beautiful island.

 

Cocktail Media, the studio behind BugsBot, has new 2D adventure series Galaxy X, while Chatty ToriTori is a new series from Crazybird Animation Studio. Dream Factory Studio is also offering new preschool show PongPong Dino and intergalactic adventure Ping’s Oddventure.

 

In addition to these titles, Kim points to shows that are fresh from wrapping production to be ready at the end of this year. These include Animal Rescue from studio HongDangMoo, the company behind Magic Adventure, which received the most screening views at MipJunior 2018.

 

Iconix, the company that started things rolling with Pororo the Little Penguin all those years ago, has new series including TITIPO season two and Pororo 6: Dragon Castle Adventure, while RoiVisual has a new show based on its Robocar POLI series, titled Robocar POLI SongSong Museum. SAMG Animation’s Catch Ping: Fairies of Emotion, which was launched at Mipcom last year, is also in the mix.

 

Looking ahead, Kim says the biggest thing on the horizon for the South Korean animation industry is the advent of 5G mobile technology. After all, 5G is expected to cause a ripple effect around the world. In 2025, global 5G subscriptions are expected to exceed 2.6 billion, and the technology will reach 65% of the world’s population. And if suitable content and services arrive, the number of subscribers will increase.

 

“In the 5G era, realistic content will be the core industry, and most VR/AR content, which will become a core service, is linked to video, including animation. The importance of animation is expected to increase as 5G overcomes the limitations of existing communication technologies while advancing services in all industries,” explains Kim.

 

“Although it does not seem to be directly related to animation, experts predict the content industry will benefit greatly when self-driving cars are activated. It is anticipated that in-car entertainment in autonomous vehicles will become a new platform, generating large-scale consumption of content such as games, animation and movies.”

 

With South Korea as well placed in the animation, mobile and content industries, and with such support from Kocca, the future of Korean animation certainly looks rosy.