[HanCinema's News] "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" Leads Animation Films in South Korea

In its first day of domestic release the South Korean animated film "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" has outperformed all other animated films at the domestic box office and continues to lead them in reservations on the strength of positive word of mouth. Its main direct competition is the latest Detective Conan movie, other animated films having been released weeks previously.

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The accomplishment, while minor in absolute terms, is encouraging to South Korea's domestic animation industry, which has long struggled to compete with foreign imports when it comes to feature films. While South Korea has a strong domestic animation lineup for television, the international feature film market is dominated by high profile brands and studios which make penetration by outsiders difficult.

One advantage "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" has in terms of marketing is a strong English language cast, which has been used to sell the film in international territories. Domestically the Korean dubbed version of the movie is the most popularly screened one, but the prestige factor helps to emphasize "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" as a major big budget undertaking.

Aesthetically "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" drew attention as the opening film at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) on July 17th. Lee Young-ae has also praised the movie, saying that she saw children who couldn't take their eyes off of it, describing it as a movie enjoyable by entire families.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" is directed by Hong Sung-ho, and features Ahn So-yi, Shin Yong-woo, Jeon Jin-ah, Kwon Seong-hyeok, Jeong Jae-heon, Choi Han. Release date in Korea: 2019/07/25.