HOW WONDERFUL DAYS BECAME SKY BLUE: THE TRANSNATIONAL CIRCULATION OF SOUTH KOREAN ANIMATION

Abstract

This article examines the production, release and reception of Wonderful Days (Wondap'ul teisu, 2003), in the context of the historical developments and contemporary standing of the Korean animation industry, both at home and around the world. More specifically, this article discusses the transformation of Wonderful Days into Sky Blue, addressing the changes to the film's content and title, and providing an analysis of the marketing and critical reception of the film in the USA and UK. The film's Korean identity was largely disguised in its marketing and ignored by reviewers; Wonderful Days is therefore an important example of the limitations of the Korean wave, an instructive case study that reveals a perception of Korean animation as inferior and superficial Finally, this article concludes with a discussion of South Korea's internationally co-produced animated films, the release and reception of which also demonstrate the difficulty of Korean animation overcoming its invisibility and establishing a meaningful international identity alongside Japanese animation.