‘KPop Demon Hunters’ won the Oscar for best animated feature at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, beating ‘Arco,’ ‘Elio,’ ‘Little Amélie or the Character of Rain’ and ‘Zootopia 2.’ The Netflix film, produced by Sony Animation, is the streamer’s most-watched movie in history.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and produced by Michelle L.M. Wong, the film’s victory makes Kang and Wong the first female Asian winners in the best animated feature category. During her acceptance speech, Kang said, ‘Thank you to the Academy and to all fans who got us here, and for those of you who look like me.’ She added, ‘I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here. And that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing. This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.’
The film also won the Oscar for best original song with ‘Golden,’ performed by EJAE, who provides the singing voice of Rumi. The song became the first K-pop track to win an Oscar, and EJAE, along with co-writers Mark Sonnenblick and the Black Label (Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Zhun), made history as the first Koreans to win in the category.
In her tearful speech, EJAE said, ‘Growing up, people made fun of me liking KPop, but now everyone is singing our song and all of the Korean lyrics. I’m so proud. This award is not about success. It’s about resilience and I’m just so grateful to our team.’ She previously spoke about how the film helped her embrace her Korean identity and heal from being dropped as a K-pop trainee, saying, ‘This movie saved me to be honest.’
A sequel was announced last week, with Kang and Appelhans returning to direct and write, aiming for a 2029 release. The follow-up is part of their new exclusive multi-year writing and directing deal with Netflix across animation.
