Hong Gil-Dong is Korea's first full-length animated film. It was directed in 1967 by Shin Dong-hun, considered the father of Korean animation.
With little to no prior training, a home-made multiplanar camera, and perpetual resource scarcity, Shin Dong-hun managed to complete the impossible,
The Story of Hong Gil-dong, follows folk hero Hong Gil-dong’s quest to right society’s wrongs. In over 125,300 cels barely spilling over one hour, Hong must endure dancing skeletons, intense training, and even a dragon to overcome the common enemy: the power-hungry civil officer who over-taxes his locale for his own gain.
In retrospect, Shin’s animated film is a delight to watch. Befitting of a national first, “The Story of Hong Gil-dong” makes sure to emphasize its origins to the last degree. The hand-painted backgrounds evoke watercolor paintings of Joseon-era architecture, nostalgic of the past. The neutral color design of muted yellows – likely a side-effect of the virtually non-existent budget that Shin had to work with – especially allows the carmine reds of the rich and the magistrates to pop, as they would have with traditional costume dyes.
