2019 Kicks Off with Local Animation UNDERDOG

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2019 Kicks Off with Local Animation UNDERDOG

Jan 07, 2019

Writer by Pierce Conran
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Latest from the Makers of LEAFIE Is First Korean Animation to Pre-Record Dialogue

Underdog, a new Korean animation over five years in the making, will make its way into theaters early in 2019. The film is the latest animated title from co-directors OH Sung-yoon and LEE Choon-baek, who previously worked together on the hit animation Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild, which was released in early 2011. Underdog, which features the voices of K-pop superstar DOH Kyung-soo (aka D.O.) and PARK So-dam, is scheduled to hit screens on January 16.

A notable first for a Korean animated production, Underdog employed a common Hollywood technique whereby voice recording was performed before the animation stage, in order to better capture the characters and their emotions in the finished product.

DOH voices the character of Moong-chi a dog who is abandoned by his owner in a forest clearing who joins a ragtag group of other abandoned pet dogs who seek shelter in a redevelopment area. Moong-chi then meets Jiang-ah, voiced by PARK So-dam of The Priests (2015), but her pack of wild dogs wants nothing to do with the former domesticated pets, until the encroaching development forces them to join forces in search of greener pastures.

OH Sung-yoon was the credited director for Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild, which reached 2.2 million viewers, a record for a Korean animation, while LEE Choon-baek was the animation director. The pair collaborated again on the animated intro sequence to the 2012 hit 26 Years, following which they embarked on Underdog.

Underdog had its first screening back in summer, when it served as the closing film of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. EXO member DOH Kyung-soo is currently on screens in KANG Hyoung-chul’s Korean War-themed tap dance musical drama Swing Kids.

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