Empress Chung
| Empress Chung | |
|---|---|
 Korean theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 왕후 심청 |
| Hanja | 王后沈淸 |
| RR | Wanghu simcheong |
| MR | Wanghu simch'ŏng |
| Directed by | Nelson Shin |
| Screenplay by | Kim Jung-ha Shin Jang-hyun Yoo Kwang-hee Kyong Seung-won Kwon Young-sup |
| Story by | Nelson Shin |
| Produced by | Nelson Shin Yi Jin-eun Kang Min-woo |
| Edited by | Nelson Shin |
| Music by | Sung Dong-hwan |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | KOAA Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Countries | North Korea South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Budget | US$6.5 million[1] |
| Box office | US$140,000 |
Empress Chung (Korean: 왕후심청; RR: Wanghu simcheong) is a 2005 animated feature film, produced in North and South Korea and directed by Nelson Shin, on whose story the screenplay is also based.
Synopsis
[edit]Based on a Korean folk tale, the film follows a girl that sacrifices her life to a sea dragon in order to restore her blind father's eyesight. She is rewarded for her filial piety by being made an empress.[2]
Production
[edit]Empress Chung was the personal project of Nelson Shin, a South Korean animator that founded AKOM. He spent seven years and US$6.5 million of his own money on the film. In order to save costs, he collaborated with the North Korean SEK Studio because North Korean animators are paid less than South Korean animators. The film made use of 500 animators, 400 of which were North Korean.[2] Shin visited Pyongyang eighteen times to supervise production.[3]
Shin incorporated aspects of his personal life into the film, such as turning his pets into characters. He also did historical research for the film; the film was initially planned to be set in the Goryeo era, but it was rewritten into the Joseon era to maintain historical accuracy. Several locations in the film are based on real Korean temples and palaces, including Gyeongbokgung.[4]
Release
[edit]On August 12, 2005, Empress Chung became the first film to have been released simultaneously in both North and South Korea. It played in 6 theaters in North Korea and 51 theaters in South Korea. The film won a prize at the 2003 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won the top prize at the 2004 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival.[2] The film grossed US$140,000 on its opening weekend against a US$6.5 million budget,[1] continuing a trend of under-performing animated features made for the Korean market.[2] Empress Chung was never released on home media.[5]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Li, Jie (February 2012). "Drawing out the Hermit". NewsChina Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Russell, Mark (August 31, 2005). "Uniting the Two Koreas, in Animated Films at Least". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- ^ "A Short History of North Korea's Animation Industry". Cinema Escapist. 2018-06-06. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ^ "'Simpsons' animator knocks on doors of N.K. with Korean folk tale". Korea Is One. 29 July 2005. Archived from the original on 21 May 2006.
- ^ Heath, David (2022-09-29). "8 Lost Anime That Need To Be Found". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Empress Chung at IMDb
- Empress Chung at the Korean Movie Database
- Empress Chung at HanCinema
- 2005 films
- South Korean animated films
- 2005 animated films
- 2000s children's animated films
- Epic fantasy films
- 2000s fantasy adventure films
- Films based on Korean myths and legends
- Films directed by Nelson Shin
- Animated films set in Korea
- North Korean epic films
- South Korean epic films
- South Korean independent films
- 2000s South Korean films
- North Korean animated films
- Lost animated films
- 2000s lost films
- Films set in Joseon