Screens to Streams: What KPop: Demon Hunters and Elio Reveal About Animation’s Future
“Official promotional image from K-Pop Demon Hunters, © Sony Pictures Animation / Netflix.”
Since the pandemic, the rise of streaming has been eminent and well, convenient for viewers. The low cost of streaming, coupled with the ability to enjoy movies from the comfort of their own couch, has changed the game. While movies with theatrical releases have been struggling with getting people to find reasons to come. This has been prominent, especially in the animation industry. Which is why many major studios find themselves at a loss and keep producing sequels of well-loved movies that will perform well at the box office in exchange for pursuing original productions.
The best example of this is the recently released movie Sony's KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix, which has been a huge success, hitting #1 on movies for over a week and currently still on #2. KPop Demon Hunters is about a girl group that are undercover demon hunters, taking tropes from shoujo magical girls, pop culture, and Korean idols. Although some elements of the movie are overdone and plot points left viewers wanting more, it managed to take its best elements and shine a spotlight on them. The lead girls are fun, crass, and relatable, and they managed to hit the right comedic beats. It established itself as a musical, visual, and social media sensation. After a week and half of the movies release- the tag #kpopdemonhunters reached 60.5k posts, the music taking over the the genius hot 100 charts with 10 of 12 tracks making it onto top 10 with music giants like Sabrina Carpenter and Lorde and critics praising it with a 7.8/10 on IMDb and a 97% on rotten tomatoes.
In contrast, Pixar’s most recent original project, Elio released in theaters on the same day, is making headlines but for all the wrong reasons. It’s now known as Pixar's worst-performing film to date. As its box office opening weekend only generated $21 million domestically. Which is below The Good Dinosaur, a movie released 10 years ago by the studio. This film unfortunately finds itself a part of a pattern since 2020 of Disney’s poor marketing and lack of support for original animated films. Instead, putting priority on high-profile sequels like Coco 2, which is currently in production. The creator and leading director of Elio Adrien Molina, stated that he developed Elio as his own personal passion project based on his own experience in his childhood, but had to leave the project midway due to his being the main screenplay director for Coco 2. So many of the plot elements were changed, and, for Disney's convenience, the team rushed production and moved onto the next big sequel.
KPop Demon Hunters proves that people want original fun animated films that have heart behind them. Embracing unique visuals and sharing stories that leave an actual impression. Whether they be lighthearted or sentimental, animation storytelling is one of the few mediums that has no limits to what can be done, especially when done with passion. That’s why when major studios like Sony take risks with their movies (ig. Mitchells and the Machines, Spiderman Into the Spider-verse) it pays off with the audience. It can also be tied into the surge of indie animation on YouTube and the public supporting new plots that push the narrative and style of what the current animation industry is capable of. There needs to be changes from major studios to bring in new ideas and new storytellers, and give the ideas the proper care they deserve.
