With two Oscar nominations, the awards shelf of animated Netflix smash “KPop Demon Hunters” might look a little more golden soon.
Having garnered nods for animated feature and original song, the film and its breakthrough musicians look to assert Korean-diaspora pop music and animation’s place not just as a commercial and critical phenomenon globally, but as a permanent fixture within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Hollywood.
“Golden,” the main theme from the fictional band Huntr/x performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, spent eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, as the witty and effervescent film about rival K-pop bands with supernatural powers became an inescapable summer blockbuster.
It’s the first time a K-pop song has been nominated in the category, with songwriters Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24 and Teddy vying to make history for the genre. “When I was a little girl I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fulfill one dream, to become a K-pop idol, and I was rejected and disappointed that my voice wasn’t good enough and so I leaned on songs and music to get through it, so now I’m here as a singer and a songwriter,” EJAE said during her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. “It’s a dream come true to be part of a song that’s helping other girls and other boys and everyone of all ages to get through their hardships, to accept themselves.”
In animated feature, the film, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, will face its toughest competition in the critical and commercial hit “Zootopia 2,” while also up against “Arco,” “Elio” and “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.”
For original song, “I Lied To You” from “Sinners” (nominated for a record 16 awards) will likely be its stiffest competitor, with “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless,” “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” and “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams” also in contention.
The film has some momentum going into the ceremony, with honors for animated feature and original song at both the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes.
South Korea’s most prominent Oscar achievement came in 2019, when director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won for best picture, director, original screenplay (with Han Jin-won) and international feature film. The following year, Youn Yuh-jung became the first Korean actress to win a supporting Oscar, for “Minari.”
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