22-07-2025
21 KPop Demon Hunters Behind The Scenes Facts
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First, director and writer Maggie Kang thought of the idea for KPop Demon Hunters because she wanted to create a movie that "was set in Korean culture" and acts as a "love letter to K-pop and [her] Korean roots." So, she researched mythology and demonology in Korean culture and thought that a story about it could make an animated movie "visually unique from what we've seen in mainstream media."
She told Animation Magazine, "I've also always wanted to do a group of amazing kick-ass women. [Production designer] Helen Chen draws these amazing, beautiful female superheroes who are not overly sexualized but still very strong and feminine. I thought about a daily job that they could do, and Kpop just came to mind and became the pitching point of the movie."
Maggie Kang's other main objective was to portray women in ways that she's "always wanted to see women portrayed, especially in a superhero movie." So, she wanted them to be "funny and silly and goofy and messy, as well as cool and aspirational and sexy."
What made the characters of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey fun to create was that their on-stage and off-stage personas were able to be so different. While they are a polished and united group on stage, they are able to be flawed behind the scenes.
It took roughly nine years to get KPop Demon Hunters made, with Maggie Kang revealing that Rumi was actually originally created for another project by her partner Radford Sechrist, who is a story artist and animator, who is best known for creating Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.
In a Reddit AMA, Kang said, "The character of Rumi was created 9yrs ago, for another project- specifically my partner Rad Sechrist's Plastic Walrus. KPop was born in June or July of 2018. When we created this KPop IP I loved the design of Rumi so I plucked her out and made her the MC of KPop."
The film also drew inspiration from Bong Joon Ho films, with Maggie Kang telling Animation Magazine, "Another thing I wanted to pull off is similar to how Bong Joon Ho juggles so many different tones in his films to where they feel very animated. They're very comical but they're very dark, and so we try to do that in our film."
Music videos, Korean photography, concert lighting, anime, and K-dramas were also inspirations for KPop Demon Hunters.
For HUNTR/X, early inspiration for their character designs and music came from 2NE1, BLACKPINK, ITZY, TWICE, and more. The film worked with THEBLACKLABEL, a South Korean record label founded by Teddy Park and Kush on the music, so naturally their recording artists, like BLACKPINK, were big influences for HUNTR/X's look and sound.
Maggie Kang told Mashable, "Teddy and the team really wanted to create something new, with its own sound and identity. I knew I wanted the girls to be tough. They're not just idols, they're warriors. That alone gives them a different energy."
As for the Saja Boys, the team drew inspiration from Tomorrow X Together, BTS, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, Monsta X, and more for both the look and sound of the band, but also the fans who become infatuated with the group.
Speaking to Forbes, Maggie Kang said, "There are many more that served as inspiration – both in and out of K-pop, but they all follow the same archetype. There's always a muscular one who shows off their abs, one who was the romantic type, and the baby of the group."
For the Saja Boys, while they all have their own distinct styles, they actually "all share the same CG body, except for Abby Saja, because he's a little bit bigger," according to Maggie Kang. She added, "We bulked him up like 20%."
Jinu does have his own distinct look from the rest of the Saja Boys, and it was inspired by K-drama actors Cha Eun-woo and Nam Joo-hyuk. The goal was to have Jinu have a very classic Korean look, which was why they gave him dark hair.
Jinu was voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop, who is also a popular actor and singer.
Meanwhile, Korean model Ahn So Yeon was the inspiration for Mira, who is the more fashion-forward character of the trio. Unlike with the Saja Boys, where they all look relatively the same, Maggie Kang's objective for HUNTR/X was that they all have very different looks from each other.
Kang told Forbes, "Even with the way we animated them [they are distinct]. With their smile, you'll notice Zoey has more of a heart-shaped mouth when she expresses herself. We wanted Mira to be long and lean because I love that look on a woman. I think that's so beautiful. With Rumi, we leaned into a very classic, beautiful Korean look."
Early inspiration for how the demon hunters used music throughout generations came from Maggie Kang and co-director and co-writer Chris Appelhans being inspired by traditional Korean mudang dancers, who were women who performed protective rituals. Appelhans recalled thinking, "Isn't that kind of like the first concert?" He added, "That idea clicked: music as a way to connect people and push away darkness."
"From there, everything opened up. It gave us a foundation for the girls' identities, their costumes, the mythology, even the stage visuals. And with the Saja Boys, we had fun playing with the idea of a dark, seductive boy band, literally demons in disguise," Appelhans explained to Mashable.
The design for Jinu's tiger, who has affectionately been named "derpy tiger," was based on minhwa, according to Maggie Kang. Minhwa is a traditional Korean folk art, which was big during the 17th to 19th centuries, during the Joseon era. The paintings were a symbol of "hope, prosperity, and well-being," which often used bright colors. The Hojak-do genre notably specialized in images of tigers and more.
"It's very goofy, and that is the reason why we call him Derpy Tiger. Those drawings are very derpy. He's always wally-eyed and weird-looking," Kang told husband, Radford Sechrist, was the lead animator for Jinu's tiger. He also told Salon, "I would say 90% based on the minhwa artwork, which was incredible to reference and 10% is our cat"
There are a few TWICE Easter eggs hidden throughout the film. First, you can spot TWICE listed on the charts when Bobby pulls out his phone. You can also see TWICE (and Meovv) posters in the hallway backstage at the Idol Awards.
While writing and creating the songs for the Saja Boys, Chris Appelhans told Mashable they purposefully wrote songs that were "super catchy, but slightly hollow," to emphasize that they are the demons in the story. He added, "There's no real soul underneath."
Appelhans also told Mashable, "The idea was that the surface-level part of your heart might be obsessed with the boys, but the deeper part is moved by the girls."Danny Chung, who is part of THEBLACKLABEL and wrote "Soda Pop" voices Baby Saja, too.
HUNTR/X's lyrics and songs were written with the intention of having deep meanings behind the words. Chris Appelhans told Mashable, "It's that feeling when an artist shares something raw, like 'drivers license' or Lemonade, and you're stunned they went there, but you feel it so deeply. That's the space we wanted HUNTR/X to live in."
Maggie Kang added to Mashable, "The boys' lyrics are all 'give me, give me,' and the girls' final song is about giving themselves to the audience."
Arden Cho initially auditioned for the role of Celine, but was then encouraged to read for the role of Rumi. Speaking about booking the role, she told Navar, via AllKPop, "I was overjoyed beyond words. Even after 20 years of acting, I wondered, 'Is it okay for me to want this role so badly?'"
She continued, saying, "Director Maggie Kang, I, and all the HUNTR/X members share Korean heritage. K-Pop Demon Hunters is about more than K-pop: it showcases Korean warmth, unity, and how that helps overcome crises. I really wanted to help spread that message of 'us'."
EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI provide the singing voices for Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively. Meanwhile, Lea Salonga, who is best known for her theater work and for being the singing voice for Mulan and Princess Jasmine, provided the singing voice for Celine.
Arden Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, and Yunkin Kim voiced the characters, respectively.
Due to the fact that HUNTR/X performs on stage, hunts demons, and we see them in their everyday lives too, the movie actually consists of the most costume looks ever for an animated movie.
"When it comes to demon hunting and music making, they all have their own role and it comes together in a magical way," Maggie Kang added during an interview with Netflix.
The team took musical inspirations from various artists when it came to writing and producing the songs. For example, "What It Sounds Like" was inspired by Lorde's "Green Light," with Chris Appelhans saying in a Reddit AMA, "Green Light (Lorde), is both vulnerable + anthemic and helped us believe we could achieve both in our finale."
He also referenced Imogen Heap for Rumi's part of the song, writing, "The vocoder vocals in Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap) inspired us for Rumi trying to reconcile both parts of herself and find her 'true voice'."
Originally, the movie included a final standoff song between Rumi and Celine. However, it was cut because it "didn't fit the arc of the story," according to music supervisor Ian Eisendrath.
In a Reddit AMA, Eisendrath described the song as "really cool." Also speaking about writing the songs, he said, "First thing we did was determine when the story/characters need to sing, then hired an amazing group of Kpop hitmakers, and spent years developing these song (often 3-6 songs were written for each slot before we settled)!"
Due to how expensive it can be to animate an entire movie, the full choreography for all the performances doesn't actually exist. The only parts that are choreographed are what is shown in the final film.
In a Reddit AMA, Maggie Kang explained, "We do not have full choreography! We only have it for the sections that are see on screen. Again, budgetary reasons-- what we don't see, we do not pay for lol."
And finally, the soundtrack has led to seven hits on Billboard's Hot 100, with "Golden" reaching a peak of No. 6 on the chart as of July 21. HUNTR/X also hit No. 2 on the US Spotify charts, surpassing BLACKPINK as the highest-charting female K-pop group. And the Saja Boys' "Your Idol" topped the US Spotify charts, surpassing BTS as the highest-charting male K-pop group.
Subsequently, "Golden" will reportedly be submitted for Best Orignal Song consideration a the 2026 Oscars.
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