KPop Demon Hunters Team Advocates for Diverse Cultural Representation in Animation – Oscars Backstage
In a remarkable achievement, Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters clinched the Oscar for Animated Feature Film on Sunday. The creative team behind the project, including writer-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, along with producer Michelle L.M. Wong, celebrated their victory during a press conference backstage at the Academy Awards.
Reflecting on their success, the trio emphasized the film’s impressive status as Netflix’s most-watched film globally and discussed the significance of cultural diversity in animation. “I’m so proud of Korean film and movies about Korea,” Kang noted, highlighting the film’s contribution to Korean representation in media. “One of the most emotional moments for me as a filmmaker was watching Bong Joon Ho win for Parasite. And the fact that we have won Best Animated Feature [for something that contains] Korean culture. So, I feel immensely grounded – because I didn’t want to disappoint Korea.”
Kang spoke passionately about the film’s international impact, which has garnered over 500 million views on Netflix. “I’ve been a fan of K-pop music since the ’90s when it was first created, that’s where my love started. And to see [the film] be loved by audiences globally, it just means so much to me,” she said. “It was a real honor for me to be able to feature all aspects of my culture that I love. And for it to be accepted and loved globally by other cultures, it’s just so meaningful as a filmmaker. I hope to see more films, especially in animation, that focus on different cultures. We need that, especially in animation.”
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KPop Demon Hunters centers on Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), three young-adult pop stars in the group Huntr/x. Tasked with combating supernatural threats due to their lineage as ancient demon slayers, the trio faces a formidable enemy (Lee Byung-hun) who seeks to create a rival K-pop boy band to ensnare their fans’ souls. They must fight to keep the demons at bay while preserving their friendship.
The film has also received a nomination for Original Song, thanks to the record-breaking hit “Golden,” which stands as the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025 on the Billboard 200 and reigns as the #1 movie soundtrack on Spotify. Furthermore, it became the first K-pop album to simultaneously top both the U.S. Apple Music chart and iTunes. “I think Korean film, music, comedy has such strong traditions with amazing filmmakers. Those combinations of influences had already started to find an audience around the world, and K-pop obviously too. So, we took inspiration from the fact that all of those started to penetrate in different countries, and it gave us a lot of confidence to be like, let’s actually put this altogether into one crazy [film] and [hopefully] people love it,” Kang explained.
