These KPop Demon Hunters facts are all you need if the film is your new obsession! The Netflix film, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, is doing serious numbers – but there’s still a lot you probably don’t know about it! Don’t worry – these KPop Demon Hunters facts will give you everything you need to know!

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1. It took nine years to make!

Most films spend a lot of time in the pre-production stage, and animated films take even longer than live-action films to come togther. KPop Demon Hunters spent about nine years in development, but its origins were a lot different from what you might think! Rumi was the first character to be created for a different project by KPop director Maggie Kang’s partner. KPop was first thought of in 2018, and after several years of development, we finally got the film!

2. Bong Joon Ho was a huge inspiration

Bong Joon Ho is a VERY prolific South Korean director with a seriously impressive filmography. He’s best known for co-writing and directing Parasite, which swept the Oscars in 2020 and scooped the prestigious prizes for Best Director AND Best Picture. He also made several films partially or totally in the English language, including Snowpiercer, Okja and Mickey 17. Maggie Kang credits him as a huge inspiration for the film, because his films tend to juggle a lot of themes at once. His films are very story-driven but also pack in action, comedy and some seriously dark themes – which is exactly what Maggie wanted to do!

3. Maggie Kang wanted to portray women in a totally unique way

KPop Demon Hunters is popular for its main cast of awesome female characters, which is exactly why Maggie wanted to make the film! She said she wanted the main characters to be powerful, strong and capable, but also goofy, messy and silly. The animation of the characters went a long way to achieve this – the scene of the girls doing a mukbang went viral for how silly it was!

4. HUNTR/X had a lot of inspirations…

Fictional band HUNTR/X were inspired by several real girl groups! Their outfits, music and character design took notes from groups like BLACKPINK, 2NE1, ITZY, TWICE – and more! The production team also worked with South Korean record label THEBLACKLABEL to make the music!

5. …and so did the Saja Boys!

KPop boy bands are dominating the cultural landscape, so it’s no surprise that the fictional group Saja Boys took inspiration from some of the best! Tomorrow X Together, BTS, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, and Monsta X have been named as influences for the Saja Boys. Boy bands usually have personalities in the group – the handsome one, the baby of the bunch, the romantic one, and so on. The film uses these personalities to make up the boyband!

6. The voice actors played multiple roles!

Several cast members played multiple roles in the film! Sungwon Cho, Alan Lee and Joel Kim Booster, who all played Saja members, also voiced multiple fans, demons and hosts. Rumi Oak, who plays young Rumi, also voices a young fan who gives Jinu a drawing; and singer EJAE (who provided Rumi’s singing voice) did other vocals for the film and wrote several of the songs!

7. Lea Salonga provided the singing voice for Celine!

Yunjin Kim does Celine’s speaking voice, but her singing voice is provided by Broadway legend Lea Salonga! You might not recognise the name, but if you’re a Disney fan you’ve DEFINITELY heard her voice! She did the singing voices for both Mulan and Princess Jasmine!

8. Arden Cho auditioned for the role of Celine!

Arden Cho does Rumi’s speaking voice in the film, but did you know she originally auditioned for the role of Celine? Arden thought the role was the best one for her, but was persuaded by the producers to try for Rumi – and they were right!

9. The generational music was inspired by traditional Korean dancers

In the film, it’s shown that singers throughout the years have used music to repel demons. This took inspiration from female dancers in Korean shamanism, called mudang. These women perform as mediators between the real world and the spirit world, which is similar to the idols’ role in KPop Demon Hunters. Co-writer Chris Appelhans described the theme of the film as: “music as a way to connect people and push away darkness”!

10. Jinu’s tiger is based on traditional Korean folk art

And speaking of traditional Korean elements, the inspiration keeps coming! Jinu’s tiger (nicknamed “Derpy Tiger”) is based on minhwa. Minhwa is a type of Korean folk art popular in the Joseon era (which lasted for over five centuries, from 1392 to 1897). Hojak-do is a type of minhwa that prominetly featured paintings of tigers – and the tigers were supposed to ward off evil! These tigers often did look kind of goofy, which is why Jinu’s tiger is always pulling silly faces! Oh, and if you need a Derpy Tiger plush in your life, Netflix is already making them!

11. Maggie Kang and her daughter make cameos!

Co-director Maggie Kang has a small role in the film, playing the flight attendent demon at the beginning of the film. She also voices a newsreader and a crying demon later in the film! Her daughter Rumi Oak voices young Rumi, too!

12. It has the most costumes for an animated film, ever!

There are a LOT of costume changes for the characters in this film, which bumps it up to the most costumes in an animated film ever made! It’s a lot of effort for animators to give animated characters wardrobe changes – if you watch a lot of animated films and especially TV shows, you’ll notice most characters have a very limited wardrobe, because it’s easier on the animation team. It’s totally necessary for the characters in KPop Demon Hunters to have a lot of costume changes though – they are KPop stars after all!

13. The music of the Saja Boys and HUNTR/X is meant to be totally opposite 

Writer Chris Appelhans has said that he wrote the Saja Boys’ music to be catchy but empty, with no real soul underneath. On the other hand, HUNTR/X’s songs were written with a lot more depth – the lyrics are about the themes of the film and make HUNTR/X a lot more vulnerable and real.

14. There isn’t full animation footage of the dance performances

The film features some amazing dance routines from the KPop stars – but if you’re looking for full concert footage, you won’t find it! It’s very expensive to choreograph and animatee a dance sequence, so anything that isn’t on screen doesn’t exist!

15. The soundtrack was a huge hit!

You already know that the film is FULL of bangers, so it’s not surprising that it’s done really well in the charts! “Golden” hit no. 6 in the Billboard Charts, and HUNTR/X reached the number 2 spot in the US Spotify charts, making them one of the top charting female KPop bands of all time – even higher than BLACKPINK! The Saja Boys’ single “Your Idol” also performed amazingly, even surpassing BTS on the US Spotify charts!