In July 1993, an unexpected post appeared on the horror and science fiction board of the PC communication service Hitel. It was a serialized novel featuring a defrocked Catholic priest and a tai chi practitioner with a disrupted meridian, fighting against malevolent spirits. Despite having no prior literary debut, the novel’s author—then an engineering student—drew an immediate and enthusiastic response. Each post attracted an average of 4,000 views, amassing a dedicated readership of 10,000. By January the following year, the novel was published as a book, eventually expanding into a 19-volume epic over the next nine years. Titled Toemarok (A Record of Exorcism), the series cemented its author, Lee Woo-hyeok, now 59, as a pioneering figure in South Korea’s occult fiction scene. At the time of its inception, Lee was a graduate student at Seoul National University.
The bestselling series, which has sold a cumulative 10 million copies, is now making its way to the big screen. The 3D animated adaptation, Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning, is set for release on Feb. 21, marking 32 years since the novel’s debut. The film has the direct involvement of its creator, ensuring an adaptation that stays true to the original vision. The project was spearheaded by the studio, one of South Korea’s leading 3D animation companies. LOCUS previously produced Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, which qualified for the first round of Best Animated Feature at the 2021 Academy Awards. Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning has already drawn international attention, having been officially invited to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival—the world’s largest animation festival—in June 2024.
The adaptation aims to expand South Korea’s traditionally child-focused animation industry to include more adult audiences while making a broader impact on the global stage. Over six years, a team of 680 contributed to the production, with a strong emphasis on refining the narrative. The film concentrates on the opening chapter of the first volume, illustrating why exorcists embark on their relentless battle against darkness. Despite being written three decades ago, the novel’s central theme—characters striving to save a world that disregards the sanctity of life, mind, and soul—remains strikingly relevant.
Director Kim Dong-chul, 36, makes his feature-length directorial debut with Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning. His interpretation emphasizes the bond between the four exorcists, portraying them as a surrogate family. “To me, this is a heartfelt family drama,” Kim said in an interview. “Each exorcist carries a past, and I wanted to highlight how they come together, heal one another, and grow as a unit.”
Unlike traditional 2D animation, which relies on hand-drawn sketches, 3D animation involves rendering digital assets on servers and manipulating them with a mouse. the studio CEO Hong Seong-ho, 59, underscored the company’s technological foundation. “At its core, the studio is an IT company,” Hong said. “Beyond animation, we have optimized workflows and accumulated extensive data, which serve as valuable assets for the South Korean animation industry.”
Although the film is rendered in 3D, significant effort was made to preserve the aesthetic qualities of 2D animation. To prevent the visuals from resembling a video game, the production incorporated smear frames—a technique from traditional animation that distorts or stretches images to enhance the illusion of fast motion—into action sequences. While the story is fantastical, the backgrounds were crafted with a high degree of realism. Paintings from esoteric Buddhist temples were meticulously recreated, and natural landscapes, such as dense forests and mountain ranges, were drawn based on field sketches of actual locations.
Among the character designs revealed, the depiction of Father Park Yun-kyu, a muscular and imposing former doctor-turned-priest, has been particularly well received. “We gave Park a beard, which wasn’t in the original novel, as part of a modern reinterpretation. It appears to have resonated well with contemporary audiences,” Kim noted. Despite the studio’ proactive integration of IT advancements, artificial intelligence was deliberately excluded from the production of Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning. “Using AI in animation character design can easily lead to copyright disputes,” Hong explained. “For an ambitious project like this, ensuring originality was paramount.”
Globally, animated films continue to break records and expand their audience base. The Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 surpassed $1 billion in box office revenue within 10 days of its Feb. 8 release, marking the first time a film has achieved such earnings in a single market. Meanwhile, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 grossed $1.7 billion worldwide. “South Korea’s animation industry ranks around fifth or sixth globally,” Hong said. “Yet, with just a tenth of the budget of major U.S. studios, we can achieve about 80% of their quality. When the source material is as strong as Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning, we believe our global audience will only continue to grow.”
