Additional Information about the Feature Film Empress Chung

Based on a famous Korean folk tale, "Shim Chung," which has also been performed as an opera.

Budgeted at $6.5 million U.S.

Shorter versions exist, including an 85-minute and a 94-minute release.

While the film was directed by South Korean animation veteran Nelson Shin, much of the drawing was done in North Korea.

This was Shin's first feature film, and it also marked his first attempt at composing.

In 2003, a three-minute dialogueless pilot, also titled "Empress Chung," was exhibited as a preview of the feature film.

Production began in June 1998, and the film was completed in the summer of 2004. From writing the screenplay to the designing of character models, storyboarding and building content, the pre-production phase alone took three and a half years to develop.

More than 500,000 drawings were completed to build the film. Certain scenes, such as the underwater battle of sea creatures, required three months to perfect the animation.

Extensive historical research was done of folk villages, period costume, Buddhist temples and royal palaces.

While still in production, the film received a Special Distinction at the Annecy Film Festival in June 2003.

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