Prize Time!

IT'S PRIZE TIME!!!Chaek bachims are so cool that while at the Animation Museum in Chuncheon, I picked up some to give away as prizes. They feature Hobani, the Chuncheon city mascot who is reflective of the city's abundant bodies of water.Hobani can be found all over the city, such as in these really cool nonprizes above.
You can also spot him in these temporary tattoos that I'll throw in as well. I have 5 prizes to give to the first 5 people to post in the comments section. If you have a blog, it would be really cool if you offered this same sort of prize giveaway on yours.

Good luck!

Animation Museum Art Pieces

Blaaaaaaaaaargh!

I made another trip to the Animation Museum in Chuncheon today. Since museums frown on taking pictures inside, I thought I'd share some of the outdoor art pieces with you.

There are a lot of these robotic statues. What makes most interesting is that they are made out of a mix of stuff that must be recycled junk.This insect is made from autobike parts.There are a handful of these pieces made out of old tires and other parts.It's amazing how the artist was able to use junk and bring life to it. This frog looks like it's curious as to why I'm taking its picture.This King Kong inspired piece looks like he knows exactly why I'm taking his picture and is posing for a dramatic effect.I found this dragon particularly impressive. It's much more impressive in real life. It feels like it's going to soar right into the heavens above the lake just behind it. This is one of two art pieces that welcomes you to the Animation Museum. It's called Vision and it captures what we should strive for in animation:
Fantastic journies into the unknown . . .. . .adventures that need gallant heroes. . .
. . . and the spirit of flight and freedom.

I think Vision serves as a good inspiration to animators.Then there's these two goofballs that are the other featured statue. They remind us that animation should be fun, too. And to enjoy the wonderful city of Chuncheon as well!

Animation Museum

Korea has an animation museum. It's the only one in Korea and it's located in Chuncheon.

There are various sections, many of which are somehow interactive. There's a section that describes some of the history of animation, sections about the production of the animation process, a section of old Korean comics and more.
The section on animation from different regions in the world is a lot of fun. It displays character toys from those places. The section on North Korean animation was interesting, especially the way in which some animation is co-produced there.

Unfortunately, the exhibits are written mostly in Korean, so if you can't read Korean, you might not get as much out of it. Fortunately, animation is visual in nature, so you can understand most of what's going on.If you live in Korea, this is worth the visit. Even if you don't like the museum, Chuncheon is a beautiful natural city and there is a peaceful view of Lake Hyeonamni behind the museum. You can also check out the crazy art pieces made of reused junk scattered around the museum. My favorite is a Chinese style dragon made of tires.

The museum sits between two animation studios. Across the street is a restuarant (or cafe?) called Sketchbook. Maybe I'll investigate and report about this later.

For more information, you can visit the museum's website which is: http://www.animationmuseum.com/ or the Chuncheon City website.