South Korea, 2003, 35mm, colour, Dolby Surround, 87’, in Korean language with English subtitles. Adult audience.
Life on Earth is on the brink of extinction from pollution and other environmental disasters. In order to survive, humans create a city called Ecoban that organically grows on its own, feeding on the earth's pollution. However, only a select few are allowed to live in the shielded city, leaving many to perish in the wilderness. Conflicts arise after some city officials decide to continually pollute the earth so they can enjoy the prestige of living inside of Ecoban. A feature animation encompassing state-of-the-art 3D and 2D animation.
“Wonderful Days is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the film has the kind of dark, shaded beauty that I feel is truly unique in the history of Korean cinema, animated or otherwise, if its designs are somewhat derivative (They seem to be influenced more by American science fiction, including Star Wars, Tron and Altered States, than by Japanese animation as such). As befitting a dystopian setting, the landscape is constantly drenched in rain, and colors are more often than not different shades of brown and blue-gray, but they are never dull or lifeless: authentic lyricism runs through the whole movie, that unifies its tone into a type of romantic melancholia, mourning the loss of warm, forgiving colors, of white flowers and green grass.“
Kyu Hyun Kim, Korean Movie Reviews
“Five years in the making and created with a team of over 300, we are delighted to present the Australian premiere of the film that has the animation world talking. Drawing strongly on traditional manga style but using cutting edge technology to incorporate 2D, 3D and even miniature modeling into the mix, Wonderful Days is like no other film we have screened.“
Melbourne International Animation Festival
“Dubbed in English, Sky Blue is everything Appleseed is not: mature, character driven, well-developed and haunting. Taking a cue from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Ecoban is a city that has outlived its usefulness, perpetuated and perverted by a privileged elite to the detriment of the thousands of workers who live below, keeping the city alive.“
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
“The animation itself is a mixture of 2-D and 3-D computer generated images and real-life high-quality photos, which give the sequences a better illusion of aliveness than what we have grown to expect in i.e. typical American animation (where 3-D animation is used). If we combine the animation with a good (in some respect even overly in-depth) storyline, we get a definitely surprising result.“
Misak, SloCartoon
Director Moon saeng Kim is one of the best-known commercial directors in Korea. His experience has been focused on special effects with animation film for over 15 years. During this period, he has directed more than 200 TV commercials including products like Fanta (Buzz 2-D & 3-D complex animation: awarded gold medal at the 27th Creative Award USA, Korean Broadcasting Commercial Award 1988, Seoul Int'l Creative Animation Festival Award 1996, Pinacle finalist 1997). From 1998, he has worked with Hong Kong-based international advertising agencies such as Oglivy & Mather and JWT. He also serves as a professor at the Kaywon Art School, teaching film design. Wonderful Days is his first feature film.
