Robot Taekwon V

Infobox Korean Film
name = Robot Taekwon V


caption = Poster for "Robot Taekwon V" (1976)
director = Kim Cheong-gi
producer = Yu Hyun-mok
writer = Ji Sang-Hak
starring =
music = Choi Chang-Kwon
cinematography = Cho Bok-Dong
editing = Yoon Ji-Young
distributor = Yoo Productions
Seoul Dongwha Productions
released = July 24 1976
runtime = 85 min.
language =Korean
budget =
imdb_id =
hangul = 로보트 태권브이
hanja =
rr = roboteu taegwon beui
mr = robot'ŭ t'aegwŏn pŭi

"Robot Taekwon V" (로보트 태권 V) is a South Korean animated film directed by Kim Cheong-gi and produced by Yu Hyun-mok, the prominent director of such films as "Obaltan" (오발탄) (Aimless Bullet) (1960). It was released on July 24 1976 , immediately becoming a mega-smashed hit in the late 1970s, and consequently inspired a string of sequels in followng years. "Robot Taekwon V" was released in the United States in a dubbed format under the name "Voltar the Invincible". "Robot Taekwon V" became the first Korean film to receive full digital restoration treatment in 2005.

Plot

Dr. Kaff (or Dr. Cops; 카프 박사 in Korean), an evil scientist bent on world domination, creates an army of giant robots to kidnap world-class athletes and conquer the world. To fight off this attack, Dr. Kim creates "Robot Taekwon V". Kim Hoon, the taekwon-do champion eldest son of Dr Kim, pilots Robot Taekwon V either mechanically or through his physical power by merging his taekwon-do movements with the robot. Comic relief is provided by Kim Hoon's younger brother, elementary school student Kim Cheol. He has fashioned himself as "Tin-Can Robot Cheol" by cutting eyeholes in a tea kettle and wearing it on his head. Kim Hoon's girlfriend, Yoon Yeong-hee, is a pilot and taekwon-do practitioner. She can also operate Robot Taekwon V with buttons and levers, and pilots Kim Hoon in and out of the robot. [cite web |url=http://www.hancinema.net/korean-movie-news_2906.php|title='Robot Taekwon V' gets back again|accessdate=2007-05-22|work= [http://www.hancinema.net/index.php Han Cinema] |language=English]

Background

The Japanese giant-robot manga and anime "Mazinger Z" was popular in South Korea at the time of "Robot Taekwon V"'s creation, and Kim Cheong-gi freely discusses the influence of "Mazinger Z" on his cartoon, saying he wanted to create a Korean hero for Korean children. In order to emphasize the Korean ties of the film, he had leading characters perform the traditional martial art, taekwondo, and gave the robot the ability to do taekwondo kicks. [cite web |url=http://www.kocca.or.kr/ctnews/eng/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/09/13/200309130001.html|title=Classic 'Taekwon V' reanimated
accessdate=2007-05-04|last=O|first=Youn-hee|date=September 13, 2003|work= [http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/ Korean Film Commission (KOFIC)] |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040304152938/http://www.kocca.or.kr/ctnews/eng/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/09/13/200309130001.html|archivedate=2004-03-04] While Korea has become the global hive for animation outsourcing 1970's Korea had a very different vibe to modern day South Korea. Bitter memories of the brutal occupation of Korea by Japan were still fresh in the minds of many. Chongi Kim's Taekwon V proudly bares the helmet the legendary Korean Admiral Yi Sunsin wore in his quests to fend off Japanese annexation. In a very real sense Taekwon V is a national hero representing the fight for freedom from Japan and independence.Fact|date=May 2007

The sequel, "Super Taekwon V", had taken designs from "Gundam" and "Xabungle".

Restoration

The original print of "Robot Taekwon V" has long been thought lost, and for years the only available print was incomplete and in very poor condition. However, a duplicate print was discovered in a warehouse of the Korean Film Commission in July 2003. [cite web |url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/news18.html|title=New print of "Robot Taekwon V" discovered|date=October 31, 2003|accessdate=2007-05-22|work= [http://www.koreanfilm.org/index.html koreanfilm.org] |language=English] Beginning in August of that year, the Korean Film Council made the film the subject of a 2-year restoration project budgeted at 1 billion won. 72 people were involved in cleaning up and digitizing each of the 108,852 frames. The original mono soundtrack was transferred to Dolby Digital 5.1. The restored version premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival on October 6, 2005. [cite web |url=http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/003456.html|title=Korean News in Brief: September 10 [Robot Taekwon V, Sugar Cube, Oscars, Conmen Tactics, Box Office, Quiz] |date=September 10, 2005|accessdate=2007-05-22|work= [http://www.twitchfilm.net/ twitchfilm.net] |language=English] In late 2006 Taekwon mania soared to new levels with a celebrity attended gala event in Seoul celebrating the 30th birthday of the robot and film. In 2007 yet more giant 3 meter tall size statues of Taekwon V have appeared around Seoul; instead of fronting art galleries in the hip areas of Hongdae and Insadong, one of the statues landed outside of the National Assembly (parliament) building. The restoration was widely released in early 2007 and set a new record for domestic animated films, attracting over 600,000 viewers in 18 days. [cite web |url=http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=18989|title=Taekwon V Sets Korean Animated Film Record|date=February 02, 2007|accessdate=2007-05-22|work= [http://www.awn.com/ Animation World Network] |language=English] [cite news |first=Darcy|last=Paquet|title='Murderer' kills at S. Korea box office|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958685.html?categoryid=13&cs=1|work=Variety|date=February 5, 2007|accessdate=2007-05-22|language=English]

Sequels

"Robot Taekwon V" has inspired a number of film and comic book sequels. The film sequels include:
* 로보트 태권V 우주작전 (December 13, 1976)
* 로보트 태권V 수중특공대 (July 20, 1978)
* 로보트 태권V 대 황금날개의 대결 (July 26, 1978)
* 날아라! 우주전함 거북선 (July 26, 1979)
* 슈퍼 태권V (Super Taekwon V) (July 30, 1982)
* '84 태권V (August 3, 1984)
* 로보트 태권V 90 (July 28, 1990)

Notes

References

*
*
* cite web |url=http://www.kocca.or.kr/ctnews/eng/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/09/13/200309130001.html|title=Classic 'Taekwon V' reanimated
accessdate=2007-05-04|last=O|first=Youn-hee|date=September 13, 2003|work= [http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/ Korean Film Commission (KOFIC)] |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040304152938/http://www.kocca.or.kr/ctnews/eng/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/09/13/200309130001.html|archivedate=2004-03-04
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245655/ IMDB page on TV series] (the 1966 date is not confirmed by Korean sources)
* [http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/news/news_view.asp?kor_news_num=288&page=6&p_part=1&p_item=&tmp_cnt=288 KOFIC unveils restored Robot Taekwon V (1976)] at [http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/index.asp Korean Film Council]
* [http://kr.movies.yahoo.com/Movie/MovieInfo/movie_view.php?movie_id=3495 Robot Taekwon V, at Yahoo Korea Movies] (in Korean)
* [http://www.hancinema.net/korean-movie-news_2906.php 'Robot Taekwon V' gets back again (2005/05/15)] at [http://www.hancinema.net/index.php Han Cinema]
* [http://nandakorea.sakura.ne.jp/koreanihtml/b_1.html ロボットテコンＶ (RobottoTekon V)] at [http://nandakorea.sakura.ne.jp/koreanime.html History of robot anime of South Korea] 　(in Japanese, with images & video clip)
* [http://www.animenewsservice.com/archives/oct11.htm Taekwon V Movie Restoration And Plagiarism Claims]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PPpKlbMvHc Robot Ttakwon V in advertisements] - Youtube

*Powell, Alex J. Korean Animation. Swindle Magazine. Issue 10 2007. [http://swindlemagazine.com/issue10/korean-animation/]

ee also

*List of animated feature-length films