Filmmaker behind Netflix’s ‘most-watched original title’ grew up in Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — Christopher Appelhans has been writing and drawing since his days as a student at Taylorview Middle School in Idaho Falls. Years later, he says it’s “really satisfying” to see fans and industry professionals worldwide acknowledge his work.
The 45-year-old makes up half of the writing and directing team for “KPop Demon Hunters,” an animated musical urban fantasy film released on Netflix last summer.
The film is about a three-member female Korean pop band that leads a double life of protecting the world from demons. The film premiered in June and has since garnered more than 500 million views, making it the platform’s most-watched original title to date.
Not only was it the first film soundtrack to have four songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously, but it also recently won two Golden Globe awards for “Best Original Song” and “Best Animated Feature.” It also received two Academy Award nominations in the same categories.
As Appelhans reflects on the film’s reception and recent accolades, he tells EastIdahoNews.com “it’s really wonderful.”
“We got an amazing reaction from the audience and the fans,” Appelhans says. “This movie was really hard because we were trying to … reinvent what a musical could be and represent a type of female character in animation that was more interesting and more real. We also wanted to showcase Korean culture on all levels. There was no precedent for it … and so that made it really satisfying to have people acknowledge it.”
Although he’s a white kid from Idaho Falls, Appelhans says he has a personal connection with the Korean culture, and it seems to be a recurring theme in his life.
His wife, Maurene Goo, is a novelist with Korean ancestry. They met as students at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and were married in 2012.
His co-writer and director on “KPop” is Maggie Kang, who is also Korean. Appelhans says it was Kang who had the original idea, and his own familiarity with his wife’s background made for “an easy chemistry” with his colleague.
“We were able to write a story that we both understood,” Appelhans says.
Similarly, his last film, “Wish Dragon” — released in 2021 — told the story of a working-class college student in Shanghai who dreams of reuniting with his childhood friend. A dragon emerges from a teapot given to him by an elderly man and grants him three wishes.
The animated feature was Appelhans’ directorial debut, and was largely based on his friendship with Michael Wu, a “platonic soulmate” he met in China years ago. He went there with a colleague to do some design work and met Wu, his colleague’s cousin, and the two hit it off.
During that trip, Appelhans discovered the story of Aladdin was a folk tale that originated in China, and that sparked the idea for “Wish Dragon.”
“A light bulb went off, and I thought it would be so cool to reimagine an Aladdin story in contemporary China,” Appelhans recalls.
It was also a commercial success and received some awards in China before it was released in the United States.
Appelhans’ professional journey
Being an award-winning filmmaker is not necessarily the path Appelhans envisioned for himself. He recalls writing, drawing and making up stories with his close-knit group of “nerdy friends” at Idaho Falls High School.
Appelhans says his best friend, Daniel Winston, was a better artist than he was at the time and was very influential to him.
“I really benefitted from having a friend who was really good,” Appelhans says. “His mother, Jane, was an art teacher at Skyline High School.”
Appelhans says he didn’t realize until about 10 years into his career that what he loved most was telling stories with art.
A family friend, Jeff Ward, taught art at then Ricks College — now Brigham Young University-Idaho — and introduced Appelhans to career possibilities. Ward had a connection to the school he ended up attending.
“My first few jobs after college were working on animated films,” says Appelhans. “I ended up in this niche role where I would read a script, pick out moments I thought were interesting or emotional, and do a painting of it. They would use that as a way to figure out the look of the movie.”
Soon, he started pitching his own stories around the industry.
Appelhans got his start in animation in 2006. His first project was an animated supernatural comedy called “Monster House.” He worked as the character designer and concept artist on that film.
Later, he worked as a visual development artist on Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” and the Shrek spinoff “Puss in Boots.” He was also an artist on “The Angry Birds Movie” in 2016.
He also wrote several children’s books at one point.
Appelhans took piano lessons for many years and enjoys writing songs for fun. He helped write the music for “KPop,” which he says was a fun full-circle moment.
“It felt like a very unique moment where I could finally use both of these things and combine them,” he says. “(That was fun) to put all of my talents to work.”
‘Taking a breath’ and giving credit
Since “KPop’s” release, Appelhans says there’s “a huge appetite” for a sequel. So far, nothing has been announced, and he wants to “take a deep breath” from all the attention over the last six months before trying to make that happen.
Meanwhile, he says he and his wife enjoy visiting their family in Idaho Falls as often as they can and hope to return soon.
Appelhans says he’s grateful to his parents, Kristi and Anthony Appelhans, for encouraging him and his siblings to develop their talents.
“My parents were an incredible combination,” he says. “They loved us and pushed us pretty hard to make the most of whatever our interests and talents were. My professional accomplishments (are a credit to their) efforts in teaching me to have confidence in myself and to … earn that confidence (from others).”
