The film "Mung-chi on the Road" (directed by Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Chun-baek) has unveiled the remarkable technological prowess of Korean animation, brought to life through 145,440 frames.

"Mung-chi on the Road" is a touching adventure animation that follows Mung-chi (Do Kyung-soo), an abandoned dog whose fate changes overnight, as he embarks on a rugged journey to find true freedom alongside friends with diverse backgrounds, such as Jjang-ah (Park Chul-min), a survival master of the streets, and Bam-i (Park So-dam), a girl-crush dog who escaped from a dog farm.

Directors Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Chun-baek of O돌ttogi, a leading South Korean animation studio equipped with storytelling that appeals to all generations and technical skills comparable to American studios like Disney and Pixar, achieved uncompromising attention to detail across 178 crew members from characters to backgrounds.

In particular, to naturally blend the emotions and breathing of the actors into the characters, the production chose a pre-scoring technique—which is rare in domestic animations—and meticulously completed 145,440 frames one by one to realize living, breathing characters and realistic movements.

As a result, "Mung-chi on the Road" once again proves the technological capabilities of Korean animation by completing an unprecedented "extreme dog action" featuring chase scenes with dog catchers and scaled action spanning forests and cities. The direction, which simultaneously implements delicate emotional acting and dynamic action, is expected to deliver high immersion not only to children but also to adult audiences.

"Mung-chi on the Road" is a 4K remastered version of "Underdog," which won the Jury Special Prize at the 23rd Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival, the Grand Prize at the 8th Seoul International Children's Film Festival, and the Best Animation Award at the 5th Silk Road International Film Festival. By re-editing the original 102-minute running time down to 93 minutes, the story unfolds engagingly without a moment of boredom, and its messages about "living life as one's true self" and "the autonomy of happiness" have become even clearer. The completion level was further enhanced through sound mixing to strengthen the delivery of the actors' lines, along with music supplementation and revision work.

Set to be a turning point for Korean animation, "Mung-chi on the Road" will be released exclusively nationwide at Lotte Cinema on August 19.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Reported by Kim Ji-hye, SBS Entertainment News)