SINGAPORE — After the global success of “Moving,” Disney+ has bet big on its next project with Kang Full, one of South Korea’s most acclaimed cartoonists and the creator of the “Moving” webtoon series.
Upcoming horror mystery series “Light Shop,” set to premiere on Disney+ Dec. 4, follows a group of mysterious figures who find their way to an enigmatic lighting shop.
The star-studded cast includes Ju Ji-hoon, famous for his leading roles in hits like “Along with the Gods,” as the owner of the lighting shop, and Park Bo-young, who plays a nurse witnessing the strange figures visiting the hospital where she works.
The series is adapted from the popular webtoon of the same name by Kang. The “Light Shop” webtoon, released in 2011, gained widespread popularity, accumulating over 150 million views on Kakao Webtoon. The webtoon captivated audiences with its poignant exploration of human nature and concluded with a shocking revelation about the identities of the visitors to the lighting shop.
Kang, who served as the scriptwriter for the drama series, noted that the drama will differ significantly from the original webtoon.
“I drew ‘Light Shop’ as a webtoon 13 years ago. There were stories in the original that I couldn’t fully express. This series unravels the stories that couldn’t be shown in the webtoon, and the actors have been able to portray them in a more three-dimensional way,” Kang said during a press conference at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Singapore on Wednesday. The event was part of the Disney Contents Showcase APAC 2024 event.
“The series has become deeper rather than broader. The emotions and spectacular stories that I couldn’t express through drawings have come to life in a video in a way that satisfies me. The series has become much richer than the original,” he added.
Having seen tremendous success with the webtoon-turned-series “Moving,” Kang admitted feeling some pressure with the release of another of his webtoons as a drama.
“Since it will be released after ‘Moving,’ I feel some pressure. While ‘Light Shop’ is a bit similar to ‘Moving’ in some sense, I feel ‘Light Shop’ has a different tone. In ‘Moving,’ I focused on the characters when writing the story, and I did the same with this project,” he explained.
“‘Moving’ is a supernatural genre, and I didn’t think it had a high entry barrier. … In Korea, it’s rare for horror or thriller genres to be made into long-running dramas, so I was wondering how viewers would respond to ‘Light Shop.’ However, because it’s interesting, I am confident in its success,” Kang said.
The series also marks actor Kim Hee-won’s directorial debut. Known for his memorable villain role in the crime action film “The Man from Nowhere” and recognized for his involvement in hit series such as “My Love from the Star,” “Misaeng,” and “Moving,” Kim spoke about how Kang’s works resonate particularly well with Disney content due to their emotional depth.
“Children around the world have grown up watching Disney cartoons and films, laughing and crying. I think that emotion resonates deeply. I believe the emotions of all humans are the same,” Kim said.
“Kang’s works have the power to touch people’s hearts. I was moved by it too, and the actors brought that emotion to life in their performances. It’s woven into the work. I think that’s why Disney appreciates (Kang’s works),” he added.
