‘KPop Demon Hunters’ makes Oscars history after dominating awards season
“Kpop Demon Hunters” is ending awards season on top.
The Netflix film, which follows two fictional K-pop bands, HUNTR/X and Saja Boys, took home an Oscar for best animated feature Sunday.
Co-director and writer Maggie Kang and producer Michelle Wong became the first people of South Korean descent to ever win in the animated feature category. They accepted the award with co-director Chris Appelhans.
“To all the fans who got us here and for all of those who look like me, sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing,” Kang said in her acceptance speech about making a movie in which other Korean people could see themselves in. “This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.”
Appelhans also spoke to the power of music and storytelling to “connect us as humans across cultures and borders.”
“So I just want to take a moment to say to all the young filmmakers, artists, musicians in all corners of the globe: Tell your story, sing in your voice,” Appelhans said. “I promise you the world is waiting.”
The film swept awards season, taking home two Golden Globes (for best animated motion picture and best original song in a motion picture) and two wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards. It also made history at the Grammy Awards, giving the K-pop genre its first-ever win at the coveted music show.
The animated blockbuster, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix in June, gave the streaming platform its first No. 1 box-office title when it also rolled out to theaters last year. Its score became Billboard’s highest-charting soundtrack of 2025, and hit songs from the film — such as “Golden” and “Your Idol” — similarly topped the U.S. Spotify charts.
Its plot follows HUNTR/X members Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), who must keep demons out of the human world through their music.
Fan fervor around “KPop Demon Hunters” was so widespread that characters from the movie became popular choices for Halloween costumes. And the vocalists behind characters’ singing voices — including HUNTR/X singers Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — have gained massive fan bases.
