KPop Demon Hunters was easily the biggest movie of 2025 (even if, for amusing reasons, Sony lost out on the year’s best film). The scale of this success has just been demonstrated at the Oscars, with KPop Demon Hunters nabbing Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Netflix has been trying to make inroads into the Oscars for a long time, making this a historic win for the streaming service.
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In truth, this was simply the icing on the cake. The hit movie dominated 2025’s streaming charts, and the inevitable KPop Demon Hunters sequel has already been confirmed. No doubt Netflix is also working on other ideas to keep the franchise going strong in the meantime, perhaps with shorts similar to those Disney released between Frozen and Frozen II. But, while we all wait for more HUNTR/X adventures, there’s one forgotten predecessor everybody needs to be checking out.
Wish Dragon Was Made by One Of KPop Demon Hunters’ Greatest Minds
An animated fantasy comedy that released in 2021, Wish Dragon was the directorial debut of Demon Hunters co-writer and director Chris Appelhans. Wish Dragon is a charming tale of friendship that riffs on Aladdin in the best possible way, following the story of Din (Jimmy Wong) as he tries to retain a friendship with Lina (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). The two are divided by wealth and class, but Din gets an edge when he comes into possession of a magic teapot.
Wish Dragon was a hit for Netflix, in large part because it was an authentically Chinese story made for a global audience. It worked because the story at its heart was based on Appelhans’ own experience growing up, when he and a childhood friend found themselves headed in different directions. It’s no KPop Demon Hunters, but the authenticity at the heart of Wish Dragon really does feel as though it set the scene for everything that was to come.
Both critics and audiences enjoyed Wish Dragon; the film sits at an excellent 71% Critic Score and 77% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. Appelhans had described it as something of a masterclass experience, helping him learn the tools of his trade – storytelling, artistic development, and even cross-cultural production. These were all skills he’d bring to the table when he partnered with with Maggie Kang on KPop Demon Hunters, creating what may well turn out to be one of the defining films of the decade.
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Image courtesy of MAPPA
