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Disney-Pixar exec visits Seoul, not expanding to Asia yet

October 21, 2014
Korean poster of Disney's latest hit Frozen.

Korean poster of Disney’s latest hit Frozen.

By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

Disney-Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter began his Asian tour in Seoul Monday.

Despite competitors such as DreamWorks Animation opening up studios in China, Lasseter confirmed that the company is deciding to keep all animation in-house at its headquarters in California.

“At this point in time at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, we have artists from all over the world working for us,” he said during a press conference. “We are working on handcrafted films at our in-house studios.”

He emphasized that a good number of the studio’s animators are South Korean natives as he encouraged aspiring artists to consider the potential career path.

The main reason for his visit was to promote an upcoming film “Big Hero 6″ starring Korean American actor Daniel Henney. He also provided sneak peaks into the studio’s other projects including “Finding Dory” — a sequel to the hugely successful “Finding Nemo.

“Not only is Lasseter tapping into the South Korean market with actors of the same descent, Disney-Pixar realized there was huge market potential after the global success of its smash hit “Frozen.”

“What happened in this country with the movie Frozen is very special,” said Lasseter. “Frozen healed the Walt Disney Animation Studio and made the studio so strong. And the way Korea loved the movie so much meant so much for us. The reason why we chose to start here in Seoul, Korea, for our big Asian tour is to say thank you.”

He will continue his tour onto China, Hong Kong and Japan.