Adapting 'Yumi's Cells': Turning a famous webtoon into an animated film

"Yumi's Cells" film director Lee Da-hee and original webtoon creator Lee Dong-geun talk about adapting the webtoon into an animated feature.

A scene from the film “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie,” based on the popular webtoon series “Yumi’s Cells.” The film depicts the growing pains of Yumi, a woman in her 30s who struggles to find a balance between work and her romantic relationship. [LOCUS, STUDIO N]

The popular webtoon series “Yumi’s Cells” was made into an animated feature film titled “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” that hit theaters nationwide early this month.

Webtoon series often become good sources of stories for drama series and films, but this was the first time a webtoon series had become an animated film.

Revolving around the life of a woman in her 30s named Yumi, the original webtoon tells the story of an ordinary woman and how she goes about each day with her cells, which control her thoughts by residing in her mind. The cells cover different traits and behaviors, including love, cheapskate and hunger. The webtoon had accumulated 3.5 billion views when it was released between 2015 and 2020 on Naver Webtoon.

The webtoon was much loved not only in Korea but in other countries, such as Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China, as it was translated into as many as seven languages.

As is the case with other popular webtoons, “Yumi’s Cells” was made into a drama series and a mobile game. The drama series based on the webtoon first launched in 2021. The second season of the drama series aired between 2021 and 2022 is especially credited with bringing in the highest number of paid subscribers ever to streaming platform Tving, run by CJ ENM. The drama was exported to 160 countries. The webtoon will soon be adapted into a musical as well. SEM Company, an entertainment company led by actor Hwang Jung-min, is in charge of the soon-to-be-released musical.

It is no exaggeration to say that the webtoon series has developed a life of its own, as it keeps evolving by taking on different forms.

Yumi, the main character in “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” [LOCUS, STUDIO N]

Naver Webtoon subsidiary Studio N and Locus Animation Studios joined forces to produce “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie.” The two studios participated in the production of the two previous seasons of the drama series, which combined 3-D animation and live-action scenes.

There were high expectations for the movie. CJ CGV and Lotte Cinema, two leading theater chains, joined forces to distribute the film in April, which is typically considered to be low season. Currently, the film hasn't performed well compared to the other adaptations of the webtoon series.

According to the last date from the Korean Box Office Information System (Kobis), the film ranked 16th at the box office, attracting 75,388 moviegoers as of April 23.

A scene from “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie.” Based on its tremendous popularity, the webtoon has been made into a drama series, game, and animated feature film. [LOCUS, STUDIO N]

Still, there is a bright side to look upon. The film was sold in 76 countries even before its release on home soil.

The JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, sat down with director Kim Da-hee, who made her directorial debut with this animated film, and webtoon author Lee Dong-geun.

Q. How did the film version of “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” start in the beginning?

A. Lee: I got an offer [to make my webtoon] into an animated film around the time I was making "Yumi’s Cells." It came earlier than [the offer] for the drama series. It was hard to imagine my webtoon becoming an animated feature film back then but I had trust in Locus, the animation studio, because "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" (2019) turned out good, which is the work of Locus.

Kim:The webtoon "Yumi’s Cells" came out earlier than Pixar’s "Inside Out," which features personified emotions. I thought the webtoon had sure-fire selling points because it had more detailed emotions [than ‘Inside Out’], like the fashion cell that makes Yumi go binge shopping. Korean webtoons have made it big overseas. Just like the webtoons, I hoped to see Korean animation films reaching a wider audience and breaking the stereotypes people have about animation. People tend to think of animation as a thing for younger audiences.

“Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” is based on the latter part of the webtoon series “Yumi’s Cells” by focusing on her growing pains as a writer hopeful. [LOCUS, STUDIO N]

The basic plot of “Yumi’s Cells” has been told multiple times in various forms. Have you tried to make the story somewhat different from the original for the movie version?

Kim:We once thought about it but decided to stick to the original. Instead, the drama series was focused on the relationship Yumi had with her boyfriend, while the film version was more centered on her growth as she struggled to balance her work and relationship.

Lee:Yumi’s problems may look small to others but she feels her problems are like disasters she has to overcome with the aid of her cells. So, I would say it is an adventure story about Yumi. I chose the latter part of the original story as the basis for the film because Yumi experiences the most dramatic emotional changes.

Some reviews and critics wrote that the story is rather flat. Do you agree? Kim: When I was working on the film, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Yumi because I was also in my early 30s just like her. After finishing the film, I got married and gave birth to my child. Our lives may look calm and mundane in the eyes of others but we are all fighting our own wars every day. There are no dramatic events in the animated film but I thought people would relate to the main character because she is exactly like us.

What was the most difficult thing about transforming 2-D characters into 3-D? Kim: I didn’t want to keep showing the gloomy sides of the cells to highlight the growing pains of Yumi. I wanted the movie to be equally dedicated to Yumi and her cells. So, we came up with adding new cells, such as the jinx cell, as a way to perk up the story.

Lee: I loved the way the emotional changes of the characters were expressed in the animated film. I especially liked the scene where the emotional pressure Yumi felt as a writer was expressed using the blinking cursor of a computer screen.

Cells residing in the mind of Yumi, the female protagonist, such as love, cheapskate, and fashion. They help Yumi to make major decisions in her life. [LOCUS, STUDIO N]

What's your opinion on the film's poorer-than-expected performance at theaters?

Kim: I guess it's because a lot of people already know the story of Yumi and her boyfriend Babi through the drama series. But people who watched the film left good reviews. This film was made with one-twentieth of the production cost of "Kung Fu Panda 4," but I believe we came up with the best result despite some restrictions.

BY NA WON-JEONG [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]