The Evolution of a “Superpig”: Designing Okja, from Start to Finish

By Curtis Tsui

Production Notes —

Jul 14, 2022

Share

In conversation with producer Dooho Choi in a new supplement on our release of Okja (2017), director Bong Joon Ho definitively states, “Jang Hee Chul is someone I can trust with concept art for creatures.” The filmmaker’s collaboration with the artist (pictured above), whom he has dubbed a “young genius,” began with 2006’s The Host, for which Jang designed the unforgettable amphibious beast of the title, and continued with 2013’s Snowpiercer, for which the illustrator helped conceive the wildly imaginative interiors of a futuristic locomotive.

A tale about a girl’s bond with her beloved “superpig”—an animal she must eventually rescue from the clutches of the evil corporation that genetically engineered her—Okja provided a new challenge: its shy titular creature needed to be a source of affection, not fear, inviting touching and cuddling while also maintaining a massive heft that would prove attractive to the greedy food industry. And because of the real-world setting of the film, which moves from the tranquility of the South Korean mountains to the commotion of New York City, Okja would need to seem plausibly realistic, yet also unlike anything existing in nature. The following images chart the evolution of the creature, as Bong and Jang tackled initial design concepts, incorporated feedback from collaborators, and continued to refine details until they arrived at the lovable superpig we see on-screen.

Images courtesy of Bong Joon Ho and Jang Hee Chul

1.

The creation of Okja truly began not in the diabolical labs of the Mirando Corporation, as it does in the film, but within the fertile imagination of Bong. While driving one day, he imagined he saw a giant pig hiding beneath an overpass. The pig, he remembers in the conversation with Choi on our release, “looked timid” and “sad,” and the thought also popped into his mind that the food industry would surely seek to capitalize off an animal of that size. Bong’s desire to make a film about this creature burst forth “almost immediately,” and he sketched this drawing, marking the superpig’s very first conception. This illustration also prompted Tilda Swinton to join the film—not only as an actor but also as a producer. However, to really bring Okja to life, Bong knew he needed to enlist Jang’s talent.

2.

Bong has noted that “the starting point was two aspects of this creature: it has to be massive in size, and it has to look kind, introverted, and sad.” To help with the problem of conveying recognizable emotions through a purely fictitious creature, Jang referred to pigs, hippos, and manatees for his initial designs. The first two animals’ bulky physiques are evident in the overall creature concept, and the last animal is evoked in its widely spaced eyes and what Bong has described as “an expression of being wrongly accused.” He felt that manatees in particular looked “incredibly innocent and kindhearted.”

1 / 2
2 / 2

3.

Proportions were then altered to enhance Okja’s gentleness. The superpig’s face was elongated so that her expression, in tandem with the realistically small eyes, would seem, in Bong’s words, “almost sleepy.”

4.

Lead actor An Seo Hyun, who plays the plucky protagonist Mija, says in a new interview on the edition that she was shown early creature designs and found Okja “scarier” than she envisioned from her reading of the screenplay. When asked by Bong if she would like anything changed, she said she felt that the superpig’s ears could be bigger, and she was pleased when she later saw her suggestion had been applied.

5.

Another animal that proved inspirational was, of course, man’s best friend. Bong has explained that Okja’s tail-wagging and the way she rubs up against Mija were modeled after dogs, as they’re the animals “closest and most familiar to humans.” However, Okja’s manner of defecation went back to a larger animal: “It’s the same way that hippos poo.”

1 / 2
2 / 2

6.

The articulation of the superpig’s jaws, ears, and feet was also inspired by hippos and elephants, and the characteristics of those animals were carefully studied by Jang.

1 / 3
2 / 3
3 / 3

7.

Because Okja is, in fact, a genetically modified animal created by scientific tinkering, the scene where Okja is brought back to Mirando’s lab features other, less successful experimental superpigs, and Jang also conceptualized those tragic by-products of an uncaring industry.

1 / 2
2 / 2

8.

After many months of designing and refining to his and Bong’s satisfaction, Jang was finally able to create a maquette: a 3D sculpture of the creature that would allow the superpig to be scanned so that the digital modeling part of the visual effects process could begin. Although the CGI, in tandem with a live performance by animation supervisor Stephen Clee, is truly what brings Okja to life on-screen, those digital wonders are still firmly anchored in the preliminary concept work by Jang and Bong. As effects supervisor Erik-Jan de Boer has said, “The final design is very true to the original concept work. Bong was always very confident in the design [and] never doubted it.”

1 / 4
2 / 4
3 / 4
4 / 4

Curtis Tsui is a producer at the Criterion Collection.

More: Production Notes

10 Things I Learned: Raging Bull
10 Things I Learned: Raging Bull

While working on our edition of Martin Scorsese’s 1980 masterpiece, producer Abbey Lustgarten found out how the director achieved some of the movie’s most evocative visual and sonic effects.

By Abbey Lustgarten

Inside Criterion / Production Notes — Aug 25, 2022
10 Things I Learned: Rouge
10 Things I Learned: Rouge

The producer of our edition of the masterful 1987 melodrama tells the stories of some of director Stanley Kwan’s legendary collaborators, including superstars Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung.

By Aliza Ma

Inside Criterion / Production Notes — Jun 21, 2022
A Movie About Leaving Earth
A Movie About Leaving Earth

On Earth Day, we celebrate Al Reinert’s For All Mankind, a groundbreaking documentary that is as much a reflection on our planet as it is a chronicle of space travel.

By Jonathan Turell

Inside Criterion / Production Notes — Apr 22, 2022
10 Things I Learned: The Celebration
10 Things I Learned: The Celebration

The producer of our edition of Thomas Vinterberg’s breakthrough film explains how the movie reflects the values of Dogme 95, the movement from which it emerged.

By Jason Altman

Inside Criterion / Production Notes — Jan 28, 2022

You have no items in your shopping cart

View Cart Check Out
Close Menu

Search

For streaming, search the  Criterion Channel