At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards held on Jan. 11 in Los Angeles, Netflix’s animated feature claimed two of the night’s most coveted prizes — Best Animated Motion Picture and Best Original Song – Motion Picture for its breakout hit “Golden.”
It was a rare double victory, neatly completing a trajectory that began on streaming charts and playlists last year.
Directed by Korean-Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang alongside Chris Appelhans, K-Pop Demon Hunters became the first animated feature led by a Korean director to win a Golden Globe.
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Caption of a scene from Kpop Demon Hunters |
Blending K-pop idol culture with supernatural fantasy, the film follows a fictional girl group juggling global stardom with the task of protecting the human world from dark forces — a premise that could have remained niche, but instead proved strikingly universal.
The soundtrack functioned as the film’s real-world engine. “Golden,” performed by the fictional group HUNTRIX and sung by Korean American artist EJAE, topped major music charts last year, crossing from fandom-driven success into the mainstream.
At the Golden Globes, the song prevailed over heavyweight contenders from films such as Avatar: Fire and Ash and Wicked: For Good, confirming that its popularity was not a fleeting algorithmic spike but a work with staying power.
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EJAE arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) |
EJAE’s acceptance speech gave emotional clarity to the film’s arc. She spoke of spending nearly a decade chasing her dream of becoming a K-Pop idol, only to face repeated rejection.
“I thought my voice wasn’t good enough,” she said. Music, she explained, became a way to endure closed doors — and now, unexpectedly, a way to help others do the same. The message resonated beyond the room: rejection as redirection, persistence as craft.
The numbers behind the film explain why the awards felt overdue rather than surprising. Released globally on Netflix in June 2025, K-Pop Demon Hunters ranked No. 1 on the platform’s global weekly chart for nine consecutive weeks and remained in the Global Top 10 for more than six months, according to Netflix data. Few animated titles — or films of any genre — have sustained that level of visibility without theatrical saturation.
With Golden Globe trophies in hand, K-Pop Demon Hunters now heads into the Grammy and Oscar races, extending its "golden" momentum across major global awards.
Yoo Joonha Reporter joonhayoo94@ajupress.com
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