- Title: 'Cute killing machine': How Squid Game's iconic killer doll came to life
- Date: 22nd January 2025
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JANUARY 16, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) PRODUCTION DESIGNER FOR SQUID GAME, CHAE KYOUNG-SUN, SAYING: "The most important thing was the facial impression (of the Young-hee doll). I tried to make the nose, mouth, and cheekbones look cute, but at the same time, I wanted the eyes to have a certain madness and show the moving eyeballs to work as a k
- Embargoed: 5th February 2025 09:18
- Keywords: Netflix Season 2 South Korea Squid Game Younghee designer director
- Location: SEOUL, UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, SOUTH KOREA / VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS / SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / BANGKOK, THAILAND / JAKARTA, INDONESIA / GRAPHIC
- City: SEOUL, UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, SOUTH KOREA / VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS / SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / BANGKOK, THAILAND / JAKARTA, INDONESIA / GRAPHIC
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Television
- Reuters ID: LVA006485720012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: While the second season of "Squid Game" has new plot twists, one element of the Netflix mega-hit series where contestants down on their luck risk their lives to play children's games for the chance of winning cash prizes, has remained constant.
The reappearance of Young-hee, an innocent-looking robotic doll who in fact has a deadly role in the South Korean-made television series to find contestants to gun down playing the game "Red Light, Green light" if she spots them moving.
Young-hee, who is clad in a simple orange dress with a hair clip, has become a viral meme on social media and the centrepiece of the streaming giant's promotional campaign.
Chae Kyoung-sun, the production designer for "Squid Game", said the doll's appearance had been partly inspired by her own daughter.
"My daughter had a bowl cut for a long time which was very cute so I decided to draw a very short bang," Chae told Reuters.
The initial inspiration for Young-hee came from a girl of the same name on the cover of old primary school textbooks in South Korea, though the killer doll was initially conceived as genderless, Chae said.
The first season of "Squid Game" became the most-watched show on the streaming platform and expectations were high for the second season to replicate the success.
The new season of the dystopian survival thriller also broke a record as the most-watched show in its premiere week on the streaming platform, with over 68 million views, according to Netflix.
The streaming giant said on Wednesday (January 22) it gained a record 18.9 million subscribers in its fourth quarter thanks in part to the second season of Squid Game.
Asked about the success of the show and this particular character, Chae put its down to their unorthodox nature.
"How does this cute kid suddenly turn into a killing machine? I think the creation of the Squid Game world by adopting unpredictable concepts and methods resonated with young people looking for fresh things," she said.
At the end of the second season, viewers also get a glimpse of Chul-su, a male doll set to appear in the next season alongside Young-hee that was originally envisaged for the first series.
"When they said there will be a second season and that Chul-su would appear, I brought back the drawings I had of Chul-su for the first season," Chae said.
The third and final season of Squid Game is set to be released later this year.
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