TikToker does what Disney couldn't, creates an entire musical on a Korean princess
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Disney has had a long history of featuring white and cisgender women as Disney princesses. Some of the most popular and recognisable princesses such as Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are all white women from Europe. The 'classic' Disney fairytale movies are all based upon the popular book, Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacom and Wihelm Grimm.
Representation, particularly Asian representation, has barely been seen in Disney's fairytale movies. In 1998, Disney released Mulan and in 2021, the company released Raya and the Last Dragon. While Mulan was set in China, Raya and the Last Dragon was set in South-Eastern Asia.
But there has never been an Indian, Pakistani, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Sri Lankan princess in the Disney universe, much to fans' dismay. 22-year-old Julia Riew decided to take matters into her own hands and released a musical on TikTok that features a Korean princess. The musical was her senior thesis project at Harvard University.
Julia has been writing musicals for quite some years now, and her seventh musical, titled Shimcheong: A Folktale focuses on her Korean roots. The musical is loosely based on the Korean story The Blind Man's Daughter and is heavily inspired by her trips to Korea. Julia uses a Disney character lookalike filter on TikTok to sing out her musical.
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Talking about the musical, Julia said in a video call, "For the first time, I have felt such a strong sense of community and belonging, which I've always really longed for. I never imagined that something like TikTok ... could bring me to a place where I feel such a warm sense of belonging."
She has released about 15 songs from the musical on her TikTok channel in January 2022, with one of her songs named Dive reaching almost a million views. The musical focuses on a young woman named Shimcheong, who jumps into an ocean to save her father. She then enters the Dragon Kingdom and is unable to leave. But ten years later, Shimcheong plots an escape and returns home.
Just like any other loved fairytale, it is not till the end that Shimcheong earns the title of Princess. Like all conventional stories, this musical too features adventure, a prince and a villainous Dragon Queen. Here is what one song from the Prince's perspective sounds like:
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The musical has gained a lot of adoration and love from viewers with some imagining what Shimcheong would really look like. Here is what artist MiJin imagined what Shimcheong would look like dressed in traditional hanbok, a popular Asian outfit.
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Viewers on TikTok have been demanding for Disney to turn this musical into a film but Julia has not been in direct contact with them. Although, Julia has been in meetings with film and theatre producers to discuss the future of her musical. The musical has gone viral in both the US and Korea with viewers of all ages showing their love towards the songs.
But Julia isn't the only TikToker to compose and release songs on Asian-centric stories. TikToker Katherine Lynn-Rose has also created and released songs for both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Netflix's hit series, Squid Game.
Julia told Refinery29 that she would like Ashley Park to play Shimcheongin on any of the on-stage or on-screen productions of her musical. She also told the magazine that she and Ashley have been in contact with each other and plan to meet each other soon.
Hopefully, Disney will listen to the fans of the musical across the world and we will get to see the first Korean princess film ever.