For her 6th birthday party in January, Amy Tzagournis’ daughter Hazel wanted special guests: the characters from “KPop Demon Hunters.” Six months earlier, while Tzagournis was out of town, his daughter and 4-year-old son had become obsessed.
“I came back and suddenly they knew every word to the songs,” he says in disbelief. “I was like, 'Where did this come from?' “It was literally out of nowhere.”
Parker Apel, 7 years old, intends to close the VIP entrance to the artist Simon Mendoza, who is dressed in the style of a Saja Boy from “KPop Demon Hunters”.
So Tzagournis, of Redondo Beach, hired Funky Divas & Dudes, one of many character rental companies in the Los Angeles area that had begun offering performers inspired by “KPop Demon Hunters.” At her birthday party, Hazel and her friends danced to songs from the movie, including “Golden” and “Soda Pop,” alongside entertainers.
“We've pretty much been doing nothing but 'KPop Demon Hunters' parties,” says Dana Marie Lazzareschi, one of the co-owners of Funky Divas & Dudes. “Every party we've done has been 'KPop'. It's crazy. We've had a Broadway-themed party and a tropical-themed party, but other than that, everything has been 'KPop' every weekend. Sometimes we have five 'KPop' parties in one day.”
Released last June, “KPop Demon Hunters” is a true global sensation, a status that not even Netflix, its distributor, anticipated. In August, when Tzagournis' daughter first saw it at a friend's house, the film about three glamorous K-pop stars who act as brave warriors to defeat nefarious demons had become Netflix's most-watched film. And in March, the musical won two Academy Awards, one for best animated film and another for best original song for “Golden,” an empowering anthem that became a chart-topping hit.
Nearly half of all the birthday parties Tzagournis took his kids to in the past six months included some element of “KPop Demon Hunters,” either just the theme or the performers (for his daughter's party, he hired all three Demon Hunters and one Saja Boy). The holidays are so frequent that parents even share decorations to reduce costs, he says.
The party included Saja Boys-themed souvenir bags and “VIP” passes for guests.
“One of my daughter's good friends had a party two weeks before hers and we basically recycled all the 'KPop' decorations for her,” Tzagournis says, laughing. “We used theirs and then I passed them on to another mom. These 'KPop' birthday party decorations were recycled at least two or three times.”
In business since 2002, Funky Divas & Dudes, like most of these party businesses, features princesses, superheroes, and other pop culture-inspired characters. For a long time, Elsa, the Snow Queen from Disney's “Frozen” franchise, ruled girls' parties. “We joke that it's a generational thing, every 10 years a girl with a braid shows up and takes over every kid's birthday party playlist. In the past there was Elsa and now there's Rumi,” says Lazzareschi, referring to the main heroine of “KPop Demon Hunters.”
The displacement of “Frozen” was also evident for Tzagournis. “The year before, when my daughter was almost five, everyone was dressed up as Elsa. There were like five Elsas in her class on Halloween,” she recalls. “And last year, more than 50% of girls her age were one of the 'KPop' characters.”
In addition to party entertainment, Funky Divas & Dudes also offers after-school dance classes at Los Angeles-area schools, including the one Tzagournis' daughter attends. Lazzareschi realized the film's popularity when children began requesting “Golden” and other songs from the soundtrack during dance classes. While “Frozen,” he thinks, was aimed at a younger audience, “KPop Demon Hunters” has a broader appeal. “It's very appealing to all ages, not just kindergarteners and first graders, but also third, fourth and fifth graders,” Lazzareschi says. “There are so many different aspects, like martial arts, and kids love those things, both boys and girls.”
Companies like Funky Dudes & Divas had to quickly meet demand for “KPop” characters at children's parties in Los Angeles, sourcing costumes from Halloween stores or online retailers. In addition to the three demon hunters (Rumi, Mira and Zoey), Lazzareschi also features male performers similar to the Saja Boys (the rival group in the film) who teach children how to breakdance.
“The whole dance element made it even better than just hanging out with the characters,” Tzagournis says.
Madelynn Wheater, 7, left, and Parker Apel, 7, center, show off their best moves in the dance circle.
The “KPop Demon Hunters” theme continued on the plates and cake at Parker Apel’s party.
For Katherine Diaz of Torrance, the “KPop Demon Hunters” craze has been a welcome lifeboat. Diaz manages his daughter Kiara Asiel, 18, and several other teenagers who perform at birthday parties. Díaz's operation serves Latino clients while Asiel (an aspiring dancer who plays Rumi) offers bilingual shows. In the wake of last summer's immigration raids, many of his potential sponsors refrained from hosting celebrations, which affected their businesses. However, in recent months, the demand for “KPop” characters has generated new opportunities.
“It's been a boom. We have people in our area calling us saying they wanted our 'KPop' show because my daughter speaks Spanish,” Díaz says in Spanish.
In addition to birthday parties, Diaz's team was recently hired to perform at several McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles, where hundreds of children and their parents lined up to take photos. In December, the city of Gardena invited them to perform for the community at a Christmas event.
“They specifically asked the 'KPop' girls. We were like, 'But it's Christmas?!' and they said, 'Yes, but the kids are dying to see Huntrix.' [the phonetic name of the musical group in the movie].' “My daughters were dressed in their 'KPop' outfits, but I made sure to put little Christmas hats on them.”
To avoid legal repercussions, some of these companies may offer generic versions of popular characters. In 2017, Disney sued a New York company that offered knockoffs of “Star Wars” and “Frozen” characters at birthday parties, but voluntarily dismissed the case a year later after a judge dismissed most of its trademark claims. The number of these companies, not just in Los Angeles but around the world, could also present “practical difficulties” for copyright holders to take action, says Mark Lee, a partner at corporate law firm Rimon PC who has taught entertainment law at USC.
“To give you an example, I had a client who co-wrote a very famous song,” Lee says. “1.2 million people posted that song on YouTube without authorization. You can send what's called a DMCA takedown notice, which is like a cease and desist letter to YouTube, but you have to do it 1.2 million times.”
At the same time, these small businesses help maintain the popularity of the characters.
Eliana Fraser, dressed in a Rumi costume, paints the face of 6-year-old Ariya Taylor at a party for Parker Apel, right.
Both Lazzareschi and Diaz have more “KPop Demon Hunters”-inspired events coming up, but Tzagournis believes the peak of the trend has passed, at least for now. “I feel like this might be very short-lived, which would be different from 'Frozen' and the Disney movies,” Tzagournis says. “Kids are already over the 'KPop' thing, but the sequels will probably draw them back in.”
A new “KPop Demon Hunters” movie is already in the works.
