'Squid Game' production designer says killer doll’s look was inspired by her daughter
Young-hee, the chilling and iconic doll from Squid Game, left a lasting impression with the first "Red Light, Green Light" game. But what many might not know is that the doll’s striking design was actually inspired by the production designer's daughter.
In a report by Reuters, the series' production designer Chae Kyoung-sun opened up about the creative process behind the eerie doll that has become synonymous with the deadly version of the childhood game.
According to Chae, the doll’s look was influenced by her daughter.
"My daughter had a bowl cut for a long time, which was very cute, so I decided to draw a very short bang," she said.
"Her eyes are a little crazy. She's a killing machine, and the movement of her eyes had to be easy to see, so we made her eyes quite big," the production designer added.
Though the killer doll was conceived as genderless, Chae explained that 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."
The teaser for the third season, which is coming this 2025, features a new male animatronic doll called Chul-su.
Earlier this year, the second installment of Netflix's Squid Game became the streaming giant's biggest television debut.
Variety reported that Squid Game Season 2 had 68 million views during its premiere week, beating Wednesday's record of 50.1 million views in 2022.
The season also placed 7th on Netflix's list of most popular non-English television titles of all time. The list is based on the titles' first 91 days of viewership.
Squid Game's first season is on top of the list with 265.2 million views.
The release of its sequel series also sparked renewed interest in the first season, making the latter the third non-English series of the week with 8.1 million views.
Squid Game follows the story of 456 individuals buried in financial debt, playing a series of thrilling, deadly games. Only one winner would bring home the jackpot prize of 45.6 billion Korean won (P2 billion). It became Netflix's most-watched series and the most-watched show in 94 countries, getting over 142 million member households and 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks of release.
In Season 2, Seong Gi-hun, or Player 456 (Lee Jung Hae), joins the deadly games again after winning the last season in a bid to save other players from harm.
