'Hammer Boy,' Pucca named tops in Korea

The Korea Times reports that the film Mangchi (Hammer Boy) and the cutesy Pucca have been selected by the Korea Culture & Contents Agency as the nation's top animation and cartoon character for 2004.

Hammer Boy, based on Huh Young-man's popular comic book, won the Presidential Award for Best Animation, beating out 47 other animated films, including second-place winners Empress Shimchung, In the Forest and Fortress. Pucca, which is part of a line of online greeting cards, was named Best Character Award for the second year in a row.

Cartoonist Huh will receive the Best Cartoon Award for Sikgaek, a comic book about food.

The winners were selected based on sales, licensing and opinions from a survey of 2,000 people.