00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 Missable Details in Squid Game,
00:11and fun behind-the-scenes tidbits about the making of the show.
00:14We will be discussing major plot points, so a spoiler warning is in effect.
00:24The doll was inspired by a Korean school character.
00:30Like most things in Squid Game, the doll seen in red light green light was inspired by a
00:40childhood artifact. The reference was likely lost on international viewers, but the doll
00:45strongly resembles Young-hee, a girl who appeared on Korean school textbooks in the 1970s and 80s.
01:00In fact, Netflix officially confirmed in a Twitter post that the doll's name is Young-hee,
01:06further establishing the connection. Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was born in 1971,
01:11so he would have certainly seen little Young-hee on the covers of his 80s textbooks.
01:15What a wonderful piece of nostalgia that's been warped into depravity.
01:25Lee Jung-jae was cast against type.
01:30This actor received international renown after starring as Sung Ki-hyun,
01:39but he was an established star in Korea well before Squid Game. Lee has been nominated for
01:44six Paeksang Arts Awards, the Korean equivalent of the Oscars, and has starred in a wide variety
01:50of genres. His charming screen presence is exactly why Hwang cast him in the lead role,
01:55but not for the reasons you may think.
02:00Hwang wished to cast Lee against type, saying he wanted to, quote,
02:09destroy his charismatic image portrayed in his previous roles. It worked. Lee won a slew of
02:15awards for his performance, including the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama.
02:30The visuals were inspired by art.
02:48The story and themes of Squid Game received most of the attention,
02:51but it is also a terrifically shot piece of television,
02:55even winning the Emmy for Outstanding Production Design.
02:59Jae Kyung Sung was greatly influenced by art,
03:01and used existing material to help shape the fictional world of Squid Game.
03:15The confusing staircase was inspired by the works of M.C. Escher,
03:18most specifically his 1953 print Relativity.
03:22The climactic dinner scene in the eighth episode is almost a verbatim copy of Judy
03:26Chicago's installation The Dinner Party. And finally, the recurring sky visuals
03:31were inspired by the design seen in Rene Magritte's The Empire of Light paintings.
03:42The Most Watched Show for a Day
03:48While writing the show, Hwang Dong Hyuk had one goal,
03:52for Squid Game to be the most watched show on Netflix for one day.
03:56He had a point to make about capitalism and inequality,
03:59and he wanted that point to reach as many people as possible.
04:02However, he had no delusions about his success.
04:05He knew that a Korean show probably wouldn't reach a large international audience,
04:09especially one as dark and weird as this.
04:12So he aimed for the humble goal,
04:14number one show on the U.S. charts for one day.
04:18Well, he certainly got that, and then some.
04:20Squid Game became Netflix's most watched series ever,
04:24breaking the record set by Bridgerton,
04:26and even beating season four of Stranger Things.
04:32It was originally designed as a movie.
04:48Despite its unbelievable success,
04:54Squid Game was never meant to be a show.
04:56In 2008, Hwang was a struggling artist battling debt and poverty,
05:00and he spent a lot of his time in cafes reading survival manga.
05:04He was inspired by these stories and wrote his own movie, Squid Game.
05:18However, no one was interested in the script,
05:21and he struggled to find backing.
05:23So he shelved the idea and moved on.
05:26It wasn't until 2018 that he pitched Squid Game to Netflix,
05:30who was looking for more international productions.
05:32They loved the idea but wanted a show rather than a film.
05:36So Hwang spent the next several months revising the script
05:39and expanding it into a nine-episode series.
05:42The detective's subplot was not part of the original script.
05:58Hwang originally had one clear and targeted story,
06:01the Squid Games themselves and the personal journey of Sung Ki-hyun.
06:04But when the idea was picked up by Netflix and expanded into a series,
06:08he needed some new material.
06:10He needed some new material to help fill the time.
06:13That's when he invented the character of Hwang Joon-ho,
06:15the police detective who infiltrates the games in search of his missing brother.
06:34This not only added an element of mystery to the series,
06:37it also greatly helped with the world building,
06:40allowing us access into the production and inner workings of the games.
06:44Now that it's here,
06:45we couldn't imagine the story without the Joon-ho subplot.
06:55It was almost called Round 6.
06:57Did you know what the Squid Game was before this show?
07:01Exactly.
07:02Squid is a popular children's game in South Korea,
07:05but it's virtually unknown outside of the country.
07:08As such, Netflix didn't like the name Squid Game,
07:11believing that it wouldn't translate to international audiences.
07:27They liked the title Round 6,
07:40as Squid is the sixth game in the series.
07:43However, Hwang was insistent that it be called Squid Game,
07:47arguing that even if audiences didn't know what it meant,
07:50they would still be drawn to the mystery.
07:52Netflix eventually capitulated,
07:54and good thing.
07:55Who knows how many people were lured in by the cryptic title.
08:09The main characters are based on Hwang Dong-hyuk.
08:22Like many writers,
08:23Hwang wrote from experience
08:25and crafted the main characters from his own personality traits.
08:28He wrote the characters of Gi-hun and Sang-woo
08:30to represent his two conflicting histories,
08:32calling them his quote,
08:34inner clones.
08:35Hwang told CNN that Gi-hun is modeled after his childhood,
08:38being quote,
08:39raised by a single mother in a financially troubled environment.
08:51Sang-woo is what he grew into as an adult,
08:53attending university and facing equal amounts of pressure
08:56and praise from his poverty stricken neighborhood.
08:59Luckily, Hwang didn't become an investment banker
09:02who stole money from his clients.
09:03So, you know, that's one big difference.
09:13The games are painted on the walls.
09:15Pyeong-gi secretly works for the corrupt guards
09:17harvesting human organs
09:18in exchange for information about the upcoming games.
09:21It ends up costing him his life.
09:23And to think,
09:24all he had to do was look at the walls.
09:34Yep, all of the games are painted on the walls.
09:45This becomes quite obvious once the beds are removed,
09:48but the detail is never directly addressed.
09:50And they were there from the very beginning.
09:52We can only speculate why.
09:54Maybe it's just decoration,
09:55or maybe it's a hidden detail for observant players to spot,
09:59like a sick taskmaster clue.
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10:38Perhaps the most genius detail of the show
10:40is that all of the major deaths are foreshadowed.
10:43Most of them come in episode two,
10:45after the players have returned to the mainland.
10:48Ali steals money from his boss,
10:49mirroring his marbles being stolen by Sang-woo.
10:52Se-byeok threatens to slash a man's throat,
10:55and her throat is later slashed by Sang-woo.
10:57As for Sang-woo,
10:59he tries taking his own life,
11:00which he successfully does at the end of Squid.
11:07Deok-su jumps off a bridge,
11:09foreshadowing his fatal fall during the stepping stones.
11:12And his killer, Min-yo,
11:14even makes reference to feeling powerful
11:16when she laid back in tug of war,
11:18symbolizing how she drags Deok-su to his death.
11:21Now that's just good writing right there.
11:30Were you aware of this information?
11:32Let us know in the comments below.
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