WATCH: This Harvard student made her own ‘Korean Disney Princess’ musical as an ode to her heritage

If Disney needs help in creating an animated Korean princess, 22-year-old Harvard student Julia Riew can give them ideas. 

Riew, who’s taking up theater and music at Harvard, has been gaining attention on Tiktok for writing and composing a Korean musical called “Shimcheong: A Folktale” for her senior thesis project. A video of her singing the original song Dive in the form of an animated character has over 928,000 views, as of this writing.

The clip begins with Riew snapping her fingers before transforming into an animated character wearing a hanbok. She then belts the lines, “Now all the fish in the sea can’t stop me. All of the waves in the world can’t rock me. I’m on a mission and gee, just watch me go.”

@juliariew There was no Korean Disney princess so I decided to make my own :) #disney #korean #koreanamerican #disneyprincess #musical #originalsong #originalmusical #musicaltheatre #theater #music #newsong #dreamworks ♬ original sound - Julia Riew

According to Riew, it’s been her dream to create a Korean Disney princess. The musical is based on the Korean folktale The Blind Man’s Daughter and her experiences as a Korean-American. 

The Harvard student said in a separate Tiktok post that she started writing musicals at 16, and  “Shimcheong: A Folktale” is her seventh piece. She originally chose a different concept for her senior project, but her grandmother made her realize how “out of touch I was with Korean culture.” 

In a TODAY report, Riew revealed that working on her thesis made her learn about her own identity as a Korean-American. “I discovered more about my own identity and as a composer and my finding my voice so it’s been a lot of fun to work on.”

While Riew appreciates Disney’s efforts in making characters with diverse backgrounds, she believes “there’s always more to be done” in Hollywood.