In a recent interview, Michael Dante DiMartino, the co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, revealed that the series was initially envisioned as a very different kind of story than what fans have come to know and love.
These details came to light in a new episode of The Illustration Department Podcast, where DiMartino spoke about how The Last Airbender was originally intended to be a "kids in the woods comedy."
According to DiMartino, the series came as an assignment from Nickelodeon executives, who were looking for a new action-adventure show. DiMartino and his co-creator, Bryan Konietzko, reportedly started working on their ideas together, initially conceptualizing the series as a "kids hanging out in the woods comedy kind of thing." DiMartino went on to state that the first concept was "actually very simple, because we wanted to make a show that had fun, charming stories. Then, we could focus on the animation and make the animation amazing."
Avatar: The Last Airbender Was Originally Meant to Be a 'Kids in the Woods Comedy' Show
This is a far cry from what Avatar: The Last Airbender would end up becoming -- a renowned series that gained critical and commercial acclaim for its portrayal of mature themes in a child-friendly format, along with its incredible artwork and animation. DiMartino addressed this, saying, "The ironic thing we always talk about is how we’ve made possibly the most complicated show you could make for animation." The complexity comes from the series’ mature characters and emotion, as well as the use of bending and a highly travel-oriented setting. DiMartino explained that the technical aspects of creating new background settings for each episode, as well as accurately portraying the characters throughout their action sequences, required the use of martial arts experts and an "insane" budget from Nickelodeon.
DiMartino also discussed how a series is dependent on its characters’ complexity. "When you watch or read a story that you actually resonate with and you feel like you went on an emotional journey, the external stuff is a little bit of smoke and mirrors. If you don’t have that personal journey for the main character or characters, you get to the end and think, 'What was the point of that?' Maybe it doesn’t really stay with you. I’m not trying to write those kind of things," he stated.
DiMartino specifically referenced how this has been proven in Zuko. "People talk about Zuko’s transformation and his character arc as being one of the best ones they’ve ever seen," he said. "They talk about how everyone loves the bending and enjoys the action and the art, and obviously that’s all important, but the emotional component is the thing you need, and it’s not always easy to get."
In whatever journey Avatar: The Last Airbender’s initial conception took to become what it is, fans are certainly grateful. The series’ lasting impact has been seen in Zuko and beyond, and the series has been foundational in showing Western audiences how emotional themes can be applied to animated media.
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Original source: CBR.com.
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