Animation Come to Life - Avatar: The Last Airbender
Written by Chloe Trinidad
Aang and his friends are returning in Netflix’s newest series, Avatar: The Last Airbender: a live action adaptation of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s original animated show. This time, the series hopes to bring justice to the original with a cast representative of the characters’ ethnic backgrounds and a compelling followthrough of the plot. Longtime fans are excited—full of anticipation—and from the looks of the show’s release this month, new fans will soon be on the rise.
Initially released in 2006, Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) follows Aang–a young boy who can control air–and his friends, Katara and Sokka. Aang happens to also be the Avatar: the wielder of all the elements. Throughout three seasons, we see him go on a journey to master the rest of the elemental techniques including earth, water, and fire. The show also presents themes of growth, forgiveness, friendship, and family.
It’s significant to note that ATLA is heavily inspired by various Asian and Indigenous cultures including areas in East, Southeast, and South Asia, as well as Arctic peoples. Moreover, the element-bending techniques and movements that the characters do are also inspired by different forms of martial arts. These include Northern Shaolin (fire), Tai Chi (water), Baguazhang (air), and Hung Gar Kuen (earth). The show is very intentional in its storytelling; the writing does not fall short despite being a “kid’s” show, and was carefully crafted into the beloved animated show everyone loves today.
In 2018, Netflix announced that they were going to produce a live action version of the series. Prior to this series’ development, ATLA was already high on peoples’ radars. While it was considered a stellar show throughout the early to mid 2000s, the series regained popularity throughout 2020 after being added to Netflix, making it a great binge for many throughout the pandemic. From there, newer fans emerged, and it seemed that fans were definitely going to be seeing more of Aang.
Additionally, ATLA already had a live action movie attempt. In 2010, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released The Last Airbender. The movie ultimately received negative reviews; it did not convey the powerful and impressively crafted story of ATLA’s first season as well as it thought it did. With its blandness, poor writing, and whitewashed cast, fans were extremely disappointed. People even boycotted the film for its character misrepresentations.
However, this 2024 live action cast on the other hand holds hope. Initially, the series started working with the original characters, DiMartino and Konietzko; thus we get a more genuine feel to the remake. Although later on, Albert Kim was the final established director. However, the series still seeks to accurately capture the first season of ATLA. Additionally, the cast is full of rising stars of color–representative of the deep Asian and Indigenous cultural aspects and characters that ATLA holds. Here’s a list of the main cast here:
Gordon Cormier as Aang
Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko
Kiawentiio as Katara
Ian Ousley as Sokka
Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh
Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula
Netflix is bringing joy and redemption to fans with Kim’s new live action series. With much more intentional casting, plot accuracy, and newer creative visions, the series may bring justice to the already animated classic. And we’re so excited to tune in!