Flameo, Hotman! Welcome to the first installment of a column where I will be reviewing every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender in 5 Thoughts format. Before we get to that, though, here’s some personal background.
Some personal background.
I’m an admitted Avatar evangelist, yet it’s been over 5 years since I’ve watched the show. I remember watching that initial two-episode airing live, including the mini U-Pick Live event that preceded it and the entire hour-long re-run of the same two episodes that followed directly after. My 5th grade friends got together on the playground the next day and drew pictures of ourselves bending, trying to figure out who best fit each element. I owned season passes to all the episodes on iTunes; I was an avid follower of AvatarSpirit.net; I hosted a party when the season 2 finale aired; I went to a midnight screening of the live-action film that will receive no further mentions in this column; I tried to get everyone I know to watch this show, no matter their age or background or tastes. God damn, this show was the greatest thing I’d ever seen, and every episode was better, more mature, deeper, more stylish than the last.
Yet it’s been over half a decade since I’ve watched more than an episode at a time. And I’m still trying to push the show on my friends who haven’t seen it. Why haven’t I watched it in all that time? Is it fear that it wouldn’t be as good as I remember? Fear that I would find the show too childish? Fear that I would have to stop calling it my “favorite” TV show? Armed with years of excessive media consumption, years of life experience, and years of film studies, I hope my new perspective will give me an answer.
Now for my thoughts on those first two episodes, which originally aired as one unit: “The Boy in the Iceberg” and “The Avatar Returns.”
1. “You can’t beat the Fire Nation with fun!” “You should try it sometime.”
These episodes set up the show’s character focus, and the greatest character interactions for me happened between Sokka and Aang. Sokka represents the boy who had to grow up too soon, who takes everything too seriously and has a short fuse for those who don’t. Aang, on the other hand, doesn’t take anything seriously, even though he’s literally the most powerful being in the world.
A lot of comedy in these two episodes comes from this dynamic, and a lot of the future character development comes from their evolution out of these roles. Sokka gradually learns to enjoy himself more and approach serious situations with more maturity, and Aang gradually learns to take things seriously and be brave against big challenges while never giving up his positive, fun outlook on life. Even over the course of these 45 minutes, we see subtle changes in this vein: Sokka accidentally shows excitement when he gets Appa to fly and then quickly rescinds it, and Aang’s escape from the Fire Nation ship provides an exhilarating ride through a terrifying situation. Speaking of…
2. The animation hasn’t fully evolved yet, but the directing is on another level.
The animation at this point is still bolder and more cartoony than it would eventually become. Despite that, however, the directors and storyboard artists give it their all. The slower scenes are paced like those in a Miyazaki movie, giving full breathing room for small moments like Appa shaking off his morning grogginess from his head, then through his body, then down through his tail. The “camera” angles take any perspective needed, from above, behind, below, a close up, a long shot, a canted angle, etc. When a standard shot is used, each element of the image is intricately placed to better tell the story. Even with its limited budget in the beginning, these creators produced storyboards which likely resembled those of high-budget action movies instead of typical cartoons. Not only had this not been seen in American TV animation until this point, the skill level of these directors is still rarely seen in animation today.
3. Damn, that music.
The Track Team, composed of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, composed and performed the music for Avatar. The fight scenes primarily utilize percussion performed in strong rhythmic loops as Asian string instruments play simple, quickly repeating melodies on top. In the slower scenes, The Track Team treats us to slow horn music which achieves the same emotion as classical orchestral music. They also occasionally insert small cues, like a short whistle/horn cue for when Sokka reacts negatively to something, or a horror-inspired string cue when Zuko forcefully grabs Gran-Gran as a hostage. Avatar: The Last Airbender would be a completely different show without these guys on music.
4. Universal appeal, though still aimed at kids.
The shadow of war looms large over these episodes. Adults will catch on to the small details, like how all of the men have left the small village, and the symbol of the old fire nation warship from generations ago staring at the village from a distance. Depending on the age of the kids watching it, they will catch on to various levels of this and what it means, yet everyone will enjoy seeing where the story goes. While Aang’s demeanor is definitely that of a child, which children will love, his struggle with his place in the world appeals to everyone.
Even the few bodily function jokes which Nickelodeon must have forced in work on multiple levels. Example: kids love when Appa sneezes on Sokka, or that the kids he’s training to be warriors just want a bathroom break, but adults will love how these moments undermine Sokka’s attempts to be taken seriously (because, let’s be real, he is still very young). We also see small steps towards Katara proving herself as a woman in a male-heavy world, as well as the strained wise uncle/inexperienced nephew relationship between Iroh and Zuko. With these episodes alone, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy.
That said, though, the creators are still aiming primarily towards kids, which is interesting since they start skewing older as the series progresses.
5. Structure.
I’m a structure junkie, so it’s fascinating to look at these two episodes in terms of their place in the overall structure of the show. Avatar: The Last Airbender is broken into three seasons, representing a clear beginning, middle, and end. The first season introduces the characters and the world, the second season pushes us further into that world and starts weaving everything together with a few major turning points, and the climactic third season brings the characters and overall story to a close. Within each season, there’s also a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the same for each episode. As the beginning season, the first 20 episodes introduce new characters and new parts of this world. So, these two start the characters off on their journey to explore the world while heading from the South Pole to the North Pole. In traveling up North across the world, it gives the series a purpose while allowing a variety stand-alone adventures that will become important later on.
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While still nowhere near the storytelling and animation heights the show would eventually become known for, the amount of impressive work already on display bodes well for this re-watch.
What did you think of these episodes? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll see you here next week to look at the team’s visit to the Southern Air Temple!
