Ricky Church on the legacy of Avatar: The Last Airbender…
It is rather rare in this modern age of TV animation to get a show that speaks to both children and adult audiences through its story, characters and philosophy which is perhaps why Avatar: The Last Airbender remains so significant 20 years after its premiere. The series celebrated its milestone anniversary last week and though it is two decades old with sequel series, comics, novels and a live-action remake continuing its legacy, the original series remains one of the most beloved and acclaimed productions made.
Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender took place in a world where its inhabitants could control or ‘bend’ the elements of water, earth, fire and air, but only one person chosen by fate known as the Avatar could bend all four elements together, cycling each generation through the four societies so there would be balance between them. However, the Fire Nation launched an attack on the world to conquer everything in its path and Aang, the new Avatar from the Air tribe, was frozen for 100 years. Now awake, it is up to Aang and his friends to stop the Fire Nation and restore balance to the world.
Avatar could have easily been just a simple kid’s adventure with the forces of good battling the evil unstoppable empire, but it did not take long for the series to show its depth in various ways. From the burden Aang felt as a 12-year-old Avatar, Sokka and Katara still reeling from the trauma of their mother’s murder and father’s disappearance, to Zuko’s abusive family and his inner turmoil, Avatar was chalk full of heavy character development and emotional moments. Even still, there was a lot of humour throughout the show, such as the ‘Cave of Two Lovers’ with its musical group of nomads/hippies to the meta ‘The Emerald Island Players’. The balance between the slapstick humour and serious moments was well done and never felt out of place.
A perfect example of this balance is ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se’, a collection of Pulp Fiction-like stories focusing on the characters as they spent time away from their dire quest and just enjoyed themselves in the Earth Kingdom capitol of Ba Sing Se. Among the stories were funny, ridiculous moments like Sokka getting into a haiku contest of all things, Uncle Iroh getting into mishaps on his walk through the city or Aang attempting to corral a bunch of zoo animals. Yet despite all of the humour, the episode still smacked viewers with emotional beats such as Katara comforting Toph over her looks, Momo’s search for Appa and, most importantly of all, Iroh paying tribute to and grieving for his deceased son, a poignant moment made even more impactful due to the segment’s dedication to Iroh’s voice actor Mako Iwamatsu who had passed away a couple months prior to the episode’s airdate.
Uncle Iroh was the source of much of Avatar‘s philosophy as he served as a Yoda and Obi-Wan-like figure, spouting off pieces of wisdom to both his nephew Zuko and their ‘enemies’ Aang, Katara and Sokka. Between his understanding that the four elements must have balance with each other, despite being one of the most important leaders of the Fire Nation, and helping Zuko on his life-changing evolution, Iroh plays a huge part of the series’ lessons and character development. ‘Bitter Work’ is one of the series’ most powerful episodes as it had little action, instead serving as almost a therapy session for Aang and especially Zuko as Iroh tried helping Zuko get past his resentment and insecurity to tap into his full potential.
Aang similarly is wise for his age since he holds the consciousnesses of all the past Avatars and comes from the Air Nomads, a peaceful people who didn’t believe in violence and sought enlightenment. But due to his young age and initial reluctance to be the Avatar, Aang still has a lot of maturity to do over the course of the series in addition to mastering all of the elements. Aang’s journey is also notable for his refusal to kill even in self-defence as his friends and the past-Avatars urged him to cross that line against the Fire Nation, making his battle with Fire Lord Ozai that much more dangerous but incredibly important for young viewers to see Aang attempting to find another way than violence and murder to achieve his goal.
Significantly, though, the development that is often most remembered is Zuko’s. Aang is the protagonist so it is easy for him to remain the hero with his growth, but Zuko went from the relentless villain who hounded Aang and his friends to one of their most important allies by the final season, teaching Aang firebending so he could properly battle Zuko’s father Ozai.
Zuko wasn’t just a two-dimensional villain whose obsession with capturing the Avatar for glory and his father’s respect was all there was to him, but someone who was loyal, cunning and most of the time logical even as he waged the battle inside him to do the right thing versus capitalizing on his ambition. The switch from antagonist to secondary protagonist was a gradual build up and viewers were placed in the shoes of Iroh, Aang and Katara who wanted to help Zuko but were let down whenever he chose the wrong path. Zuko’s development isn’t just a great character arc, but an insightful deconstruction of the ‘Enemies to Friends’ trope and how it can be done properly.
Outside of the storytelling, Avatar was a technical masterpiece with amazing animation for the character designs, the blending of animals in this world (badgermoles, flying bisons, moose-lions and winged lemurs) and especially the element bending. Not only was each bending method different, but individual characters use of bending was wholly unique to them.
One need only watch the difference in Zuko’s firebending at the start of the series to his final fight with his sister Azula to see the change or the same for Katara’s waterbending. The use of Toph’s blindness to convey how she utilizes earthbending despite her handicap provided many impressive visuals. During some of the series’ biggest moments the animation seemed to level up to cinematic quality with its choreography, camera angles, colour palette and music (‘The Last Agni Kai’ is one of if not the series’ best track).
Then there’s the roster of voice talent the show gained from its main cast of Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena, Dante Basco, Jessie Flower, Mako and Dee Bradley Baker as Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Toph, Iroh and Appa and Momo respectively, to other stars like Grey Griffin as Azula and the legendary Mark Hamill as Ozai, trading his Jedi teachings for the evil Emperor role. Even guest stars such as Clancy Brown, Jennifer Hale, George Takei, Ron Perlman, Jason Isaacs and Héctor Elizondo gave memorable performances during their stints in Avatar. Each actor gave their character depth and treated them with the seriousness they deserved while also having fun with them during the lighter and comedic moments.
Avatar: The Last Airbender still retains its importance 20 years later as a groundbreaking series for its animation and storytelling. Its popularity and clear love both fans and the cast have for the show are why it is not only still talked about, but has produced one sequel series with The Legend of Korra, the newly announced sequel Avatar: Seven Havens, Netflix’s live-action adaptation as well as Nickelodeon’s upcoming trilogy of animated films with the first to focus on Aang to be released next January. Its blend of humour, character development, action and emotion make Avatar‘s legacy all the more outstanding.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
