[ANIMACIÓN] Avatar, la leyenda de Aang

ANIMATED SHORTS: TEN QUESTIONS WITH AVATAR'S MICHAEL DANTE MIMARTINO


TEN QUESTIONS WITH MICHAEL DANTE DIMARTINO
AVATAR CREATOR TALKS ABOUT THIRD SEASON

by Steve Fritz

Yes, this is not your standard length for an interview. Then again, creator Michael Dante DiMartino was answering back all the way from South Korea.

What was he doing there? Why putting the finishing touches on the latest season of his and partner Bryan Konietzko’s breakout show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. As fans now obviously know, the series has been extended beyond this year for at least three more seasons. A live action trilogy of films is also in development, with director M. Night Shyamalan at the helm.

Because of the distance involved, questions were limited ten. Here’s what was asked:

Newsarama: What is it actually like working with M. Night Shyamalan? What do you think of what he has developed for the film so far?

Michael Dante DiMartino: We’ve met with Night a couple of times and he’s very inspiring to work with. He’s really respectful of the show and the world that Bryan and I created. Earlier this year he pitched us the outline of the first movie, which is based on the first season, and we loved it. It captured the essence of the story and the characters beautifully. In fact, he was so faithful to the story, that Bryan and I were the ones saying certain characters and storylines could be cut. So the fate of the live-action Cabbage Merchant still hangs in the balance!

NRAMA: Will we be seeing any more of the previous Avatars (besides Roku, obviously), particularly Kuruk the Water Bender and the story of his wife?

MD: Kuruk, the Waterbender and Yanchen, the Airbender do make a brief appearance in season 3, but I don’t want to give away why.

NRAMA: Did you always have Mark Hamill in mind for the Fire Lord? What was he like to work with?

MD:Mark auditioned for the role of Fire Lord Ozai along with many other actors. Good villains are tough to cast, and Mark brought a wonderful seriousness and severity to the role, without sounding over-the-top or cartoony. He has a great sense of humor and is really fun to work with. Like many people, I grew up watching Mark as Luke Skywalker, so to have him work on our show and play the main villain is amazing and also very surreal.

NRAMA: Is it me or does it seem that a major plot point off the bat is redemption and forgiveness; i.e. Zuko worrying about his father's forgiving him; Katara forgiving Hakoda and, especially, Aang on "failing" himself.

MD:You’re absolutely correct.

NRAMA: Is there any key relationships I'm missing on this point?



MD:Uncle Iroh’s story is also about redemption. After Zuko betrayed him in Ba Sing Se, Uncle refuses to speak with him. And Zuko thinks Uncle is a fool for not choosing his side, but really Zuko’s anger is just masking the fact that deep down, he knows he did a bad thing. So these two have to learn to forgive themselves and each other. And after losing his son Lu Ten to the war, and now losing Zuko to the “dark side,” Uncle feels like a failure. He does a lot of self-reflection while in prison which may or may not lead to him taking some sort of action. You’ll just have to watch to find out.

NRAMA: Can you comment on these three relationships that I pointed out, and what did it take to interweave them together?

MD:The main parallel throughout the series has been Aang and Zuko’s stories, and that parallel continues in Season 3. In “The Awakening,” Aaron Ehasz, the writer of the episode, did a great job of thematically tying all the stories together. The scene when Katara breaks down in front of her father is one of my favorite moments of the season--the writing, acting, and animation are fantastic. She seems to be angry with Aang for leaving, but really she’s been harboring all this resentment and anger at her father for leaving her years ago and it all comes out in that moment.

NRAMA: The premier episode had to set one of the darkest moods I've seen for the series. Will there ever be lighter, more comedic episodes this season?

MD: As we get toward the end of this story, the stakes are higher, so naturally the stories become more serious. But we’ve tried to balance the dark episodes with lighter ones like “The Headband,” where Aang enrolls in a Fire Nation school. Without spoiling anything, there is an episode late in the season that we think is the funniest of the series. Fans are going to love it.

NRAMA: What would you say is the hardest part of animating this series?

MD: It’s animation, so every part is hard. What’s been amazing to watch is how the quality of all the processes has improved over the course of the production. Season 3 has some of the best writing, artwork, music and sound design in the series. Everyone who works on the show continues to raise the bar with each episode and they always surpass Bryan’s and my expectations.

NRAMA: How does it feel to see this arc reaching its end? Do you feel like you've managed to accomplish all you set out to do? If so or not, why?

MD:It’s been five and a half years since we developed Avatar, so I feel a mix of sadness, accomplishment, and relief as we reach the end of this story arc. Bryan and I set out to create a show with tons of heart, humor, action and drama; a show that would appeal to kids and adults and boys and girls; and a show that raised the bar for American animation. There’s always things you would have done differently, but overall, I’m I feel like we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.

NRAMA: What can you possibly say/tell us about Avatar after this three-season arc? Will it have anything to do about the fate of the Airbenders?

MD: I’m not going to say anything. We’re still in the very early stages of development and ideas are very fluid at this point, but we’re still excited about the Avatar world and have other stories we want to tell within it.

NICK READIES FIVE NEW WONDER PETS EPISODES

OK, all you kids of all ages, Nick Jr. announced it will debut five new episodes of The Wonder Pets starting this Friday, November 19. Here’s the log lines:

• Friday, October 19, "Save the Turtle"/"Save Little Red Riding Hood" - When Tuck dives into his pond, he accidentally ends up stranded on a Coral Reef in the Caribbean. Linny and Ming-Ming must rescue Tuck before the approaching rain arrives. Next, The Wonder Pets journey back into Puppetland to save Little Red Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf.

• Monday, October 22, "Save the Egg"/"Save the Flamingo" - The Wonder Pets head to Yellowstone National Park to rescue an egg that's teetering on the edge of a cliff. Later, The Wonder Pets get a call from a baby pink flamingo who is stuck in a marsh in a coloring book. The trio use crayons to draw a bridge and save the pink flamingo.

• Tuesday, October 23, "Save the Bee"/"Save the Squirrel" - The Wonder Pets shrink down to bee-size to help a baby bee make her first collection of nectar for her hive. Next, The Wonder Pets head to Coney Island to save a baby squirrel who is stuck in cotton candy to the tracks of a roller coaster.

• Wednesday, October 24, "Save the Chameleon"/"Save the Platypus" - Ming-Ming and Tuck aren’t speaking to each other and their feud threatens the rescue of a baby platypus who is heading toward a waterfall. Later, The Wonder Pets journey to Madagascar to help a young chameleon who is being pursued by a cuckoo hawk.

• Thursday, October 25, "Save the Dragon"/"Save the Beaver" - The Wonder Pets head to Vermont to help a baby beaver whose family’s dam has a hole in it. Next, The Wonder Pets journey back to the Magical Land to help a baby dragon who is floating away on an enchanted cloud.

All episodes will air at 10:30 a.m. eastern.

Originalmente publicado por jackinthegreen

Era una buena serie, hasta que llegaron los útlimos capítulos de la segunda temporada... que son GLORIOSOS. Lisa y llanamente.

Originalmente publicado por Insurrecto

OH MY MY!!!

Shyamalan va a hacer películas de Avatar!??!?!?!

Esto es un notición!!!

Shyamalan me parece uno de los directores más increíbles que hay y con Lady in the Water demostró que sabe contar historias de fantasía como para nenes y grandes al mismo tiempo.

Qué bueno que voy a pdoer compartir estas dos cosas que tanto me gustan (Avatar y Shyamalan) con mi hijo al que Avatar le encanta.

Muchas gracias por la noticia.

PD: muchachos, dejen de hablar de dónde bajar las cosas porque eso es piratería y lso van a sancionar ¿por qué no hablamos de cómo es la serie y cosas referidas a ella?

Originalmente publicado por AbsolutKirby

(y Lady in the Water me encanto, pero siempre tuve miedo de decirl )

Originalmente publicado por Insurrecto

Yo la defendí y defiendo con uñas y dientes, porque me parece un peliculón que no se entendió en el "gran público" y por eso dijeron que era una mierda.
Es más, creo que ya conté esto, pero no recuerdo donde así que lo cuento de nuevo (la edad vistess?? estoy como mi abuela ya ). En el momento que arrancan los créditos en el cine un tipo adelante mio empezó a despotricar contra la película y nos colgamos discutiendo el sentido de la misma como por 15 minutos, o sea con las luces prendidas y todo, y el tipo estaba con una minita (novia-fato-cita, decile como quieras) y el pobre chabón intentaba no quedar mal adelante de la mina y buscaba respaldo en ella y la mina me daba la razón a mi, con que le pareció recontra mágica la película y que le encantó y que hay que tener una sensibilidad especial para que te llegue.
Pobre chabón, le cagué la salida y seguro no pudo llevarsela a donde planeaba por mi culpa (que emoticon balinesco, no??)

Posta es una de las películas que estoy esperando que mi hijo crezca un poco más como para mostrarsela y quede como yo... embelezado!

Salutes,

M.

Originalmente publicado por AbsolutKirby

Para no desvirtuar, propongo a Patrick Stewart como Aang.

Originalmente publicado por AbsolutKirby

... No entiendo como hay gente que le gusto el Laberinto del Fauno (genial, tambien) pero no esta grossitud pelicuril!!