As a kid I never questioned it. The intro was just a random opening to another Nickelodeon show I liked and that was it. I never questioned it where is he?? Did it ever come up ever and anything? It's not in the show, Korra, or any of the books. And what are those things he hits? To me it looks like a Dragon or something meditating.
That's what I always thought
Same. I was so sure of it I never questioned. I'm actually surprised to realise right now it wasn't confirmed, because it sure felt confirmed
Or how he crashes into the things in every episode? You’d think he’d learn how to jump or something after a while.
And have you noticed that right before Sozin's Comet Part 1, Aang still has "a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone" ?
At least Netflix doesn't replay the intro before parts 2, 3 and 4. That helps.
Katara doesn't have much faith in aang
Katara: He has alot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.
Aang during the last episode: 👁👄👁.... Bitch it's been over 60 episodes and ima bout to fight the boss battle like if you don't-
At least aang wore pants.
But no shirt
Well, before Zuko tells them Ozais plan they are all saying Aang needs more time to train and that he's not ready..
He did. The Aang from the end of ATLA is infinitely weaker than the one from the Korra flashbacks. He wasn't necessarily ready to save everyone, but he sure had to anyway.
At least Netflix doesn't replay the intro before parts 2, 3 and 4.
kind of off topic but i wish things like that would play as one long episode instead of being broken up into parts. i'm pretty sure when it first aired it was one long episode. hulu does the same thing, there's a bob's burgers episode that's split into 2 parts despite it being one long special and even was on hulu at one point. or like with the futurama movies being split into 4 parts instead of just showing them as movies
Netflix barely breaks them apart. It shows the "Part 2" and "Part 3" and "Part 4" screens for a couple seconds. But there is no intro and no previously-on-avatar recap.
I don't think that's a big issue. It's like chapters in a book (and even some movies occasionally flash a chapter break on screen, like Kill Bill).
Some of those other shows you named might have done it less elegantly though, but I think Sozin's Comet is handled well.
eh, i personally just don't like when it breaks like that at all. i'd much rather it just play right through. but it is what it is i suppose lol
Yeah that was always funny, like "Hey he saved your whole village in episode 2, I think he's ready to save some people at least."
Been a few years since I rewatched the show, but I can see and hear those last few moments of the intro in my head as clear as day just from reading that line. Iconic.
Speaking of the intro, I always thought it was strange that the intro never changed throughout the 3 seasons and it was the same for the whole show. Must have been budget issues, but I don’t think it’d have been too hard to have Katara’s VA narrate something new with concept art for the season and music playing for books 2 and 3.
Yeah I expected the intro to change a little bit as well. No big deal but it would have been a nice touch.
It’s as if he’s in a tv show unable to control himself or what happens to him like have you seen the the Truman show? I haven’t but the innernet has told me all I need to know.
might want to watch that movie because the internet has either lies to you or has NOT told you all you need to know.
Truman is in complete control of his own actions, that's the whole plot of the movie.
He was never in control until the very end of the movie.
He was never in full control if his situation and surroundings until the end, but he was in control of what he himself did
it be really funny for someone to cut him crashing into the statue with him reunlocking his sealed chakra and regaining the avatar state.
It would work better if you inverted one of the two clips, but yeah definitely.
he's stupid
I just assumed this was at an air temple before the war
how come we never question
The logical answer is because we don't care and the area is just there to be part of the opener and a spot for Aang to run into something. We don't see most of the areas that are in the opener, even the extended opener from episode 1.
The internet doesn't care about some minor and obscure detail in an old cartoon? Haha, you must be new here
You can really tell this community is starved for content 😅
The real question is why, even in the final episode, Katara says "he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone."
Now that you mention it, it would have been pretty cool to get a unqiue intro narration for the final episode (or the final four-parter) just like they had a unique one for the very first episode.
Ah well.
Plot twist: Katara wasan't paying attention throughout the entirety of the show 💀😱
Katara: "He has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone."
Aang: "But Katara, I've saved a whole BUNCH of people!"
Katara: "Then you better learn to kill the fire lord Phoenix King if you want to save more."
Even Aang said he had a lot to learn and wasn’t ready to face Ozai, and was going to wait until after the comet ☄️came.
I always assumed because of Katara's narration that this takes place right around Episode 3/4 when the Gaang was visiting all those places Aang had on his map at the end of Episode 2. Aang riding the Elephant Koi on Kyoshi Island seems to be one of those.
I played the GBA game and in the last level you actually get to go here. It’s some kind of village called Four Paws Island. https://youtu.be/_4FcwKxiw6I?si=8AndCpdxFQWWSk4l not a lot of background on it and I’m not sure we can call this canon, but I’ve always been intrigued by it as well that we never saw this place in the show.
Because it has no bearing to the plot and mostly just assumed it's in the Earth Kingdom if not near an Air Temple
These are the so-called Lion statues that are shown in the Background, similar to those in Chinese New Year.
They did this a lot in early seasons of the show, where promotional or otherwise not plot specific areas were animated for the characters to be in. There's a pretty famous artwork from Book 2 where Aang, Katara, and Sokka are standing on the Great Wall of China...which isn't in the show lol.
I like to think that this area is a place that Aang saw on his travels with Gyatso and decided to show Katara and Sokka off screen somewhere. That's not confirmed or anything, just thought it would be a cool idea.
Unless the creators said something, I don’t think there really is an answer. It was just some random place the animators created for fun.
Maybe they’d pull an “Aang stares into the comet before the final battle, revealing the most iconic scene from the intro” with the live action, though. It could be a fun little detail.
I remember seeing a clip somewhere about the creators just hiring some guy to draw "something" for the background, and that was what he came up with, and they never questioned what it was, but they had no idea what it was either lol.
...live action...
Oh yeah...
I honestly don't get what's up with the obsession with making everything live action.
It's going to look silly and they won't be able to do as much visual storytelling. I imagine live action and running from the unagi is not going to come with exaggerated faces.
So they will do like they always do and straight say it through the actual dialogue and it will be terrible like it always is.
I didn’t know you worked for Netflix and knew exactly what’s going on behind the scenes, so awesome!1!1!
In all seriousness, stop treating it as if it’s doomed from the start. There’s definitely potential there. It won’t be as cartoonish and it would be more mature, but why’s that a bad thing?
Thing is, Netflix already did live actions of animated shows before and it worked. Just look at the one piece live-action, or the winx club live action. They took two very colorful and vibrant animated shows and they made it work!
Putting all that aside, though, this discussion is unrelated to my comment.
Oh, I will watch it the day it comes out but on a pirate site because I don't think they deserve counting me as a metric of popularity because I tuned in for the first episode.
But by all means: enjoy enriching some billionaire asshole who's trying to exploit you for the things you liked as a kid...
...By remaking it in an image they deem "superior"...
I wonder: you think.we should make a digital 3d model of Mona Lisa and promote it as better than the original, to make money? Or better yet! A live action Mona Lisa and hire an actress to sit in a frame shaped window?
When have I ever said it would be better than the original? I know it won’t be, but a reimagining of an old show in live action is not a bad idea and can turn out really well if done right. So far, Netflix hasn’t given me any reason to believe it’ll turn out bad, but only time will tell.
Animation is a better medium because it doesn't have to conform to real physics and looks.
Therefore it'll either be: less animated and more boring or they will overcompensate and try to add the missing "life" via other elements.
History shows it'll be crummy.
How about a live action mona Lisa? Just as good or not worth it?
And that’s exactly why the show would take a different direction, just like all the rest of Netflix’s live-action remakes. It’ll have a more mature tone, rather than an animated one, it won’t be an attempt at a copy and paste of the original, which is exactly what I want from them.
Your mention of a “live action Mona Lisa” is an exaggerated and idiotic example used to support your flawed logic. I obviously don’t want something like that, but that simply does not relate to this discussion. But if you want to dig more into that, the Mona Lisa, in its original form before all of the restorations that altered it over the years, was a portrait of a real-life woman. It was already attempting to be realistic, while still having a creative spin on it as an art piece.
"It won't be a copy paste..."
Then why not make a new show in the same universe?
Because they aren't as original as you give them.credit for.
It'll be a mishmash between the two and fail at both.
the original creators left the project because they didn't like the direction it was going
Nuff said, aroooooo!
“Then why not make a new show in the same universe?” Yeah, truly, they’re definitely not creative enough to do so…
It’s a reimagining of the original show, not a sequel. There’s a difference. I definitely don’t trust Netflix enough to make a sequel, this should remain at the hands of the original creators and Nickelodeon.
As for the creators leaving, they’re apparently very difficult to work with. Them leaving might actually be a good thing, because they couldn’t really support Netflix’s vision, which let’s be honest, is better suited for a live-action show. It’s truly for the best to have the creators focus on their own projects, like the various movies they’ve announced (among another project I mentioned earlier).
You 10,000% sound like a shill and like I said I will watch it but on a pirate site so they can go fuck themselves on their viewer statistics.
Do the Reddit remind me thing for after it's release date and let's touch base back on it because I am sure you will end up looking ridiculous after having tuned in and implicitly supported the dumpster fire.
Go ask the ring of power crowd that still gets touted as a big first episode turnout how they feel.
They just wanted a background thats say airbenders, spiritual and ancient. Nothing worth thinking about
Probably the least relevant thing imaginable.
Only took us about 15 years since the finale to get to this point
Season one concept”s were weird, alot of ideas were canned.
Ohhhhs
I always assumed it was some place they went off screen. The show takes place over Winter, Spring, and Summer, so around 9 months. And there's only around 60 episodes. Aside from a few episodes where they spend multiple days in one place (like Kyoshi Island or the Fire Nation River Town) that only means we got to see around 60-70 days worth of their adventures out of roughly 270 days.
Those statues are probably near one of the Air Temples or near some ruins in the "Earth Kingdom.
I never questioned it either. And funny it almost never really showed up or had significance to Aang or a location with something that could aid in the war efforts or add to what was already established.
If I was to take a wild guess, it could be a location where sages (what kind, could be air sages or earth sages) once resided years before. It could be a location close to one of the Air Temples, presumably one frequented by men/monks.
If nothing else, it could be something that survived earlier versions of A:tLA that they never changed to something a little more accurate, like having him air-scooter in an open field that could be in the Earth Kingdom (before the Earth Kingdom became heavily focused in Book 2).
ADD: I decided to do some research relating to that background. All I can find is that Bryke credit "a freelance Italian artist" for doing this particular background, but both have since kinda forgot who it was. It'd be cool to know what the artist was thinking when they were commissioned for the backdrop. It could be more in-line with what I said, about it being something that survived earlier development of the series before the show became what it was.
It sorta has a resemblance to the lion turtles
I specifically remember these statues appeared in the PS2 game in a location called Four Paws Island, which was never referenced in the show.
I played the videogame on my gameboy a long time ago. I'm pretty sure I saw those in a level in Earth Kingdom.
Okay so how come we never question where the heck Aang is in the intro? Or what the heck those things behind him are??
Why would we? Why would anyone question that? It's an opening to a show. It's clearly just a pathway in a low-traffic area, and those statues are probably just related to spirit stuff. It's just a spot for him to be goofy in. Not every tiny thing is a reference or planned set.
Because he's just vibing
Every time I go through the series I have this thought at least once and then shrug it off because it’s as inconsequential as where Roku is doing his Avatar showcase. It’s just a place that looks visually interesting to show that Ang’s a goofball. I haven’t read a lot of the comics, but I think they would be a good place to revisit this location if that hasn’t happened already.
We actually used to debate it back when the show was new. I remember some theory about those statues being tied to lion turtles but I don’t remember what any of it led to tho
Those are statue's obviously...
the animation is from one of the episodes with a different background so i think they just slapped something on there to look air nomad-y
I like to think that this is before he was frozen solid, at one of the Air Temples. Maybe the beginning of him developing his trick with the air ball hence him failing. Would be sad but also kinda cool imo.
the overanalaysing avatar guy from the youtube channel mentioned it in a episode. they passed those statues once in the show. im sorry i cant remember more details
My question is - When in-universe is the intro happening? I like to believe it’s a framing device of Katara introducing the Gaang to someone during their early travels. With that in mind, and OP’s question, maybe the Legend of Aang started being told at the Northern Air Temple?
They look a bit like general old iron.. could this be in the valley where he and yangchen fought?
I think it’s near to the Southern Air Temple. His home.
I’m not sure why but I have a very distinct memory of them talking about aang’s bending or crazy ideas or whatever and then they’re like, “are you sure the air scooter would work?” And then it flashes back to this scene.
Those things gave me nightmares as a kid , not even joking or exaggerating . I don't remember how old I was back then, roughly must've been 5 to 8?
they look like tiki statues? but they sort of have the same vibes as those giant coin statues in zuko alone? what were those, also? was there a secret extinct race of giants that lost their change?
It reminds me of a setting in Spirited Away.
They are Air NOMADS after all. They could be anywhere in the world while they traveled between temples.
People have questioned it before
I always assumed they were statues of spirits near one of the air temples