“Avatar: The Final Airbender” premiered on Nickelodeon 20 years in the past, with the two-part opener airing on February 21, 2005, and the third episode following simply 4 days afterward February 25. I used to be within the second grade on the time, and I discovered in regards to the present on the playground. As an alternative of pantomiming lightsaber battles or no matter handed for soccer within the second grade, my two finest pals informed me that they needed to play “Avatar: The Final Airbender.” I did not watch Nickelodeon, being extra of a Saturday morning 4Kids loyalist myself, however you’ll be able to’t admit one thing like that at recess, so I performed alongside and tried to select up the “guidelines” of hurling fake wind and fireplace at one another.
That summer season, I caught a rerun of “Avatar” Season 1, Episode 6, “Imprisoned,” whereas flipping channels on trip. By the point the present got here again from its mid-Season 1 break in September, I used to be already hooked, having caught the story as much as that time through out-of-order airings of the sooner episodes. After the Season 1 finale sufficiently blew my thoughts as a newly minted nine-year-old, I purchased the entire first season on DVD in order that I might catch up so as. That was some huge cash again then (a $50 field set), however I saved and watched the entire thing a number of instances earlier than Season 2 premiered.
Why the obsession? As a result of there merely wasn’t something like “Avatar” taking place in youngsters’ media again in 2005. It was unprecedented for an American present, bringing high-concept fantasy worldbuilding, heavy themes, spectacular animation, and overarching storylines to an period of Nickelodeon outlined by gak and episodic groaners (albeit some good ones). Twenty years later, you’ll be able to nonetheless really feel the affect of “Avatar” on youngsters’ media and on TV on the whole.
Avatar modified the sport when it got here to storytelling on youngsters exhibits
When “Avatar” premiered, Nickelodeon had a fame for episodic cartoons like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Pretty OddParents,” and “Danny Phantom.” Its rival Cartoon Community was stepping into a bit extra of a story route with collection like “Teen Titans” and “Ben 10,” however these exhibits nonetheless labored from a base framework that allowed for out-of-sequence reruns, moderately than necessitating followers to tune in week after week. This was additionally true of 4Kids exhibits like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” The closest factor to “Avatar” that existed on American youngsters’ networks on the time was localized anime, with exhibits like “Naruto” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” being significantly fashionable.
“Avatar” took clear inspiration from Japanese animation, but it surely was additionally very totally different from the standard shonen collection that had been fashionable exterior of Japan on the time. Relatively than a collection of duels or fights, “Avatar” Ebook 1, “Air,” nonetheless saved the extra episodic mannequin of different home cartoons, however with an overarching journey because the core forged traversed the world over the course of 20 episodes. The present gained a fame for trendy motion and robust comedy, and after it proved to Nickelodeon that the high-concept fantasy setting might work, Season 2 took flight with rather more of an overarching story.
As a child, it was appointment viewing TV — one thing that merely did not exist within the cartoon house. When Appa bought kidnapped halfway by means of Ebook 2, it was months earlier than he got here again. And when Season 2 ended with a staggering defeat and an enormous cliffhanger, I began pouring over message boards, theory-crafting what may occur subsequent.
Avatar confirmed that animation could possibly be for all ages
In America, sadly, animation has traditionally been seemed down on. It is seen as a youngsters’s medium, excellent for Disney motion pictures or Saturday morning cartoons, however subsidiary to the extra “mature” model of live-action exhibits and movies. That is began to vary in newer years as anime has turn out to be extra fashionable in mainstream American tradition, and with massive motion pictures like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” breaking down obstacles. Nonetheless, the live-action remake stays a profitable mannequin partly as a result of many see it as legitimizing tales that had been previously only for youngsters.
“Avatar” might have aired on Nickelodeon, but it surely was a present for all ages — one that oldsters might watch with their youngsters and recognize on a deeper stage. Whereas Ebook 3 was airing, my household moved into a much bigger home in the identical neighborhood to make room as my little brothers had been getting older. For the primary couple of weeks within the new home, we did not have cable. However as a result of the previous home hadn’t been bought but, and because it was proper up the road, my dad and mom very graciously drove us there every week with a tiny flatscreen TV and a cable, in order that we might plug it right into a vacant front room and watch the most recent episodes on the ground as they aired.
Whereas they clearly did this largely for my profit, they’ve continued to revisit the present through the years since I’ve left house, even tuning in for the live-action Netflix “Avatar” adaptation. There was one thing obvious within the present — a transparent cause why I had to observe it stay and never be spoiled.
The lasting legacy of Avatar: The Final Airbender
The legacy of “Avatar” is most clearly seen within the ongoing power of the franchise. The present spawned a sequel collection in “The Legend of Korra,” which continued to push the boundaries of what a youngsters’ present could possibly be, in addition to quite a few comedian books and novels. Now, the animated arm of the property is getting ready to return with the theatrical movie “Aang: The Final Airbender,” in addition to the just lately introduced present “Avatar: Seven Havens,” which is able to comply with the subsequent Avatar after Korra.
“Korra” additionally anticipated the streaming period in some ways, with shorter seasons and a audience that blurred the road between youngsters and adults. Nick did not actually know what to do with the present later in its run and ended up airing episodes on-line as an alternative of on TV, as that is the place quite a lot of the combined viewers was. Within the fashionable streaming age, a present like that might thrive, but it surely was revolutionary (and considerably confounding, like its predecessor) on the time.
However the legacy of “Avatar” is extra than simply Nickelodeon turning a success right into a franchise. Cartoons like “Journey Time,” “Gravity Falls,” “Steven Universe,” “The Owl Home,” “She-Ra and the Princesses of Energy,” and even exhibits like “Arcane” might need by no means had the possibility to breathe if not for “Avatar.” The collection proved that youngsters’s animation could possibly be an area to discover heavy subjects, plot multi-year storylines, and construct deeply intricate worlds with detailed lore. It is a legacy that may be felt by means of the entire trade at present, and if we’re fortunate, it will final one other 20 years.
