So, Im currently using my iPod to type a short message, but I just got out of the avatar signing at the Nick booth. One pretty big piece of info- Korra IS a miniseries, and Bryke is happy because tha means they can really make an impressive 12 episodes instead of hits and misses like they felt they had with original series. Also, expect Korra to air in LATE fall 2011.

I’m sure some will be disappointed that it will not be a full season, but this could work out for the best. At least we can be sure that Korra won’t be making any trips to the Great Divide.

I for one could not be more pleased to hear Zuckerman’s enthusiasm. Whereas the characters were the heart, The Track Team’s score was the soul of the original Avatar. An Avatar without their musical talents would be like Star Wars without John Williams.

In other Korra news, Speakeasy spoke with “Avatar: The Last Airbender” creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko in an interview that sheds some light on a number of topics ranging from the highly anticipated new series, to their thoughts on Shyamalan’s adaptation, whom the mother of Aang’s son Tenzin is, and more! Read on Avatar faithful!

The Wall Street Journal: How did you come up with the idea for the spinoff?

Bryan Konietzko: When Mike and I first created “Avatar: The Last Airbender” we always knew it would have an ending to it, that particular story. But as the show really took off, and found an audience all over the world, we knew that despite our intentions of ending that story there would probably be a time when Nickelodeon would come calling and want some more episodes….When that time came we had this idea for jumping ahead and telling a story about the next Avatar, this girl Korra.

If there’s a new Avatar, that means Aang has passed on. If he died around age 70, isn’t that pretty young for an Avatar?

Konietzko: You gotta keep in mind that he was frozen in a state of suspended animation for 100 years, so he kind of burned up some of his extra Avatar time.

The new “Avatar” is a woman. What inspired you to change the sex of the protagonist of the series?

Michael DiMartino: It’s not so much about changing because we had Avatar Kyoshi before Aang. We’d established that the Avatar can be male or female and we just thought let’s explore one of those more in depth, because Kyoshi was a popular character with a lot of fans and it seemed like a great opportunity to not retread what we’d done with Aang, who was a great hero, we all loved him, but we really wanted to try something different. And we have so many great female fans out there, who really responded to Katara in the first series, we thought we have the fan base who are really going to enjoy seeing the Avatar be a female.

Konietzko: Mike and I, we love those characters too, and we’ve encountered countless fans who are male who really like those characters too. We just don’t subscribe to the conventional wisdom that you can’t have an action series led by a female character. It’s kinda nonsense to us.

The one image that you released is Korra looking out on Republic City, where a lot of the new show take place. Tell me about that city.

Konietzko: That’s kind of a piece of concept art so when the show premieres next year it won’t look exactly like that but that’s the direction we’re headed. The first series was sort of a road show where every episode they were going to some new location. That was another new thing we wanted to do is root it in one big complex location but mainly one place. We were drawing inspiration from Shanghai in the 1920s and 30s and Hong Kong and even Western cities like Manhattan and even location-wise cities like Vancouver, a city that juts out on a peninsula or an island and has these big mountains around it.

Will we see characters from the previous series pop up?

DiMartino: I don’t want to give anything away, but rest assured there’s a definite link between the old series and this one.

Republic City is a city plagued by crime. There’s an anti-bender revolt. Does this new series deal with more mature themes?

Konietzko: Mike and I like a balance of tones. We never set out to make an overtly silly show or an overly serious dramatic show. We like dealing with all those things. It’s fair to say we’re dealing with some sophisticated things and the show is growing up a bit. But that said, we’re not in a calculated way trying to target another demographic. Even in the first series, it was about a world war and some pretty serious issues.

If Tenzin is Aang’s son, who is his mother?

DiMartino: [To Konietzko] We can say that, right? [To Speakeasy] It’s Katara. It’s not a huge surprise.

What did you guys think of the live-action version of “The Last Airbender”?

Konietzko: We’re just really focused on this new show right now, and kind of taking this off in its own direction and not concerning ourselves with that right now.

So you didn’t follow the casting controversy about the movie version of “The Last Airbender”?

Konietzko: We didn’t head up that film. We’re just happy to be back generating the original content in this mythology, which is what we do.

Would you like to bring a cartoon version of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” to the big screen?

Konietzko: We would love to. I think Mike and I would absolutely love to do feature animation. Either another story, or it if worked out, one in the “Avatar” world. We would be really excited.

Nickelodeon said in a release that “The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang – a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenaged girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra.”

Korra’s quest eventually leads her to Republic City–the epicenter of the world of “Avatar.” A metropolis powered by steampunk-type technology, the city is inhabited by people from all nations. Korra finds that Republic City suffers from rampant crime and is also dealing with an anti-bender revolt. Korra is tutored by Aang’s son, Tenzin, is the ways of airbending.

Sounds like the world of Avatar will closer reflect the steampunkish early concept art from the original series as seen in the recently released “Avatar: The Last Airbender” artbook! It’s also interesting to note that Aang’s son, Tenzin, can presumably airbend, when Mike & Bryan previously stated that Aang would be the last of the airbenders.

Here is the full press release courtesy of Nickelodeon!

NICKELODEON GREENLIGHTS NEW SERIES
FROM THE CREATORS OF THE ANIMATED TELEVISION HIT
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Series Creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Bring Fans a New Adventure in the Avatar World The Legend of Korra

BURBANK, Calif. – July 21, 2010 – Nickelodeon, the number one producer of television animation in the world, has greenlit a new series from the creators of the hit animated TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was announced today by Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. The new series The Legend of Korra (working title), from creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, will premiere on Nickelodeon in 2011, continuing the evolution of the animated franchise and its mythology. The original series was the inspiration for the Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies live-action epic adventure, The Last Airbender, which has already grossed more than $115 million at the box office to date.
“Mike and Bryan have imagined a compelling new story inspired by the Airbender mythology that they so brilliantly crafted when the TV series began,” Johnson said. “This new avatar is not only a girl, but also hot-headed, independent and ready to take on the world.”
The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender and follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang – a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenaged girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern “Avatar” world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang’s son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.
Launched in February 2005, Avatar aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon and was ranked among the top five animated properties on television among boys, 2-11 and 6-11 (2005/2006). During this time, the series reached a total of 21.7 million total viewers (persons 2+), including 8.8 million kids 2-11 and 6.3 million kids 6-11*. Currently, Avatar: The Last Airbender is the number one program on Nicktoons among tweens. (Source: *Nielsen Cume Data – July 2008, Live + 7 day, 6 min. qualifier.)
Avatar: The Last Airbender was created and executive produced by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
An award-winning filmmaker, DiMartino was a director at Film Roman for six years, working on the prime-time animated series King of the Hill, Family Guy and Mission Hill. During his tenure there, DiMartino animated and directed the short animated film Atomic Love, which has gone on to screen at festivals across the country including Sundance and the Los Angeles Film Festival. It also aired as part of the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival.
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Konietzko began his career in animation as a character designer at Film Roman for Fox’s prime-time series, Family Guy. He soon moved to the post of assistant director for two more Film Roman shows, Mission Hill and King of the Hill, working beside animation director DiMartino. Konietzko then became a storyboard artist and later an art director for the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim.
The new Avatar series will be produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif., and is co-executive produced by Joaquim Dos Santos.
Nickelodeon, now in its 31st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 16 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

I’m sure we will be seeing more of Korra at the San Diego Comic-Con later in the week. Stay tuned!

After adding thirty four additional screens to bring its theater count up to 3,203, The Last Airbender dropped an estimated 57.5% from its opening weekend, grossing an estimated $17.15 million.

Adaptations are a tricky business. Whether they be book to film, television to film, or theme park ride to film, even the most talented of directors can stumble on that road. It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of slavishly adapting the subject matter word for word, only to find that what works on paper translates into a tedious movie watching experience. However, alter it too much and you risk losing the meaning and essence of the material, not to mention your audience. The Last Airbender is a poor adaptation. Not because of the superficial changes, such as the botched name pronunciations or ‘racebending’ issues, but because much of what makes the source material so adored by fans has been lost. Book One was just as much about the bonding of Aang, Katara, and Sokka during their journey as it was about the Avatar returning, and saving the Northern Water Tribe. It introduced these characters, explored their often complex motivations, and chronicled their personal growth in a very organic fashion, while never forgetting that these characters were children. No matter how dire the situation, no matter how serious the responsibility, these characters always found time to be kids.

Conversely, The Last Airbender’s script seemed to run roughshod over this aspect. The trio in the film were introduced as mature adults straight from the beginning, robbing the film of any childish light hearted moments, and nixing their maturation altogether. Unfortunately, this left the narrative with very little complexity in the plot outside of the major plot points of Book One, which were themselves hastily glossed over to accommodate the sub-two hour running time.

The performances of the principal characters themselves weren’t extraordinary, but neither were they up to snuff with Night’s past child actor standards. Jackson Rathbone (Sokka), Nicola Peltz (Katara), and Dev Patel (Zuko) all turned in sufficient performances. Out of the leads, newcomer Noah Ringer’s performance as the titular last airbender (Aang) was the most convincing. Given the character’s sterilization from the prank playing, animal riding, care free nomad of the cartoon into the depressed would-be messiah of the film, the role did not ask Ringer to display much emotional range. However, the young martial artist brought sufficient gravitas to the role, with just enough fleeting glimpses of the child within sprinkled throughout to satisfy the more forgiving fans. Fans should also be pleased with how closely Aang’s core values in the film resonate with those of his cartoon counterpart, especially in the climactic battle with the Fire Nation’s navy at the Northern Water Tribe.

Sadly, outside of Shaun Toub (Iroh) and Seychelle Gabriel (Princess Yue), the rest of the supporting cast ranged from bad to unintentionally comedic. I can’t help but wonder what kind of audition could have possibly landed Aasif Mandvi the role of Commander Zhao. Far from the calculating malice teetering upon the edge of wreck less insanity, as portrayed by Jason Isaacs in the cartoon, Mandvi’s Zhao is essentially the same performance he gives on a nightly basis on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. I honestly expected him to gleefully utter, “Back to you Jon,” on several occasions.

The visual effects provided by Industrial Light & Magic were a mixed bag as well. For every breathtaking shot like Aang’s immense tidal wave, there’s a wholly unconvincing effect like the prison camp earthbender’s floaty boulder which appeared to be under the control of a handful of synchronized dancers. While not significant screen presences, Appa & Momo consistently looked good throughout the picture, and were probably the closest assets best replicated from the cartoon in both look and behavior.

Being a rather tremendous fan of the Track Team’s musical score for the cartoon, and believing it to be as integral to the spirit of Avatar as John Williams is to Star Wars, I was skeptical of the news that James Newton Howard’s score for the film would be an entirely original composition. This skepticism as it turns out was spot on, as Howard’s score bares very little resemblance to the Track Team’s wonderful work. That is not to say that Howard’s score is poor, because it works very well for the film, and has several very moving & powerful cues throughout. Sadly, it’s just another example of the film’s desire to be just a little too unique for its own good.

The Last Airbender isn’t the worst film I’ve ever seen, and perhaps I enjoyed it more than I otherwise would have for the simple fact that it was Avatar: The Last Airbender in live action. Seeing some of my favorite characters, settings, and scenes in a live action setting has always given me a certain thrill: Michael Keaton donning the cape & cowl in Tim Burton’s Batman, the T-Rex breaking free in Jurassic Park, Christopher Reeve making me believe a man could fly in Superman, Frodo bearing the One Ring across the treacherous lands of Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings, etc. Viewed objectively it’s not a good film, and sadly does not live up to Night’s best work. The epic fantasy adventure picture may not be the genre best suited for Night’s unique talents, and one can only hope he will return to his more personal stories. I for one would welcome Unbreakable 2 with open arms.

1 1/2 out of 4 PENGUINS!!

“The third is more ambiguous, but the second one, I’ve written a draft that I’m really happy with and is darker and richer, and it has a wonderful antagonist in it in Azula, who’s kind of like our only real, pure antagonist in the series, so I’m excited about that.”

Night also spoke on the absence of the Kyoshi Warriors from the first film, and hints that we might not see them on the eventual home release.

“I probably won’t show the Kyoshi Warriors because I want to save them for the second movie, because I’m going to have to introduce them all over again.”

“We shot [the scene] and [the Kyoshi Warriors] were amazing, and we spent an unbelievable amount of time choreographing them,” he said. “And they just distracted from the movie, because the movie wasn’t about them.”

Of course, all of these plans hinge on The Last Airbender’s box office success.