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frustrated All of on_earth’s investigating got in the mood to dig up some info on my own. Mostly in quote form.
Even this late in the game, I’m still seeing the “Yeah, but how do we KNOW it’s Asian influenced?” argument, so I just wanted to throw together some quotes that not everyone has seen yet (found in the "Not Just Cartoons! Nicktoons! Book.)
These come from Bryke in reference to their pitch to Nickeloden. (All bold is mine.)
Basically, they add to the vision!fail spectrum:
Eric Coleman; VP/EP, Animation Development, PRoduction, Nickelodeon [pg. 196]
"What really amazes me in what they accomplished is that they created a universe that is bigger than just the main characters. You feel as if it really exists somewhere out there and you can envision its past and its future."
Mike DiMartino: [pg 196]
"You know, we just pour our heart, souls, and life experience into the show every day. We've been lucky, because this is exactly the show we wanted to see and wanted to make. Nick has supported us all the way. What you see up there [on the T.V. screen] is definitely our vision."
What you'll see on the big screen however…yeah…that's likely to be soul-shredding fail ;-;
On another page, with a picture layout not unlike the youtube visual comparison (scan-fail is failish; I can redo if anyone desperately needs these or anything.)
The page opposite has this passage:
“Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko went to Beijing, China, in the spring of 2005, and found themselves reinvigorated with ideas for Avatar backgrounds. ‘Until that point, all of the Chinese art, architecture, landscape, and cultural references we used on Avatar had come from books, movies, and websites.’ says Konietzko. 'After this trip, we had over a thousand of our own photos from various historical locations…Even while we were still in China, we were faxing back sketches from our recent photos to the design team in Burback. We were just so excited to get such a direct and potent source of inspiration for the Avatar world.”
The book also has some early concept art of Aang:
As well as Katara:
This one is my personal favorite:
Mike DiMartino [page 196]:
"The basic concept was all there in our pitch: the world and he overall structure of the story we wanted to tell. Eric had indicated they were looking for a "legends and lore show," so we thought, what if this was set in an Asian mythical world? A legend based on the past, but an alternate past."
...Well, there you have it. The fail reaches new levels of epic, but at least you can arm yourselves with knowledge :)
~JT
March 8 2009, 20:57:35 UTC 3 years ago
pretty please?
March 9 2009, 01:01:50 UTC 3 years ago
March 8 2009, 21:36:58 UTC 3 years ago
But yes, "set in an Asian mythical world" is the clearest you can get.
March 9 2009, 20:56:41 UTC 3 years ago
One would think such a quote would end all the debate, and yet here we are. [/fail]
March 9 2009, 22:15:05 UTC 3 years ago
March 9 2009, 19:51:36 UTC 3 years ago
Mind if I quote this post elsewhere? It could be useful in debating.
March 9 2009, 20:55:40 UTC 3 years ago
And go ahead! That's what I put them here for :3
March 10 2009, 01:55:42 UTC 3 years ago
September 28 2009, 04:56:22 UTC 2 years ago
Uhg.. been racking my brain trying to find where that quote came from. Thanks!
May 16 2010, 07:47:37 UTC 2 years ago
May 16 2010, 22:23:40 UTC 2 years ago
Let me know if you want a better quality, or if these are okay. I don't mind scanning in some better qualities and uploading them to photobucket or something.
And tell me about it. The "ambiguous art style" is one of the arguemnts that kills me a little each time I hear it.
May 17 2010, 04:12:14 UTC 2 years ago
This scan of Katara is fine, but the image of Aang's faces isn't obviously Asian, since his eyes are closed. But I already have the other sketches of Aang where his eyes are open and are obviously Asian, so I don't need more of him. I wonder if this book has any for Toph or Sokka? Or some of the adults?
The Katara sketch reminds me of Mulan for some reason, even though she doesn't look like Mulan. It also makes her look more Inuit (because people need to be told certain things instead of using their brain to decipher everything else that makes the Water Tribe Inuit), whom many look like they could be East Asian.
The older sketches of Aang remind me of Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, and she isn't white. The native Hawaiian characters in the movie have similar eyes, but the one white girl has different eyes. Gaaaah, some people...!!
Had the show kept this style, people wouldn't have had a problem recognizing what the characers are supposed to be (though some people might think Katara is supposed to be Chinese). I wonder why they changed it? Maybe the creators thought they were too stereotypical? I don't think the depiction is sterotypical, I think they're gorgeous! I hope they give the reason in that upcoming art book.