Topic: Avatar: The Legend of Korra

[allanmandy]

Nickelodeon greenlights The Legend of Korra



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.

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.

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Comic-Con 2010: New Avatar: The Legend of Korra Details

Great news, Airbender fans!  We had a chance to catch up with Avatar creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at the Nickelodeon booth on the Comic-Con floor to get a host of new details on The Legend of Korra!

We've had a lot of interest in our coverage of the series thus far, and made sure to clear up lingering questions burning up the fans minds!  Be sure to post your comments and feedback below!

Here's what we found out:

* As mentioned , the cabbage merchant will not appear, but "his legacy will be present in some form."

* As an evolution of the first series, The Legend of Korra will have more sophistication to it, but still keep the humor, fun hybrid animals, and action.

* It won't cover more mature subject material necessarily, just different mature subjects.  "It won't be another war, but a different sort of conflict."

* On whether or not we'd see a love interest for Korra: "We love that stuff.  We're total cornballs, we love cheesy teen romance.  Rest assured, there's plenty or romance happening in the story, but it's the same balance of ingredients that we like."

* Katara IS in fact the mother of Aang's offspring, who will be central to the show.  "We didn't mean for it to be a big super-secret, that they end up together."
On the persecution of Airbenders being compared to the X-Men registration act: "We'll see something like that, but in sort of a different structure."

* Will it be a very different world from where we left off?  "Yes and no, the world has definitely changed, and evolved, and advanced, but we're very conscious of keeping the same feeling.  Not totally different, but it's definitely generations later."

* "There will definitely only be one Avatar at a time, and it is Korra."

* So will Aang have any kind of presence?  "Yes...in his way."

* DiMartino and Konietzko will continue to work with Joaquim Dos Santos and Ryuki Hung, working to improve the design and animation.

* The Legend of Korra will in fact be a mini-series, with Michael and Bryan directly writing each episode.

* "As a mini-series, it's going to be really tight.  While we really love the filler episodes, those are some of our favorites, this thing is just lean and mean.  It's a really cool driving story."

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[Klaus Weasley]

I started watching this on Netflix (I'm on Season 3 now). It's a bit darker and more grown-up than the original Avatar and it's not QUITE as good. But I'm really enjoying it and I think it's a more than worthy successor.

[jas]

The Legend of Korra: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook Collection) will be released on March 16, 2021.