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**Kalyx triaD** · 07-12-2010, 07:58 PM

Well it goes into the culture of animation, but first some personal history...

I first heard about Avatar when everyone else did. I saw a commercial and figured, "Nick's licensed anime? Odd." Paid no mind that season. I first saw a few episodes in the second season and while completely lost story wise, I seen enough to find out not only was it American, but a damn good show. This was also the time I stopped watching TV so I didn't follow from there - figured I'd catch up via DVD someday. I heard about the awards and the rabid fanbase years since. When the movie was announced I was doubly interested; a cartoon adaptation made by M. Night. So I figure the cartoon's on Netflix and I could get the first season out of the way before I see the movie and be 'in the know' as far as source material goes. I ended up finishing the series.

Years ago when I was pleading with my friend to give Avatar a chance I tried to coax him by likening it as "American-Anime". I was wrong in hindsight; Avatar is very American 'toon, but also anime... And now that I finished the series, I can say trying to label it either is foolish. Without even mentioning overall quality, I was simply impressed with how the many influences the creators drew together meshed so well. The tropes of both cartoon and anime combined to be something rather transcendent, and greater than both. I last felt this way about JLU, and I thought about how all the great cartoons seemed to have qualities of both media to help it ascend beyond the bullshit flash animation cash-in vest that is current animation.

Or maybe it's just a good show.

Anyway I feel Avatar joins the ranks of the great animated series, rubbing elbows with the likes of Samurai Jack and Batman TAS, because you can't quite nail what it is. And then you feel silly for trying. It just is. It just works. And I'm proud that a few Yanks put it together on a personal level because our shit-to-awesome ratio is lopsided as fuck. For this alone I rank Avatar as one of the most important American contributions to animation in general. It's a modern cultural thing, I try not to subscribe to the notion that all the best examples are the old ones. The Black Cauldron and The Lion King were great, I get it.

Sorry if any of this seemed "bold", I meant no attention grabbing hyperbole. This is just how I view things based on what I know.

07-12-2010, 07:58 PM	#19
Kalyx triaD Raw Video Footage Posts: 45,950	Well it goes into the culture of animation, but first some personal history... I first heard about Avatar when everyone else did. I saw a commercial and figured, "Nick's licensed anime? Odd." Paid no mind that season. I first saw a few episodes in the second season and while completely lost story wise, I seen enough to find out not only was it American, but a damn good show. This was also the time I stopped watching TV so I didn't follow from there - figured I'd catch up via DVD someday. I heard about the awards and the rabid fanbase years since. When the movie was announced I was doubly interested; a cartoon adaptation made by M. Night. So I figure the cartoon's on Netflix and I could get the first season out of the way before I see the movie and be 'in the know' as far as source material goes. I ended up finishing the series. Years ago when I was pleading with my friend to give Avatar a chance I tried to coax him by likening it as "American-Anime". I was wrong in hindsight; Avatar is very American 'toon, but also anime... And now that I finished the series, I can say trying to label it either is foolish. Without even mentioning overall quality, I was simply impressed with how the many influences the creators drew together meshed so well. The tropes of both cartoon and anime combined to be something rather transcendent, and greater than both. I last felt this way about JLU, and I thought about how all the great cartoons seemed to have qualities of both media to help it ascend beyond the bullshit flash animation cash-in vest that is current animation. Or maybe it's just a good show. Anyway I feel Avatar joins the ranks of the great animated series, rubbing elbows with the likes of Samurai Jack and Batman TAS, because you can't quite nail what it is. And then you feel silly for trying. It just is. It just works. And I'm proud that a few Yanks put it together on a personal level because our shit-to-awesome ratio is lopsided as fuck. For this alone I rank Avatar as one of the most important American contributions to animation in general. It's a modern cultural thing, I try not to subscribe to the notion that all the best examples are the old ones. The Black Cauldron and The Lion King were great, I get it. Sorry if any of this seemed "bold", I meant no attention grabbing hyperbole. This is just how I view things based on what I know.