"You Gotta DEAL With It!" - Thoughts on "The Legend of Korra"

Today we're going to talk at length about a television series that serves as a sequel to a very well-loved cult hit that was set in a richly imagined fantasy universe and benefited from excellent characters and intelligent writing.  In its three seasons, it also did everything it could to school people who were skeptical about the kinds of things you could do in a series like this.  So the sequel series had a lot to live up to.

Set many, many decades after the original series, the sequel explores how the imagined world of the original had changed in all that time, and how those changes affect the various fictional peoples - including a few relatives and descendants of the characters in the original series.  Meanwhile, the series focuses on a whole new and, in many ways, very different cast of heroes and villains.  During the production, the creators of this sequel series must have felt like Odysseus sailing between Scylla and Charybdis -- except all of Scylla's horrible heads are screaming, "IT'S TOO DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL!!!"  And there are equally angry voices calling out from the giant Charybdis whirlpool, "NO, IT'S TOO SIMILAR!!!"  Fortunately, almost all of those voices shut up once the series found its groove.

So yes of course I am talking about "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

But I am extremely happy to report that the same can all be said for "The Legend of Korra".  Yes, even the part about the series finding its groove.  Because here we are only four episodes in and this series is already off the chain, as the kids say.

I will try to describe a few specific reasons why without spoilers, but the point is that both "Avatar" series are excellent and you should watch them.  Like right now.  Like, instead of reading this.  There isn't a new episode scheduled for this weekend so you have time.  Do it!  (Let's not acknowledge the live-action movie, except for the fact that it so conveniently serves as the best-ever argument against live-action adaptations of animation.)

The first episode (hopefully still available streaming on Nickelodeon's fantastic homepage for the series by the time you read this) was preceded with a prologue that gave out just the very minimal amount of information for kids new to the "Avatar" universe to catch up.  After that's over with, the series proceeds to do exactly zero hand-holding, which is incredibly refreshing.  As it happens, this is indeed a sequel series in the "Star Trek" sense: it is set in the same world and a few of the characters from the first series show up here and there, but they mostly give the new main characters a lot of room.

And Korra is a hell of a character.  I've seen her described over and over as essentially the exact opposite of Aang in every meaningful way.  From the beginning, Aang was the kind of character you expect as your protagonist in an Epic Hero's Journey (TM); brave and enthusiastic, but also apprehensive and not exactly excited to confront the main villain anytime soon.  Korra could have very easily have been "Aang with a uterus", but thank the spirits she is very definitely not.   She's feisty, overconfident, and relishes in her God-tier powers.  She's in way over her head but she's still absolutely ready to save the world... except that the world of "Avatar" is technologically complicated now.  As a consequence, it has lost its mysticism and finesse.  Mastering the elements isn't such a huge deal as it once was.

This is essentially the story of a person who is an incarnation of God born into a world that is simply not impressed and it it airing before Noon on Saturday mornings and that is awesome.  (It's also a very interesting theme given that "Avatar" takes place in a world where spirits are absolutely real.  Huh.)

While enough digital ink (and spit and sweat and blood) has been spilled on this point on the message boards I frequent (sometimes admittedly to the point of tedium) it is also well worth mentioning that this is a Saturday morning cartoon set in a world where maybe one out of every ten humans is capable of manipulating part of nature.  There hadn't been much exploration in the original series of how much it would genuinely suck to be a person with no powers in a world where people can chuck mountains and lightning at each-other.  Well, to put it succinctly, that there is the main conflict of this series.

And without ruining a major plot point, I also love, love, love how the writers take something that a lot of fans decreed as a silly Deus ex Machina in the finale of the original series and make it the reason the main antagonist is so threatening in this one.  Fantastic.

The animation is gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking in the action scenes we've seen so far.  There are moments that remind me of both "Cowboy Beebop" and "Tokyo Godfathers".  And, of course, there is this, which is as good a note to end on as any:



Honestly, if you don't want to watch just to find out the context of this scene I do not understand you.

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Sketch of the Day!

Okapiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!

Trish (finally) Watches "The Watchmen" and "Dr. Parnassus".

I am temporarily adopting my usual "three times a week" schedule because there is suddenly much out there in the world of stuff I can geek out about arts and entertainment. Had I stayed with my twice-weekly summer schedule, this review wouldn't have seen the light of day until July.
July is when Drawgasmic is happening! Also, I think -I hope- a certain book will be published during that month. Stay tuned...

On to the movie reviews. So I finally got around to watching Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Watchmen.
Well. That was interesting.
I guess if a Watchmen movie has to exist, it might as well look like this. Did that sound weird? This whole blog post is going to come across as weird.
OK, look. I've read Watchmen many times. The first time was the best, of course. If you have read it, you know why. If you have not, then you probably have heard that the novel has a surprise ending. This is a bit of an understatement; I won't ever forget the experience of reading that ending for the first time. And the thing is, the book pretty much hinges on that ending. Reading the book again, you realize how incredibly *tight* it is. There isn't a single scrap of extraneous information in the book, which is phenomenal if you pause to think about it.
I would say that the film-makers agree with me here, because the entire book, save for maybe a chapter's worth of information, is in the movie.
Seriously. The film "Watchmen" feels like sitting down next to Zack Snyder as he reads the graphic novel to you.
...Until around the two hour, eleven minute (!) mark. Whereupon he puts the book down and makes some stuff up for a couple of minutes.
But the thing is, he then picks the book up, flips ahead a few pages, and starts reading right from it again. Hrm...
I have mentioned this before, back when the film was in theaters, but yes, the ending is different. Except when it isn't.
So is the movie good? Well, yes. Actually, it's very good. They pull off some of the things I thought were going to be tricky or downright impossible (in particular, Dr. Manhattan, who in the film looks and acts as alien as he ought to.)
But you know, I wish I had some kind of a control group -- people who had never heard of the book before much less read it. What in the world did they think of the movie?
By the way, that had to be the second most-uncomfortable-to-watch sex scene I've ever seen in a superhero movie...

Shortly after watching "Watchmen", I was finally able to see "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus". You may recall that this film has been at the center of contention here at the Obligatory Art Blog. It is Heath Ledger's final film, and we American fans (a built-in audience for this movie, mind you) almost didn't get to see it. The given reason for this is because the major studios who would have bought the rights to it as it was being shopped around at film festivals believed it to be "too weird". That I read that news during the same week where the number one movie in the country was some crazy jazz about giant robots who are also cars that want to blow up the sun felt like a giant rude gesture in the face of me and anyone else who likes nice things.
Ah, but thank goodness for Netflix, as arbitrary studio b.s. does not affect the DVD market too badly. I say to everyone reading this, put this movie in your queue. Even if you never actually watch "Dr. Parnassus", renting the movie is your vote for challenging, imaginative films.
RANDOM READER: "That's all very noble, Trish, but DID YOU LIKE THE MOVIE?"
Errr...
If I said that this film is, out of all of Terry Gilliam movies, possibly the single most Terry Gilliam-est, would that make sense?
HALF OF THE READERS: "Yeah, OK. I immediately get what I'd be getting into watching this movie and also what you thought of it."
THE OTHER HALF: "... ... ... Terry Who-in-the-what-now?"
OK, then. The Other Half of you might want to give it a shot anyway. I suggest following it up with "Lost in LaMancha", a documentary about Gilliam which is worth watching in it's own right. It's on Netflix instant watch as is, I just found out, all three seasons of "Avatar". So why aren't you watching that right now? Do it!

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Sketch of the Day!
Guess what's finally happening at my hummingbird feeder?!



EDIT: GO CELTICS OMG!!!

Top Five Unresolved Plot Points from... "Avatar: the Last Airbender".

I know, but It's going to take me a while to process the "Lost" finale. (Exceedingly minor spoilers in that link.)



So here's a rundown of mysteriously abandoned characters and plotlines from another television series my entire family was in total agreement of and that none of us wanted to end. Supposedly, the producers are working on some feature-length direct-to-DVD sequels. Hopefully, these will be at least be addressed if not fully wrapped up.
Mind you, I love the hell out of this series. Unfortunately, this kind of thing kinda comes with the territory when the network decides that they're only going to give you half a season to wrap everything up in your epic fantasy series. Wah.
These are in no particular order:

The White Lotus Society
They built this up so badly in the final season. This secret society made up mostly of cool older characters did show up in the finale, but their previous mentions in the series were so mysterious. So this isn't technically a dropped plot, but it's one of those things, like the Blue Spirit and Combustion Man and, infamously, Uncle Iroh's jailbreak, that we expected to have a much, much bigger payoff

Toph's Family
For a lot of people, this is one of the big ones. So Toph is a character who joins the main cast early in the second season, and she quickly becomes one of the best characters in the show. Thing is, she is a runaway; she went off on her adventures with Aang and company without saying anything to her rich parents. In the *final season* she decides to send a message to her mom to let her know she's alive. This is never again acknowledged. Heck, we don't even know if Toph's family received the message, as it was sent via Sokka's messenger hawk. And since I brought Hawkie up, that leads us naturally to...

Dropped Characters
This is a series with loads and loads of characters. Not all of them are going to appear more than once, but there were several who seemed to have been developed enough that they were going to have larger roles later on. Among them are Aang's mentor Guru Pathik, eerie spirit Koh the Face-Stealer, the aforementioned Hawkie, and probably many more that I can't remember right now. But the big one here deserves her own entry:

OK, So What's the Deal With Ursa?
She is Zuko and Azula's mother. She has been missing, presumed dead, since before the series began. There is a great deal of evidence that she's still alive in the series, she appears -as a hallucination- in one of the final episodes, and in the very last episode it is revealed that she is indeed alive. It is wildly speculated that the first DTV film will focus on her somehow.

And Finally, What's the Deal With Bosco the Bear?
Katara: (reading a newspaper) "The king's having a party tonight for his pet bear!"
Aang: "You mean platypus-bear?"
Katara: "No, it just says, 'bear.'"
Sokka: "Certainly you mean his pet skunk-bear?"
Toph: "Or his armadillo-bear?"
Aang: "Gopher-bear?"
Katara: "Just... 'bear.'"
(There is a pregnant pause.)
Toph: "This place is weird."
That dialogue pretty much speaks for itself. Bosco is the pet bear of the Earth King and he is one of the odd little non sequiters in the show that was treated as kind of a joke for those of us who were paying attention. However, this "joke" has some pretty weird implications for the Avatar universe. All of the non-supernatural animals seen in "Avatar" are weird hybrids, very likely in tribute to "Dungeons and Dragons" (Owlbears anyone?) Taking for granted that the very act of calling a Turtleduck a Turtleduck is a translation convention and normal animals like Bosko are unknown, if Wuzzles/Firffels are normal for the Avatar world then...?

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Totally unrelated, but happy Towel Day!!!
Also, here's a nifty interview with Don Hahn via the wonderful /Filmcast.
Also via /Film, a preview of illustrations for Josh Cooley's upcoming book Movies R Fun! Oh good lord, they are beautiful
ALSO also via /Film, our first look at fully-rendered CGI Wile E. Coyote in Three-Effin-Dee. Dear reader, you can probably guess with 99% accuracy how I feel about this...

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Sketch of the day!
Let's consider this a teaser for the next post:

Walt Disney World Trip Report part 3: The Remains of Old Attractions

So, did everyone have a fun April Fool's Annual Day The Internet Is Useless?
By far, the most interesting parts of our trip to Disney World were the parts where we went to see attractions that had been closed down for some reason or other. In one case, the attraction's building was at least still in use. In the other... well, you'll see.

Many EPCOT fans around my age lament the closing of the Wonders of Life Pavilion. Heaven on Earth for a biology geek like myself, the building opened in 1989 and focused on health and fitness on one hand and anatomy and physiology on the other. It contained three major attractions, including a multimedia show directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and the (at the time) most state-of-the-art motion simulator ride in the World. Walt Dated World, naturally, has many photographs of the building, attractions, and signage.
Normally, you cannot enter the Wonders of Life building as it has been shut down for almost five years now, hoping for a new sponsor. The building, thankfully, is still in use on very rare occasions. I noticed on EPCOT's special guide map for the Flower and Garden Festival that Wonders would be open under the name "Garden Town". It's only open on certain days, but I had to see it.

As you can see, the layout of the original building is mostly still intact, except that the murals along the rim of the dome have been painted over and most of the signage is gone -- but not all of it. The building was *just* similar enough to what I remembered that it was a little sad to explore it. I had some interesting conversations with the cast members working inside, that's for sure.

By far, the funniest was trying to convince the people who didn't remember this pavilion that this theater used to hold a film about the making of... something else. Rather, some-ONE else. Yes, there was an attraction in Walt Disney World where they discussed human reproduction. Still to be answered: Is the middle of an already overstimulating Disney World vacation really the best time to have this subject brought up, maybe for the very first time for some kids?
Now when we booked our trip, we got a little booklet of vouchers for various little fun things (as if there isn't enough to do in the theme parks already). The most interesting was the discount on a boat rental. We took a boat out onto Bay Lake and took a cruise around for a different perspective. And then we saw this island:

Pretty isn't it? Very lush and wild; not something you'd expect just a few minutes from Cinderella castle. It took us a minute to realize that what we were looking at was Discovery Island.

Another little slice of Heaven for the nature nut, this little island was a cult favorite for many guests. Walt Dated World recounts the strange history of the Island. For us, it was just plain wild to see what happened to this abandoned Disney attraction.
People, this is the real life Jurassic Park. (OK, Jurassic Park as depicted in the terrible sequels, but the point still stands.) Everything built by humans has been overtaken by the plants and the island is now ruled by dinosaurs (really). I didn't have any clear photographs of the various birds that have taken over the Island, but I did detect some smug smiles on the Black Vultures Condors...
Here's a sketch:

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Bonus: Here are some old photos I scanned in a long time ago. And I'm willing to bet they're from Discovery Island in it's heyday. Click for... bigger, but still blurry.


And just recently, a photographer has posted on his blog about his adventure sneaking onto the Island late at night. The resulting photographs are like one part "Jurassic Park", two parts "Lost". Amazing!

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I found out -I literally just found out through a random website run by an exhibitor- that Anime Boston is happening... today (and, well, the rest of this weekend.) I don't think I can skip Easter to attend this event, but I figured I should give my readers a head's up. Also, attendees, don't take your nerd rage out on random people from New Hampshire, OK?
By the way, last weekend had PAX East (I didn't even realize and, frankly, that seemed more up my ally than this weekend's con), the FIRST Robotics competition, and the Flower Show; next weekend is Boston Comicon. There are going to be some exhausted nerds in the northeast. I'd never expect all these events to run all at the same time.
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Hey remember when I said that the promotional photo of the guy playing Aang in the not-exactly-hotly-anticipated live-action "Avatar" movie was everything anyone would ever have to say about film adaptations of animated series conveniently summed up by one picture? Yeah. I now have an even *better* promotional picture that will handily sum up everything anyone would ever have to say about film adaptations of animated series. Here it is. I will warn you, I am linking it instead of embedding it because it at worst will make your eyes bleed and at best will make you just... just not care anymore. (Plus, it is bound to scare some children.)
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It's Easter Weekend! Celebrate with a three-part review of a thematically appropriate movie trilogy at The Realm!----
Feederwatch Friday!
Admit it, you're going to miss this.
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
American Robin 1
Song Sparrow 2
House Sparrow 11

Meet the New Superbowl Ads! Same as the Old Superbowl Ads!

Another batch of opinions, hastily posted by somebody who wasn't all that invested in the game. (Dammit, Bill!) This may not be the most coherent post in the world, since it's almost quarter of two in the morning now, but here goes:

"The Last Airbender" teaser - Uh... eh. I think I've made my opinions on the prospects of a live-action "Avatar: the Last Airbender" movie perfectly clear by now and this teaser didn't really change anything. What strikes me as odd is the fact that, had I tuned in a minute later I would have missed it entirely.

Boostmobile Shuffle - OK, this one got a laugh out of me. For those of you who are to young to get the reference, enjoy the very first time I realized that athletes should never sing. Ever.

Doritoes and Budweiser - Man, their commercials this year were either just plane weird or boring. Doritoes in particular; it looked like they were using the ideas from their contest a while back that came in a distant second.

"Robin Hood: Prince of Some Stuff" - "Gee, Homer, that's a good idea but I think they've already made movies based on A Christmas Carol." "Yeah, well, what about Robin Hood?"
On the other hand, I am hoping they make this movie into another "EXCITING cereal".

"Wolfman" - Team DelToro!!!

Monster.com Beaver - I like the puppetry, but this is a good example of an ad that is really elaborate but doesn't make any damn sense. The Budweiser Bridge ad was like this too. The ur-example of this kind of Superbowl ad comes from 1997. (Bonus: Two or three instantly-dated references for the price of one!)

GoDaddy.com - This may be the greatest and best web-hosting service in the entire Internet, and all most people associate them with are these "to hot for TV" ads. Good jarb ad execs.

Coke Simpsons - Yaaaay!!! I feel like I ought to comment more on this ad as it's the only memorable animated ad. It's wikkid late. I don't want to.

Career Builder and Dockers - To ads in a row with guys in their underwear. Good luck telling them apart.

Teleflora - Hey, I remember this from last year!

"Alice in Wonderland" and "Tru TV Groundhog Day" - I must have mentioned somewhere on this blog that the deepest depth of the Uncanny Valley is inhabited by those staples of Superbowl ads, CGI Babies Who Do Things Normal Babies Don't Do. Well, I was wrong. The real inhabitants are People With Giant CGI Heads (or Normal-Sized Heads On Little CGI Bodies, it's hard to tell).

Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter - And I've given so much attention to the history of the Disney/MGM or Hollywood or whatever they're calling it now Studios in Walt Disney World that I feel like I must have discussed the equally strange history of Universal Studios Florida as well. This ad reminds me of the seriously trippy ads used to introduce the park in the first place. I don't think Wizarding World will be open by the time I get to Florida next month (more on that later), but having visited the spot where I think it's going, it's a little hard to believe that this is going to be more elaborate than a retheming of the Lost Continent part of Islands of Adventure.

Dr. Pepper Little Kiss - Ugh. Just... ugh.

"Prince of Persia: the Color Orange!" - With the memory of what happened after "Pirates of the Caribbean" fresh in my head, let me say this: I don't want little girls and their moms suddenly saying they've "Always been a Jake Gyllenhaal fan!" You sit through "The Good Girl" and "The Day After Tomorrow" just for him and then maybe we'll let you in the fan club. Maybe.

HomeAway.com - Here's a depressing trend for you. Commercials for commercials. As in, you had to go online to watch the full version of this. Bah.

Dennys screaming chickens - And here's the most irritating and most impossible to like commercial this year.

"The Crazies" - Interesting and creepy ad for what appears to be an entirely unremarkable thriller. Funny thing is, I would have expected to see an "Iron Man 2" teaser instead.

Google Paris Romance - Awwwwww... See now, this is how you do it.

EDIT: Reviews of ads I have not mentioned can be found at the Onion AV Club. It's funny how the blatant misogyny and anti-intellectualism, especially of the Bud ads, didn't immediately register with me. Then again, I remember when every single beer ad felt like that Duff beer "down with sexism" ad from an early episode of "The Simpsons" (still brilliant but YouTube has sadly failed me).

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Sketch of the day!

I'm also selling a set of ACEOs on Ebay this week, just to see how they do.

Open Thread: Help me come up with a good answer for the dread question, "Are you drawing?!"

You know the feeling. You are at the Mall, doing gesture studies of the shoppers. Or you are at the zoo, drawing a sensitive portrait of a ruffed lemur. Or, perhaps, you are at the L.L. Cool Beanz flagship store, of all places, where you have found the following astonishing incongruity:

And you, being you (by which I mean being me... this is going to get really confusing really fast), immediately sit down and start sketching. It doesn't take you long to get into The Zone. You're in your element. This is what it's all about: you, your trusty pencil, your beloved Sketchbook, and a subject that is totally awesome. Nothing can distract you as you build up your drawing...
And then, inevitably, somebody will notice you. And they may even come over to look over your shoulder and watch you draw. And aside from being really awkward, you're so into what you're drawing that it probably won't bother you -- except that it's usually an adult who wants to watch you draw (things would be different if it was just a kid, especially one of the "I do not yet understand the concept of 'personal space'" age range.)
And then comes The Question. You know the one.
"Are you DRAWING???"
What I ask of you this week, dear readers, is to give me a good answer to this question. At least one better than,
"Uh... (looks flabbergasted) well, yeah. Duh."

In happier news, "Fraggle Rock Season 4/5" is available for pre-order at Amazon!

So, about that "Last Airbender" teaser...

Here is the YouTube link for those who have not seen it. (And, as usual, the comments. Good God, the comments.)

The story so far: Once upon a time, there was a terrific animated series called "Avatar: the Last Airbender" (in America. It's known by other titles in other parts of the world where --this is true-- you can't say "Bender" on television. I wanna know how they deal with all the in-show dialogue. Or with "Futurama" and "The Breakfast Club" for that matter.) The series was one of the most critically acclaimed television series of the past five years, animated or otherwise, with excellent world-building, a compelling story, and -best of all- an astonishing attention to characterization and character development. (Sokka, Toph, and Iroh in particular are among my favorite characters ever, but I digress.) It gained that elusive thing that I suspect every animated series secretly hopes for: a very loyal and dedicated fan-following that crosses generational and cultural lines.

Unfortunately, the series was also controlled by a company that had no idea what they'd gotten their filthy meathooks on. Nickelodeon shuffled the series around it's schedule at a whim, split the final season into two seasons without any warning (Good God, can you imagine everyone tuning in for the next "American Idol" episode only to see a cartoon based upon "Barnyard"? And this goes on for a month with no explanation whatsoever? Why in the f*** were we supposed to put up with this B.S.? Sorry, I just opened up old wounds right there.), and has pretty much done everything in it's power to keep this series from gaining new fans. (OK, it isn't as bad as how Disney treats "Gargoyles" -- how the hell is a series going to gain new fans if it's only on at 3:30 in the God-damn morning?!? -- but still.)

Aside from all that, "Avatar" is an amazing series and you need to shut up and add it to your Netflix Queue right now. The second season is unreal.

So now this "Avatar" live-action film is on the way and so far fans have harped on M. Night Shyamalan's involvement, the improbability of condensing the story into a couple of hours, and, err, casting. (The last factor has become a bit of a touchy subject.) My reaction is simple, and it is basically the same as my reaction to any live-action adaptation of an animated series, particularly one I really really like:

Why?

Do we need a live-action "Avatar"? Really? Do we?

This is exactly the kind of series whose reputation among non-fans could be destroyed by a bad movie. (I've already read too many comments from people saying, "Well it'll keep the show's ten-year-old target audience occupied". AAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!!)

Remember how they tried -twice- and failed -twice- to make an "X Files" movie that doesn't suck? And how it turned out to be nigh impossible to condense the series' storyline into a couple of hours? And the thing is, a lot of people who never watched "X Files" still know at least a little of the basic plot: Years and years ago, Mulder's sister vanished, he's been trying to solve the mystery all his life, and he strongly suspects she was kidnapped by aliens. And that's just off the top of my head. Now ask one of your best friends what the basic plot of "Avatar" is. Go on. You'll probably want to get something to hit yourself in the head with first.

Truth be told, a commenter over at Neon Dragon's blog said it so I don't have to:

"I lost my excitement when it went from 'It's gonna be animated!'... to 'It's gonna be live action!' And then I heard (about) the casting producer's 'open call' and how she said 'If you're Swedish...wear lederhosen! If you're Korean... wear a kimono!' and decided I didn't want to give these people my money..." - KayJKay

In conclusion, if Platypusbears are not involved, the whole damn thing will be a complete waste of everyone's time.