Why Avatar's Opening Monologue Still Works
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2024
- Everything changed when I couldn't come up with a clever joke.
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That introduction have so much nostalgia to I can Recite It Word For Word.
A whole generation with you
Be honest: Can you recite the full intro from the first episode word for word, or just the abridged intro from the rest of the episodes?
I know the abridged intro verbatim, but not the full intro.
Even live action Gran-Gran couldn't resist reciting it unprompted.
Katara's storytelling intro is still one of the best. It's well-written, concise, and compelling. The only other intro that came to my mind as good as this is the background story at the beginning of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
I think the best part is this shows rewatch ability, since every time you watch it you find something new. Be at the new background you didn't notice before, or little subtle hints at who's ending up with who
I showed Avatar to my grandmother because I had told her about waterbending when we went to the pool when I was a kid, and in her geriatric water aerobics she incorporated it a bit. (just a gentle push and pull of the water) So when I finally showed her the show all this time later and she found it absolutely incredible and beautiful.
Iroh is the character my family associates with my grandmother and as soon as she heard him speak she said "Is that Mako??"
And I said "Yes, actually."
FROM THEN ON SHE WAS HOOKED. Mako Iwamatsu is an actor my grandmother ADORES throughout her life. She found it so pleasing to relate so much to Iroh on a personal, spiritual level, and felt so happy to see Mako's final role. She even said that this show is great for teaching young kids important like lessons without it getting "preachy." Example given is in Jet's episode, when The Duke brings up that if they flood the town, the villagers too will die.
Personality wise, my granny would be an earthbender., she's so square and sturdy and tough, but she LOVES the idea of being a firebender to heat her tea in her hands. (she's a crazy tea lady)
This opening is world-building. A historical overview of the story tells us everything we need before diving in and with Katara's voice, it tells you how much it matters, it gets us to care.
My younger sister refused to watch anything that wasn’t live action in her younger teenage years. Then COVID hit, and guess what we watched together to pass time during quarantine. She’s been converted to the beauty of animation alongside her beloved live actions
I really hope the franchise continues to do these opening monologues. It really sets the tone for each series.
Netflix changed it so we'll see
But everything changed when Netflix attacked...
The intro is so good that people can memorize it by heart. Every time I reference the ATLA intro to my sibling, they keep on quoting it and now it's stuck in their head for a while. They hate me for it every time I do that 😂
Imma do it from memory rn:
"Water
Fire
Earth
Air
"Long ago, the four Nations lived together in harmony,
But all that changed when the fire Nation attacked
Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them,
But when the world needed him most, he vanished,
A hundred years passed and my brother and I found the new avatar, an air Bender named Aang
And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone
But I believe... Aang can save the world"
Dun duun dun dun duunnnnn
This is why I'm subscribed!
There's fan perspectives of why we love things and then there's writer perspectives that breakdown why we love the things we love!
Damn bestie you are quick with it xD
@@Olivereditz69lol I'm a patreon girlie 😂
Yes, it's so iconic.
Also include Batman Animated Series & Sonic SatAM, "Sonic, he's the fastest thing alive!"
All great shows
I agree, ATLA is indeed a masterpiece. Though, for me, my only issues were if only they had a bit time to slightly develop Ozai and slightly foreshadow the Lion Turtle.
But overall, it's so amazing.
can we take a moment to appreciate avatar Roku's "Previously on Avatar?" Taking a recap from the story of previous episodes in quick successive flashbacks that quickly catches you up in emotional ways that usually end on a cliffhanger to be answered in the actual episode you are are about to watch. But first, the flashbacks transitions into the title of the episode for more suspense?!
About a year or so ago, me and my little sister got our mom to watch the show with us because we both we’re in the mood to rewatch for like the sixth time and our mom was curious to know why this show had encapsulated the both of us since its premiere on Nickelodeon.
By the end of the first season, she was absolutely enthralled and hooked by the story and the characters, as well as the animation and combat.
Not to be mean to Korra, but I can't remember what her opening monolouge at all. She had one right? Though I've only watched Korra twice and Avatar like, ten times already.
They had Tenzin do a good monologue for the first episode only. After that it was cut to like 10 seconds lol
Tenzin's monologue works beautifully and I love it nearly as much as Katara's monologue, it is just so sentimental while doing a good job establishing important worldbuilding updates to the world we already know. And I think the super shortened version afterwards is a good move as Korra's story isn't a long overarching one unlike its predecessor, so there's nothing really fixed other than the fact that Korra is the avatar in this story and that matters a lot to her world, so they did exactly that.
A monologue is an easy way to set the tone of a fantasy story, establish necessary lore, and/or otherwise make an iconic opening. The RWBY monologue, for example, may not be as good as Avatar’s, but it establishes the themes of stories, humankind’s perseverance, and “small, honest souls”, as well as introducing the Grimm as the setting’s main threat. For all the writing issues in RWBY, the opening monologue (mostly) isn’t one of them.
Nice short. I guess I should really watch this show myself.
Another neat detail is the Avatar who is shown here 5:55
That's Avatar Roku the Avatar before Aang our lead hero
Ah yes. That opening is Iconic.
😍🥰
The amazing thing about Avatar, is that it keeps itself (Story and fights) simple and easy to read, without being condescending. And that without changing its tone.
The Avatar opening monologue is as iconic as the one done by Aku in Samurai Jack.
Yes, the Samurai Jack monologue is also done by Mako Iwamatsu, who is the voice of Aku and uncle Iroh.
@@Fr0zenPeanut Yes I know, It's sad that both franchises lost Mako. He was irreplaceable, though his student Greg Baldwin did an honorable work in the later seasons.
Been a while since I've tuned in but awesome video!
This was lovely. Thank you.
Thomas, now that The live action Netflix remake is about to come out, what are your feelings on it based on the trailer and the information we have so far?
Just wait, even though the live action is going to be hour long episodes they are going to cut out the opening monolog entirely because they don't think it's necessary or something
I just started this show, i loooooove the opening monologue so much :) ! .
A cool look at the into which..yeah honestly says enough and is memorable.
Also, in retrospective, it’s actually somewhat telling that LOK, despite being held as “ambitious ,” never had intro that was excellent. The best one it ever had was tenzin in the very first episode. But there’s nothing to indicate what LOK is trying to do or what its story will be. lOk’s intro seems kinda lazy and too quick, which ends up summarizing g its political ideology.
Twas a long time ago
Longer now than it seems
In a place that, perhaps, you’ve seen in your dreams.
For the story that you are about to be told
Took place in the Great Elemental Nations of Old.
Now you’ve probably wondered where Elements come from…
If you haven’t, then I say it’s time you begun.
For the Elements are the result of much strength and hard work
For the Nations that study them so much.
Well, quite simply, that’s all that they do.
Studying one unique element till it is strong, proud, and true.
But once…a calamity ever so great…
Occurred when one Nation sought to conquer, control, and dominate.
Is this because of Netflix live-action remake?
That does help the algorithm
Off topic. I’m rewatching Korra clips & this video’s introduction reminds me that korra’s tone & pacing felt like the show didn’t respect my assessment of the events. The storytelling is so on the nose about everything that I rarely actively watch the show … only passively. I regard that as my reason I don’t like Korra’s writing even tho it’s the same team.
Anyway, what makes atla’s monologue incredible is the rhythm & delivery. It was composed like a European classical piece. & Katara’s VA was perfection. I felt that monologue like it was a song.
Just saying that the Narrator has “skin in the game”, makes me (yet again) look askance at “The Dragon Prince” - this time, for trying to use the introduction but failing to make it stand out. Worse because the Narrator in TDP isn’t even a character we’ve met or will meet for FAR too long, but even then it tries to cram the worldbuilding in a convoluted way; sure, we SHOULD consider a race-based division bad, but why should we care in the *context of the setting* compared to how readily the Hundred Years War urgently needs addressing? And please… stop using “dark” as shorthand for evil without any effort; it didn’t work for TLOK Book 2, and explaining how Dark Magic in TDP works takes too long… Urgh.
“It used the essence within magical creatures themselves to unleash dark power.” (Season 1, episode 1)
“That’s the great thing about dark magic; you take creatures that do have magic and squeeze it out of them.” (Season 2, episode 2)
No, it doesn’t take very long to explain how dark magic works. Unless you’re referring to how long it took to say that second quote; that really should have been said early in season 1, not season 2.
This is... not the intro I remember?
The full intro is only in the first episode and we get a shortened version for all other episodes.
After 60 or so episodes, one may be forgiven for forgetting that the first episode had a different intro.
If given the chance the only thing I would change about the series is some of the ableist or outdated language, the use of flashing so more people including photosensitive people could watch and had more of the voice actors be Asian themselves.
ALSO, Smelle bee (no idea how to spell that) being low-key trans/gender non-conforming rep
I have yet to meet someone that doesn’t like this show.
i seen this done better, 3 fucks given.
So very cool