A comparison between the beloved Avatar series and its predecessor, The Legend of Korra. How does Korra compare as a protagonist? Do her flaws (i.e. temper and arrogance) give more or take more from the story? How do the strong female leads compare in each series? How does the continuity compare? Is the lack of a single, ultimate villain in Korra limiting, or freeing as compared to Avatar? How do the "comic reliefs" compare (Sokka versus Bolin)? There is a lot to work with here!
I believe the creators were going for higher age group with Korra. Korra's flaws made her less ideal character, but in turn made her more realistic. When you think about it, it is only normal for people to have flaws and self-doubts, especially when they are tasked with something big, like being the Avatar. Also, the lack of the centric antagonist might have made the show less organized, but it also showed that being Avatar isn't just about beating one bad guy. It is also interesting to note that antagonist of each season represented extreme political ideology, such as fascism or anarchism. I would say this freed Korra's creator a bit more because it allowed them to tackle different conflicts into the story. – idleric9 years ago
A friend and I talked about this, and essentially Last Airbender was a great kid's show in the sense that the conflict was obvious. There's a bad guy, he's got a timer until doom, and unless the hero learns self-mastery before then, the villain can't be stopped. Everything else is frosting on the moon cake. Korra is a more "adult" show because its conflicts is rarely archetypal. Amon in the first season was defeated not by bending but political hypocrisy and Korra contemplates suicide because of the existential damage her "victory" demands of her. (One of the reasons I disliked the first season ending of Korra is it way it just Deus Ex Machina's the ending) Does being a grown up make for better stories or does it just make us miss a simpler part of our lives? In a sense, to compare Aang and Korra to see which is better does a disservice to both, because they aren't telling the same story. – rj2n9 years ago
avatar shares a lot in common with Harry Potter in that the audience is expected to grow and mature and be able to deal with more complex subject matter.also in the legend of Korra you can find out who the heroes in The Last Airbender grew up to be I'm actually surprised that more feminist weren't as impressed with Tov as they were with the ending of the series she stayed a strong character into our old age she was happy being alone she loved lost loved again raised her children and broke the rules anyone tried to assign her in her youth and her old age. – fchery9 years ago
Korra is also more adult in the sense that romance is explored a great deal more in that show. Her flaws add to her personality, the flaws in her potential partners add more because it makes things seem more realistic. Part of the reason is that while we watched Avatar as kids, we watch Korra having grown up. Strong female characters are a real presence in both shows. Katara is actually a leading figure when Aang needs to learn water bending, Toph surpassed her own blindness and is a eading earth bender as well as a metal bender and Korra herself is very strong as a character. Korra has four villains while Avatar has one. The problem is this is more objective. It depends what kid of story people prefer. I personally prefer Avatar's style of a single villain but others like things to be wrapped up in a single episode/season. It depends on the person. The comic relief characters offer a sense of humor but it can be argued comic relief characters are better reserved for more serious shows where humor is rare. A show that is generally light-hearted doesn't need comic relief so examining fan's liking of Sokka might be interesting. – SpectreWriter9 years ago
Academy Award judges have repeatedly been known to state that they do not watch the cartoon nominations for the awards, rather viewing them as childish and unworthy. Is there any credit to this? Do cartoons deserve a better standing in the awards or should they take a backseat to live-action?
Nowadays, animation is a rivaling genre to live-action. It's hard to think that Academy Awards jury and members think that way. Well, it might be true, given that the membership is mostly directors and actors, but if there's proof of this, then this can make a really argumentative article. – Abhimanyu Shekhar9 years ago
Consider the advantages animation has over live-action, and state reasons as to why judges possibly overlook or undervalue them. Also consider a culture's general perception towards animation and whether a lack of an attractive market is suppressing the industry's potential.
The judges' general reliability can also be called to question - do they tend to have biases over other genres and themes as well? What criteria do they use to determine whether one work is better then another? It may not just be animation which is underrated. – Shellana9 years ago
I think animation is HUGELY undervalued. Shows like Adventure Time and Avatar don't get the recognition they deserve. The fact that creators of these shows are combining not only direction and writing, but direction, writing, continuity (in the case of shows), art AND animation, gives the finished product an incredible prowess that, I believe, Academy Award judges should reconsider. Big Hero 6 was a recent, shining example of how emotion and solid writing is not lost on the "childish" genre of animation. – DrBubblegum9 years ago
One of the reasons I dislike the Academy Awards. They think too little of some truly good works of art. Animation takes a lot of work to do and some movies/shows are great in their own right. One needs only think of Disney, but most of those today grew up watching animated tv shows and still love those shows. Live action requires on-stage acting but animation requires drawing, copying, changing, and much more, and then come their mouth movements to fit in line with what the voice actor is saying. This is not as easy as it sounds. – SpectreWriter9 years ago
I remember learning that one of the problems that the Academy has with animated films is that apparently if they cannot see the actors' faces, then they cannot take the film seriously. Despite the great talent that puts commitment into animated films, I believe there is a narcissistic mindset that if they cannot an actor's own face then they don't pay any mind to it. – MajoraChaLa9 years ago
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Hasbro's "Jem and the Holograms" and there has been a resurgence of Jem. There is a comic book and a new movie coming out in October. However, with these new adaptations of Jem there has been backlash. In the case of the movie there has been significant backlash with people claiming that the people involved in the film "just don't get it". What is it that makes the original "Jem and the Holograms" cartoon culturally significant to people? It is important to keep in mind that the cartoon was released in the 80s yet still manages to captivate new children.
I think that this is actually a big issue with the upcoming movie, not only within the actors but also the audience. based off trailers that are being played in theaters, the age demographic that this movie is being advertised towards is the same as back during the 80s. the moral that's being told is similar, which is why the movie is being made, but because the most of the people who will see the movie now don't realize that Jem was originally an 80s cartoon, I would agree that a lot of the significance is lost. people just don't realize that Jem has been around for this long. – ANGarcia9 years ago
People have been so thirsty for something that captures what they miss about the Disney Renaissance and Frozen is what's come closest.
It's a good movie that provides strong female characters without being too preachy about it. Elsa isn't obsessed with finding a man, but she isn't obsessed with pointing that out either. It has strong female protagonists, without the story being all about the fact that the leads are strong females like that's such a weird anomaly.
It would also be important to mention some of the criticism of the film. Also I'm not sure cult following is the correct term here. It has dedicated fan base for sure but it seems to be well loved by main stream. A cult film is a film that didn't do well in the mainstream but still retains a a dedicated fan base. – Cagney10 years ago
I remember that Walt Disney himself has been trying to make this film for a long time, so this movie has gone throughout many revisions. In the old draft Esla was the originally the villain, but in the final version she is good, but misunderstood. You could talk about how this is different for Disney, by not making the queen of the film the villain. – Aaron Hatch9 years ago
I am sick of Frozen, or rather, I'm sick of Elsa. I think an interesting way to approach this topic would be to consider the fact that Anna isn't as much (or at all) involved in the cult, despite the fact that she carries most of the movement throughout the film. – Jessica Marie Farrugia9 years ago
Ever since Rise of The Guardians did slightly poor at the box office, Dreamworks animation has been having trouble with there films. Almost all of their films since have been under preforming, even establish franchises like How To Train You Dragon 2, and The Penguins of Madagascar. Their films are still good, but have audiences gotten tiered of Dreamworks films, and if so why? The film Home actually did very well at the box office, and is their only film this year. Could this be a sign that Dreamworks should only release one film per year?
I believe it was recently announced that Dreamworks was downsizing their staff and cutting back on their number of films produced. This could be something to take a look at to see how Dreamworks is handling their less than stellar numbers. – ekeating9 years ago
"Land of Confusion" by Genesis (Puppets but it still counts imo)
"C'est Une Belle Journee" and "Peut Etre Toi" by Mylene Farmer
Any music video from the "Gorillaz" though that should be obvious.
"Hellbent" by Kenna (stop motion I think)
"Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park
"Jurassic Park" by Weird Al (claymation I think)
I think to any writer taking on this task may want to look at what animation can convey to the viewer that live-music videos can't achieve. This is just a suggestion, but I feel it would be a good starting point. – BethanyS9 years ago
Another pretty good one is Emilie Simon's Flowers which is in a gothic style – wierdbuthatsok9 years ago
It would also be interesting to look into fan animated music videos such as the animated video Ghost by Mystery Skulls. – Hailtothechimp9 years ago
An awesome one that's become all the rage Mystery Skulls- Ghost – Wolfstar969 years ago
I have seen many articles swirling around about the best Animated TV Shows and most of them are saturated with classics. I'd be interested in seeing a similar list, but of newer show, like Bob's Burgers or Rick and Morty. Can be post-2010s or post-2000s. Your pick!
This is a subjective topic, so whoever writes this article would need to clearly explain why a specific post-2010 animation is "classic". – Ryan Errington9 years ago
With the release of Shaun the Sheep, stop motion continues to fascinate filmmakers and audiences, even in the digital era. Why? What makes it so unique and different from digital animation? Think Tim Burton and Wallace and Gromit.
