"Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra"

[Ramsay Snow]

I rewatched Kora on Netflix recently and its really not as bad as people claim, even the reviled Season 2 is better than most modern television.

Season 1 was kind of boring, but essential. Season 2 was definitely bad, lol.........Season 3 was the best season out of the entire Avatar franchise, and season 4 was solid (Although the "Korra lost her mojo" aspect went on for too long and was kind of lame).

[Agent Z]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Getting Three New Animated Films

Today Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures announced that a trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender animated films are in development during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

According to Deadline, series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino will be returning to produce the trilogy with Avatar Studios, Nickelodeon’s film studio that launched in February of last year. The studio aims to expand the franchise through these films and a new TV series in the World of Avatar.The first film will be directed by Lauren Montgomery, the storyboard artist of the series’ final season and director of Voltron: Legendary Defender, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Young Justice.

https://kotaku.com/avatar-the-last-a...uko-1849066817

[Frontier]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Getting Three New Animated Films



https://kotaku.com/avatar-the-last-a...uko-1849066817

Curious to see where they go with these.

[Immortal Weapon]

Curious to see where they go with these.

Adapting the comic stories would be a good place to start. The story of the promise should have been animated.

[Agent Z]

Amber Midthunder will play Princess Yue.

https://www.cbr.com/netflix-avatar-t...er-midthunder/

[Personamanx]

Gotta say that while I adore most of the more well known performers cast in the live-action series I really wish at least one or two of the Water Tribe characters were actually being played by Inuit. Or at least partially Inuit performers. Portraying the Tribes as just being analogous to Indigenous North Americans probably makes sense as a way to broaden casting options, but it feels like it is disregarding the fundamental inspiration for the characters. I love Amber Midthunder, she's great. But there aren't a lot of Water Tribe characters that haven't been cast yet, and it's disappointing that none of them have been Inuit performers as far as I can tell. The only semi-significant Water Tribe characters that haven't been cast yet are Kuruk, Hakoda, and Pakku.

[Totoro Man]

it's just not possible to get that level of representation without casting significant amounts of people who aren't actors. if they're not actors they pretty much have to embody the character... and that's gonna be pretty tough.

you have to get somebody who can act, is roughly the same age as the character, and can speak the languages required. that's not quite as easy as it might seem. sometimes you'll have to settle for "close enough".

and then there's the issue of whether or not people are willing to bankroll the actor for the part.

look at the US version of "Ghost in the Shell" and Scarlett Johansson... she was the main reason people watched that movie. without a star like her they would have never moved past the development phase.

personally, I would have done it *Ghost in the Shell live-action movie* all in Japanese with a Japanese cast... and I would have cast Rinko Kikuchi instead. but, unless I've got millions of dollars and hundreds of people to make the thing happen... it's not happening. heck, even if it DID happen there would be a really good chance that NOBODY would watch it!

[Personamanx]

I think the fact that they went out of their way to find indigenous actors at all, they should have put the extra effort in to at least cast one Inuk. There aren't a lot of people of Inuit descent in the world, but we're not extinct. There are Inuit performers in Canada where the show is being filmed, and the show has cast many Canadians. It's not like they had to look for a Beothuk or Dorset performer in Africa. They had the options. They just appear to have not chosen to explore them. The pandemic probably bares some responsibility admittedly.

It's just that Indigenous people are not homogenous. The performers they cast as Inuit coded characters belong to tribes that don't share: ancestry, location, culture, or language with Inuit. But the characters still have Inuit names, wear the clothing, and live in similar homes and climate. You mention doing it with an entirely Japanese cast, while I don't agree with that modern asians are more closely related to Inuit than Cherokees are.

No shame on the performers. It's tough getting solid roles as a member of a First Nation. But the Water Tribe casting is a huge asterisk on a production that has sold itself on "authenticity." I would be happy with one Inuit in a substantial role, The M. Knight film at least had extras.

[Gray Lensman]

I think the fact that they went out of their way to find indigenous actors at all, they should have put the extra effort in to at least cast one Inuk. There aren't a lot of people of Inuit descent in the world, but we're not extinct. There are Inuit performers in Canada where the show is being filmed, and the show has cast many Canadians. It's not like they had to look for a Beothuk or Dorset performer in Africa. They had the options. They just appear to have not chosen to explore them. The pandemic probably bares some responsibility admittedly.

It's just that Indigenous people are not homogenous. The performers they cast as Inuit coded characters belong to tribes that don't share: ancestry, location, culture, or language with Inuit. But the characters still have Inuit names, wear the clothing, and live in similar homes and climate. You mention doing it with an entirely Japanese cast, while I don't agree with that modern asians are more closely related to Inuit than Cherokees are.

No shame on the performers. It's tough getting solid roles as a member of a First Nation. But the Water Tribe casting is a huge asterisk on a production that has sold itself on "authenticity." I would be happy with one Inuit in a substantial role, The M. Knight film at least had extras.

The other question is have they tried and have been turned down. I looked up "Inuit Actors" on the web and came back with a grand total of 17 men and women - counting singers who have occasionally been on television, one silent movie actress, and 2 living but likely retired actors (no IMDB credits for 17 and 22 years, respectively) That's not a very large pool to draw from. And anyone under contract elsewhere only shrinks the pool even further.

I understand the list I was able to find is most certainly not complete, but it does show that casting a specific ethnicity isn't as easy as it sounds. Funny enough, some of the names I saw have played non-Inuit natives - one was in The Last of the Mohicans, for example.

[Personamanx]

It most certainly isn't complete. IMDB isn't going to get you much farther than Allakariallak. Wikipedia is actually the easier way if you're familiar with Natar Ungalaaq or Zacharias Kunuk in "Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner." While many notable Inuit actors, and actresses do skew older, a good film to look at for younger Inuit actors would be "The Grizzlies." While Booboo Stewart wasn't actually Inuk most of the rest of the youth cast were native to Nunavut. Maybe a bit older now than ideal for Katara or Sokka, but if Amber Midthunder isn't too old for Yue then Anna Lambe definitely isn't. Would have loved to see Emerald MacDonald in some capacity but that's more to do with the fact that she was a fan of the show, but she was also murdered last year.

But yeah, I don't begrudge indigenous performers taking what they can get in an industry that doesn't have a lot of good roles designed with them in mind. It's a missed opportunity is all. I wish nothing but success for the cast, and crew. I would be pleased to hear if one of the few currently uncast Water Tribe characters was played by an Inuit is all. Natar Ungalaaq as Pakku would bring a lot of credibility to it.

[Gray Lensman]

It most certainly isn't complete. IMDB isn't going to get you much farther than Allakariallak. Wikipedia is actually the easier way if you're familiar with Natar Ungalaaq or Zacharias Kunuk in "Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner." While many notable Inuit actors, and actresses do skew older, a good film to look at for younger Inuit actors would be "The Grizzlies." While Booboo Stewart wasn't actually Inuk most of the rest of the youth cast were native to Nunavut. Maybe a bit older now than ideal for Katara or Sokka, but if Amber Midthunder isn't too old for Yue then Anna Lambe definitely isn't. Would have loved to see Emerald MacDonald in some capacity but that's more to do with the fact that she was a fan of the show, but she was also murdered last year.

But yeah, I don't begrudge indigenous performers taking what they can get in an industry that doesn't have a lot of good roles designed with them in mind. It's a missed opportunity is all. I wish nothing but success for the cast, and crew. I would be pleased to hear if one of the few currently uncast Water Tribe characters was played by an Inuit is all. Natar Ungalaaq as Pakku would bring a lot of credibility to it.

I ended up on Wikipedia (which is how I got the number 17) then cross-referenced with IMDB. I saw the film titles you mentioned listed on IMDB, but had never actually heard of them until today. The chances would have been higher if I still lived in Plattsburgh, as we got Canadian television both over the airwaves, but also on most area cable companies. But alas, I left 8 years ago for a small city a little over an hour outside of Las Vegas.

[Totoro Man]

this is why I said that if you're determined to have authentic representation based on ethnicity that you're going to end up casting non-actors.

when I was talking about casting all-Japanese, I was talking about a live action version of Ghost in the Shell as an alternative example. I mentioned it because before the US live-action film of "Ghost in the Shell" came out I made that proposal. make the film entirely in Japanese with Japanese actors. I was then politely told that Americans would never watch such a movie... which is probably true.

in spite of having a loyal, ready-made fanbase... there is a limit to how much time, money, and resources can be devoted to this project. we're going to have to settle for ethnic-coding instead of ethnic purity.

[Jcogginsa]

this is why I said that if you're determined to have authentic representation based on ethnicity that you're going to end up casting non-actors.

No?

What you'd wind up with is giving actors of the given ethnicities more oppurtunities to impress people and make a name for themselves.

[Personamanx]

Cast non-actors if they want, open casting calls are a thing. But there are Inuit actors who are actively working on stage, in film, and on television. And looking at the generally unremarkable careers of the youth cast thus far, notability or fame wasn't a factor in casting. Kiawentiio, and Mamona Tamada are probably the most notable performers of the youth cast.

Ethnic or cultural purity isn't what I was looking or even hoping for. That doesn't even exist in reality. But since the production has billed itself as aiming for "authenticity" in the portrayal of the world it isn't unreasonable to ask for a thimble of it when it comes to the Inuit coded characters. Just one Inuk portraying a named Water Tribe character from the original series would be fantastic. Just one, and I will be satisfied. It's not a very high bar to reach.

[Totoro Man]

wasn't Netflix the same company that refused to pay Peter Cullen and Frank Welker their going rates as voice actors... and then decided cast non-union voice actors?

there's a reason I'm not getting my hopes up on the "authenticity" claim.

it could be that the original creators left because they realized something like this would happen.... and wanted to distance themselves from the inevitable backlash.