If it's crap... We'll tell you
2005 Interview with Mike And Bryan
2005 Interview with Mike And Bryan
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Their collaborative creation Avatar: The Last Airbender makes use of eloquent storytelling, refreshing set designs, vibrant characters, and Asian-themed mythology, in order to deliver one of the most intriguing animated television series many viewers have found in years
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Bryan: Well, the honest to god truth is that Nickelodeon wanted this. And Mike and I, we are prepared to pitch something more like you would expect to see to Nickelodeon… but we never even got that far, really. They said, "You know what, we're going to try something different." And, they really wanted to push into a different kind of market. And, you know, I had a good relationship with Eric Coleman, the development executive; so, we just talked to each other on a really personal level and said that we both agreed that we wanted to make something with heart, really good characters, and integrity.
=====
Mike: Well, Bryan had worked with Eric Coleman, the head of development at Nickelodeon, and we knew that Nickelodeon was looking for a [particular fantasy] kind of show, so we kind of took that directive and set about creating our own mythology. And we wanted to base it in Asian rather than European background, and use the elements; to use martial arts as kind of the basis for the magic in the show… even though we don't call it "magic," it is the supernatural element of the show.
=====
Bryan: I wouldn't use the words "entirely original," because we don't claim to have invented the elements and the reincarnations, [laughs], but, I'll just say that we didn't take just one myth or legend and just alter it. You know, there was just a story that we wanted to tell, and using the four elements of the concept to surround that.
Mike: Yeah, and the idea of the "avatar," is kind of based in Hinduism, so, the television series certainly has a basis in all of that [theology]. But you're right, we didn't even at the time know all of that [theological] stuff… we knew what "avatar" meant, and we knew different kinds of it, but only after we created the show did we really see how important it was to these other cultures.
=====
Bryan: Well, early on we didn't travel much you know. We kind of just did our own research I guess, and creation. But yeah the show developed and we got it into production and we went to Korea, to work with the artists over there for the show.
Also you know we have a martial arts consultant to consult us on all of the bending. And then, Mike and I just recently went to China, where we took over one thousand photographs for, you know, architectural purposes.
Bryan: Yeah, you know, once we had a chance… Honestly, making animation is so time consuming. We don't have a lot of time to get out there and just research; you've got to do a lot of it on the fly.
Yeah, early on… Mike and I just bought dozens of books. You know, learning kung fu, hands-on, and not just copying stuff out of a movie, we really, really wanted to understand it. And you know, there's so much to learn, we're still researching, all of the really rich cultures and proud traditions, and so, we're just trying to pay homage.
=====
Interviewer: How involved were you guys in selecting the voice actors for the show?
Mike: We were very involved.
Interviewer: Have they met your expectations so far?
Mike: Yeah, everyone's awesome… we have found a group of great, young actors who really latched onto the characters and really brought them to life.
Bryan: Definitely added to them…
Mike: Yeah, especially for someone like Sokka, Jack De Sena does his voice… we had something in mind for him, but he brought a lot of comedy and stuff into the character that we hadn't thought of initially, but he's really funny.
Bryan: And Uncle Iroh's character, as played by Mako.
[Mako] has just added amazing depth, and humor, and charm to what is essentially… a villain. And to what is a lot of people's favorite character. But yeah, the voice actors, they're all just great.
=====
Bryan: I wish I could take credit for the calligraphy… [laughs] But we use a real,
Chinese-American calligraphy artist for that. He's been working on that his whole life with so much outstanding talent.
I'm proud of everything, we have so many great people who lend their talents and hard work to the show; and all of the way from the writing, to the people designing and storyboarding, and directing, and coloring here… And all of the way to the people that are our friends and artists in Korea, whose actual animation production has such an amazing level of life and spirit and vitality, and Mike and I just feel honored that we get to work with all of these people and to pool it all together into one project.
=====
Their collaborative creation Avatar: The Last Airbender makes use of eloquent storytelling, refreshing set designs, vibrant characters, and Asian-themed mythology, in order to deliver one of the most intriguing animated television series many viewers have found in years
=====
Bryan: Well, the honest to god truth is that Nickelodeon wanted this. And Mike and I, we are prepared to pitch something more like you would expect to see to Nickelodeon… but we never even got that far, really. They said, "You know what, we're going to try something different." And, they really wanted to push into a different kind of market. And, you know, I had a good relationship with Eric Coleman, the development executive; so, we just talked to each other on a really personal level and said that we both agreed that we wanted to make something with heart, really good characters, and integrity.
=====
Mike: Well, Bryan had worked with Eric Coleman, the head of development at Nickelodeon, and we knew that Nickelodeon was looking for a [particular fantasy] kind of show, so we kind of took that directive and set about creating our own mythology. And we wanted to base it in Asian rather than European background, and use the elements; to use martial arts as kind of the basis for the magic in the show… even though we don't call it "magic," it is the supernatural element of the show.
=====
Bryan: I wouldn't use the words "entirely original," because we don't claim to have invented the elements and the reincarnations, [laughs], but, I'll just say that we didn't take just one myth or legend and just alter it. You know, there was just a story that we wanted to tell, and using the four elements of the concept to surround that.
Mike: Yeah, and the idea of the "avatar," is kind of based in Hinduism, so, the television series certainly has a basis in all of that [theology]. But you're right, we didn't even at the time know all of that [theological] stuff… we knew what "avatar" meant, and we knew different kinds of it, but only after we created the show did we really see how important it was to these other cultures.
=====
Bryan: Well, early on we didn't travel much you know. We kind of just did our own research I guess, and creation. But yeah the show developed and we got it into production and we went to Korea, to work with the artists over there for the show.
Also you know we have a martial arts consultant to consult us on all of the bending. And then, Mike and I just recently went to China, where we took over one thousand photographs for, you know, architectural purposes.
Bryan: Yeah, you know, once we had a chance… Honestly, making animation is so time consuming. We don't have a lot of time to get out there and just research; you've got to do a lot of it on the fly.
Yeah, early on… Mike and I just bought dozens of books. You know, learning kung fu, hands-on, and not just copying stuff out of a movie, we really, really wanted to understand it. And you know, there's so much to learn, we're still researching, all of the really rich cultures and proud traditions, and so, we're just trying to pay homage.
=====
Interviewer: How involved were you guys in selecting the voice actors for the show?
Mike: We were very involved.
Interviewer: Have they met your expectations so far?
Mike: Yeah, everyone's awesome… we have found a group of great, young actors who really latched onto the characters and really brought them to life.
Bryan: Definitely added to them…
Mike: Yeah, especially for someone like Sokka, Jack De Sena does his voice… we had something in mind for him, but he brought a lot of comedy and stuff into the character that we hadn't thought of initially, but he's really funny.
Bryan: And Uncle Iroh's character, as played by Mako.
[Mako] has just added amazing depth, and humor, and charm to what is essentially… a villain. And to what is a lot of people's favorite character. But yeah, the voice actors, they're all just great.
=====
Bryan: I wish I could take credit for the calligraphy… [laughs] But we use a real,
Chinese-American calligraphy artist for that. He's been working on that his whole life with so much outstanding talent.
I'm proud of everything, we have so many great people who lend their talents and hard work to the show; and all of the way from the writing, to the people designing and storyboarding, and directing, and coloring here… And all of the way to the people that are our friends and artists in Korea, whose actual animation production has such an amazing level of life and spirit and vitality, and Mike and I just feel honored that we get to work with all of these people and to pool it all together into one project.
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