| Note: The commentators recorded the commentaries for "Sozin's Comet, Parts 1-4" in one sitting, cutting off the commentary just before the credits on each episode, with the exception of "Part 4". | |
| Michael Dante DiMartino | Welcome back to the finale commentary, this is Mike. |
|---|---|
| Bryan Konietzko | And this is Bryan. |
| Mike | And we hope you've been enjoying the show so far. |
| Bryan | So, this is, uh, Chapter Nineteen, this is the second part of the four-part finale, written by Aaron Ehasz, our head writer. |
| Mike | And directed by Giancarlo Volpe. |
| Bryan | Our good friend, Giancarlo. |
| Mike | And fellow Italian. |
| Bryan | I'm not. |
| Mike | Well I am, so. |
| Bryan | Alright. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] So, he-that makes him my fellow Italian. |
| Bryan | We did have a lot of Italian-Americans on the show, that's true. |
| Mike | Which is really what you need for an Asian-inspired show, I-I feel like... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; laughs.] It's true. |
| Mike | ... [Laughs.] 'cause there's a lot of Italians involved. |
| Bryan | [In a stereotypical Italian accent.] Marco Polo! [Mike and Bryan laugh.] Um, so this is sorta the like, "now that we know what we gotta do," it's the getting ready episode. |
| Mike | Yeah, which I think are s-sometimes [Laughs.] the hardest episodes to write, [Bryan affirms intermittently.] 'cause it-it was kinda the, uh, at least when we-when this was being written, we hadn't decided on the splitting up, I think, of the-of the last two episodes, so this was the-the middle third. And, uh, but Aaron did a great job pulling it all together, and-and making the, uh, yeah there was a lot of... s-you know, Aang talking to the past lives and-and stuff like that, which, you know, could, you know, potentially be problematic if it's not well written, and interesting dialogue, and stuff, but I think we had enough, uh, visual interest to keep this one going. |
| Bryan | Yeah, it came out really, script was really good. |
| Mike | And you do get to see some new stuff. [Refers to Aang conversing with Avatars Kuruk and Yangchen.] You get to see a couple of Avatars you haven't seen before on the show, and, uh... and... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, I know a lotta the fans kept asking about Avatar Kuruk, who... I guess, you know, you see him in the show occasionally, and then, I think, mainly that thing that you wrote, Mike, that, um... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah, with the... |
| Bryan | ... like, online... |
| Mike | ... there was a Spirit World, online Spirit World journey, uh, thing between season two and three that kinda was a way to introduce those characters and-and stuff. So, they-they've kinda made their first official appearance there, but, uh, it was nice to bring 'em back for the show. |
| Bryan | [Refers to June petting her shirshu, Nyla.] So, I just want to point out a little trivia that June is, as some people know, is based on our friend, uh, Lisa, who's the post supervisor. And, uh, Nyla is the name of her dog. And she has a-Nyla is a, uh, rottweiler, so, we actually-when we designed the shirshu, I tried to give it [Mike chuckles.] rottweiler coloring. But, we finally get to hear the name. And then incidentally, her other dog's name is Bosco, which Tim named... didn't he name, uh, the Earth King's bear? |
| Mike | Yeah. [Bryan affirms.] But I think that was just a coincidence. |
| Bryan | Yeah, I say [Mike chuckles.] coincidentally. |
| Mike | Oh, okay. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | That-that was my segue. |
| Mike | [Refers to June saying that Nyla cannot locate Aang because he does not exist.] Then where is he? Oh no. [Refers to the squirrel that Momo chases through the trees.] I like that little squirrel guy; [Bryan affirms.] was cool. |
| Bryan | Very cool. I think, [Mike laughs.] think Angela Mueller designed that guy, it was very cool. |
| Mike | [Brief pause; refers to Aang going over where and how he got to the island forest with Momo.] Yeah, another difficult thing is having a character [Laughs.] talk to themselves and figure things out, which is always-dangerous proposition. But, uh... |
| Bryan | This scene... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] I'd buy it, he's talking to Momo, you know, he tal-I-we both have dogs, we talk to our dogs all the time. |
| Bryan | Man, all the time. |
| Mike | For no reason, just-you just talk about stuff. |
| Bryan | That scene [Mike laughs.] takes me back, Aang and Momo, that takes me back to the pilot, we had the same issue, I remember a lotta discussions about that. [Mike affirms.] You know, he was kinda just... s-you know, s-using Momo as a sounding board... for his problems. |
| Mike | I think we successfully... avoided it through most of the series, so, [Bryan affirms.] doesn't bother me here. Zach did a-did a great job with the acting, and then Aaron did a great job with the writing, so, all worked out. [Refers to Zuko giving June and Nyla one of Iroh's old smelly sandals to track him with.] I just want to know where Zuko's been keeping that sandal for... [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I was just gonna ask the same thing. |
| Mike | ... for, uh, many months now. Do you think he, like, cuddles with it every... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I, you know what, I'm just gonna let it go; [Mike chuckles.] not even-not gonna dwell on that one. [Refers to the landscape background of a valley illuminated by the rising sun as June, Nyla, and Team Avatar travel through it.] I love that painting there, Bryan Evans did that one, it's a cool landscape. |
| A brief pause in commentary until the rest of Team Avatar are brought by June and Nyla to a ruined section of Ba Sing Se's outer wall, and are informed that they are close to where Iroh is. | |
| Mike | Oh, of course, the other big thing, in this episode, that we get to see is-is Uncle's return. So, that in itself is worthy of a... exciting episode. |
| Bryan | Yeah, and you start to see a payoff for the whole White Lotus, [Mike affirms.] uh, subplot that's gone on through a lotta the series. Think Mike really likes secret societies, so, that one kinda kept coming... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Hey, I'm not the only one. [Bryan affirms.] There's some fans out there. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Secret societies. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause.] Mike is part of a secret society, I don't even know if I'm even allowed to talk about it. [Mike chuckles.] The bald-headed, Vermont, maple syrup... |
| Mike | ... lovers society. [Mike and Bryan laugh.] So, the one thing I rea-I really love story-wise about this whole finale is... is it's a story about Aang... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to the color palette of the scene shifting to vivid blues, as Roku's spirit emanates and manifests from Aang.] You love how the color shifted... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Well, that was cool. |
| Bryan | ... in this-when the-that-the spirit came out. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | That was cool, but that's not what I was, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Oh, [Mike laughs.] alright. |
| Mike | [Refers to Aang talking to his past lives about how he can stop Ozai without killing him.] Um... it's a story about a-a hero a-coming to terms, and-and having a personal conflict over not killing the bad guy, which I can't think of too many, certainly animated series, that that's been the storyline, and so I-I... it's a-it's a-it's a kind of different kind of storyline than we've done before, and... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] There was-didn't you, uh, I mean, it was something we knew was gonna be important, but didn't you find that it-was that Gilgamesh? Or, uh... was there... |
| Mike | Oh, the, uh, yeah, actually after we had kind of, you know, as we were developing this finale, and stuff, I-I was reading the Bhagavad Gita, which is... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Oh, that's what it was, yeah. |
| Mike | ... the, uh, Hindu text. [Brief pause.] And it's a-the Bhagavad Viga-Gita is a-is a f-you know, famous, thousands-year old, uh, story about a-a warrior who talks to the god Krishna, I think, uh, of, like, on the eve of this... battle that he has to go in, and it's kind of like his, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] He's, like, fighting his family, right? |
| Mike | ... yeah, there's family members, I think, on the other side that he's supposed to fight, and-and he's going through this personal crisis of like, "what-why-why do I have do I have to fight? Why does there have to be war? Why do I have to do this?" And, uh, it's kinda like Aang sitting around, talking to [Laughs.] his past lives almost, [Bryan affirms.] so, it-it's-it's interesting how those kind of really timeless stories and... things will-will come up naturally out of-out of something like Avatar, which is already spiritually based, and st-and stuff like that. That-that even though we didn't-we weren't familiar with that story at first... you know, I think those kinda things just... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] All... |
| Mike | ... have some sort of energy, [Bryan affirms.] or-or resonate throughout cultures and stuff, so. |
| Bryan | Sorta that Joseph Campbell [Mike affirms.] type thing. I think, um, what I like about it is, uh... [Refers to the different Avatars Aang talks to offering different outlooks and approaches for how to deal with Ozai.] each one of, uh, the incarnations of the Avatar has a different personality; you know, it's not the same person, even though it's sorta the same energy, um, from each life, uh, you know, they're-they-when they in-incarnate, it's a different person, and-and, uh, you know, every being is-is unique, and, uh, what I like is that they each give Aang their spin on it, and, uh, some of 'em, you know, shine a little light on what happened in their lives and their, uh, you know, reign as the Avatar. But what I think is great is that ultimately Aang does it his way, and, uh, stays true to his own nature and... his own personality, and it's a combination of how he was raised, uh, with the Air Nomad monks, but also just, you know, who he is as a-as a being. And all of that, you know, energy of the Avatars kinda almost overtakes him, but-but his uniqueness wins out. |
| Mike | [Brief pause; refers to Team Avatar reuniting with Piandao, Jeong Jeong, Pakku, and Bumi, all revealed to be members of the Order of the White Lotus.] Hey, not-not to ignore the old guys who just showed up. [Bryan affirms.] It was good to see them again. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | It-it was. |
| Mike | [Brief pause; refers to Kyoshi's spirit reminding Aang of how she took responsibility for inadvertently killing Chin the Conqueror, knowing whatever she did was worth it to achieve peace and justice.] So, yeah, like, here's Kyoshi. If-if Kyoshi was, uh, you know, had the job to take out the Fire Lord now, she would have no problem just, uh, doing what had to be done [Laughs.] to-to, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Right, and then-but you gotta wonder, is that what the world needed? |
| Mike | Yeah. And, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to Iroh saying in order to break the cycle of violence and hate that has been perpetuated since the war began, Avatar Aang has to defeat Fire Lord Ozai.] Which is kind of what Uncle talks about later. Um, there's any number of ways to get the job done, but is it-is it what the world needs at that moment? [Brief pause; refers to Aang's dissatisfied reaction to Kyoshi's advice.] I like Aang's [Laughs.] response, "I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi." [Mike chuckles.] He just knows he doesn't have much in common with her. |
| A brief pause in commentary until, as Team Avatar and the White Lotus masters walk back to the latter's camp, Bumi answers Sokka's question about how he escaped his captivity in Omashu, bending his head back to look at him. | |
| Bryan | Who-whose boarding idea was that? I forgot, Bumi just lifting his head backwards like that. |
| Mike | Uh, I believe that was, uh, Johane Matte's... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] That's pretty cool. |
| Mike | ... section, so. |
| Bryan | My dog-my dog does that. [Mike chuckles.] He'll just, instead of turning to look at me, he'll just flip his head upside-down and look at me for a while. |
| Mike | [Refers to Bumi breaking out of his cage and taking back Omashu from the now-powerless firebenders during the Day of Black Sun.] So, this is, uh, Bumi's neutral jing payoff. He was waiting for the right moment, [Laughs.] and when he saw an eclipse, he said, [Imitating Bumi.] "this seems like a good idea." |
| Bryan | [Refers to Bumi's surprised expression turning to glee after Fire Nation soldiers try and fail to firebend at him.] Yeah, and we had to show here that he didn't know about, [Mike affirms.] he didn't know that the firebenders would lose their firebending during the eclipse, but he, uh, he just had a feeling, the natural phenomena, that this was a good time to do it. [Refers to the sequence of Bumi bending several of Omashu's buildings, as well as a statue of Ozai, down the city's hills into the chasm below.] This was, uh, storyboarded by one of our animation directors, Jae Myung. [Refers to the eclipse in Omashu happening later in the day.] And also we had, uh, some... I don't know about-know if "argument's" the right word, but basically an eclipse is only an eclipse for one place in the world. Um, you know, if you're in North America and there's an eclipse, you can't see it in South America 'cause it's a different vantage point, and the moon won't be blocking the sun from there. So, I guess it's just, like, this was a few hours later, [Laughs.] in the morning. |
| Mike | Or maybe it's 'cause the Avatar world's flat. |
| Bryan | [In a mock conspiratorial tone.] Is it? |
| Mike | [Laughs.] No, it's not. |
| Bryan | We did show that map. Well, we show that map in the title sequence. It has popup mountains. [Mike affirms.] Um... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Maybe it has two suns, and two moons. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | No, I think we're just [Mike affirms intermittently.] gonna have say that it, uh, it was like the same eclipse later on, the shadow passing over the Earth. |
| Mike | Yeah, just go with it, people. |
| Bryan | Alright. [Mike laughs; refers to and imitates Avatar Kuruk's summary of what his life was like.] "When I was the Avatar, I did a lot of surfing." |
| Mike | So... man, I think a show about this guy would be pretty sweet. [Refers to Kuruk saying the people of his era solved their own problems without his assistance.] It would have no conflict in it at all, though. [Laughs.] He just... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Well, you know, there'd be, like, there'd be like the surf tournament. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Yeah, he would just be, like... cruising the... cruising the world. |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] The four... the four nation surf-surf-off. |
| Mike | Going around, meeting the ladies. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Koh stealing the face of Kuruk's beloved, Ummi.] Well, that's what happened was he beat Koh in this surfing competition, [Mike laughs.] and so Koh took his girl. |
| Mike | That was his revenge? |
| Bryan | Yeah. And he just took her face. Man, that's-that's... |
| Mike | [In the background.] What a jerk. |
| Bryan | ... the story we're developing [Mike laughs.] right now. |
| Mike | I like it. |
| Bryan | [In a dramatic tone.] The four element surf-off. You have to surf on fire, [Mike chuckles.] that's one of 'em. Rock-surfing. |
| Mike | I like it. |
| Bryan | Yep, it's a hit. |
| Mike | [Refers to the other White Lotus members in the background shots of the camp.] So, although we don't show too many of the other, uh, White Lotus dudes, there are other members. It's, uh, it's not-it's... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] They're just all asleep 'cause they're-'cause they're old. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | Yeah, [Laughs.] exactly. |
| Bryan | I'm sorry, old people, I didn't mean that. |
| Mike | It's just-they're people we don't know, so we're not gonna spend time on 'em. But they are in there, they're hanging out. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the other White Lotus members eating at different campfires come morning.] You see 'em in the background, [Mike affirms.] chew-chewing, and things. |
| Mike | Totally. |
| A brief pause in commentary until Katara tells Zuko that Iroh will accept his remorse forgive him for what he did at Ba Sing Se, motivating Zuko to enter his uncle's tent to tell him how sorry he is. | |
| Mike | So, this, uh, upcoming scene with Uncle is another wonderfully, uh, written scene by Aaron, very emotional and beautiful, and, uh, great storyboarding by our supervising director, Seung-Hyun Oh. [Refers to Zuko's worried expression turning to contentment as he sees Iroh peacefully and loudly snoring in his own bed.] Just really did a great job of... capturing that reunion moment, and seeing Zuko's reaction, um... I forgot, it doesn't happen right now. [Bryan chuckles.] But it comes up pretty soon, and it's good. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Aang telling Momo he knows that his conversations with Momo are one-sided, stating that pretending to think Momo can actually talk helps with his own brainstorming.] Here, Aang addresses the... uselessness of talking to [Mike chuckles.] animals. Actually, you know, it helps you, uh... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] It does. |
| Bryan | ... helps you work through your-your problems. [Brief pause; refers to Avatar Yangchen emanating and manifesting from Aang.] So, this is Avatar Susan, [Mike chuckles.] famed Avatar that we... mentioned at that one convention. [Refers to Aang saying that he was taught that all life was sacred, even the lives of creatures like spider-flies; laughs.] That spider-fly thing, I... I had a lot of problems with that, [Mike chuckles.] but somehow it [Laughs.] still made it in. Oh well. |
| Mike | Don't overthink it. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | I'll get over it. [Refers to the sound effects that play as each past Avatar fades away, Roku sounding like a fire sputtering and hissing, Kyoshi sounding like a rock breaking apart, Kuruk like a stream flowing, and Yangchen like a sudden breeze.] Uh, we had Ben Wynn, the sound designer, do a cool thing. Each time one of these, uh, past lives dissipated, um, he blended in the sound of their native element. Um, so, you know, when Roku vanishes, there's fire sounds, and so on. It was a cool little touch, and I-I wish we, you know, we thought of that in the sound stage, but I wish we had, uh, animated the dissipating spirit sort of like each element. But, oh well, we'll just go back and do like a George Lucas version [Mike chuckles.] in ten, fifteen years. |
| Mike | Let's not. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | Alright. |
| Mike | Unless we're really bored, and we don't have anything else to do. |
| Bryan | Not that-not that that was George's issue, I'm sure he was very excited. [Mike chuckles; refers to the cut back to the White Lotus camp.] Back to old people camp, and the exciting, emotional scene Mike was talking about. |
| Mike | [Refers to Zuko apologizing to Iroh.] Alright, here's the scene that-that I was looking forward to. |
| Bryan | Yeah, this, um, Oh Seung-Hyun storyboarded this, and, uh, there's a scene that he storyboarded, and I think he did the key animation for in, uh, the Korean animated film Wonderful Days. [Refers to Iroh coming out of frame, and pulling a broken down and sobbing Zuko into a hug.] And, uh, there's this one particular scene that Mike and I really loved, uh, when we saw that in Korea years ago, when, uh, there was this hug where a character just, like, ran across the room and-and hugged another character. It was very dramatic and sudden, and, um, so this-when we talked about this scene, and he really wanted to board it, we're like, "it's gotta be like that hug." I just love how Uncle just... grabs him and yanks him over. |
| A brief pause in commentary until Iroh tells his nephew he is happy that he found and followed his personal path here. | |
| Bryan | It's cool, I just-it's really neat how many people have really responded to, uh, to Uncle Iroh. I remember reading... something, I-I don't usually go online. Think I was looking on Amazon, or something, and someone was like, "ah, this-this series, I don't think it's very good. But, Uncle Iroh's the coolest character I've ever seen in anything," [Mike and Bryan laugh.] I actually-I thought that was a really cool compliment that even though they didn't really like anything else about [Bryan and Mike laugh.] the show, they at least liked him. |
| Another brief pause in commentary until Aang starts running down to the shore of the island, realizing that, given the wake he saw from the treetops, the island is moving. | |
| Mike | I really hope, uh, at the end of Lost, the island doesn't turn out to be a giant lion turtle. |
| Bryan | Li... lion turtle |
| Mike | That would-that would suck. |
| Bryan | Naw, man, [Mike laughs.] it'd be cool, we-we beat 'em to it. |
| Mike | That's true, we did beat 'em, so. |
| Bryan | It actually, uh... someone pointed out that NeverEnding Story has, like, a-a giant turtle. [Laughs.] I don't really remember. |
| Mike | I kinda remember it, but it wa-I don't think it was like this guy. |
| Bryan | It wasn't a lion [Mike chuckles.] turtle. |
| Mike | So, the-I believe the-was the first time we, uh, hint at the lion turtle in "The Library"? Was that... there was a... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Um... |
| Mike | ... there was a little, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Well, honestly... |
| Mike | ... picture of it. |
| Bryan | ... honestly, the first time was in the pilot. Uh, Aang-there was a little-the little four element opening sequence, uh, that [Mike affirms.] I an-that I animated. |
| Mike | [In the background.] The statue. |
| Bryan | Had, uh, the ba-yeah, the background behind Aang, when he di-he did the air scooter, was a lion turtle statue. [Mike affirms.] So, I mean, we-we had the idea of-a long time ago, um, so we started dropping it in. Um, yeah, we thought it'd be cool to put it in a-the ancient library. Aang's like, "hey, look at these crazy lion turtles," and Sokka's not impressed. And then, um, Piandao, in episode 304, says, "you have the heart of a lion turtle," and-and we had, uh, pretty sure you see them in-in his garden back there. Um... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah, he's got, like, [Bryan affirms.] little statues, and stuff. |
| Bryan | He's got lion turtle statues, which are kinda based on these really cool turtle statues Mike and I saw in Korea that have these big pillars on their backs. So, um, yeah, the idea that there were these... super ancient, um, animals. They're not spirits, they're, uh, you know, they're physical animals, but they're very powerful and spiritual, and, um, [Refers to the lion turtle Aang meets.] idea is that this is the last one. It's from the era... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Before the Avatar. |
| Bryan | ... before the Avatar, and you can-you can bet we got some ideas about that stuff. [Mike chuckles; refers to the food Team Avatar and Iroh are eating at camp.] What do you think they're eating there? Some udon? |
| Mike | I think they're, yeah, think they do... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Some jajang-jajangmyeon? Maybe? |
| Mike | ... yeah, maybe. [Brief pause.] Could go for a bowl of that now. |
| Bryan | Yeah, sounds good. [Mike chuckles.] Maybe we'll go there after this. [Laughs.] Commentating's hungry work. |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause; refers to Iroh confirming to Suki that the White Lotus had gathered to free Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation.] He's like, [Imitates Iroh.] "yes, we were going to play cards. [Mike chuckles.] It was our annual card playing meeting." [Refers to the over-the-shoulder shot with Iroh in the background behind Zuko in the foreground, with both of their heads being roughly the same size.] I wish we had done more telephoto, over-the-shoulder shots like that one. I like that their heads... |
| Mike | [In the background.] Yeah, it came out... |
| Bryan | ... are kinda the same size. |
| Mike | Very cool and cinematic. |
| Bryan | Yeah. Now we know for next time. |
| Mike | [Brief pause; refers to Team Avatar planning on what to do when Sozin's Comet arrives, with Zuko and Katara going to depose Azula, while Sokka, Toph, and Suki head to stop the Fire Nation's fleet of airships.] Yeah, this... this scene was another one of those kind of long informational scenes, but, uh... you know, kinda one of those necessary scenes that you gotta-got to set everything up, see where everyone's gonna go, and... |
| Bryan | Yeah, I like how all the paths are solidifying. [Mike affirms.] It's things that you maybe knew, or you... in-intuitively guessed, or, uh, something, but... |
| Mike | [Refers to Piandao giving Sokka an eel hound to quickly travel through land and sea.] I love that Piandao just has a eel hound kicking around. |
| Bryan | You know, he's got a nice ride. [Mike laughs.] We should've had a little car alarm sound for it. [Mike affirms; imitates a car alarm beeping.] That eel hound kinda looks like our dogs, really skinny. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Though not quite as big. I mean, our dogs aren't quite as big [Mike and Bryan chuckle.] as that guy. |
| Bryan | Although your dog's pretty-almost as fast, I would say. |
| Mike | He-and he can swim pretty well. |
| Bryan | Whoa! [Refers to Iroh's White Lotus robes not having their usual pattern in a long shot.] Iroh didn't have the pattern on his cowl there, [Laughs.] I just noticed. |
| Mike | Oh! Redo. |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Retake. Reta-alright, well... |
| Mike | This is, boy, so... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] That's another... |
| Mike | ... months later, we will, oh, man! |
| Bryan | [In a mock shocked tone.] Oh, it's missing! Aw! |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Aw, geez. |
| Bryan | Man... |
| Mike | [In the background.] So, this is... |
| Bryan | ... we're terrible. |
| Mike | ... you know, when you see... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] When we do-when we do the George Lucas version in [Mike affirms.] ten or fifteen years... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Put that on the blooper reel, folks. |
| Bryan | ... put the lotus pattern on [Mike chuckles.] the cowl. |
| Mike | This is, you know, this is animation, you look at the same show... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] We're gonna use the-the, like, best computer graphics to map a lotus pattern on [Mike gives an affirming murmur.] his cowl in fifteen years. It's gonna be amazing. |
| Mike | So, sorry about that. [Refers to Aang, swimming underwater to look at the island, seeing a giant eye opening up to look at him.] I like that eye, it's very creepy. |
| Bryan | Eye's cool. [Brief pause; refers to the lion turtle.] Now, I don't normally do this, I try to keep things positive [Mike chuckles.] in here. Lotta people work really hard on the show, and-and, uh, and totally appreciate that. But I just have to tell you that, uh, Jae Woo and I did some really cool... designs for this thing. Jae Woo just, you know, I did some rough sketches, and he just did the most beautiful, intricate, amazing designs of this lion turtle. And, uh, like we said, we knew he was gonna be, you know, we knew this think was gonna be in the show from a really long time ago, so I was excited. And it does not look the [Laughs.] way it's supposed to. Um... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah, we did our best to-Bryan did a-did a lotta retakes on [Laughs.] that, and, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to the lion turtle dominating most of the shots in the background, the creature being drawn with a more detailed, photorealistic style than other characters.] You know, I mean, my thought was, we-we wanted it to be so huge that it was more of a background than a character. So, um, knowing that, knowing how hard that is to do with, uh, 2D animation, um, we just tried to do it at as painted elements that would slide. And, you know, that really wouldn't have been a problem, but it just didn't [Mike chuckles.] come out that good, and, ugh, there were just so many other retakes, and, uh... [Refers to the shot zooming out from Ozai to show the docked Fire Nation airship fleet.] like this one, this shot went through about... |
| Mike | [In the background.] That was a tough shot. |
| Bryan | ... ten takes, yeah. |
| Mike | Yeah, there's sometimes shots that, you know, we try to be, well, sometimes were not even that ambitious, [Laughs.] and they don't come out... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, it's just a simple shot [Mike affirms.] or something, but... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] But, uh... |
| Bryan | ... so, you know, when we do the George Lucas version, I'll, [Mike affirms.] we'll make the lion turtle all CG and ridiculously intricate, but, oh well. Gotta move on. |
| Mike | Yep. [Refers to Sozin's Comet entering the Earth's atmosphere, appearing as a blinding light in the skies behind Aang.] This is a great little setup to, uh, the last two parts. |
| Commentary ends. |