And the Avatar Cycle Continues Anew

One of my favorite Nicktoons is Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is one of the best animated series to have been produced in the last twenty years. It won a Peabody! 

I've been sitting my parents through it. They were hooked by fifth episode of the first season. We're on episode two of season two. I always forget how relatively slow paced the first season is. There's high action and drama, but there is quite a bit of world building occurring. 

The production history of Avatar is a tale of push an pull. While it seems Avatar went off fairly well, even acquiring the funding to finish the story in 61 episodes instead of the agreed 60, shows the lengths the business minded folks at the ol' Nickelodeon rallied behind what would become a modern day classic. It's sequel, The Legend of Korra, not so much. 

Korra has a notoriously famous identity crisis throughout all four seasons of its run. Nickelodeon had a hit on their hands that wasn't their target demographic, and so the show shifted from time slot to time slot, then to from channel to channel, and eventually premiering it's final episodes online. 

That's just the animated universe. The live-action retelling of the first season by M. Night Shyamalan is a notorious production nightmare where Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko were pushed aside. The film would eventually premiere without the creators attached to the project. Today, the film has a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Netflix is currently at work trying to fix the mistakes of the past, working on a new live action series of Avatar. The original creators were publicized as being attached to the project and guiding it's trajectory. 

In October of 2020, the creators put out a statement they were no longer attached to the project. 

And now to today! Nickelodeon has put out the following press release:

BURBANK, Calif.—Feb. 24, 2021—Nickelodeon today announced the launch of Avatar Studios, a newly formed division designed to create original content spanning animated series and movies based on the beloved world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Original creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will helm the studio as co-chief creative officers, reporting to Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. The Studio’s output will bow on platforms including Paramount+, ViacomCBS’ subscription video on-demand service; on Nickelodeon’s own linear and digital platforms; as well as on third-party platforms and in theaters.

The first project from Avatar Studios is slated as an animated theatrical film set to begin production this year. Additional details will be available soon.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere,” said Brian Robbins, President, ViacomCBS Kids & Family. “Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.”

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 19 years since we created Avatar: The Last Airbender. But even after all that time, there are still many stories and time periods in Aang’s world that we are eager to bring to life. We are fortunate to have an ever-growing community of passionate fans that enjoys exploring the Avatarverse as much as we do. And with this new Avatar Studios venture we have an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums. We are exceedingly grateful to Brian Robbins and Ramsey Naito for their enthusiasm and respect for the Avatar property and us as its stewards. From the start, they’ve supported our ambitious plans and created a positive, proactive environment for us. We’re excited to be back at Nickelodeon where Avatar began, doing what we do best in the biggest way possible. We can’t wait to build the great teams and productions to make all of this fantasy a reality,” said Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino.

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender aired for three seasons originally on Nickelodeon, where it began in February 2005 and concluded in July 2008. The series has received the Peabody Award, a Primetime Emmy, Annie Awards and Genesis Awards. The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.

Avatar: The Last Airbender emerged from its initial three seasons (61 episodes) as one of the most beloved animated properties in history. In addition to the series’ success, the property also has been translated into a successful comic book and graphic novel series, which continue to roll out new original stories. The “Avatar: The Last Airbender” graphic novel spent 70 cumulative weeks on the New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller list, hitting number one. The DVD and Blu-rays are also incredibly successful, with the “Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Complete Series” generating nearly $5MM in retail sales since its 2018 release.

The Legend of Korra launched in April 2012 on Nickelodeon and ran for four seasons (52 episodes). Its first season premiered as basic cable’s number one kid’s show and drew 3.8 million viewers per episode, the highest for an animated series that year. Created and executive produced by DiMartino and Konietzko, the series is translated in more than 25 languages for Nickelodeon branded channels internationally.

The property has translated into a successful ongoing graphic novel series written by TV series co-creator DiMartino. The first graphic novel storyline, Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, has captured various Top 10 sales spots across children’s fiction, YA science fiction, and graphic novel categories since its debut in 2017. The epic story of The Legend of Korra, set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender 70 years later, follows the journey of Avatar Korra, a 17-year-old girl striving to live up to the legacy of her predecessor Avatar Aang, while using her mastery of all four elements to confront political and spiritual unrest in a modernizing world.

About Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design’s illustration department in 1998. He worked in TV animation as a character designer, storyboard artist, and art director before teaming up with Michael DiMartino to co-create and executive produce the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. He is the creator of the upcoming graphic novel series Threadworlds, to be published by First Second Books.

About Mike DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino began his training at the Rhode Island School of Design where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Film and Animation Department. His directing credits include the primetime animated series King of the Hill, Family Guy, and Mission Hill. DiMartino is a co-creator of the award-winning animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel, The Legend of Korra. From 2002 to 2014 he served as executive producer and story editor on both series. He continues Korra’s story as writer for the graphic novel, Turf Wars, published by Dark Horse comics. He is also the author of the fantasy novels Rebel Genius and Warrior Genius. DiMartino currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 41^st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).

Animation Periodicals - Animation Planet

After doing research of the magazines seen in my previous blog entries, I happen to run across on eBay an auction for three issues of Animation Planet. I wrote down the numbers of the issues and kept on my merry way researching further topics. 

A couple days later I ran across the eBay auction again, this time with the knowledge that those three issues are the only three issues of the magazine’s run. 

Long story short, I won the auction at a really decent price and now have the aforementioned magazines in my possession. And they are well put together and fairly deep for there only being three issues. Financial support seems to have been pulled between issue 2 and 3, but a further publisher couldn’t be found to keep the boat afloat. 

The three cover stories on Hercules, Bill Plympton, and South Park have very interesting interviews, respectively. 

The presence of many animation historian writers is becoming less surprising the more research I do in this topic. 

Animation Periodicals - Animato!

The only magazine I currently own that has a focus on Western animation, Animato! ran for 40 issues between 1983 and 1999. 

So far, in my research, Animato! was the sixth magazine with a focus on Animation. FunnyWorld, Mindrot, Animania, Animazine and Apatoons all precede it or run concurrently. 

 

I ordered these two issues off of eBay for fairly cheap; issue 14 and the final issue, issue 40. I have yet to do more than thumb through the pages; though they are really interestingly put together. Since Animato! was one of the first magazines to be printed, the earlier issue has a very homemade feel. It appears to have been written out on a typewriter.  

The final issue looks more in line with a professional magazine. No criticism implied, that’s growth over time. 

I was excited to get the last issue specifically because its subject matter focuses on the What a Cartoon Show, a particular favorite. 

There is more information about this magazine run with an article written by Jim Korkis as well as an entire book aptly titled Escape!: How Animation Broke Into the Mainstream in the 1990’s by G. Michael Dobbs. As well as a small cluster of issues available at archive.org.

Blue Sky Studios - 1988-2021

When Disney bought Fox in 2018 the acquisition included Blue Sky Studios. Most well known for creating the Ice Age series, Blue Sky Studios has been one of the few strong CGI competitors to Pixar/Disney for the last two decades. 

Yesterday, it was announced that Disney will be closing the studio next month.

The studio launched 13 films over the course of 17 years including the aforementioned Ice Age and it’s four theatrical sequels, Robots starring the late Robin Williams, Rio and its sequel and Epic, and the most recent Peanuts film among others. Their final film, Spies in Disguise, was released in 2019. 

The studio was nominated in total for six Academy Awards, winning one, Best Animated Short Film. Additionally, the studio had 50 Annie Award Nominations, winning once for Best Character Animation in an Animated Feature for Rio. 

The various original intellectual properties will continue on under Disney’s ownership, but as with all things of this nature, it will have a different tone and concept under Disney’s eye. 

Personally, I am not too surprised at the development of this announcement. Any large purchase Disney makes is going to have the underpinning companies folded into Disney’s extensive, already existing corporate structure. Of course, it’s always unfortunate to see the finality of a predominant animation studio close its doors. 

My Dad adores the Ice Age franchise; he laughs his butt off watching those movies and, in turn, gets me rolling as well. There is an earnest storytelling in the Blue Sky Studios films and a non-malicious slapstick aesthetic that isn’t seen very often these days. Hopefully, Disney will move the talent that made up Blue Skies into other positions throughout Disney. 

Of course, with recent rumors of Disney potentially buying MGM, Disney’s acquisition of competitors may continue further on. It will be interesting to see if the Biden Administration begins to talk about monopolies in the entertainment business. As for today, I think I’ll throw in Ice Age in the DVD player.

Animation Periodicals - Shonen Jump

There is one periodical I had consistently when I was a kid. I subscribed for five years, before I had to focus on other things like high school and college, though my love for the magazine never waned. It’s fascinating to look at this series of magazines now, as it was laying the groundwork for some of the biggest manga series in history and fueled the generation after me on how awesome manga and anime could be. This series’ marketing push is one of the biggest and most consistent campaigns I have ever seen; their cross branding included manga, anime, video games, plush, action figures, trading cards, the list goes on and on. It’s a magazine that has been around in Japan since 1968, and though physical versions of the magazine are no longer printed here in the United States, its legacy lives on digitally as one of the biggest online manga libraries available. There could be no other series I am talking about besides….

Shonen Jump

Manga is expensive. At $10 a book, it takes me less than an hour to read a manga. Even as a kid working at minimum wage, I refused to spend more than what I made an hour on entertainment, which meant manga was firmly out of reach from me. That is, besides a subscription to Shonen Jump. At $20 a year, 12 issue compilation of roughly 6-8 series arrived at my doorstep. I love Shonen Jump. I love Shonen Jump so much that a couple years back I wanted to finish my collection of the series, as it had finished its print run in 2012 with 110 issues. That 110 count does not include Issue #0 (A promo for conventions the year before the series started - I’ve got it!), issue #00 (Another promotional sampler - I didn’t know about this for a long time because Google search results always pulled up the first promotional issue. I’ve got this one too, only recently) and the Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition (Hardcover. I neeeed this one and only found out about it recently. It’s the last issue I need!)

Each issue not only featured the aforementioned chapters of the newest English translated releases, they also featured reviews, news, interviews, and lots of advertisements of other Shonen Jump products. In addition, since Yu-Gi-Oh! The Trading Card Game has been the most popular game in the world for a while now (beating Magic the Gathering in sales for quite a few years) each issue also contained a promotional Yu-Gi-Oh! card. I have a few, but now all of the cards. That’s the next to do on the collecting spree. And it's going to be a pricy excursion.

Lastly, in a wonderful crossing of my favorite things, Kids Next Door creator and all around wholesome dude, Mr. Warburton, drew a crossover of KND with the most popular manga in the world, One Piece. Not only was this illustration featured in the magazine, but can still be purchased as a print from Mr. Warburton’s online shop. I procured mine early last year. 

Postscript: Conveniently timed, one of the YouTubers I follow did a great video summarizing the state of Shonen Jump today. Check out Super Eyepatch Wolf's video:

Animation Periodicals - Newtype USA

Newtype USA

Newtype USA is the Rolls Royce of Anime magazines. The crème de la crème - the smiley face fruit gummies. I remember coming across Newtype at only two places, Blockbuster in the early aughts and visiting The Den in West Lafayette while in college. The Den was a baller little convenience store, mostly known for its .50¢ 64 ounce pop. At the front of the store was a slew of magazines from various well known esoteric publications. I distinctly remember High Times, Rider Magazine, Playboy, and today’s magazine, Newtype.

Newtype USA, the term Newtype given to pilots of Gundams, ran from 2002 to 2008. And they are packed with information. Not only did they contain anime reviews, features, interviews, manga reviews, features, news, interviews. They contained a three page foldout centerfold of the featured anime of the month. Manga samples. Anime airings on every network for the month including a brief episode synopsis of the episode. Music news and reviews. Figurine coverage. Cosplay. Anything in the realm of the anime fandom was predominately and intimately covered. The magazine itself was even oversized compared to other magazines and printed on high quality paper. 

But there was one more thing that set itself apart from the competition; each month’s issue contained a sample DVD with anime on it. Crazy, right? Like a throwback to the demo discs of yore, the DVD was the crown on top of an already thick package. 

But it all came at a cost. You don’t find Rolls Royces priced cheaply and Newtype came with a heavy sticker price; $12 - per issue. For the cost of half a year of issues for the other guys was a ticket price for just one issue. 

This was why I only had one issue when I was a kid. As an adult, I was fortunate enough to win a reasonably priced lot on ShopGoodwill. Though, most of them are taped shut in their packaging, missing their DVD additions, unfortunately. I’ve long debated whether to crack them open, or keep them in their packaging. Due to their size and the scarcity of magazine sleeves that would fit these behemoths, I continue to contemplate how to go about enjoying them. But, boy, is it cool to have them.

Animation Periodicals - Animerica

Animerica

Running from 1992 to 2005, Animerica was a magazine I was never exposed to on local store shelves. It was a series I knew of through the Internet and periphery conversations with anime fans across the United States, but was never a series I was able to get my hands on. That is until I bought a lot of magazines on ShopGoodwill early last year at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

If I had gotten these during their original run, these issues would have been my jam. Looking through them in 2021 is a straight nostalgia trip with advertisements for Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Manga Entertainment, Sam Goody and Media Play. Ads for VHS tapes with a choice between subtitles and dubs. And an overview feature covering Cowboy Bebop and how it “has all the makings of a modern classic”. They were right, to be fair, but far more than a modern classic, its reverberations are still felt today. Two pages each month are dedicated to covering the entirety of anime releases for the month. I’d be curious to see if the same could even be summarized on two pages today. 

Animerica is split down the middle with black and white pages and color pages for the more important features and interviews. This magazine is dense with writing; hardly an inch of space is wasted. 

Another interesting thing as I read through these issues was the reviews are also focused on individual volumes of a series, instead of series as a whole. Of course, that makes sense due to the release nature of shows in the 90’s and aughts, just something I had forgotten about and something that simply doesn’t happen in today’s series binging releases. Seeing a review of Outlaw Star Volumes 2-4 and how it’s shaping up to be similar in tone Gundam Wing is both quaint and adorable. Come back next month as we review the last third of this series. 

Volume 9, Issue 7’s feature on the second dub of Akira from Pioneer/Animaze has a really cool in-depth look at why Akira has the significance it does and why this new dub would become the go to for subsequent releases all the way to today (though, writer Andrew Osmond wouldn’t know that at the time.) The latest issue I own from 2004, Vol. 12 Number 1, has a really cool multi-page write up on Big O season 2, a co-production between Cartoon Network and Sunrise. 

In these issues Animerica also featured the manga Galaxy Express 999 as a serialized publication each month. That’s a unique and bold choice. And it is a series I really need to sit down and watch/read. 

Not that I’m getting older - I’m planning on living forever and so far so good - but it is odd to see that DVD releases start to become advertised while Game Boy Color and Playstation One games are being advertised. I remember when DVDs first started coming out, and they made my Outlaw Star VHS Box Set 2 purchase a bit silly in retrospect even at the time. Why spend $100 for half of the series when you could get the whole series for the same price and with less changing of tapes or discs? And both subtitles and dubs are available on the same disc? It’s still magic.  

As usual, there are some great interviews, Amanda Winn-Lee and Ren Usami. While the layout of these issues isn’t on par with what we see in Otaku USA, it is still a really fun deep dive into 90’s anime. Something kind of neat about seeing One Piece and Naruto as volume one releases... I hear they’re pretty good. 

Next time, even more magazines.

Animation Periodicals - Otaku USA

Print media is dead. Newspapers are dead. Magazines are dead. 

Blah blah blah. 

Every time there is a new technological advancement, doom and gloomers will declare on high that the old means are dead. While it is true that eras of technology and communication can change over time and wane in popularity, it does not mean a technology is permanently over. True, we rarely use Morse code or telegrams in modern times, but telephones have evolved into personal essential devices and have been incorporated in voice over internet protocol. Discord is just another form of group calls, after all. 

Perhaps it’s better to think that as new eras of communication continue to evolve, it’s the expectation of prior forms of communication that changes. It used to be that magazines were the only way to get new and current information out to the masses about specific topics. Today, that’s not the role of a magazine, or even a newspaper. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a role for these communications to fill; ezines are thriving as quarterly publications are group funded on crowdfunding websites delivering information in under represented niches. 

But as for today, and the next few entries, I want to share my collection of magazines focused on animation, predominantly anime. A lot of these issues I had yet to go through as they had been purchased in the last few years. So join me as we travel through the grocery aisle of time to pick up an issue of some exciting periodicals!

Otaku USA

Still running today as a bi-monthly publication (subscribe here!), Otaku USA is one of the magazines that would sometimes show up at our local grocery store, Martin’s, but much more likely at the Barnes and Noble anchor store in the local mall (A rarity that I would visit as, in general, I am not the biggest fan of the mall. Too damn expensive and a place I worked in retail for a bit too long.) These issues were picked up second hand at a new Half Price Books that came to our neighboring precinct about two years ago. I bought the entire stack available for a steal at $1 an issue. The earliest issue is Volume 7, Issue 1 from August 2013. Even in the letter from the editor, Patrick Macias alludes that magazines were already being claimed as being dead in years prior to the issue’s publication.

One of the first things that struck out to me was the advertisements for digital streaming services. One of the first pages shows an online streaming service, daisuki.net, which dissolved in 2018. It was funded by six businesses, Toei Animation, Aniplex, Sunrise, TMS Entertainment, Nihon Ad Systems, and Dentsu. Competitor, and one would argue winner of the streaming wars, Crunchyroll is advertised a few pages later. Crunchyroll recently bought by the only competition remaining, FUNimation (and their parent company Sony) this past August 2020.  

One of the unique highlights of Otaku USA is the insert in the middle of each issue with a chapter from a current manga. The pages flipped upside down as to be read accurately from right to left, but with English translations. As a fan of large manga compilations that bring value for your dollar, this is probably the only way I would be exposed to new manga titles. To buy a new manga volume at $10 is just too steep of a price to take a chance on a new series, for me. Most of the manga I own are from series I already enjoy or purchased second hand. 

The highlight of the August 2013 issue is an interview with Mamoru Hosoda. The December 2016 issue has an interview with studio Trigger. This is where magazines stake their ground for significance; exclusive interviews with auteurs and significant movers and shakers in the industry. 

Another cool aspect of going through old issues is finding something you were looking for. I recently replaced my DVD collection of Giant Robo and wanted to discover if there were more to the franchise available and found out that a live-action version had been translated and reworked for American audiences in the late 60’s, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot. Turns out Shout! Factory released the entire series on DVD. Going to have to keep my eye out for that. 

One final thought, I really love the printing and layout of this magazine. The colors are super vibrant and easy to read. The aforementioned manga insert is even printed on different and accurate paper. This is just a great series; I need to subscribe. 

Next time more magazines!