#this color palette is kinda giving nickelodeon

[taste-in-music]

some songs for late summer

[bleachandgrenadine]

Hopeful Predictions for the ATLA Netflix Adaptation, What They Need to Get Right, and How They Can Make it Work.

[Long Post]

**I had this post in my drafts, and after the announcement that Bryke are leaving, what better time to post this? All hope is not lost, maybe this is a good sign that it won’t go off the rails with Bryke’s shitty writing ability and bad ideas.**

Before I get into it, they pretty much need to take extra care to get everything right, because the show is nearly perfect and it is so beloved. To adapt what is widely considered one of the best animated TV shows of all time into a live action series, will be no easy feat. So here’s what I think they can do to make it the best it can possibly be. Their budget is unknown, so granted they’d need a fairly high budget to make this all work. Hopefully they do because the pressure of high expectations is on them.

The episodes will have a longer run time. Likely 30-48 minutes give or take, with some of the heavier plot-advancing episodes being closer to an hour or more. Some of the more ‘filler’ or rather side adventure episodes may be a two in one type of deal, or will simply be expanded on from the original 22 minutes to 30 minutes or so. Hopefully they will do this by adding more character moments to improve upon their development, and give the episodes a more significant connection to the main plot.

It shouldn’t be a copy and paste remake. They need to have a balanced and objective view on what elements need to be the most faithful and what can be changed and improved/expanded on. For example, I think they could add a bit to certain backstories and expand on some historical elements and lore. (For the love of god though don’t take the retconning lore from book 2 of Korra.) I’m actually going to add to this and make a Part II of things I’d like to see fleshed out.

Up the maturity of the tone a *little* bit. The majority of the audience and fans watching are going to be older, so tweaking it some may be appropriate. Many of the more mature themes and action in the original had to be censored to air on Nickelodeon. Not saying make it overly serious and dark, but adjusting it with higher stakes and suspense would make sense in the live action.

Casting. Casting accordingly to the characters’ ethnicities is a given, of course. But it might be difficult find child actors of the same age as the characters with the range needed to fill the role, including martial arts and stunt work. So I’m predicting that the cast may be a little older, and they might even age up the characters as well.

Additionally, it’ll probably take more than a year to film all three seasons, so if they cast 12-16 year olds it’ll be obvious that they’ve gotten older. SO they may have to extend Aang’s deadline to master all four elements. Idk maybe the comet is two summers away. We’ll see how they handle it.

Humor. The cartoon had, well, cartoonish moments that don’t translate well into live action if you try to recreate them. In the cartoon you had bigger and exaggerated expressions/movement accompanied by music and cartoon sound effects, not all of was like that but you know what I’m talking about. I think a good way to approach the comedic moments is *kinda* like how Marvel does it in terms of timing, delivery, how other characters react to it. This is just my personal two cents.

Bending and martial arts styles. One of the problems we saw in Shyamalan’s film was exactly how NOT to do fight/bending choreography. In the show, every movement has a purpose, and the element they’re bending has an equivalent reaction. In the film we saw a lot of over the top fancy dancy movements with no equivalent reaction. This is something most action and superhero movies get right, so they better not fuck this up.

Culturally accurate costuming but keeping the color palette of the original.

Speaking of color palette, I hope the director doesn’t go for the dark and washed out look. Don’t be afraid of saturation and a bit of stylized cinematography. It’s a fantasy world! Make it pretty!

CGI and special effects are another technical thing that could make or break this show.

Leave out the fan service, pandering, and shipping bait. If you’re not going to include certain things from the original (that are inconsequential to the series) don’t try to allude to or reference it or put in a little Easter egg. It’s awkward and more often then not disrupts the flow of whatever scene it’s thrust into, like it’s almost always an afterthought to please fans.

Script/dialogue: There was a lot of great dialogue in the original. (Iroh’s quotes should not be changed too much, that’s a given) I have a feeling that the writers may try to keep it close to the original, but I am hopeful that the end result is more depth, maturity, complexity, and more organic interactions between characters.

That’s all I got for right now, look for Part 2 soon!