While some people have difficulty in shifting genres in the competitive world of television, animators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko easily and successfully make the transition. From animated series like
Family Guy, King of the Hill and
Mission Hill, they have moved on to become pillars of
Avatar: The Last Airbender, which continues to be a ratings phenomenon for Nickelodeon.
When asked how they would describe the show for those who are not familiar with it, Konietzko called it “an epic, Asian, martial-arts fantasy/action/adventure/comedy/drama series about the four elements. It isn't easy to fit it all into one sentence!"
Given there personal perception of the animated series,
Avatar evidently taps into various genres, which makes it easy for DiMartino and Konietzko to develop and branch out to different ideas, despite the show being aimed at younger viewers.
"For us, adjusting to the younger audience wasn't the big difference," Konietzko said. "The welcome change was being able to create and work on a show that was always sincere, and had a lot of heart.
While the duo considered it pleasurable to work on sitcoms, they eventually felt that their personal interests were intended for something near to their hearts. Thus, they created
Avatar.
"It was fun to work on sitcoms, but, after a while, the self-awareness and satirical attitudes didn't seem like a good fit for our personal sensibilities. Mike and I wanted to make something that was native to a genre, not standing outside of it looking in," Konietzko said.
But part of the success of
Avatar, according to both Konietzko and DiMartino, is that they try to remember the things that they liked when they were still kids. They give credit to the “inner child” in them as it provides them creative ideas in the most honest and untainted approach.
"We try to be honest with this fiction, and I think that sincerity comes through in the final product. We're lucky that kids and 'inner kids' have really connected with the show…Now that we are working on the final episodes of Book Three, I can say that the success of the show has been a wonderful benefit beyond my personal goal," Konietzko said.
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: mag.awn.com
(Image courtesy of mag.awn.com)