What makes an animated show great?
What separates a great cartoon and a mediocre animated series that fails to capture viewers,
especially young kids', imaginations and attention?
Why have shows like Spongebob, Ed, Edd, n Eddy, and Scooby Doo have had such a huge
influence on pop culture and have still remained as relevant and beloved as ever?
It's a lot of important aspects: from the animation itself and just well done and beautiful
it is to look at, from the writing and characters (which applies to pretty much any move and
TV show), and the worldbuilding.
But most importantly, a great cartoon has to strike the balance between being whimsical
and appealing to children, while containing mature and unanced underlying themes that
can teach both kids and adults some valuable lessons.
Hence why a series like Rick and Morty is so popular and well received.
Having said all of that, this is exactly why I believe Avatar: The Last Airbender is the
greatest animated show ever made.
It works on multiple levels and is a perfect amalgamation of a lot of vital, fantastic
moving parts that make one heck of a series.
One the surface, Avatar is just so easy on the eyes.
The crisp animation, character detail, art style, the grand and imaginative locations,
and zany character and creature designs is second to none.
A prime example is Appa, Aang's flying bison.
This creature is a cross between a buffalo and a manatee, and the design is simplistic
but memorable.
App sticks with you years after you've finished watching the show.
This one example applies to nearly everything visually on the series, from Aang and the
way the airbenders are depicted, to the snowy landscapes and igloos the water benders occupy.
Plenty of work went into the art design, with painstaking detail, and it definitely shows.
It's a world you want to live in, occupy, and read about.
Each region/civilization is wildly different from one another, each with their own distinct
architectures, locations, strengths, and weaknesses.
Then there's the lore and storytelling, which is top notch as well.
To put it bluntly, Avatar is epic.
In my opinion, it can rival the likes of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars because of just
how in-depth the show's lore is.
It's so grand and well done that Avatar even had a highly successful and beloved spinoff
series in Korra, which lasted for four seasons.
The story of the water, air, earth, and fire benders, who all control the elements with
martial arts, has become iconic and even influential.
Since its debut in 2005, Avatar has inspired so much content, from games, to tv shows,
and movies.
And that influence will only keep getting stronger and more relevant as time goes on.
The overarching plot itself is perhaps the most impressive and important aspect of the
show.
The premise is simple but fascinating: water bending siblings discover the next avatar,
Aang, and he has to go on a quest to learn all four elements.
The characters are multilayered, nuanced, complex, and interesting.
Aang is a loveable protagonist, and so are his friends Katara, Sokka, Toph.
Then there's arguably the best character in the series, Prince Zuko.
He starts out as the main villain: a young, naive, power hungry warlord essentially hellbent
on stopping Aang.
But then he gradually evolves becomes sympathetic, with the audience and beginning to understand
what he's going through, telling one of the greatest redemption stories ever in any
form of entertainment, and that's saying a lot.
And even beyond Prince Zuko, almost the entire cast of characters have outstanding story
arcs.
We see a different side to Katara when meets the man she believes killed her mother and
uses bloodbending, perhaps the darkest form of bending on the show, to get on his knees.
Toph teaches Aang, and the audience, a whole different aspect to bending and adds a lot
to the overall mythology.
She shows Aang what you can really accomplish with bending and how she's able to control
her powers and use her earthbending to "see."
Then there's the touching and heartbreaking arc involving Zuko's uncle Iroh and how
he lost his son during battle, and why he went into exile.
We learn about the price of war through his story.
The whole conflict and story beats centering on the fire nation just grows and more complex
as the show itself slowly matures with each season.
Avatar has everything a show, let alone a kid's cartoon, needs to have in order to
be great.
There's plenty of comedy, stunning and exciting action, drama, a deep and thought-provoking
story, worldbuilding and lore that rivals the best of the best in the fantasy genre,
and most important of all, relatable and loveable characters.
There are plenty of great animated shows out there, but Avatar remains king.
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