Last month, the three-year-old "Rick and Morty" finally returned.
As the handle of American animation in recent years, Ji Jibiao's 9.7 has been a routine operation.
Such achievements inevitably made Xiao Ming think of another "old and old fan" .
As the only two cartoons that have made it into the top ten American dramas on IMDb , this drama and "Rick and Morty" have a combination of technology, depth, and reputation, and can be called the "Yuefu Double Wall" in the American industry.
Today, I will tell you about the highest level of American TV animation in this UP's heart——
The "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series is produced by the American Nick Cartoon Channel (the same door as "SpongeBob SquarePants").
It began to air in 2005 and only had three seasons in total.
The rating is higher than season by season!
During the broadcast, he won 5 American Annie Animation Awards and 1 Emmy Award .
When the final episode of the series was broadcast in 2008, it attracted nearly 6 million people around the world, setting a record for the ratings of the Nickelodeon Cartoon Channel.
What's even more exaggerated is the online streaming media last year, and it immediately became No. 1 in the popularity of Nefilex ! It is the whole station, not a single area or a single type of district.
After fifteen years, there is still such an incredible heat, why?
The greatest thing about Avatar is its deep meaning .
The main creator used Chinese traditional mythology and martial arts elements to build a magical world of East Asian colors.
The story takes place in an overhead world. There are four countries (Shui Shan, Tu Qiang, Huo Lie, Qi and Clan). People in each country can manipulate an element of water, soil, fire, and air.
Mitac (Avatar) is the only exception, he can manipulate simultaneously the four divine. Supernatural powers will be reincarnated in the four countries in a fixed order.
For hundreds of years, the four countries coexisted peacefully and had nothing to do with each other. Until a hundred years ago, the Huo Lie country took the lead in entering the "industrial revolution", and as it developed and expanded, it began to attack and invade other countries.
The reason for the existence of supernatural powers is to balance the forces that contain all parties and maintain the stability and peace of the world. However, when the people of the world most need him to suppress Huo Lie Nation, supernatural powers disappeared.
During this period, people from other ethnic groups in the world fell into dire straits.
A hundred years later, Sokha and Katara , brothers and sisters of the Shuishan tribe , found the sleeping little boy in the frozen glacier.
Supernatural power peacefully .
So the group of three embarked on a journey around the world.
Before saving the world, Qi Zong Anang needs to learn to control the other three elements.
Whether in terms of play or cultural diversity, the concept of this play is so new that it doesn't look like a work from the beginning of the century.
Ethnic minorities, feminism, and the political formation behind each country are quite profound.
For example, the social inequality in the city of Yonggu, the pedantic queen's dictatorship, and the cruel organization Dai Li (a variety of Ming dynasty Jinyi guards have both senses).
Moreover, it not only shows the harm of Huo Lieguo's unilateral hegemony from the perspective of the victims, but also shows the root of the problem, as well as details such as the brainwashing education that Huo Lieguo children received from childhood.
The heavy story is not like children's animation at all, but it was the uncompromising of the creators that brought the first season's great success .
The first season has not yet been broadcast, and Nick Cartoon has been directly renewed for two seasons , so the main creative team can plan the structure, rhythm, development direction and final ending of the entire story at one time.
In addition to the glamorous and creative worldview spreading out, the three seasons of animation ups and downs, one-stop, and brilliant , the key is the decisive conclusion .
In the last three episodes, the main creation of various magnification moves, various epic cinematic senses, and a lot of film techniques were used for the splitting. This was an epoch-making initiative for a TV animation that year.
At that time, there was even an offline premiere at the Paramount Theater, with live music by the symphony orchestra.
Think about the end of the heart-wrenching, up will now get goose bumps trembling.
Almost all the characters were created very well, especially the fiery king Zuker .
The parallel growth lines of the two characters of Zucker and An Ang constitute a very full arc of characters in the whole drama.
They have the same destiny, and they all bear much larger responsibilities than individuals (very similar to Harry Potter, the two series actually have a lot in common).
As the only surviving Qi Zong in the world, An Ang
Fighting monsters and upgrading all the way, gradually becoming the savior of saving the common people. Although the development is relatively regular, the victory is sincere and moving, solid and steady.
The yearning for the same family and the confusion about growth have risen from the trough, all aspects are taken care of, and the character image is extremely full.
Zuke has not been seen by his father since he was a child, and his strength is not as strong as his sister. In order to win back the glory and the affirmation of his father, he embarked on the journey of rounding up the protagonist group with Uncle Ai Luo .
The reason why Zuke was able to discover his true self little by little, and the wise and foolish uncle played a decisive role, because his firm companion and guidance made Zucker on the right path, and finally succeeded in whitewashing.
In addition, the film also portrayed a number of wise female characters.
Katara is tough and kind. It is she who has solidified the entire team and has completed self-growth while helping to fill An Ang.
Not only was given the image of a perfect woman, but also a brave fighter. In the final battle, she almost singled out the strongest female Huo Zula in history.
Blind Girl Tinto Fu , but this is the wealthy daughter of the protagonist and group together embark on the journey, she subverts the people's perception of soil for Royal surgery, and demonstrated this skill endless possibilities, even powerful enough to manipulate metal.
And one of the most successful female villains in history, Zucker’s sister Azura . A bit anti-social personality, but also an ambitious politician, single-handedly overturned the regime of Everlasting City without a single effort.
Speaking of this, I have to mention one more sentence about the powerfulness of the screenwriter.
Generally, screenwriters with poor control may only use the general empty descriptions of "she is very strong" and "she is very powerful" to present such a stage of catching horses.
But the strong point of this drama is to write this story without leaking . She fully understands the opponent's reality and psychological activities. Several political speeches are gradual and passionate, and the pain points are straightforward. She wanted to follow her when she watched it back then. NS.
"Available Magic" has achieved a point that many animations today have not been able to achieve, and has created a group of characters with true feelings.
They have flesh and blood and depth, and each character has its own complete story line. In the middle and late stages, the story is truly driven by the characters.
And it shows the creator's strong empathy for the role . Everyone grows up and proves themselves in adversity, and every character is redeemed to the end.
The remarkable thing about this drama is that it does not simply use Chinese culture as the background board, but integrates the cultural setting into the development of the storyline and the personalities of the characters.
The research and understanding of Eastern martial arts is also run through, unlike "Ghost in the Shell" and "Firefly", which is only a superficial appropriation of cultural elements.
"Available Magic" truly achieves the cultural use of whole bones and blood , and it is precisely this point that makes this drama a great work that surpasses the era at that time.
The people of the four countries fully display the cultures corresponding to the elements and at the same time reflect the cultural characteristics in the real world.
The Shuishan tribe is located in the north and south poles, a fusion of Inuit culture and Eskimo culture ;
The clothing appearance of the Qihe ethnic group comes from Tibetan Buddhism , and the place where they live is also in a temple in the clouds;
Huo Lieguo's design is inspired by Japan , and the rapid development of technology and external expansion are full of vision;
The vast land power of the country properly mirrored the closed-door Qing Dynasty .
The two soul creators paid for the game with one heart and simplicity.
During the production, he came to China many times to collect styles.
The cultural philosophy and artistic aesthetics implemented throughout the play are entirely from Asia (to be more precise, China), and the details are to the extreme.
The most representative is language. The language system in the play is set to Chinese . Every frame where the key stops and every Chinese character that appears is correct.
Thousands of streets in Hollywood blockbusters with the wrong lips.
The magic of cutting qi, flying like the wind, you can feel a deep cultural heritage between the lines.
In the play, there are corresponding Chinese martial arts archetypes for the different races' power frames, and the key is to perfectly fit the characteristics of different countries.
Everything in the world is born of Qi, and Bagua generates everything, so the Bagua Palm is used to express the compatibility of Qi Sect;
The water is yin and soft, and the Shui Zong is in perfect harmony with the soft Taijiquan , which uses more skills to win ;
Fire, danger and enthusiasm, the concise and clean North Shaolin boxing method is perfect;
The soil is the head of the five elements, and the master is in the middle. Therefore, the powerful Hongquan is used to represent the power of the soil.
As a branch of Imperial soil art, Tofu, the strongest Tu sect in history and a self-contained blind girl, uses Zhou Family Mantis Fist (Southern Mantis).
The creative intentions are absolutely impressive.
From the action to the flesh, every move is authentic Chinese martial arts. It is by no means a simple piece of martial arts movies.
Not only invited the martial arts master Kisu, who has learned Chinese and Western skills, to be the martial arts instructor.
The two directors also personally finished learning, and Brian gave up his life to serve as a human sandbag .
The shots of the martial arts scenes in the film are real action + video + reposting . This kind of truthfulness and awkward sincerity is difficult to achieve in general domestic animation.
What is even more amazing is the brutal production of the film. No other works (including Japanese animation) in the same period can achieve such frequent and high-quality action fighting scenes.
Really refresh the cognition.
Director Allen said:
The stories we wrote still have practical significance today,
We did not fabricate lies in order to cater to younger audiences.
This may be why, in the 16 years since the series officially came out, there will still be new fans in the pit, and the reputation has always been strong.
It tells us that the height that an animated work can reach is far more than just being spontaneous in the low-child market and sub-cultural circles.
It speaks of love and sacrifice, of perseverance and compromise.
In those eclectic cultural totems.
You can even see some kind of eternity .
Poke 【Useful】 Break through 100, and arrange for the post "Legend of Kola" immediately!
(When the film was created, it was during the honeymoon period between China and the United States. In the current environment, it is hard to see such a diverse and inclusive work.)
(This article was first published on the Ten o'clock Movie Official Account)
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