Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532153
Michael DiMartino SEASON 1, EPISODE 20: "THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH, PART 2 " For DiMartino, seeing Aang combining with the Ocean Spirit, and the epic scale they were able to achieve, is a highlight. This was before a widescreen TV was in every living room, and he says: "We were always aspiring to make this cinematic animated experience on television, and that was definitely one episode that sticks out where we hit our goals." Angela Mueller SEASON 3, EPISODE 17 "EMBER ISLAND PLAYERS " As an artist working on almost the entire run of the show, Mueller recalls that when they got to this episode, she loved all the inside jokes and doing parody versions of the characters. "I got to work with [Konietzko] in several sessions and just doodle the craziest ideas on paper," she says. "That was memorable because it was fun and hilarious, and I really enjoyed that as a designer." Ethan Spaulding SEASON 3, EPISODE 6 "THE AVATAR AND THE FIRE LORD " This episode required multiple designs for each character because the story took place at different moments in their past. "So you're tracking the characters at different ages, and therefore there's a whole new set of designs, and in some ways that can be a night- mare," says Spaulding. "I like that episode because I'm proud of what the crew did and how we were able to get [it] made." Creatives from Avatar: The Last Airbender share their favorite episodes. PLAYING FAVORITES Bryan Konietzko SEASON 1, EPISODE 13 "THE BLUE SPIRIT " Konietzko calls this episode "a big caper/martial arts crazy extravaganza" with all the different elements found in Hong Kong action movies. But instead of characters just fighting, they used props and the environment. This posed interesting martial arts challenges, like Aang improvising to use bamboo ladders as stilts to helicopter across walls. SPRING 2025 19