Katara is one of the best characters in an animated series for a long time. But that wasn’t the original vision for the water-bending master.
Katara’s original name was Kya, according to the original pilot for Avatar. Nickelodeon has aired the pitch in full for the first time on Twitch below, revealing not just Katara’s original name, but the original direction and voice acting for the main cast.
The stream didn’t start with the pitch, but also went into the whole production process behind Avatar: The Last Airbender. Appa’s original walking sounds, for instance, were made by plungers covered with duct tape.
The pilot aired on Twitch as part of an Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Nickelodeon. If you just want to skip to the pilot episode, it starts from 43 minutes below. There’s in-progress versions of Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Aang. Aang’s got a different voice actor, and the pilot doesn’t have a finished sound design, but it’s still great to see what Avatar looked like at this early stage.
If you haven’t watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s one of the best pieces of animation to come out of the West. It starts out as a show largely for kids — much like Star Wars: Rebels — before growing up with its audience in seasons two and three. Legend of Korra, the follow-up series, is pretty damn good as well.
Leave a Reply