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June 13, 2013 • 3,628 notes • bryankonietzko

Mike and I are excited, elated, proud, relieved, and a bunch of other emotions to *FINALLY* announce the release of a soundtrack of Jeremy Zuckerman’s score from Book 1 of The Legend of Korra. I can’t begin to summarize the 9-year struggle we have endured to get any sort of a soundtrack released. We love Jeremy’s music deeply, and we know the fans do too, so it has been an incredibly frustrating wait and battle to make this a reality. All of the online petitions for an Avatar: The Last Airbender soundtrack were an amazing show of support from thousands of people and greatly appreciated, but for so long it seemed to be in vain as the idea of a soundtrack was blocked at a bureaucratic impasse.

Gratefully, thanks to the tireless efforts of some key people inside and outside of Nickelodeon who championed this project for many years, it is finally happening. Now, we are very aware that those petitions were for an Avatar soundtrack, which has yet to see the light of day. Firstly, we are lucky to get any sort of music release to happen, and secondly, our hope is that the Korra Book 1 soundtrack will be a success and show the company that there is a real demand for other music releases, Avatar included.

And a *HUGE* thank to Jeremy for his incredible scores. We are honored and lucky to get to work with a composer so immensely talented and dedicated. Congratulations on the release!

Above is the art I painted for the cover. Below is some info about the release:

–The first-ever The Legend of Korra soundtrack - The Legend of Korra: Original Music From Book One – will be available digitally and in stores everywhere on Tuesday, July 16.
–The album showcases 26 original instrumental tracks composed by Jeremy Zuckerman.
–The album is currently available for pre-order.
–The Legend of Korra: Original Music From Book One is being released by Nickelodeon and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

And here is an article on the Wall St. Journal blog that features a 4-minute cue in its entirety.

June 10, 2013 • 1,662 notes • spiffymako

spiffymako:

The Legend of Korra: Original Music from Book One available on July 13 {x}

Does that mean we’re this much closer to the Avatar: The Last Airbender soundtrack release, too?

(via pencilpaperpassion)

June 6, 2013 • 46 notes

Dark Horse sent me a digital preview copy of “The Legend of Korra: The Art of the Animated Series”…

…and one of the images contained within is an official drawing of Bolin in a man thong. O_o

The book comes out in comic book stores on July 24th and comes out in general book stores and places like Amazon.com on August 6th.

May 23, 2013 • 807 notes • ikkinthekitsune

ikkinthekitsune:

This is a really interesting interview with Yoo Jae-myung, who’s an animation director for both A:tLA and LoK. There’s quite a bit of new behind-the-scenes information from both series, and he gets to tell his personal story about getting involved in animation, too.

The most relevant thing for Korra fans now, I think, is that he pretty much confirmed that the Studio Pierrot rumors were true at one point (because Studio Mir wanted to take a breather by working on The Boondocks instead), but Book 2 ended up being animated by Studio Mir anyway because that particular partnership didn’t work out.

Also interesting (if terribly depressing) is that Nickelodeon actually suspended production of Korra when Book 1 was being planned because they didn’t like Korra being a female protagonist… but after seeing the first episode completed, they went all in for four books. They apparently see LoK as their premiere show, which is really awesome. =D (Now just make us some proper merchandise, Nick!)

There’s certainly a lot more in the video, though, so I’d definitely suggest watching it. (Though I will warn that they use finale clips in the background that… really shouldn’t be used as background for an interview? I mean, I don’t want to see the boat scene when I’m watching an interview =( )

May 5, 2013 • 7,579 notes • bryankonietzko

bryankonietzko:

I’m excited to share with you the final cover art (Korra drawn by Joaquim Dos Santos and painted by me, with a background painting by Fred Stewart) for the upcoming Korra Book One: Air art book, published by our good friends at Dark Horse Books. This was a real labor of love (heavy on the labor) for Mike, Joaquim, and me and all those who helped as we put this book together, and we are so proud of all the great artists’ work inside and can’t wait to share it with all of you. The plan is to do one of these art books per “book” of Korra (so four total), which is daunting yet fantastic.

Direct market on sale date: July 24, 2013.

Book market on sale date: August 6, 2013.

9” x 12” hardcover, 144 pages

Beautiful cover! Hopefully there will be a release day signing for this book, like there was for the previous art book!

March 9, 2013 • 7,136 notes • bryankonietzko

bryankonietzko:

SOUTHPAW CROSS

March 8, 2013 • 134 notes • euglassia--watsonia

Does this mean he is done recording his scenes for Season two?

March 5, 2013 • 8,678 notes • shoomlah

bryankonietzko:

shoomlah:

My piece for Pixel Drip’s I’m the Avatar, Deal With It! art show coming up later this spring.

-C
(GET IT it’s like an old SEP cover because the show’s all old-tymey, I’m so brilliant)

PixelDrip is putting together what promises to be a fantastic Korra fanart gallery show later this month, chock-full of art that people sent in physically and digitally. In addition to all the great art, there will be lots of fun activities and prizes packed into the two-day event. Mike and I, and some other Korra crew members, will likely be dropping by throughout the show. If you’re going to be in Los Angeles on March 23-24, and you’re a fan of Korra and you want to see some cool fanart (like this awesome piece by Claire Hummel) and hang out with other fans, get your tickets and come on down!

Thanks to PixelDrip for organizing this event. It means a lot to us that there are so many people who put so much energy and talent into their appreciation of our show and characters. If I can get my act together in time, I’ll be submitting something for the raffle… stay tuned. Info and links below:

I’m The Art Show, Deal With It!

When: Saturday, March 23rd & Sunday, March 24th, 2013

Location: Monk Space, 4414 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90004

Tickets: http://pixeldripgallery.com/tlok/

Schedule:

Saturday, March 23rd – 10:00am: Opening, 11:00am: 1st Raffle (Small), 1:00pm: 2nd Raffle (Medium), 3:00pm: 3rd Raffle (Large), 4:00pm: Cosplay Contest, 5:00pm: 4th Raffle (Grand), 6:00pm: Closing for VIP Night Setup, VIP Night 7:00pm–2:00am

Sunday, March 24th – 10:00am: Opening, 11:00am: 1st Raffle (Small), 1:00pm: 2nd Raffle (Medium), 3:00pm: 3rd Raffle (Large), 4:00pm: Trivia Contest, 5:00pm: Closing

We’ll be contributing some Racebending shirts to the raffles and I will be displaying two 3-D pieces there! -M

March 3, 2013 • 14,784 notes • sherbeeee

sherbeeee:

thanks to this show i can never take the word “spirit” seriously ever again

(via chaobunny)

March 3, 2013 • 1,692 notes • ikkinthekitsune

Korra’s Upbringing, Or, Why the Order of the White Lotus Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Raise Children

fannishcodex:

ikkinthekitsune:

Let’s start with the facts as directly provided by the show:

Korra was discovered by the Order of the White Lotus at the age of four.

The OWL kept her in a compound in the Southern Water Tribe for the dual purposes of training and protection and were quite strict about keeping her under constant watch.

Korra’s parents lived outside of the compound, but Korra was still emotionally close to them.

Korra considered Naga to be her best friend; there’s no evidence that the OWL provided her with peers inside the compound or allowed her to make excursions outside to interact with anyone her age.

Now, given these facts, what kind of assumptions can be made about Korra’s background?

Given that, as per point 2, Korra’s protection is at least as important as her training, it is quite likely that she was taken to the compound as soon as it became an option. It can therefore be assumed that Korra was either immediately taken into the OWL’s custody after her discovery or brought in immediately following the construction of the compound. Either way, she’s likely been raised by the OWL since the age of four (per point 1).

Per point 3, the OWL kept Korra separate from her parents. Given the size of the compound, there’s no reason her parents shouldn’t have been given living space inside the compound itself unless the OWL wanted to limit the amount of time they could spend with Korra. In fact, given that Korra wasn’t completely cut off from her parents, allowing them to live outside the OWL’s protection creates a potential security risk that the OWL ought to have tried to avoid if possible (since it would be quite a problem if the Avatar’s closest family members were taken hostage). Presumably, Korra’s parents don’t live with her because the OWL doesn’t want her to get too attached (which offers the further implication that the OWL might be averse to close non-familial attachments as well, limiting Katara’s ability to take a mothering role towards Korra).

Point 4 directly implies that Korra was never really allowed much in the way of close peer interactions, either. It’s quite possible that, if all of her teachers and sparring partners were adults far outside of her age range (as was implied by her firebending test), she never had any close human friends whatsoever.

And here’s the upshot of all that:

Korra has, for all intents and purposes, been denied consistent affection since the age of four in favor of conditional praise.

Her upbringing was, therefore, emotionally neglectful if not outright abusive (and I sure hope that the OWL didn’t treat her the same when she was five as it did during her firebending test). The OWL might have meant well, but they had no idea how to raise a child and messed it up as badly as they possibly could given a legitimate desire to do what was best for her.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that Korra has identity issues and a need for validation as the Avatar; she learned from a very young age not to count on her parents love, and ended up filling in the hole by impressing people with her bending. This is, as can be expected, something of a recipe for disaster in terms of raising a well-adjusted individual.

To make matters worse, the majority of the praise that Korra did get would have been in the context of violence, given that her demonstrated talents are all martial in nature. Her life was highly controlled, except insofar as she could impress the OWL by showing up her sparring partners or use force/manipulation to get what she wanted over the OWL’s objections. Violence would have been, essentially, the only way for Korra to define herself and take charge of her own life, which inevitably caused her need for validation to become all the more dangerous.

Or, in other words, by trying to train Korra into the perfect Avatar, the OWL itself crafted her into exactly the sort of person who goes to extremes to get what she wants, doesn’t take no for an answer, and has little experience dealing with people as peers as opposed to obstacles. Korra might be a highly flawed protagonist, but it can’t be said that she doesn’t have a good reason for being the way she is.

When you think about it Korra’s childhood was really messed up.

(via legendofkriticism)

February 16, 2013 • 1,095 notes • samapitongzabala.deviantart.com

samapitongzabala:

Day 6: MERMAKO

‘We’re drifting safely back to shore; I think, I’ve finally learned to love you more’

…ahhh yes.. questions to myself are formulating in my head right now..

click source for full res :D

and please sign the Mermako petition because Bryke NEEDS to find out about Mermako :D

February 8, 2013 • 4,629 notes • korranation

giancarlovolpe:

rufftoon:

korranation:

Check out the cover of the new LoK art book - arriving from Dark Horse in July. More from MTV Geek here.

Korra Art Of Book!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

I believe the term is “shut and take my money”

February 7, 2013 • 36 notes • facebook.com

2013년 계사년“새해엔 항상 행복한 일들만 가득하시길 바랄께요”By Jin Sun Kim of Studio Mir

Studio Mir’s happy new year message from their Facebook page. Check out their Facebook page to see the hard work they put into creating The Legend of Korra!

2013년 계사년
“새해엔 항상 행복한 일들만 가득하시길 바랄께요”

By Jin Sun Kim of Studio Mir

Studio Mir’s happy new year message from their Facebook page. Check out their Facebook page to see the hard work they put into creating The Legend of Korra!

January 23, 2013 • 328 notes • feminspire.com

Avatar and Korra: An Exploration of Whitewashing and Empowerment

feminspire:

When I first saw Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) on Nickelodeon, the first thing I thought was, “whoa…”

That was because the main character, Aang, had a skin colour that is similar to mine. Aang was not a stereotypical Asian. He doesn’t wear glasses or have tiny eyes. He has big eyes, like mine. That “whoa…” was one of amazement — because for once there was a character and a whole cartoon series that represents people of my skin colour and those darker than mine! Not only did the cartoon have representation I could identify with, but it is also a great series where the characters are not based on stereotypes.

But of course, awesome things can be destroyed, and racial identities can be robbed very easily…

Read the article on Feminspire

January 17, 2013 • 28,578 notes • masterarrowhead

masterarrowhead:

(via avataraang)