| Michael Dante DiMartino | Hi, this is Mike DiMartino, co-creator and executive producer. |
|---|---|
| Bryan Konietzko | And this is Bryan Konietzko, the other co-creator and executive producer. |
| Melchior Zwyer | And Mel Zwyer, one of the directors. |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Welcome, Mel. |
| Mike | Wel-hi, Mel. |
| Mel | Hello. |
| Mike | Mel joined us as a director for season three. [Bryan affirms.] But uh, you-you were helping us out on the end of season two, right? |
| Mel | Yes, yeah. |
| Mike | You came in uh, at the end there, yeah. |
| Mel | As a revisionist with Owen. |
| Mike | And the, yeah, we used to have two directors, and they kinda alternated episodes, and then uh, that was just too much, [Bryan affirms.] too much for two people to handle. [Mel chuckles.] So, uh, Mel uh, came in, and uh, kicked some butt. |
| Bryan | Yeah, Book One, Joaquim and Ryu shared directing duty, and Mike and I shared writing duty on everything; we had a really small crew. And then, Book Two, we had two directors, Colin and Ian, and then yeah, we added Mel as the third musketeer. [Mel chuckles.] So-so, this uh, this is a f-really fun episode. This one uh, you know, we-we keep talking about how Book Three blended characteristics of the old series, Avatar, with Korra; and uh, for me, this episode kinda reminds me of, like, a fun, it's not really a filler episode, [Mel and Mike affirm.] but, you know, but sort of a-like a fun, like, character-building, relationship-building episode from Avatar. |
| Mike | Yeah. Yeah, did you-Mel, did you like doing the more action-heavy ones, or do you-do you like the li-the comedy stuff? |
| Mel | This episode's probably one of my favorite ones, [Mike affirms intermittently.] just 'cause uh, I notice when it comes to, like, TV series, and everything, for some reason, the standalone, I like to call 'em the standalone episodes, just kinda stand out. So, means that it's a nice breather, and... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, breather's a good point. And it's, you know, it's pretty much, pretty much halfway through the season, so it's nice to have a light um, [Mel affirms.] you know, [Refers to when the new airbenders encounter bison rustlers.] other than these jerks trying to kill baby bison, it's a pretty light episode, and uh, it's fun. |
| Mike | Yeah, and I definitely, I mean, when we were coming up with stories for this Book, I mean, I had-I had a slot, like, prepared for, like, the new airbenders. We didn't know what the story was gonna be, but it was like, it seemed like we really needed to do a story about them since they were such a crucial part of this season, and uh, you know, we wanted to uh, feel like we knew them and that-that they were a real group together before uh, all the craziness happened. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Tenzin, his family, and the new airbenders training in the Northern Air Temple.] So, this was a big revisiting, you know, another reason this feels like the old series is this is a prominent location from the original series. So, um, we had to-had to dig through some dusty uh, archives, and find some old designs, and uh, update them where necessary, and uh, [Mel gives an affirming murmur.] you know, kinda hook up-hook up to things we had established in the past. Um, and-and this was a location uh, that had a lotta designs done for it back on-on-on Avatar; so, lotta Elsa Garagarza, um, background designs, and Jevon Bue, and uh, Enzo. And uh, yeah, so it was cool; we-we um... we just updated that stuff, and it was fun to re-to paint it in the new style. So, I really like the new painting style, so-so that was fun. |
| Mel | [Refers to the Northern Air Temple.] Kinda cool, had a CG model, too. [Laughs; Bryan affirms.] For the board artists. That was kinda... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Oh, yeah, yeah. Did you guys build... |
| Mel | [In the background.] That was, yeah, we built 'em on... |
| Bryan | ... build the temple on SketchUp? [Mel gives an affirming murmur.] Yeah, we did not have that back in the-the ancient days of [Laughs.] Avatar. [Mel chuckles.] We had pencils. |
| Mike | [In a grizzled, old man voice.] I remember the day. [Bryan and Mel laugh.] Nothing but a pencil and a piece of paper. We'd make a whole show. |
| Bryan | Man, remember Ian on the copying machine? |
| Mike | Oh yeah. |
| Bryan | Oh yeah. [Mel chuckles intermittently.] He'd be out there, like, four in the morning, just, [Mike chuckles.] god, just blowing-he'd blow something up, like, one percent. |
| Mike | [Refers to Korra conversing with Tenzin over the radio.] This scene always cracks me up, too, 'cause we would always joke in the writer's room that it was like on the old sitcoms when it was like the lead character, like, was sick, or something, [Bryan laughs.] and couldn't shoot, like, so they'd, like, "oh, hey, uh, you know, the, uh, uh, someone's calling in," uh, and uh, yeah. This is Korra's only appearance in this episode, which is pretty rare for Korra, not to be in an episode. It's uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to the scene's initial shot being divided into a split screen, with Korra on the left side of the frame, speaking through a radio transceiver in Zaofu, while Tenzin was on the right side of the frame at the Northern Air Temple.] It is-it is fun with the, you know, the introduction of these technologies in Korra's time to-to allow us to do these types of scenes. |
| Mike | Yeah, no more messenger hawks. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Mel chuckles.] Poor Hawky. |
| Mike | Those guys were very unreliable, anyway. |
| Bryan | Someone is-oh, yeah, this little kid was quizzing me about uh, really cute kid was quizzing me about some Avatar dialogue, and I had to try to remember what episode it was from, [Mike chuckles.] and who was saying it to whom, and uh, and one of the lines was about Hawky. |
| Mike | Oh, yeah, I remember. |
| Bryan | And I-I hadn't thought about Hawky in about [Mike affirms.] five years. |
| Mike | So, who-Mel, you worked with uh, Owen Sullivan was your uh... |
| Mel | [Interjects.] Yes, my... |
| Mike | ... AD, right? [Mel gives an affirming murmur.] Assistant director? |
| Mel | Yes. [Mike affirms.] |
| Bryan | Yeah, Owen, really awesome artist. |
| Mel | Yeah. [Refers to Jinora and Kai interacting with some flying bison calves.] This section was uh, Hyun Joo. |
| Bryan | Hyun Joo, another great storyboard artist. [Brief pause.] Yeah... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] So, what was your, like, thinking behind, like, splitting up work between, 'cause, like... |
| Mel | [In the background.] Uh... |
| Mike | ... you wanna describe kinda, like, [Mel affirms.] what you did on the show a little bit? |
| Mel | Well... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Just so people understand more of what a director does. |
| Mel | Okay, yeah, definitely. Uh, like, o-on Korra, I-I know different dir-directors work differently, and uh, Korra, it was uh, pretty uh, uh, action-heavy show, and usually the action parts... very tough to do. So, uh, uh, for each episode, I would put the-the artists on a rotation, so not to burn anyone out, and give everyone an equal opportunity at action, comedy, drama. So, this episode um, Sol Choi, one of the uh, board artists, [Refers to when the airbending trainees take on the bison rustlers.] got the uh, action sequences at the end, you-as you'll see. And uh, Shaun O'Neil, he got the uh, the comedy parts. [Refers to when Kai pets one of the juvenile bison, who licks him in turn.] And Hyun Joo got these uh, the cute parts, [Mike chuckles.] with baby bisons. |
| Bryan | Yeah, my friend texted me after this episode aired, and said she was squealing, like, so loud [Mel chuckles.] that her boyfriend was gonna have words with me [Mike and Mel laugh.] about the baby bison. |
| Mike | They are pretty cute. |
| Bryan | Yeah. Yeah, Shaun's comedy stuff's hilarious, [Mel and Mike affirm.] his-his comedy acting, really good; I mean, he's-he's great at action stuff, too, but, really good. [Refers to Bumi picking one of ears with his pinky finger.] Man, you know, people on uh, Korra just have, like, really bad, uh... |
| Mike | [Interjects; laughs.] Ear hygiene. [Mel and Mike laugh.] |
| Bryan | Yeah, ear, and nose... |
| Mel | [In the background.] Nose... |
| Bryan | ... toe hygiene. [Mike affirms.] It's just, like, always picking at something. [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | Yeah. [Refers to Tenzin's exaggeratedly genial expressions as he tries to flatter Bumi while asking for advice on how to lead the airbending recruits.] I always like when Tenzin has funny expressions 'cause usually he's so stiff. |
| Bryan | Uh... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] But these are really funny. I think Lauren did these-these... |
| Mel | [In the background.] Lauren did the uh... |
| Mike | ... those expressions. |
| Mel | ... the expressions. [Mike affirms; gives an affirming murmur.] |
| Bryan | People-I-I, you know, I was-always talk about, people were, when a character's design is too realistic, they get-they seem to get scared of-with, you know, making them have really expressive, you know, faces, [Mike affirms.] and they just get, the-the drawings get really stiff, and um, we-we always say that the only person who can draw Tenzin is Ryu, who designed him. [Laughs.] |
| Mel | [Laughs.] Another cool thing about working on Korra was uh, I think just how everyone was involved. I mean, it was like a family cookout. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | [Laughs.] There you go. Family cookout. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause; refers to the establishing shot of Laghima's Peak, a large, naturally arched mountain formation a distance away from the Northern Air Temple standing in the background.] So, here we set up Laghima's Peak, which uh, ends up being really important in the finale of this season. Um, and this is the sa-you know, it's named after the same guru that, uh... um, you know, Zaheer has stolen that locket from Tenzin, and-and that's uh, the same-same guru, so, kinda features prominently. And also, little design note, if you recall in uh, the mechanist episode-was that what that episode was called? |
| Mike | Oh, no, it was just called "The Northern Air Temple". |
| Bryan | "The Northern Air Temple". [Mike affirms intermittently.] So, if you recall that episode from the original series, uh, it blew up, [Laughs.] or the bo-the base of the-the mountain blew up, and left these big, huge arches, uh, of rock the-at the base of the temple. [Refers to the sheer, craggy face of the mountain beneath the Northern Air Temple being supported by multiple large rock formations, with Air Nomad architecture being built along the cliffside.] Um, so the idea is that the-the new-the new Air Nomads, and they-they probably got some earthbenders to help. Um, they filled all that in with-with more architecture, so it's kinda like this uh, this-it's newly uh, reinforced, let's just put it that way. |
| Mike | And there's no more dangerous gases [Bryan affirms.] in-in the mountain. |
| Bryan | [Laughs; refers to Tenzin harshly telling his recruits that their balancing exercises would be easy if they concentrated.] This is a fun sequence, Tenzin being a jerk. [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | Yeah, it's fun to ha-yeah, have kinda-play characters, uh, differently than they're-they usually are. [Refers to Tenzin telling a fallen Bumi, who he refers to as "soldier", to get back up, demanding to know if he can't handle the training.] But uh, J. K. Simmons, who plays Tenzin, was really good at uh, making Tenzin be more of a military leader. |
| Bryan | So, I always thought of this as a standalone episode, as we were saying earlier, but um, the way it ended up airing, it aired with the second half of uh, the Su and Lin story, [Mike affirms intermittently.] which obviously was meant to be paired with the first half [Mike chuckles.] of that. So, it seemed weird to me at first, but then I saw a c-like, a review, and a-and a couple people commenting how it was like two episodes of sivling-sibling rivalries, um, which... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Kinda makes sense, yeah. |
| Bryan | Made sense. |
| Mike | Thematically, we have our things that we like to do. [Refers to Daw's clean-shaven, sparkling head after receiving an unwanted haircut from Tenzin.] Yeah, I love this head sh-head [Bryan and Mel laugh.] shaving gag. |
| Bryan | [Imitating and referring to Yung's voice breaking as he says he isn't sure about getting his head shaved like Daw.] "I'm not sure". [Refers to the small, single-edged shaving tool Tenzin uses.] So, the razor that Tenzin was using was-was one that Aang had. Um, same type at least; I don't know if he had the same one. |
| Mike | Yeah, I've never tried to shave my head with one of those, but I feel like it would [Mel chuckles.] not-not give you the closest shave. |
| Bryan | Well, [Mike laughs intermittently.] I-I'm gonna guess part of your assumption is based on that-that gift I got you one year. I saw this-this-this, like, fancy razor that was supposed to be designed for people to shave their own heads, and I thought that was a great gift for Mike, and uh, next time I saw him, after I gave it to him, his head was covered in-in Band-Aids, and uh... [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Did not work as advertised. |
| Bryan | ... it uh, did not work. In fact, this is a guy who shaves his head almost every day, and uh, rarely cuts himself; [Mike chuckles intermittently.] once I gave him this device, he cut himself about three or four times. So... [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | [In the background.] Who uh... |
| Bryan | ... what-what kind of friend am I? |
| Mike | Yeah. [Bryan affirms; refers to Kai and the other recruits navigating Tenzin's obstacle course, which includes avoiding large spinning bells, crossing a single-rope bridge, and jumping over posts placed within a field of cacti, all the while being bombarded with melons launched by Meelo and Ikki.] Who boarded that part? |
| Mel | That was Shaun O'Neil. |
| Mike | Oh, okay, yeah. This is-this is our little Wipeout tribute, [Bryan and Mel affirm.] kind of, [Laughs.] the-the [Bryan affirms.] obstacle course craziness. |
| Bryan | There's a... guy here at Nickelodeon who-who uh, he was, like, going to win Wipeout, and then they-the producers encouraged him to do, like, a funny dance right before he finished the last [Laughs.] obstacle, and he fell. |
| Mel | [In a pained, sympathetic tone.] Oh. |
| Mike | [Refers to Bumi falling down a cliff after losing his grip, hitting his back and head on several ledges in the process.] Just like that probably? |
| Bryan | Yeah. And uh, but I think they-they invited him back, and, I don't know, I think he won. |
| Mike | I... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I knew some-I knew some other people on that show. |
| Mike | I think Bumi is pretty-pretty tough, 'cause he's [Bryan and Mel laugh.] taken some pretty nasty falls over the course of this series. |
| Bryan | Most of them down cliffs, [Mike affirms.] yeah. [Refers to Tenzin's infuriated expression as he tells Bumi they don't need his attitude in the Air Nation.] Yeah, you know, this episode would not have worked if you guys hadn't really pushed Tenzin's expressions, but you-you-Mel, you guy-your-your team did a really good job, [Mel affirms.] really good stuff. I love Kai, coming up... when he slides. |
| Mike | Yeah. [Mel laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Laughs; refers to Jinora asking Tenzin, having been ordered by her father to take over training the recruits, if that means she's an airbending master.] I like seeing Jinora getting-getting a little brave, she's a little brazen. |
| Mike | Yes, she's a little more teenager-y, [Bryan affirms.] rebellious, now. |
| Bryan | Is she-how old is Jinora? I can't even remember. Thirteen? |
| Mike | Uh, I mean, by this point, she's probably around thirteen, yeah. |
| Bryan | Thirteen, yeah. [Refers to Kai horizontally sliding behind Yung, hiding after Jinora brings up to her father that Kai think she's ready to get her airbending master tattoos.] This-the-I love-that's [Laughs.] my favorite [Mel chuckles.] shot in the show. |
| Mike | S-s-seems like around the age. |
| Bryan | I like to think, I mean, we obviously slide characters like that in that anime style a lot, but I like to think that Kai is doing some real subtle, [Mel chuckles.] uh, airbending that's just sliding [Mike and Mel chuckle.] in the-in the mud. [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | That may be true. But yeah, the-the stuff with Jinora's tattoos kinda is the-the first time we mention those, and we're kinda setting it up for the uh, for the end of the season. |
| Bryan | It's peer pressure, man. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Everyone's doing it, man. |
| Bryan | C'mon, [Mike laughs.] get your tattoos. |
| A brief pause in commentary until Jinora converses with Kai after arguing with Tenzin, saying that her father still treats her like a novice despite all the progress she's made. | |
| Mel | And this section was a combination of Joaquim and uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to the closeup shot of Kai smiling as he tells Jinora he knows something that will cheer her up.] Oh, right there. |
| Mel | ... Shaun, yeah. |
| Bryan | I mean, that, right there... |
| Mel | [Interjects; laughs.] That's a Joaquim drawing. |
| Bryan | The-Joaquim's drawing DNA is uh, [Mel laughs intermittently.] very strong in that drawing. Even he saw that, and was like, "whoa. That looks like my drawing". Sorry, you were-you were saying, Joaquim and... |
| Mel | And uh, Shaun O'Neil. |
| Bryan | Cool. Yeah, uh, the-the-the family uh, cookout [Laughs.] that Mel is speaking of, I mean, we-we've talked about it before, um, but very rarely... |
| Mike | [Refers to the shot of the bison rustlers near their large campfire.] Here's a family cookout, right here. |
| Bryan | Yeah, yeah, not-not a friendly one. [Mike chuckles.] Um, very rarely does just one artist draw a section; um, you know, it's assigned to an original storyboard artist, and she or he will do their pass on it, and then, you know, we-we have various stages of notes. Um... um, [Refers to the establishing shot of the Norther Air Temple, the buildings and rock formations beneath the main temple being evident.] oh, there you can see the buildings that they used to fill in the big, cavernous gaps in the previously exploded mountain. Uh, I was saying [Elongates "um".] "um". Uh, anyways, you know, storyboard artist does her or his pass, and them um, [Laughs.] the-there's the "um" again. And then uh, you've got the directors and the supervisors doing their passes, and then Mike and I will give notes, and the network gives notes, and then, you know, the assistant director might do some of the revisions. So, by the-by the time the storyboard makes it all the way through to a final, locked, uh, animatic that's ready to ship, you know, it-it-there might be four people who've drawn on a particular sequence. Um, so, it really-it really is just a big-it's just a big family cookout, [Mike chuckles.] there's-I really don't know any better way to describe it. |
| Mike | [Refers to when Pema told Tenzin to be patient with his recruits' reluctance, using her example of adjusting to being an Air Acolyte as proof of the time they need.] Always like this scene with Pema and Tenzin, 'cause, you know, Pema doesn't get as much to do as uh, we would've liked, but, so many characters to deal with, but we try to give 'em a little moment, here and there. Oh, there's a great m-uh, moment with Bum-Ju, coming up here. [Mel chuckles; refers to Bum-Ju, his eyes narrowed as he stares at the master airbender, following up Bumi brushing off Tenzin with an angry squeak.] That one, [Bryan affirms; laughs.] right there. [Bryan laughs.] He's just like, "I don't like you either". [Refers to the bison rustlers imprisoning Jinora and Kai with their captured baby flying bison in the valley below the temple.] And then uh, oh, I-I was gonna mention the uh, the-the bad guys in this episode, the bison rustlers, I-I think for a while, when we were coming up with the story, we were like, "well, we need," we had, you know, we had the basic scenario, but we were wondering, like, what, you know, what's with-who's against them? [Mike and Bryan laugh.] They're-they're off in, you know, nowhere-land in the-in the Northern Air Temple. So, then we uh, came up with these bison rustler guys, and I think... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Now... |
| Mike | ... Bryan, you were like, "make them as evil as possible". [Bryan and Mel laugh; refers to the bison rustler's leader, Ganbat, wearing the pelt of a sky bison calf on his back.] So, this guy's wearing a bison fur. |
| Bryan | They're jerks. |
| Mike | They're-they're pretty, you know, normally, we like to have shades of grey in our cha-in our bad guys, but also, sometimes they're just bad people. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Refers to Mike's pronunciation of "rustler".] Uh, are you saying bison "wrestlers"? Or bison rust... |
| Mike | [In the background.] No, not-well, they... |
| Bryan | ... "rustlers"? |
| Mike | Rustlers. They might wrestle bi-bison, [Bryan and Mel laugh.] as well, I don't know. That might be how they rustle them is by wrestling them, [Bryan affirms.] but uh... |
| Bryan | [Refers to the tiny spirit Jinora communes with while in a cage, the spirit having long floppy ears that fold up along its back like a bird's wings, a pointed mouthless face, long bowed legs with claws, and a thin prehensile tail with a bushy clump of fur at its end.] This little mouse ear, spirit guy, bird thing is one of my favorite characters. [Mel chuckles.] They-Laure-Lauren drew that stuff, right? |
| Mel | Um, uh, the, yeah, that was-it wa-again, it's a combination of uh, [Bryan affirms.] Sol and-and Lauren. |
| Bryan | Her little drawings of that character, oh that, man, [Mike chuckles.] that's one of my favorites. [Mel chuckles.] Her little drawings of uh, of that character were just amazing, and they animated him beautifully. I think that's Christie Tseng's design; she cranked out so many cool little spirits. |
| Mel | [Refers to Bum-Ju's teal coloration.] It's funny, 'cause I never expected Bum-Ju to be blue. |
| Bryan | Oh yeah. |
| Mel | 'Cause for the longest time, I just had the line art, not the-the [Bryan affirms; laughs.] color. |
| Bryan | What did you think he-just like a bu... |
| Mel | [In the background.] I thought he was... |
| Bryan | ... just a bunny? |
| Mel | ... bunny colored, yeah. |
| Bryan | Like, just white. |
| Mel | Brown [Bryan affirms.] and grey. |
| Bryan | He's a spirit. He's also-he's a-he's a uh, dragonfly bunny spirit. So, he's, you know, he's got some insect... I-I grew up in-in the South, and we had a lotta dragonflies, and stuff, and they were very iridescent, and metallic, and really neat colors. So, maybe that, I don't know. We kinda made them, like, candy colored. |
| Mike | [Refers to the tiny spirit's trilling as it communicated with Jinora and Bum-Ju.] And Dee uh, Bradley Baker did the-does Bum-Ju, he does all the bison, but he did that little mouse spirit guy, and I remember when he did the-the thing, the high-pitch squeak thing, I was like, "how?". [Bryan and Mel laugh.] It's just like, every time, he comes up with a new, crazy sound that you never thought was humanly possible. |
| Bryan | Maybe-maybe Dee's not human. I-that might be the only answer. |
| Mike | He is part-part animal, I think. |
| A brief pause in commentary until Otaku, one of the airbending recruits that Bumi is trying to inspire through their shared training experiences, bringing up Bumi quitting after failing at the obstacle course. | |
| Bryan | So, that guy's name's Otaku. Did-did Tim come up with that? |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | That was like... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] That was all Tim. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | He wanted him to be the, you know, "o-otaku", as I understand it, is like... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Like, "super-fan", right? |
| Bryan | Super-fan in the anime culture in Japan. |
| Mike | Yeah. Well, I think he named him that, though it's-it's not very explicit, but we wanted to, [Refers to when Tenzin referenced Otaku's prior Air Acolyte training as the new airbender repeatedly answered his questions on Air Nomad culture.] we had talked about, like, how they were all these Air Acolytes, and it's not like they all, all the Air Acolytes, automatically got airbending, but this one guy, who had already studied all the history and culture of the Air Nomads... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Ahh. |
| Mike | ... he got-he did-he was one of the few who got airbending, so that's why he knows everything already at the beginning. |
| Bryan | So, he's the pedantic fanboy. |
| Mike | Yeah, [Bryan affirms.] totally. So, he was already well-versed in the uh, history of the Air Nomads. |
| Bryan | Got it. [Refers to the airbending recruits ambushing the bison rustlers at their camp, bending gusts of air as the rustlers bend earth walls to defend themselves.] I lo-I love this-this [Laughs.] fight scene. |
| Mike | Yeah, it's cool. |
| Bryan | I don't know. I-I love any kinda underdog, you know, I described this-this lot as the Bad News Bears. [Refers to the slow motion sequence of Daw sensing a net flying toward him, his scalp quivering before he reacts.] Um, this is-this was a fun sequence. |
| Mike | So, you did this part, right, Mel? |
| Mel | Yeah. |
| Mike | I remember talking [Bryan affirms.] about this a million times. [Laughs.] |
| Mel | Yeah. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | It was so weird. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Daw's startled expression as he blasts the rustler who shot the net at him with air; laughs.] I really love it, Daw's expressions. |
| Mike | 'Cause it's tricky to show how you can sense air with your-your head. |
| Bryan | Uh... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] But that was an old idea from, like, you know... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] The original. |
| Mike | ... from Aang's-Aang's days, where it was, like, that they were finely tuned to the air all around [Bryan affirms.] them. So... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Well, that-that's been my experience when I've shaved my head, when I've picked it, you know, [Mel chuckles.] clean, is that it's crazy, you can feel little li-wind currents shifting when the AC turns on, and uh, man, I always remember it feels weird to lay on a pillow, and the shower feels weird. [Mike and Mel chuckle.] So, Mike's probably used to... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] I'm used to it by now. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Refers to Tenzin, flying in the air on Oogi, squinting his eyes as he questions what is happening below; laughs.] I loved, I just love Tenzin in this episode. [Refers to the individual cages on Ganbat's truck shifting around as he drives on a dirt road.] So, I love how Studio Mir had all the cages, like, [Mel affirms.] kinda rattling. |
| Mel | Don't spill. |
| Bryan | That was good animation. |
| Mel | Was not expecting that, [Bryan affirms intermittently.] and so, pleasant surprise. |
| Bryan | I thought when we did the CG model, I thought they were just-I didn't know they were rigged to-to be separate like that, I thought they were all fixed. I don't know what's holding them down, [Laughs.] but [Mel chuckles.] I-it makes for good animation. |
| Mike | [Brief pause; refers to Oogi ramming into Ganbat's truck from the side, while two other bison surround it from above.] Yeah, I love the bison just having their revenge. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to Ganbat.] What's that guy's name, Mike? Ganbat, or something. |
| Mel | Go... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Ganbat. |
| Bryan | Ganbat. [Mike affirms.] |
| Mel | Remember uh, Sean Gantka kept calling him Gambo. [Bryan and Mel laugh.] |
| Mike | Oh yeah, 'cause there was... |
| Mel | [Interjects.] Originally was-was that his name? |
| Mike | I think Tim just likes "G" names, [Bryan affirms.] 'cause his uh, the barbarians, uh, were called uh, the main guy was Gombo. |
| Bryan | Oh yeah. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] And this is Ganbat. |
| Bryan | Tim-Tim and Josh [Mike and Mel chuckle intermittently.] like any name that ends in "oo". A one-syllable name. They, like, they wanted to name, you know, they've, like... every-every name; Wu, Tu, uh, Fu. And I was, like, "guys, c'mon. Like, look up some names!". And so, like, we did Ghazan in-instead. [Brief pause; refers to Bumi taunting the bison rustlers, now locked in the very same cages they imprisoned the calves in.] This is pre-uh, these guys are bad, I mean, I think they're [Mike affirms.] very bad, but this is pretty harsh. |
| Mike | Yeah, I always wondered, like, what happened [Bryan and Mel laugh.] to these guys after-they gotta-they gotta... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I'm hoping they sent some local authorities to-that're around the mou... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah, certain they got picked up by the cops. |
| Bryan | I'm thinking the airbenders are at least somewhat [Mike affirms; laughs.] compassionate, consider-maybe they just let 'em sweat it out for a night. [Mel chuckles.] |
| Mike | That's possible. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause; refers to the backgrounds of the mountain valley, the sky and landscape colored in purple hues.] Really like the uh, painting Lauren Zurcher did for this twilight uh, valley. She did a bunch of different times of day of this, like, lake valley location. |
| Mike | Yeah. [Refers to Tenzin reassuring Bumi that he is a part of the Air Nation now.] Another little, nice, sweet ending. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Brief pause.] I think-I think-oh, there were a lot of fan reactions; like, they-they really liked how sweet [Laughs.] this one was, and then they were like, "ah, finally an episode ends where nothing bad happens to," and then they showed the, like, "coming next week" and they're like, [In a mock scream of horror.] "ahh!" [Mike affirms; Mel laughs.] Korra getting kidnapped. |
| Mike | [Gives an affirming murmur.] Well, thanks for all your awesome work this season, Mel. [Bryan affirms.] |
| Mel | Well, thank you for the opportunity. |
| Mike | Yeah. It was a good-good season. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause; refers to the baby flying bison starting to lift into the air.] Uber-cuteness. [Mel laughs; imitating and referring to the baby bison's startled expressions and cries.] "What's happening to me?" |
| Mike | Um... [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to the baby bison kicking their multiple legs about as they hover in the air.] So cute. |