The unaired pilot from Avatar: The Last Airbender is short, strange, and a true marvel to long-time fans of the actual series. There are different names, voice actors, and costumes, and it ultimately feels like a watered-down version of Avatar.
Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino created the mini-episode to help sell the show to Nickelodeon, and although the pilot was never intended to be canon, it's easy to see how it sold the concept of the series. It's fascinating in many ways and a gem to the fanbase, with quite an array of interesting facts to boot. And now with the 2020 release of the book The Art of the Animated Series, we can learn even more about the pilots' intentions for the show.
When Katara and Sokka get captured by Zuko's forces, they're brought to a base filled with Fire Nation soldiers and a giant Earth Kingdom statue bedecked in construction scaffolding. It's an ominous backdrop for the majority of the episode, and it helps illustrate the massive capabilities of the Fire Nation invasion.
What's not immediately apparent, however, is that the statue is being "retrofitted," as Konietzko explained in Avatar: The Last Airbender The Art of The Animated Series. The untampered side represents the peace of the Earth Kingdom, while the metal mask of the other half depicts Fire Lord Ozai, a representation of the violence they've brought to the land.
There's a slightly altered version of Katara's monologue in the opening sequence, and a fierce Fire Nation woman unleashes a firebending blast when Katara says "fire." She wears red and white makeup that looks very similar to that of the Painted Lady, and her appearance is the most interesting of the four title characters.
In the artbook, the creators explain that she belonged to a group of female warriors they conceptualized as antagonists to Aang, who like Zuko, would have chased him around the world. Clearly, the idea was cut, but it was probably the inspiration for Azula's girl squad in season 2, which has been hailed as one of the most formidable teams in Avatar.
A very, very familiar-looking sea serpent opens up the first half of the pilot. Green, scaly, and terrifying, it's an exact replica of the serpent from "The Serpent's Pass" in season 2, with the only difference being that Zuko kills it and brings the head home as a grotesque trophy.
The creators modeled the beast after a seahorse, and it was truly an excellent design. It's no wonder they brought it back for the canonical episode, and it's become an iconic monster of the series ever since.
In the opening sequence, another noteworthy bender is showcased when Katara says "earth." With a bun, goatee, and long pants, it's probably a surprise to everyone that he is the original version of Toph. The only clear similarities are his green and yellow color scheme, along with the beaded braces he wears that Toph also sported in "Day of the Black Sun."
Somewhere along the creative process, one of the Avatar writers convinced Konietzko and DiMartino to change the age and gender of Toph's character, and they agree it's one of the best decisions they ever made. This older male earthbender is a great representation of her character journey, and it's one of the biggest differences between the unaired pilot and the actual series.
Aang accesses the Avatar State very differently in the pilot than in the main show, and it represents the other changes that his character goes through between the two versions.
Aang is very resistant to go into the Avatar State for most of the series, as it goes against his peaceful core, yet in the pilot, he jumps off the statue in order to activate the "glow." In short, he's much more confident about his abilities. It's an interesting facet of his original character, and the creators probably made the change to better represent Aang's naivety as an unrealized Avatar in the aired series.
One of the strangest parts of the pilot are the spiky, other-worldly outfits that Zuko and his army wear throughout the episode. They are much more swirly and intricate than the final Fire Nation costumes, and the creators explain the changes in the Avatar artbook.
The original outfits showcased in the pilot were inspired by Japanese Samurai armor, while the more rigid and angular outfits that Zuko and his crew wear in season 1 were Chinese influenced. And while Zuko does look quite menacing and fierce in his original attire, there's no denying the icon status of his final look, since he had some of the best costumes of Avatar.
After finishing the unaired pilot, fans probably had a very significant question in mind—where was Uncle Iroh? The fact is, it wasn't until later that the creators thought to pair Zuko with a parental figure, and even then, Uncle Iroh was originally going to be Sifu Iroh.
Sifu means "master" in Mandarin, and evidently, Iroh wasn't going to be related to Zuko at all. His absence is a gaping hole in the pilot, and it's quite fortunate that they realized their mistake during production, as he's become a fan favorite over the years.
A glaring discrepancy in the pilot is Aang's voice. It's a bit gruffer and less innocent than Zach Tyler Eisen's performance in the main series, and it's a surprise to everyone who the original voice actor actually was—Mitchel Musso.
Best known for his role as Oliver Oken in Hannah Montana and Jeremy Johnson in Phineas and Ferb, Musso's voice is quite a departure from Aang's final character. Perhaps the actor was too old by the time production began, or he had a conflicting role, but either way, it's one of the stranger crossovers to come out of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It's a widely known fact that Katara's name used to be Kya, but many fans don't know the full story behind the sudden change of this popular character. As showcased in the unaired pilot, her name first began as Kya, and then Kanna, but the creators felt that Kanna didn't fit her personality, and they fittingly changed it to the now-iconic "Katara."
However, it wasn't their choice to alter her name the first time. Nickelodeon's legal department asked them to after they discovered a video game character called "Kya," and Konietzko and DiMartino had no choice but to find something different. Of course, everything worked out in the end, and they befittingly gave Katara's mother the name "Kya" and her grandmother the name "Kanna," and the series wouldn't have been the same otherwise.
One of the largest mysteries around the pilot is why it even exists at all, as well as why the storyline doesn't fit into the canon of the series. It's a real episode, with fleshed-out animation and voice acting, but the point of it was never to be an actual "pilot" in the traditional sense.
The story and characters served more as a demo for what Nickelodeon could expect, and as the creators explained in the artbook, it was never intended for the arc of the series. It was a "generic adventure" that demonstrated the humor, relationships, and beautiful animation to come, and it's a great example of Avatar's humble beginnings.
