| Avatar Abridged | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | ThunderFerretProductions |
| Cast | AgentQV, Brichouse, Flower_Budz, Sirjosborne |
| Run | February 14, 2017 to Present |
| Episodes | 7 (1 Remake) 4 Shorts |
| Link | YouTube Playlist |
Avatar Abridged is an abridged series produced by ThunderFerretProductions under the YouTube Channel AgentQV It is a parody of Avatar: The Last Airbender. While it follows the plot of the original show closely, this adaptation deviates from the source material by completely re-characterizing the entire cast, changing their motivations and heavily altering their dynamics as a result.
Writing Style[]
A heavy emphasis is put into evoking a sense of realism in the dialogue of characters while maintaining the source material's fantastical qualities. While pop-culture referencing is utilized in this show, a great deal of effort is put into making sure most of the show's comedy come from the characters themselves rather than specific references.
Avatar Abridged is heavily influenced by the comedic stylings of Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon with a heavier emphasis on Harmon in the later episodes.
While the scripts for episodes are written in their entirety, several jokes are also improvised in the recording stage.
The show is also influenced by other Abridged Series, including TFS's "Dragon Ball Z Abridged" and Something Witty Entertainment's "Sword Art Online Abridged" as well as GanXingBa's seminal "Avatar: The Abridged Series" which is referenced in a couple episodes. A major influence also comes from Auralnauts Star Wars Parody series, in terms of maintaining a sense of silly cohesion.
The show deviates from the source material by introducing several mundane attributes to the Avatar world, such as the Firenation existing partially as a corporate entity, Dads in the South Pole leaving their children on smoke breaks that last years, There are consequences for missing birthday parties, and Air Nomads having an obsession with Blockbuster Home Video.
Production[]
After coming together to produce their parody One-Shot: Existence of Mako for #TIBA, ThunderFerretProductions took what they learned from EOM and put it towards producing a parody that was more in line with the classical abridging genre. The first episode was released on Valentines Day in 2017 and thus far seven episodes have been released, with the first episode being remastered and released on April 20, 2020. (Nice)
The show is recorded with USB and XLR microphones on Audacity where audio is also edited, with their most recent microphones being used are Neat Microphone's "King Bee" and "Bumblebee" mics as well as a Blue Yeti microphone. The show has been edited on multiple editions of Corel Videostudio, with the most recent being Corel Videostudio 2019 with Photoshop Elements 13 also heavily utilized.
The show employs a great deal of intense visual editing, Photoshop is used to build lip animation for characters, cleaning up line work and reposing a character's position. It can sometimes even go as far as creating original eye blinking animation. The most intensive edits in Avatar Abridged will typically involve the production of original shots through tracing animation from the source material. Because of these processes, the editing phase of an episode may take several months to complete, on top of reshoots of new material that may have to be scheduled.
In addition to producing full episodes, Thunder Ferret Productions has also released two one-minute non-canonical shorts utilizing voice work from the cast. The first short is based on the conclusion of Zuko Alone with a Star Wars twist, and the second short is based on the announcement video relating to the partnership between the Avatar franchise and the video game Smite.
Avatar Abridged is written, directed and edited by AgentQV who also voices Prince Zuko and several side characters.
Characters[]
Main Characters[]
- Sirjosborne as Aang
- The protagonist of the series, Aang is the most like his canon counterpart, but with an added streak of intense self-centeredness. Aang’s entire quest in Season 1 revolves around his childish need to return a VHS copy of “Cheaper by the Dozen” to a functioning Blockbuster Home Video, a store chain that like the airbenders who maintained them, has all but died out. Despite this, Aang enjoys adventuring with his “friends” to avoid his actual responsibility of becoming the Avatar and saving the world. A great deal of comedy comes from Aang (who essentially grew up in the early 2000's) coming to terms with how the world has changed from a pop-culture standpoint, such as the advent of internet streaming and famous celebrities dying.
- Flower Budz as Katara
- In the original show, Katara served as the group’s mom and a pillar of strength, but in this adaptation, Katara is the worst. Growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, abandoned by her parents, Katara is a cynical pop culture enthusiast with a penchant for antagonizing every person she has ever met, especially Aang. Showing little initiative for anything other than arson and Netflix, Katara is a menace in search of direction… and anybody that’s willing to put up with her. In more recent episodes, Katara has received intense character development putting focus on her behavior and traumatic past. Somehow, against all odds, Katara has become the beating heart of the show.
- The Brichouse as Sokka
- If the original show’s Sokka was portrayed as earnestly “rough around the edges,” Abridged Sokka is a lovable hyperactive sponge. Allowing corporations (and his sister) to walk all over him and his tribe, Sokka is someone obsessed with what people think of him. This fuels his obsession with political correctness and his employment to the firenation as a “snow-cone-salesman.” Aang’s arrival has produced a change in the status quo, and much like a catchy song, Sokka has latched himself onto the Avatar and will never let go, pulling his absentee sister who never hangs out with him along for the ride.
- AgentQV as Prince Zuko
- A scarred banished prince of the corporate structured Fire Nation, Zuko was told by his CEO father to either “Go find the Avatar, or sell snow cones in the South Pole,” after spending three years down south, he is finally doing both. Being put down regularly by his Uncle, what Zuko lacks in confidence, he more than makes up for in optimism and “savviness.” As he pursues the Avatar, he is eternally bewildered by the fact that there is nothing in his life that he can control. A major change in the abridged version of this character is that he now has a prior relationship with Sokka and Katara, who he views as his only friends, making his quest to regain his honor that much more complicated.
- Sirjosborne as Uncle Iroh
- In the original show Iroh served as Zuko’s mentor and father figure, while that is still true of the parody version, it’s now in the vein of another famous animated figure seen regularly on Adult Swim. Alcoholic and disinterested, Iroh is a neglectful failure who seems to only find joy in harassing his nephew with his crazed antics. His disinterest in capturing the Avatar only serves to embolden Zuko, who mistakenly believes their quest is to “employ” Aang, rather than take him prisoner. Despite the emotional distance he puts between himself and Zuko, it’s clear they have something special. An important joke is that Zuko and Iroh have all sorts of wacky off screen adventures when they're not pursuing the Avatar.
Minor Characters[]
- DruidicHart as Zhao
- Zuko’s business rival and the main villain of season 1, Zhao is just as obsessed with the Pyramid Scheme-esque Snow Cone Trade as Zuko is. Because of his personal philosophy of “Vigilance,” Zhao has no functioning personal life, and constantly holds parties to sate his need for acknowledgement. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goal of employing Aang before Zuko does.
- TheRebelJester as Kevin
- One of Zuko’s nonbending employees, Kevin is a cog in the Firenation-machine who watched helplessly as his two closest friends were murdered by Katara in Episode 2. This has scarred Kevin for life, to the point that any time Zuko or Iroh mention his lost friends, Kevin screams out in anguish. Kevin has tried to escape Zuko and Iroh’s antics, but he always comes crawling back to them. Despite this, it’s not like Kevin’s life can get worse… right?
- Umbone as Suki
- The leader of the “Kyoshi Warriors,” Suki is a violent individual who takes great joy in her village’s two traditions. The first of these traditions is “The Cleansing,” a tradition where Avatar Kyoshi’s successor will be fed to the Unagi in order to improve crop yields (overseen by the village’s children). The second tradition is “Purge Night” where all crime is made legal for twelve hours, so Suki as head of the village’s de facto police force, gets to have “a lot of fun.” Suki also knows Zuko and Iroh, who had been involved in the previous year’s Purge Night.
- AgentQV as Bumi
- Aang's old friend who holds a grudge against him for not attending his birthday party one-hundred years ago. It's not like he grew up to become a powerful earthbending king, right?
- The Koshua as Haru
- An Earthbender the group meets that is described by Katara as "It's not my fault you're so uninteresting that I can't remember your name."
- DemonGroceryStore as Toby (Shyu) The janitor at the Department of Human Resources, he betrays his fellow HR reps for the gang.
- AgentQV as Warden Takei
- The warden of the prison that Katara and Haru are taken to, he is portrayed as rather kind and affectionate to the prisoners. It becomes clear that the warden is dealing with a lot, including a recent breakdown in his marriage because of his dedication to his job.
- Jetstream7579 as Coco
- A sadistic little girl who was put in charge of the Cleansing on Kyoshi Island.
- AgentQV as Gran Gran
- Sokka and Katara’s emotionally distant grandmother, she is a fed up old bat who hates airbenders and everyone else. While her grandchildren are indifferent to her ramblings, they silently wish that she will die somehow off screen… it appears that is the case.
- Brichouse as Hakoda
- Sokka and Katara's father who left with the other men on a smoke break... they'll be back anytime.
Episode list[]
| Episodes | Air Date |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1: The 'Hundred-Year-Old' Popsicle | Feb 14, 2017 |
| Chapter 2: The Snow-Cone Pyramid | May 27, 2017 |
| Chapter 3: Employee of the Month | Dec 29, 2017 |
| Chapter 4: Palette Cleansing | Aug 12, 2018 |
| Chapter 5: Pen-Pals and Nutjobs | Jan 10, 2019 |
| Chapter 6: Panda-Bear Pandemonium | Jan 3, 2020 |
| Chapter 1: Remake | Apr 20, 2020 |
| Chapter 7: The Department of Human Resources | Dec 10, 2020 |
| Chapter 0: The Iceman Cometh | Nov 25, 2021 |
| Chapter 7.5: Shipping Delay | Feb 14, 2022 |
Trivia[]
- This show has made several homages to GanXingBa's original Avatar Abridged series.
- Zhao is introduced using the same "Hey Wolverine" joke as in the original, with Iroh lamenting that the joke is stolen.
- Aang calls Momo "Kitty" upon their first meeting.
- In Chapter 6, Iroh brings up "Naked Iroh Time."
- In Chapter 7, an audible saxophone rift based on ATLA's song "Secret Tunnel" plays when Shyu opens a passageway,
- The creators of Avatar Abridged have yet to comment publicly on Iroh's characterization, but they view it rather obvious what material serves as his inspiration.
- In the editing, Iroh is generally the most difficult character to produce lip animation for, because his beard needs to be animated in step with his moving mouth. The episode 1 remake includes a remake of Iroh's first closeup with this mistake solved.
- In the production of Chapter 6, AgentQV dreaded Iroh's scenes, especially any scenes of him in the hot tub or on horseback, as the first example created transparency problems because of a smoke effect, and the latter required intensive attention to Iroh who is perpetually moving in the shot and becomes an issue for lip flap tracking.
- The Warden's vocal performance in Chapter 5 is an impression based on George Takei, who voiced the original character.
- Zuko and the Firenation's corporate disposition is inspired by the depiction of the Empire in Auralnaut's Star Wars Parody series.
- Katara is AgentQV's favorite character to write for. Her arc in season 1 is very much inspired by the negative(?) reaction Katara garnered in the first few episodes.
- DemonGroceryStore runs a Legend of Korra Abridged series that exists in a different continuity to this series, the existence of that series was a motivating factor in casting DemonGroceryStore as Shyu for the meta joke of having Katara be mean to his character.
- Thunder Ferret Productions, the name of the group who produces Avatar Abridged uses a stenciled shot of Pabu from the Legend of Korra as their mascot.