I’m kicking off a series of posts analyzing Nickelodeon’s hit show The Legend of Korra.
Korra, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, premiered in 2012 and, after 4 seasons, had its final episodes in late 2014. It was spun off from DiMartino and Konietzko’s first series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both are among my favorite television shows of all time, and with Korra’s recent finale, I thought it would be a great way to kick off The Art of the Story.

What made Korra so good?

Over the next several posts, I’ll be answering the question: What did the show creators do right?
Hint: Many things.

Korra was a huge hit, both a critical and ratings success. There is not one singular reason why the show was well-loved. It took several elements including strong characters, engaging plots, a rich world, and beautiful artwork to make the show what it was.

Here’s the secret: making a good television show is difficult. It takes a lot of work from a lot of people working in many different capacities. That’s why strong shows like this one are so rare. I can’t tell you everything the Korra creators got right. That would take years of investigation. But I can scratch the surface with you. Stay tuned for my next posts as I explore:

Character arcs
World building
High stakes plots
Texture and depth

Welcome to my new blog, The Art of the Story!
I will use this space to write about interesting examples of storytelling as I encounter them. I will focus mostly on animation, but will also be exploring live action and written works, including both long and short-form stories.

My intentions for this project are:

To engage thoughtfully with books, TV shows, and movies
To analyze story, mostly in animated works
To enrich my readership’s understanding of story

I will endeavor to mostly, but not always, highlight positive and skillful examples of storytelling, as opposed to dwelling on the negative. While criticism can be helpful, I would rather uplift those that are doing good work, and not tear down those whose work needs improvement. After all, we’re all trying to do our best, but we sometimes miss the mark.

Thank you for visiting my page. Stay tuned as I add posts and expand this page.