“Production was suspended because the protagonist was a girl”: Nickelodeon Deserves to be Canceled for How it Tried to Sabotage The Legend of Korra After Avatar’s Success
It’s no surprise how successful and relevant Avatar: The Last Airbender has been even after almost 20 years of its initial release. The animated show is now enjoying a live-action series adaptation by Netflix and a movie trilogy set to release soon. Not just Avatar, but its follow-up series The Legend of Korra has also witnessed a revival in its popularity lately.
When the sequel show was released, it was not received as well as the creators may have hoped, the reasons for which are debated to this day. Nonetheless, the series offers a deeper look into the realm of Avatars and their element-bending powers.
Nickelodeon Didn’t Believe The Legend of Korra Would Be Successful
While fans were eagerly waiting for ATLA’s story to continue, it seems like the channel Nickelodeon wasn’t too keen on greenlighting the sequel series, The Legend of Korra. Even though Nickelodeon should have learned from the incredible success of Avatar: The Last Airbender, they felt the sequel would not work well and was almost canceled during season 1 production was underway.
Yoo Jae-Myung, an executive producer and animation director for the series, appeared on The INNERview in 2013 to discuss the show’s production and reception. He claimed,
“Production was suspended because the protagonist was a girl. It’s as if the lead actor has already been cast, but the production agency decides to stop filming because they don’t approve of the actor.”
However, the tables were turned when the show garnered incredible scores on Rotten Tomatoes and attracted millions of viewers for each episode. It quickly became one of the most popular shows on cable TV and went on to be on air for 4 glorious seasons. Nickelodeon still wasn’t convinced as it changed the airing time slot for the show from Saturday morning to Friday night and made the viewers wait 18 months for season 2 of The Legend of Korra.
The channel did not promote and advertise the show much either, raising a huge red flag for the fans. If all of these measures were taken because the protagonist was a woman, then Nickelodeon deserves to be canceled as there’s no place for sexism in kids’ animated shows. The lack of promotion was a bad move on Nickelodeon’s part as the show was already a hit among the masses, so it only would have helped the channel attract more viewers.
Popularity of The Legend of Korra Was Impacted
Since Nickelodeon did not run ads or market the show as it should have, The Legend of Korra suffered a declining viewership even though the narrative was strong enough to sustain a wider fanbase. The story was out of the ordinary and familiarized viewers with diverse characters and backgrounds. The channel thought that the male demographic would not accept a female protagonist but they seemed to forget that the show was targeted toward kids and all they wanted was an engaging storyline to keep them hooked.
On the other hand, many fans believe that the show could have been a bigger success had it been premiered on some other channel. Nickelodeon actively tried to bury the series with seasons 3 and 4 releasing online entirely. Nonetheless, fans continued to enjoy the story and cheer for Korra as she paved her path toward becoming a worthy Avatar.
