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It seems that my last post has ruffled some feathers and ticked some people off. Please know that I don’t “pick these fights” (not what I set out to do) or “play the race card” (not what I am doing, but some would beg to differ) needlessly. In all my years of running the site, I have never brought these issues up (except to occasionally marvel about how cool it was that PoDW featured such a diverse cast–none of the main characters are light-skinned, something that was very rare in American animation).
Avatar: The Last Airbender is rooted in Asian cultures, with fantasy elements interlaced. This was the creators’ intent, to tell a story that is set in a pan-Asian world. The various cultures are not purely cosmetic; they have a very real impact both on the behavior and thoughts/motivations of the individual characters, as well as the nations they hail from. The industrial practices, value systems, and politics in play are actually references to real aspects of Asian history, and a number of the side characters are based on historic Asian figures as well.
Really, there is nothing about the show that ISN’T Asian. I wrote about it at length in a comment on the previous post–if you’re so inclined, please do check that out.
Please understand: I didn’t post any of this to pick a fight, and I’m not just “being PC”: Avatar: The Last Airbender set out to be a celebration of Asian cultures, something that isn’t seen often in the west, and it has resonated with people of all backgrounds all over the world as a result of that. What resulted with the casting of the Last Airbender film is a real, systematic issue in terms of Hollywood’s casting decisions and general attitudes towards Asians (whether east or south). It isn’t racist to be aware of people marginalizing other races; we unfortunately do not live in a post-racial society (as a brown-skinned south Asian, I definitely have had occasional encounters and experiences that will affirm that sad reality), and we can’t afford to be “color-blind” when this marginalization is still going on. I just want to explain why we feel this way, to help people understand that we are indeed sincere and justified in our conviction that this is wrong.
If you have any other questions or comments, please e-mail me so we can continue to discuss this. I mean this very earnestly and I only have the most positive of intentions: this is a point of discussion and dialogue that’s important to have, and I’d be very happy to talk about this with you.
Thanks. :)
Some of you may remember a rant or two I’ve posted in the past about the whitewashing of the forthcoming film adaptation of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
Well, it’s finally almost here.
So here is my plea to you, as an Indian-American and a huge fan of the original show: if you want to watch it, don’t watch it in theaters. (Take that to mean what you will.) Please don’t support this film financially, because that will signal to Hollywood that it’s okay to engage in racist and discriminatory casting.
If you missed my rant and all the talk of racebending, here it is in a nutshell:
Avatar: The Last Airbender was a wildly popular and critically acclaimed animated series. Its creators wanted to explore Asian tales and myths instead of the typical western ones. Everything about the show–the characters (clearly Inuit and Tibetan and east Asian), their names, their clothing, the architecture, the writing, the bending styles (based on distinct forms of martial arts), the governmental and political systems, the other major and minor artifacts throughout–is based off Asian culture and religion and mythology. Not only that, but they took great pains to make sure they were faithful depictions, and not in the last bit stereotypical, employing cultural and martial arts consultants and a traditional Chinese calligrapher.
M. Night Shyamalan’s film adaptation, though, involves a cast of white protagonists and dark-skinned minority antagonists (Indian, Iranian, Maori). The casting call asked for actors who were “Caucasian or any ethnicity,” so this really wasn’t them casting whoever they thought was right for the parts–they went straight for white actors.
This is wrong for several reasons:
- Part of the show’s success was rooted in its diversity and ethnic richness, something that’s quite rare in western media and something that resonated with millions of viewers of all backgrounds and ages. These casting decisions demonstrate a total lack of awareness of what was so significant about the show.
- It is well documented that Asians very rarely are the primary characters in American movies and TV shows. This would have been a prime chance to highlight talented Asian actors.
- Hollywood is perpetuating the ridiculous notion that Asians can’t carry major films and can’t draw in the same money that white actors can.
- There is no ambiguity in the characters’ ethnicities, as many try to argue: every single other facet of the Avatar universe is Asian, so it follows that the characters are meant to be Asian as well.
- It’s not reverse racism to want Asians to play these roles: it’s a cry against institutionalized racial discrimination and whitewashing in Hollywood, which has occurred in a number of other movies historically and recently (Prince of Persia, Dragonball, 21). Racist depictions are nothing new, either (Sex and the City 2 and its really horrible depiction of the Middle East). Jacksone Rathbone, the actor playing Sokka, was quoted as saying that he needs to “shave his head and get a tan” in order to play the part. (“Get a tan?” Are you kidding me?)
- How on earth can an Indian-American director allow for such racist casting, and then claim that he isn’t being racist? What a slap in the face that is.
Think about this, too: one of the things that made Pirates of Dark Water so unique was the diversity of its cast. Ren, Tula, and Ioz–none of them are white! Tons of fans have noticed that, too, and commented on it in a very approving way over the years. Conceptual artist Floro Dery did state that he based Tula’s character design heavily off Middle Eastern influences, and you can see similar influence in Ren and Ioz’s character designs.
So, yeah…that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ve ranted about this so many times to so many people that I occasionally forget some of my speaking points because I thought I hit them already, haha. Please do steer clear of seeing this film, or at least don’t go see it in theaters. The show deserves a much better adaptation than this, and Asians have been jerked around by Hollywood more than enough already.
FREAKING WORDPRESS. AUGH. Please pardon me as I sort out where the index page’s layout went.
[Edit #1] This will teach me. BACK UP YOUR FILES. I have a copy of the WordPress files dating back to 2007…man. Let’s see what happens.
[Edit #2] Very weird…my WordPress theme folder was untouched, but for some reason it started pointing to the default. So I just uploaded my PoDW theme into the default folder, and we seem to be back. Extra motivation for redesigning the site, in case there are any bugs…do let me know if anything looks off, though. It should just be limited to the index/blog section.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has had one somewhat amusing side effect: a number of Pirates of Dark Water references are showing up on Twitter.
@callingshotgun Was early 90s cartoon “Pirates of Dark Water” environmental propoganda like “Captain Planet”, but more subtle? BP fiasco makes me wonder.
@OddKnowledge if only solving the BP oil spill was simple as finding 13 treasures like on Pirates of Dark Water http://bit.ly/cRlXL2
FYI, the link is safe; it goes to the opening of the show on YouTube.
KeatonThomas The cartoon The Pirates of Dark Water was actually a misinterpreted political warning about off shore drilling…. #thedarkwaterisreal
Love the hashtag.
MagnusApollo “the Pirates of Dark water” who knew that that old cartoon would have been so prophetic. Find those crystals people.
More prophetic than we realized, since they DID try using a gem to cap the leak, in the form of a diamond saw…yeah, kind of stretching, I know.
greekgodspeed BP + Oil Spill = The Pirates of Dark Water.
theconq19 Who would’ve thought Pirates of Dark Water would turn out to be a documentary?
And so on.
(This is not meant in any way to trivialize this devastating tragedy. BP’s attempts and failures and pathetic excuses make me sad and furious all at once–sad for the loss of both human and animal/marine life and the horrible devastation of the local ecosystems (there’s a real ripple effect in play, too, affecting much more than just that), and furious with BP for letting this happen to begin with.)
Anyway, moving on.
Something else posted to Twitter: there’s a section for PoDW at Behind the Voice Actors. It’s a breakdown, with photos, of the voice actors for the main and recurring characters.
Also, in response to a request I’ve gotten several times, I pulled together a video clip of the ending credits of episodes 1-5. They’re from the Japanese VHS releases, so they have the Dark Water opening and the HB “swirl” has been replaced with a couple of screens of Japanese credits.
Next up: more RPG character page scans. I SWEAR.
Hi, everyone! I hope you had a good May!
A couple of things related to the Sega Genesis game…
How do you find the other half of Ren’s sword in the Sunken Bridge level? I can’t remember if I asked you all about this some time ago or not, but I actually have never been able to find it. Zack inquired about it recently, which reminded me of it. (I mean beyond the DSILLER password you can input at the beginning–there’s supposed to be a way to find it within the Sunken Bridge level.)
And a little hidden trick/bug within the Pandawa Jungle: check it out. I had found one of these but not the other. I’m still not sure if it’s a bug or truly a set of hidden ladders. (Mad props to the person, though, both for posting it and for also choosing Tula for that board! I play Tula on as many boards in the Sega game as possible, but switch to Ren or Ioz for certain boards that call for a different balance of strength and speed.)
In other news, Jay/Dr. J passed on a link to The Redwood Connection, a nostalgia/toy-archive project he and his friends are working on, with a section focusing on the PoDW action figure line. It’s fun, and the site in general brings back memories of the random plays and stuff my friends and I would put on as kids. I miss that unbridled creativity.
And Dakota has passed on a link to the wikia.com section for PoDW, a wiki that can actually get as in-depth with its content as its users/contributors want it to (unlike Wikipedia, which has a set of standards for the kinds of things it displays on its main page, what gets broken off into sub-categories, etc.). Feel free to add away!
A few other folks have e-mailed requesting for the extra character pages in the RPG set–I am truly sorry I haven’t gotten on that, but I SWEAR I will soon. (Yeah, yeah, likely story…but I really mean it this time!)
Also, that paper-turned-letter that I wrote for my writing seminar, arguing for PoDW’s release on DVD, got full marks. I’m pretty thrilled about that–the prof thought I made a compelling argument, and actually said, “If anyone can get them to bring this pirate show back, it’s you!” Awwww. :) I’ll post it sometime soon if anybody’s actually interested.
There may be more submissions that need to go up (and if you sent me something but it either isn’t up or I never responded, please tell me!), but this is most of them.
- MERCHANDISE: new Wraith photos, Hungarian and Russian merchandise
- BURIED TREASURE: new eBay Hasbro toy ad
- IMAGES: concept – 3 eBay storyboard/matte painting images, links to my Flickr storyboard/concept art sets / cels – fan-submitted animation art
- INFORMATION: international (Russian episode titles)
- BY THE FANS: Unexplored (Donna C.) / Fanfiction (Son of Dangermouse) / Fanart (Victor, DeviantART link)
- DOWNLOADS: movies – three Russian torrent files (TSB, episodes 6-15–I’ve checked these and they do work)
- INDEX: Veoh sidebar link (thanks, Kristy!)
A little rant: Warner Bros. is yanking copies of the PoDW episodes off YouTube. (The previous guy hosting them had all the episodes yanked and his account suspended. Somebody new is hosting them, but WB has started yanking his episodes now, too.) It bothers me, since there’s no legal way to watch the show and they seem to be in no rush to rerelease it. There are still plenty of other ways to get the show, but it still is very annoying and offputting.
Anyway…good night!
Same site…different name. Farewell, Andorus’s Pirates of Dark Water Page. Hello, Always The Quest.
(At last!)
I’d put out a call for a new name a little while ago. This was one I’d thought about, then revisited after a couple of you guys also suggested it (thank you very much!), and realized that it just…works.
Not to mention, “Andorus’s Pirates of Dark Water Page”? Seriously? That name has not changed since the inception of this site in the summer of 1996–ancient history in web years! And this is no longer simply a “page,” nor has it been in nearly 14 years. (For those who are unclear about the distinction, a page is one individual part of a site. What you are reading now is on its own page. The larger whole of which it is a part is a website.)
Anyway, moving on!
Thank you very much for your suggestions for my paper! I submitted it yesterday–my professor had suggested I rework it into a letter, which ended up feeling far more natural–and will be posting that here once I get it back and make any edits he suggests. :) This could very well be the seed needed to start a full-fledged letter-writing campaign…especially since I was able to track down an address for Warner Home Video…
We’re in the middle of “finals week”–I have no final exams, per se, but plenty of final projects and papers. There’s still a lot more coming up, but I’m giving myself a break tonight and hope to update a few other things on the site, to attempt to chip away at this massive backlog of updates. I have started experimenting with different online plugins and tools for a more streamlined site redesign and to give myself a chance to mess around with modern web technologies as well–maybe that’ll finally come to fruition this summer.
On a general animation note, I was lucky enough to purchase a copy of The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston at a used bookstore today for only $20! It is said to be one of THE best books on character animation, as well as animation generally, and it was written by two of Disney’s Nine Old Men, or a team of their original animators who created so many of their original characters. I am so thrilled about this, and can’t wait to have a chance to really read/look through it!
So, anyway. Yay, new name! This has been a long time coming and I’m glad for it. Hope you all like it!
As part of a writing seminar course, I have to write an “argument” paper. As part of a little bet I had with myself to see if I could work PoDW into my coursework somehow, I’m arguing that PoDW should be revisited and/or released on DVD.
The question is: why?
Beyond just helping me out, this could be a good exercise in general. Why do we want PoDW out on DVD, or why do we want a remake? Is it to have a high-quality version for ourselves and revisit old memories? To introduce new audiences to the show? To hopefully get some insight on how the story would have ended through some kind of “extras” reel? To honor the fact that it was this great (if slightly obscure) jewel of American TV animation? What other reasons come to mind?
Please post away–it would be interesting to see your input and your motivations for wanting this. :) Thanks!
Okay, I was able to ask my question: “Hi! I wanted to ask about The Pirates of Dark Water. Does Warner Bros. have any plans to release it to DVD, or otherwise revisit it, in the foreseeable future? Thousands of fans have been hoping for a DVD release for years, and it seems like it would receive a great reception when the new Pirates of Caribbean movie comes out next year. Thanks!”
…and got an almost immediate response: Warner Home Video has no plans to release Pirates of Dark Water on DVD at this time.
Sigh. The whole format of this chat session has been very fast, and their answers have (for the most part) been very vague, unless they actually had forthcoming plans for releases or something else. I was a little surprised at how quickly they shot it down–does that mean they were anticipating it?
But at least I asked it, and several highly-ranking VPs saw the name of the show pop up before their eyes. That has to count for something. (Many thanks to Nathan for the addition of the Pirates of the Caribbean reference. I ran out of space before I could use the phrase “capitalize on its release,” though, but the idea is there.)
(Oh, and they butchered my name and referred to me as SmithAP, even though I had myself there as “SmithaP,” since, you know, that’s my name and all. That was a little irksome, haha.)
Read on for a list of all the titles that have been addressed, though!
* * * * *
A couple of us are in the chat right now. (E-mail me and let me know if you’re there! My chat handle is SmithaP.)
To refresh your memories, this chat involves several executives with the Marketing Department at Warner Home Video: Amit Desai (VP – Family, Animation, and Partner Brands Marketing), Rosemary Markson (VP – TV and Special Interest Marketing), and Melissa Hufjay McAlevey (VP – Marketing), and potentially some members of their teams. The chat tonight is solely about TV and animation. I’m bolding answers related to animation.
The inquiries so far have been about:
- Knots Landing
- The New Adventures of Old Christine
- SwatKATS: The Radical Squadron – WB’s response: “Re: SWAT Kats – we continue to evaluate the Hanna Barbera classic animation library and will certainly keep your enthusiasm in mind.”
- 80s cartoons, such as PacMan, Shirt Tales, and FangFace – WB’s response: “Saturday Morning Cartoons 1980’s 2 disc collection will street on May 4, 2010. Featured Series Include Monchhichis, Kwicky Koala Show, Thundarr the Barbarian, Mister T and Many Others!”
- DVDs of 1990s WB cartoons like “Histeria!”, “Detention”, “Road Rovers”, and “Taz-Mania”, as well as future releases of “Tiny Toons” and “Animaniacs” – WB’s response: “No plans at this time.”
- CHiPS
- Justice League and Batman Animated Blu-ray releases – WB’s response: “We are evaluating the entire dc comics animated library for blu-ray. We’re glad you love Justice League and Batman Animated! We’re also looking at further Tom & Jerry collections. Look for Tom & Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection on June 22nd. We think you’re going to love it!”
- Watership Down on Blu-ray and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home on DVD – WB didn’t respond to the WD request.
- B&W TV shows of the 1950s and 1960s
- DVD release of Cartoon Network’s “The Big Game” (Looney Tunes Superbowl parody) – WB’s response: “no plans on The Big Game at this time.”
- Silverhawks volume 2 – WB’s response: “No plans at this time.”
- Wondering if there are technical reasons that no pre-00s TV series have been released on Blu-ray
- 2000s animated titles (i.e. The Batman, Krypto the Superdog, Loonatics Unleashed, Legion of Super Heroes, Scooby Doo DTVs, Teen Titans, Tom and Jerry DTVs, Tom and Jerrry Tales) in widescreen on DVD in the future – they were produced for widescreen and shown as such in Australia, but only in pan-and-scan in the US – WB’s response: “We will consider this if and when we release them on Blu Ray.”
- the full Tom and Jerry Grape Ape show on DVD – WB’s response: “No plans at this time.”
- the complete Roots
- 2 Stupid Dogs – WB’s response: “no plans at this time.”
- Johnny Bravo – complete series, as well as seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5 / DVD releases of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero special editions – WB’s response: “Johnny Bravo: Season 1 will be out on June 15th. Please buy it so we can continue to bring more Johnny Bravo seasons! We continue to evaluate our DC Comics Animated Direct to Videos for Special Edition treatment.”
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?
- **PIRATES OF DARK WATER** – see above.
- V: The Final Battle
- Mighty Orbots – WB’s response: “no plans at this time.”
- The Adventures of Superboy – WB’s response: “Unfortunately, sales did not meet expectations so there are no future seasons planned. However, look for the animated Adventures of Superboy…coming in the future…done.”
- Growing Pains, season 2, and Perfect Strangers, season 3
- future plans for the Thundercats series – WB’s response: “The original series is out on DVD and we continue to explore new product configurations.”
- Night Court, and why are all Warner Premiere animated DC movies only 75 minutes long? – WB’s response: “Re: DCU movies…our research has shown that this is a good length but we’ve added our DC Showcase animated shorts (like The Spectre on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) that will provide you with more awesome DC action!”
- Popeye, CN shows (Two Stupid Dogs, Dexter’s Lab, Johnny Bravo) released in the CN hall of fame DVD series, pre-1953 Looney Tunes in the new Super Stars DVDs – WB’s response: “Regarding Popeye, you never know…we hear that there is a movie in development at Sony. Regarding Cartoon Network, we’ll be releasing Courage the Cowardly Dog on July 20th! Please go out and buy so we can continue to bring you more Cartoon Network Hall of Fame classics! Regarding Looney Tunes, the 8/10 releases of Looney Tunes Superstars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will have some remastered pre-1953 shorts.”
- the rest of Shaggy and Scooby Doo: Get A Clue on DVD, Scooby Doo on Blu-ray – WB’s response: “Shaggy and Scooby: Get A Clue Volume One is on dvd. There are no plans to release future volumes. We are evaluating bringing Scooby-Doo to Blu Ray.”
- request for elaboration about ThunderCats’ ‘product configurations’ and possible licensing deals (from the ThunderCatsLair.org team) – WB’s response: “We’ve told you as much as we are able at this point but we appreciate your interest.”
- Jack and Bobby, Dr. Who
- another shout-out for Superboy and Silverhawks, and TimeTrax
- Babylon 5 TV movies
- Mama’s Family, Drew Carey, Murphy Brown
- Moral Orel, working with Viz to bring anime to more locations – WB’s response: “No plans to release Moral Orel at this time. Our deal with Viz will absolutely bring anime to more retail locations.”
- Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound – WB’s response: “Yes, we are exploring new Yogi Bear DVDs timed to the upcoming theatrical release. Stay tuned for more details!”
- Duck Dodgers TV series on DVD/Blu-ray, DCAU TV series (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Teen Titans, etc.) on Blu-ray – “No plans at this time to release Duck Dodgers on DVD. We are evaluating all DCAU series for Blu Ray.”
- Treasure Island 1990 TV version
- One Tree Hill, Time Trax
- Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) in Blu-ray
- why is WHV releasing less popular titles than Dexter on DVD first? – WB’s response: “We believe that Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Dexter’s Lab are equally popular. Again, our hope is Cartoon Network’s Hall of Fame will be a long continuing series.”
- a slew of requests for Yogi Bear movie titles and Huckleberry Hound – WB’s response: “We do plan to release Yogi Bear content but can’t comment on specifics at this time.”
- shorter-lived series from years past, as well as Tiny Toon Adventures vol. 3 – WB didn’t respond to the Tiny Toons request
- Third Watch, Brimstone
- Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown and issues with the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Blu-ray discs – WB’s response: “We’re evaluating the Peanuts library for blu ray.”
- Pac-Man on DVD – WB’s response: “no plans at this time.”
- Dallas TV movies, Knots Landing
- Flintstones: I Yabba Dabba Do and Hollyrock a Bye Baby on DVD – WB’s response: “no plans at this time.”
- Flapjack/Chowder season sets or new volumes – WB’s response: “no plans at this time.”
- 1968 Filmation Superman and Batman series – WB’s response: “a new Superfriends release will be coming out this year. If there’s more classic DC Animated content…we’ll put it out!”
- Freddy’s Nightmares, Eight Is Enough, China Beach, Sisters, Alice, Spenser: For Hire, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Shazam!, Logan’s Run, Captain Caveman, Men In Trees (from a TVShowsOnDVD.com editor)
- Ed, Edd, and Eddy / Johnny Bravo / Samurai Jack movie and seasons – WB’s response: “We already answered your Johnny Bravo question tonight. We also received your email 20 minutes ago regarding Ed, Edd n Eddy. There aren’t plans for E, E & E at this time. Samurai Jack Seasons 1-4 did well on DVD and we’ll look into the feature length movie.”
- ALICE, FLO, Friends on Blu-ray
Other bits of news about animation releases:
- Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings remastered animated deluxe edition comes out on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow (April 6)
- Peanuts 1970s Vol. II Collection – will be released on June 10
- Looney Tunes Superstars: Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck 2-disc collections (with newly remastered, new-to-DVD shorts) – will be released on August 10
- 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo – will be released June 29
(it’s 10:10pm…I’m starting to feel like this is getting repetitive and really need to get back to work. Sorry, guys. Hopefully this was valuable to some of you, and hopefully TVShowsOnDVD.com will post their own transcript for your own perusal.)
A week from today is the Home Theater Forum chat with Warner Home Video. If you can, please be sure to tune in: it runs from 5 PM to 8 PM Pacific (so 8PM-11PM Eastern).
As mentioned in the previous post, this is a rare chance for Pirates of Dark Water fans to mobilize and talk directly to someone with AOL Time Warner about the show! It’s Turner Home Video that’s been releasing the Hanna-Barbera series on DVD, but just planting the seed of awareness with someone “official” could be a very promising first step, and they may have some insight on how to contact THV. Please mark your calendars and spread the word!