When Paul Sun-Hyung Lee stepped onto the set of Avatar: The Last Airbender, his first reaction was simple: “Just nerding out,” the actor, who plays Uncle Iroh tells Tudum. “I saw Sokka’s club, I saw Aang’s glider, the Pai Sho coin that Iroh has with the White Lotus on it….”
In fact, the number of hidden (and not-so-hidden) references in the live action series to the original animated version is “bountiful,” says Lee. Showrunner Albert Kim says that he and his team purposefully paid tribute: “There’s a lot of Easter eggs in the show that hopefully fans will have fun digging out.”
Elizabeth Yu, who plays Fire Nation princess Azula, told Netflix that she and her castmates couldn’t help but become megafans of the animated series while filming. “Everything we’ve done comes out of a true appreciation and respect for what this show means to fans,” she said. “Because it means so much to us as well.”
To see exactly how they paid homage, read on to learn more about the biggest Easter eggs in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
1. Four members of the animated show’s voice cast appear in the Netflix series.
Those would be Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai in the live action, General Fong in the animated series), Clyde Kusatsu (Pasang in the live action, several voices in the animated series), George Takei (Koh in the live action, prison rig warden in the animated series), and James Sie (aka the one and only Cabbage Merchant).
Lee was so excited about the Cabbage Merchant that he took a picture of the cabbage cart and was tempted to post it online as the show was filming, just to show fellow fans of the series, saying, “Don’t worry, we got this, folks. We’re doing this right. We’re not just sitting here playing pinochle on the side. The attention to detail is right there, and everybody cares about it.”
Ian Ousley, who plays Sokka, agrees, saying, “Getting to meet [Sie] and say ‘My... My... My cabbages!’ with him was incredible. We did it so much. We got it on tape!”
2. King Bumi’s palace contains several statues and paintings of Flopsie, his pet goat gorilla. (Yes, goat gorilla.)
“We weren’t able to use the living Flopsie in our story,” explains Kim, “but you not only see these giant statues of Flopsie there, you see portraits of Flopsie on the wall and you realize that this was someone important to Bumi in the past. Fans will pick it up! I don’t think any of the new viewers will know what any of that means, except that that looks like a really strange creature.”
3. The Blue Spirit mask is hanging in the far back of a kiosk in Omashu Market. Eagle-eyed fans should look out for a few more iconic masks from the animated series.
4. Aang crashes his air scooter into a statue in Episode 2, “Warriors,” a direct homage to the famous title sequence of the animated series.
“I saw Aang’s glider, and I was like, ‘Oh!’ and just died over that,” says Lee.
5. Many of Bumi’s lines come directly from the original cartoon.
Including one of his most famous puns: “Lettuce leaf.” (Let us leave, duh.)
6. The fifth episode of the season, “Spirited Away,” features bar patrons in the Earth Kingdom recounting stories they’ve heard of the Avatar’s exploits, which all come from the original series.
“They reference actual episodes,” Kim confirms. “So you realize time has passed and they’ve had adventures that we haven’t seen in between episodes — and they’re all direct references to actual stories from the first season of the animated show."
7. Katara is seen eating her favorite food at the Agna Qel’a feast in Episode 7, “The North.”
That’s right: stewed sea prunes.
8. An interaction between Sokka and Yue in that same episode echoes a very funny exchange between the characters in the animated series.
When Aang returns from seeing Avatar Kuruk, he spots Sokka giving Yue a gift. She thinks it’s a bear, but it’s actually a carving of a fish that Sokka made for her.
9. Costume designer Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh and team kept the color palettes of the original animated series for each nation’s costumes.
The Air Nomads wear orange, yellow, rust, and saffron; the Fire Nation is outfitted in every shade of red; the Earth Kingdom’s hues evoke springtime with greens, browns, and purples; and the Water Tribe’s costumes draw inspiration from the Arctic with countless shades of blue, from ice to azure.
10. Avatar Roku’s costume references his companion, a dragon.
Although Avatar Roku’s companion isn’t seen in the new series, his costume incorporates scales by way of acknowledgment.
11. The first piece of music licensed from the original animated series was “Leaves from the Vine.”
It was especially important to play the song during Lu Ten’s funeral scene in Episode 4, “Into the Dark.”
12. Zuko’s burn scar had 17 different designs before its final iteration.
Actor Dallas Liu and makeup designer Rita Ciccozzi decided to run it through the character’s eyebrow, a nod to the animated character’s design.
13. The tapestry of Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar Roku’s temple is based on the original series’ design.
With Daniel Dae Kim’s likeness added, of course.
14. Keep your eyes peeled on the sculptures that begin to glow in the first episode as Zuko realizes the Avatar has returned.
The props department created dozens of hand-carved figurines designed to represent all of the known Avatars.
Additional reporting by Ariana Romero and Christopher Hudspeth.
