Nickelodeon’s groundbreaking Avatar: The Last Bender and The Legend of Korea series return with an epic 2-series DVD collection featuring a bonus disc and collectible art cards. The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-ray Collection has arrived! We were able to request a review copy – so let’s talk about it! (full disclosure – I did enlist the help of my daughter-in-law, Ashley, as she is a big fan of the show. Opinions and thoughts are hers)
I’m so excited to be discussing this newest collection of one of my all-time favorite shows! Back in March I shared my thoughts on the The Legend of Korra Steelbook Collection. The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-ray Collection does contain the same episodes of the shows, but new bonus features that are truly worth owning. And can we talk about the collectible art cards? Let’s dive in and get started!
The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-ray Collection features over an hour of all-new and exclusive bonus features including an Auditory Exploration with the Avatarverse Creators; a conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Bosco, hosts of the Avatar: Braving the Elements podcast; and 8 collectible art cards!
Experience the complete Avatar saga with Aang and Korra. From the discovery of Avatar Aang in the iceberg in Avatar: The Last Airbender to Korra’s heroic journey to set things right in Republic City through The Legend of Korra, relive all the epic air, earth, water and firebending in the ultimate Avatar collection.
The bonus content in this collection is really what you want to focus on. The bonus disc features an Auditory Exploration with the Avatarverse Creators and a Conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Basco – Hosts of the Avatar: Braving the Elements Podcast. Let’s talk about these!
Auditory Explorations with the Avatarverse Creators
In the Auditory Explorations with the Avatarverse Creators, we get to sit down with the creators of the shows as well as their main composer, sound designers and folly mixers for the music and sounds for the shows. Being able to watch them talk about the inspirations and hard work that goes into the scores adds a new level of appreciation for the show. As someone who often downloads movie soundtracks because of how they make me feel, and has listened to the Avatar the Last Airbender(ATLA) and Legends of Korra(LoK) soundtracks multiple times, it’s amazing to know how they put these auditory storytelling elements together. I really enjoyed getting to see how much these creative minds truly love the work they have put into both series.
A Conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Basco
The two hosts of Nickelodeon’s “Braving the Elements” podcast, Janet Varney (Voice of Korra) and Dante Basco (Voice of Zuko) talk about the two avatars as well as their friends and close allies that have helped them throughout the series. Varney and Basco delve into the things that make each character so special to the avatar gang, or “Gaang” as they are called in the first series. They also discuss how those details help build the story and make the show so relatable because fans find parts of themselves in these characters. A Conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Basco definitely has that conversational podcast feel, even though these two friends and actors are sitting right next to each other.
To all ATLA/LoK fans, these two new featurettes cannot be found anywhere else and are a welcome addition to any collection you might have. I have watched this show since the beginning (2005) when it originally aired and have grown up as the shows did, so these new ways to discuss the shows and the inside details with the people who created these characters and worlds just furthers the love and appreciation for the entire fandom. The added bonus of the art cards for the various characters really is the icing on this cake, and are worthy of being framed, that’s for sure!
As I mentioned, this collection does include all episodes for both series:
Avatar: The Last Airbender:
Book One: Water
Season 1 – 20 episodes – Aired 2/21/05 – 12/2/05
Book Two: Earth
Season 2 – 18 episodes – Aired 3/17/06 – 12/1/06
Book Three: Fire
Season 3 – 16 episodes – Aired 9/21/07 – 7/19/08
The Legend of Korra:
Book One: Air
Season 1 – 12 episodes – Aired 4/14/12 – 6/23/12
Book Two: Spirits
Season 2 – 14 episodes – Aired 9/13/13 – 11/22/13
Book Three: Change
Season 3 – 13 episodes – Aired 6/27/14 – 8/22/14
Book Four: Balance
Season 4 – 13 episodes – Aired 10/3/14 – 12/19/14
The bonus content from the Steelbook collection are also included in this collection:
Avatar: The Last Airbender:
Book One: Water
- Behind the Scenes Kung Fu Featurette
- The Making of Avatar – From Real Life to Animation
- Behind the Scenes: The Voices of Avatar
- Ask the Creators Featurette
- Original Uncut Animatic – Episode # 15: Bato of the Water Tribe
- 4 Audio Commentaries with Creator, Cast & Crew
- Features Dee Bradley Baker (voices of Momo and Appa), Ben Wynn (sound effects), Aaron Ehasz (Head Writer) and Co-Creators: Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino
- Behind the Scenes with the Avatar Cast & Crew
- Avatar Pilot Episode with Audio Commentary
- The Making of Avatar – Inside the Sound Studios
- The Making of Avatar – Inside the Korean Animation Studios
Book Two: Earth
- Original Uncut Animatic – Episode # 21: The Avatar State
- 7 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew
- Interview with Creators and M. Night Shyamalan
- The Essence of Bending with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu
- Avatar Super Deformed Shorts
- Bending Battle
- Swamp Skiin’ Throwdown
- School Time Shipping
- Escape From the Spirit World: Animated Graphic Novel
Book Three: Fire
- 11 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew
- The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation
- Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con
The Legend of Korra:
Book One: Air
- Audio Commentary (episodes 101-112)
- The Legend of Puppetbender Presents “The Making of a Legend: The Untold Story – Part I”
- Creator’s Favorite Scenes: Animatics
- Welcome to Republic City
- The Revelation (2)
- The Voice in the Night
- The Spirit of Competition (2)
- And the Winner Is…
- When Extremes Meet
- Turning the Tides
- Endgame
Book Two: Spirits
- Audio Commentary (episodes 113-126)
- Scene Bending
- Rebel Spirit Scene 1
- Rebel Spirit Scene 2
- The Southern Lights Scene 1
- The Southern Lights Scene 2
- Civil Wars, Pt. 1
- Civil Wars, Pt. 2
- Peacekeepers
- Beginnings: Part 1
- Beginnings: Part 2
- The Guide
- A New Spiritual Age
- Night of a Thousand Stars
- Harmonic Convergence
- Darkness Falls
- Light in the Dark
- Kindred Spirits: Tenzin’s Family
- Inside the Book of Spirits
- The Re-telling of Korra’s Journey
- Feuding Spirits: Korra’s Family
Book Three: Change
- Audio Commentary (episodes 201-213)
- The Spirit of an Episode
- A Breath of Fresh Air
- Rebirth
- The Earth Queen
- In Harm’s Way
- The Metal Clan
- Old Wounds
- Original Airbenders
- The Terror Within
- The Stakeout
- Long Live the Queen
- The Ultimatum
- Enter the Void
- Venom of the Red Lotus
Book Four: Balance
- Audio Commentary (episodes 214-226)
- Kuvira vs. Prince Wu
- Republic City Hustle: Parts 1-3
- The Legend of the Puppetbender Presents “The Making of a Legend: The Untold Story – Part II”
- Legend of Korra: New York Comic-Con Panel Featurette
And new to the collection is the Bonus Disc:
Bonus Disc:
Auditory Exploration with the Avatarverse Creators
A Conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Basco – Hosts of the Avatar: Braving the Elements Podcast
A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.
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