Avatar: The Last Airbender is an all-time classic animated series. Since its inception, the cartoon has been praised for the depths of its characters, the beauty of its animation, and the richness of its cultural representations. Fans around the world have grown enamored with the world presented in Avatar, but there’s only so many projects out there that are actually set within it. While fans will soon be rewarded with a new theatrical film and live-action Netflix adaptation, they’ll have to wait a while for a new animated series – and in the meantime, there’s plenty of similar shows to check out.
Avatar pulls a lot of inspiration from Japanese anime, like the films of Studio Ghibli, but its sources of inspiration are as eclectic and varied as any other work. Avatar was ahead of its time, and it has heavily inspired the current landscape of the animation industry. Luckily for animation fans, that’s resulted in a long list of prominent series that are well worth checking out.
1. Gravity Falls (2012 – 2016)
Gravity Falls is an incredibly charming – and secretly very dark – series. Created by Alex Hirsch, the show tells the story of one fateful summer for twins Dipper (Jason Ritter) and Mabel Pines (Kristen Schaal). The duo are sent to live with their great-uncle, whom they call ‘Grunkle’ Stan (Hirsch) – a notoriously sleazy individual. His supernatural tourist museum turns out to not be much of a scam, however, and as the summer wears on, it becomes pretty clear that the town of Gravity Falls, Oregon is a magnet for weirdness.
As Dipper and Mabel unravel the secrets of a journal documenting all of the weirdness going on in Gravity Falls, they must face gnomes, clones, and an interdimensional, triangular demon who hopes to bring about the Weirdmaggedon. Fans might recognize a few voices from Avatar: The Last Airbender in this unconventional tale.
2. Steven Universe/Steven Universe: Future (2013 – 2019); (2019 – 2020)
Steven Universe was a milestone in children’s and family animation. The series was contemporaneous with The Legend of Korra, which featured the first openly bisexual main character in a children’s animation in its 2014 finale. Steven Universe continued to expand LGBTQ+ representation, with many (if not most!) of its characters being gender nonconforming. In its final season, the show even featured a lesbian wedding – including an on-screen kiss.
But it’s not just its efforts at representation that should be praised. Steven Universe has a surprisingly deep story about loss, identity, and mental health. Steven (Zach Callison) grows tremendously throughout the series, which also has plenty of entertaining side-characters. In between the plot and lore heavy episodes are plenty of slice-of-life adventures and some seriously catchy songs performed by musical legends.
3. The Owl House (2020 – 2023)
One of the more recent entries on this list, The Owl House actually only concluded earlier this year. The series is another that pushes LGBTQ+ representation far. With an eerie, spooky aesthetic, the show is an unconventional one: it’s all about not fitting in, after all!
The Owl House tells the tale of Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles), a young girl who dreams of becoming a witch. When she discovers a portal to a demonic realm known as the Boiling Isles, Luz discovers witchcraft is quite real – and her mentor, Eda the Owl Lady (Wendie Malick), is the greatest witch on the islands. With the help of young demon King (Hirsch, once again), Luz sets out to find a place of belonging. Sadly, the series ended up being cut short over at Disney, with the third season being cut down to just three 40-minute specials. Still, it’s a fantastic watch, and maybe someday Disney will take a second look at the franchise.
4. Adventure Time (2010 – 2018)
Adventure Time had an amazing run; for 10 seasons and 283 episodes, fans fell in love with the Land of Ooo, a post-apocalyptic future where magic once again runs wild. Viewers follow Finn the Human Boy (Jeremy Shada), who’s possibly the last human entirely, and his brother, Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio), as they go on adventures and battle monsters for treasure.
Adventure Time‘s unique appeal was its ability to adapt. The series has plenty of goofy episodes, but it also has episodes that tackle serious matters – and Adventure Time gives them the weight they deserve. While one episode might deal with Jake the Dog spending a day as a brick in a wall (it makes sense in context), another might be an allegory for mental deterioration in the elderly. It’s a great cartoon to watch with family – and might lead to some interesting conversations. The series also served as a starting off point for Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar – whose influence helped lead to the popular ship between Marceline (Olivia Olsen) and Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch).
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars / Star Wars: Rebels (2008 – 2020) / (2014 – 2018)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels are like two sides of the same coin. Both shows are helmed by Dave Filoni – whom Star Wars fans are now well acquainted with – and featured contributions from George Lucas himself. The first series introduced the world to Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), whom is now getting her own live-action series, where she’s portrayed by Rosario Dawson.
Star Wars: Rebels serves as a sequel to The Clone Wars after the latter’s cancellation. Both series help fill in the gaps that the movies don’t explain – including the rise of anti-Jedi sentiment and the horrific effects the Clone Wars had on its clone combatants. At their apex, both shows are heavy hitters.
6. Gargoyles (1994 – 1997)
The only release on this list that’s actually older than Avatar: The Last Airbender in its entirety, Gargoyles was incredibly forward-thinking. With its season long arcs and mature storylines, which includes takes on gun violence, lots of deep dives into Shakespearean literature and religious themes, the series was criminally underrated for its time.
In fact, Disney seems unready to acknowledge the presence of a bonafide masterpiece in its oeuvre to this day. The series is about a group of six Gargoyles that are frozen as statues until the mid-1990s. With the help of Detective Elisa Maza (Salli Richardson), the group must adapt to modern-day New York, their new home and protectorate. Star Trek fans might also be pleased to know that several members of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast are present in the series.
7. The Dragon Prince (2018 – Present)
The Dragon Prince has a lot of creative overlap with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Crew members on The Dragon Prince, such as series co-creator Aaron Ehasz and director Giancarlo Volpe, were instrumental to Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s creative process. Their connections with the series evidently helped when picking out the cast of the series – several voice actors from Avatar are present in the cast list of this show.
Set in the fictional continent of Xadia, the series utilizes six sources of magic – the Moon, Sky, Sun, Earth, Ocean and the Stars – from which humans, elves, and dragons draw power. Unfortunately, the co-existence of these races is complicated by several factors, including, naturally, dark magic. Four seasons of the series have aired, with a total of seven planned and ordered.
8. Over the Garden Wall (2014)
Over the Garden Wall is a delightful Halloween watch. The series is like a tribute to Americana and American folklore; with a New England setting, the mini-series (which was created by Patrick McHale) embodies that feeling of encroaching autumn.
The series stars Elijah Wood as Wirt, a teen boy in charge of his younger brother, Greg (Collin Dean). The two find themselves lost in a strange forest called the Unknown, where they encounter a strange woodsman (Christopher Lloyd), a talking bluebird (Melanie Lynskey), and an odd, antlered apparition known as the Beast (Samuel Ramey). The series also has a catchy soundtrack, and at just 10, 11-minute episodes, the show’s about the length of the average movie. “Whimsical” would be an apt description.
9. Samurai Jack (2001 – 2004)
Samurai Jack initially aired before Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s release. Unfortunately, due to shortsightedness, the Genndy Tartakovsky series was cancelled and left without an ending for 13 years. Finally, in 2017, the series transitioned over to Adult Swim, where Jack (Phil LaMarr) and Aku (Greg Baldwin, taking over from Mako) engaged in their long-awaited, climactic battle.
The series contains plenty of clever animation sequences and has some clever workarounds for some of the stringent censorship that was placed on the series (after all, Jack certainly wouldn’t be able to use his katana on another human when the show was on Cartoon Network!) When the series came back for Adult Swim, it was with greater freedom, allowing for a more mature story to be told – all without going overboard.
10. Young Justice (2010 – 2022)
Another series by Greg Weisman, Young Justice is a reimagining of the DC Universe as told through the eyes of its young heroes. Unlike other superhero media and cartoons, Young Justice‘s greatest strength was that its status quo was never the same. Heroes died and stayed dead, time moved forward, and characters aged.
It’s a delight to see characters like Robin (Jesse McCartney) come into their own and take up new mantles. The series also has a massive myth arc that spans every season of the show – unfortunately, thanks to its latest cancellation, the series will probably never get to tell the story of Vandal Savage’s (the late Miguel Ferrer, then David Kaye) battle against Darkseid (Michael Leon Wooley) final battle – although a campaign to continue the show does exist.
Each and every one of these shows has their own unique draws. They may not be the exact same series as Avatar: The Last Airbender, but they all bring something new to the table. Avatar is curre
Published: Feb 4, 2022 11:11 am