The creators' "inner kids" provided main concepts like bending the elements, while their adult selves took over to create the complex world and its characters.

One thing that helps if you're creating a show aimed at younger audiences is remembering the sorts of things you liked when you were that age. Both Konietzko and DiMartino loved immersive worlds in movies, books and TV series, and Konietzko credits their "inner kid" with providing the main concepts, like "how cool it would be to bend the elements." He notes that, after that, their adult selves took over to create the complex world and its characters. "We try to be honest with this fiction, and I think that sincerity comes through in the final product. We're lucky that kids and 'inner kids' have really connected with the show."

It's impossible to know how successful you're going to be, though, until you get the work out there. Konietzko cites Brad Bird's Iron Giant as a beautiful and heartfelt film that should have been an instant commercial success. "Unfortunately the market isn't always fair. It can take a long time for a project to find its audience. All I can say is that I tried to enjoy each part of the process, from development, to the pilot, to each of the three seasons. I just wanted to enjoy it while it lasted, because working on your own creations is incredibly satisfying.

"The biggest goal I had was for Mike and I and everyone who has worked on the show along the way to finish telling this story. It would have been a shame if it were cut short before we could share the ending. Now that we are working on the final episodes of Book Three, I can say that the success of the show has been a wonderful benefit beyond my personal goal."

Avatar is also set to become a live-action film, to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan, with DiMartino and Konietzko serving as executive producers. So far Konietzko has found the experience felicitous: "Night has been really great and open with his creative process. We've had a few meetings so far, but it is pretty early in the process as he is finishing up another film first. We are really excited to see Night's interpretation of our work, and to see the show take on this new form."

For the immediate future, though, fans watching the third season unfold can expect the usual "epic, Asian-influenced martial arts, fantastical action, adventurous comedy, and dramatic showings of the four elements!" More seriously, Konietzko assures us that all of the various story arcs will culminate in an exciting conclusion. "Aang is getting ready to own up to his destiny as the Avatar."

Craig J. Clark is an occasional contributor to AWN. He writes an online comic strip called Dada.