Netflix’s Live Action ‘Avatar’ Better Have Some Cute Animals

As we’ve covered before, 2010’s The Last Airbender taught us all the things a live-action Avatar series shouldn’t be. But if the new take on Aang, Katara, and Sokka’s journey to unite the four kingdoms is going to work it needs to include one other hugely important yet often overlooked detail: Netflix’s live action Avatar: The Last Airbender better have some cute animals.

Adorable, cuddly animals were always integral to the secret sauce that made the original Nicktoon so great. After Katara and Sokka found a mysterious bald boy trapped in the ice, what convinced them that Aang was truly a well-meaning kid in over his head? Aang’s love of otter penguin sledding, of course. The last airbender even entered Katara and Sokka’s world with two cuddly heroes of his own, Appa the flying bison and Momo the winged lemur.

In 2005’s Avatar Appa and Momo weren’t just Aang’s pets, they were part of the team. It wasn’t unusual for Appa to fly in and rescue the gang at the last moment or for Momo to snatch a much-needed key. Entire episodes revolved around Appa’s exhaustion and inability to fly. Likely due to some combination of its breakneck pacing and compact runtime, M. Night Shyamalan’s live action take on the series missed that. And it also let us down in the cuteness department.

Making Appa and Momo adorable wasn’t just a marketing necessity for a children’s show looking for merchandising opportunities, though that certainly helped. Appa’s exasperated sighs and Momo’s giant twitching ears gave this often-dark children’s show some much-needed levity. At its core, Avatar is the story of how a 12-year-old kid lost everyone he ever knew and is forced to save the world. That’s bleak. Watching Aang grapple with these huge responsibilities and survivor’s guilt can be devastating. And that’s why we need Appa and Momo to flop onscreen and lighten the mood.

Instead of giving us a lovably derpy steed, The Last Airbender gave us this Neverending Story looking thing:

Sure, 2010’s Appa is more majestic than his animated counterpart, but we don’t need majestic. We need silly to balance out the literal war engulfing these children. That’s nothing compared to what happened to poor Momo during his limited screen time:

That’s just Zoboomafoo with bigger ears.

But even more than companionship and comedic relief, Avatar‘s animals symbolize something much more powerful. They represent the correct order of the universe in this world that’s been torn apart by battle. This parallel is most clearly seen when Aang, Katara, and Sokka enter the Earth Kingdom. While Aang is struggling to learn how to earthbend he finds guidance in the badgermoles, ancient animals that are considered to be the original earthbenders. From the way the blind badgermoles navigate their tunnels without relying on sight, Aang comes to learn how to control Earth himself. Also thanks to his new friend Toph he and his friends start to understand a more sophisticated method of fighting.

Netflix has already proven that it can create painfully adorable and believable CGI animals with dignity. Okja, Bong Joon-ho’s superpig creation in the film of the same name, is the ultimate realization of that marvelous trifecta. Just look at the big guy:

Not only is Okja a delight whose adorableness is able to cut through this movie’s message of capitalist evil, but he’s wise both as a companion to Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) and a model to emulate. Time and again Okja demonstrates his intelligence as he risks his own life to protect Mija. At the same time his kindness, trustworthy nature, and his dietary consumption of only what’s necessary makes him an aspirational idol. Okja may be a superpig but he’s far from merely a superpig, just like Appa was always so much more than merely a flying bison.

When Netflix’s live action Avatar series premieres everyone is going to make a big deal about how the bending looks. That’s a vital and exciting part of this iconic series. But you know what’s equally important as water, earth, fire, and air? The lovely, wise creatures that inhabited these lands, long before they were kingdoms. Don’t forget to give them adorably smushable faces, Netflix. It’s important.

Where to stream Avatar: The Last Airbender