Two of the most memorable songs from Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender have been adapted into Netflix’s new adaptation of the series. Rather than make viewers wait for a second season to hear “Secret Tunnel” and “Leaves From the Vine,” the live-action version will both move to the fourth episode of season one.
In “The Cave of Two Lovers,” the second episode of the second season of the original series, Anne and his friends meet a band of musical nomads who lead them through an underground cave system to the earth-shaking city of Omashu. Masu. Along the way, they sing “Secret Tunnel.” This is an infectiously simple and bright earworm that has become a fan favorite.
Season 2’s 15th episode, “The Story of Ba Sing Se,” is considered one of the best episodes of “Avatar,” eschewing the show’s usual format and instead introducing six episodes about different characters. are doing. One of his most touching moments in the entire series occurs in a scene featuring the retired general mourning Uncle Iroh’s late son, Rikuten. Iroh sings “Leaves From the Vine (Little Soldier Boy)” in a touching tribute to his son, and then dedicates the episode to Mako Iwamatsu, Iroh’s voice actor, who passed away from cancer before it aired. A title card was displayed.
Netflix’s live-action “Avatar” puts both songs in a slightly different context. In episode 4, Katara (Kiawentio) and Sokka (Ian Owsley) run into the same “Secret Tunnel” singer without Aang (Gordon Cormier). The song is prefaced with new lyrics: “When you find yourself in the dark / And all you see.” It’s rock and stone / Remember that precious gifts must be buried deep / So dig a little and you’ll find / The jewels of my heart. ”
Later, an orchestral performance of “Leaves From the Vine” plays during a flashback scene in which a young Zuko (Dallas James Liu) comforts Iroh (Paul Seung-Hyun Lee) during Lu Ten’s funeral.
said composer Takeshi Furukawa, who was a fan of the Nickelodeon show before joining the Netflix version. variety About writing a new song to accompany “Secret Tunnel,” working with a large Vienna orchestra to record “Leaves From the Vine,” and that fateful phone call with the composer of the original series.
Provided by Netflix
This version of “Secret Tunnel” contains more lyrics than the original. How did you expand on that for the Netflix adaptation?
There are 2 songs. There’s an original song that I wrote called “Jewel of My Heart,” and they sing it when Sokka picks up the shaker. And as they enter the tunnel, they hear the minstrels begin to sing “The Secret Tunnel”. It was a collaboration with showrunner Albert Kim. The original lyrics were something along the lines of “Far above the top of the Colau Mountains, there is a town called Omas.” But then Albert wanted to avoid a direct reference to Omas, so we changed it to “Jewel of My Heart.” I think that’s better.
Were the actors actually singing the songs in the recording?
Many minstrel actors have musical training. I recorded the music first so that it would start playing. There’s digital magic that you can do to sing, you can tune it and make sure it’s in perfect pitch, but we didn’t do that. Because they’re weird troubadours with a pseudo-junkie vibe. I didn’t have to sound like Celine Dion.
“Leaves From the Vine” is a very moving song. How did you arrange for this to appear so early in the series?
Albert told me that “Leaves From the Vine” was an important theme to him because it was emotional in the original. He always wanted to make it happen somehow in our version. It’s the soul of the show and part of its larger identity. We talked about where music is going and the moment at Lu Teng’s funeral. I decided to include “Leaves From the Vine” there. It’s so grand. It had to sound very intimate. The rest of the score is mostly just a huge orchestra playing, but we really stripped it down to just solo piano and strings. Every time I hear the string section while conducting, my hair stands on end. It was exactly the color the scene needed. For me, this is one of his highlights this season as I love this kind of music writing. It’s as close to my musical glossary as you can get. It’s just my voice.
Besides the string orchestra, did you do anything else to liven up the song?
Netflix has really supported us financially and logistically. The orchestra was large, with 98 members and the choir 72 members. This is the first time I’ve seen such a huge orchestra in a TV series. It rivals and exceeds some blockbuster movies. Bringing together 98 highly qualified, world-class musicians is not something you do every day. We recorded in Vienna, one of the most musical cities in the world. By doing so, your reach will automatically expand as more people will pour their hearts into it.
Have you ever talked about incorporating original lyrics?
No, I think we always knew this was going to be an instrumental performance. There’s something about the orchestra, especially the string instruments, that gives me goosebumps.
Do you think this is a one-off song for Iroh, or a recurring theme that we’ll hear again? I’d love to hear more from you!
Both you and me. I love what we were able to accomplish emotionally with that scene. Iroh has his theme and signature instrument, which I was able to create and stamp for this score. I don’t see any reason not to do that. That means if you ever get a chance to use more “Leaves From the Vine,” you can use it more.
What other musical moments are you most proud of?
The ones that are interesting to me are Katara and Zuko. The end of episode 6 is where Zuko’s theme really comes to a head. In fact, we graded it out of order. I asked the producers if I could write episode 6 much earlier than planned. I wanted to make sure Zuko’s theme was solid. It culminates at the end of episode 6 and we see it early on through his appearance. And I love Katara’s theme, which is also a water theme. We needed to make sure Katara’s theme worked in the Northern Water Tribe and when she’s still fumbling around trying to make things work as a young waterbender. After that, the themes become more and more bold.
I would also like to see the end credits uploaded. I was able to bring it back from the original series and I just put my own spin on it. That vocal percussion is very unique, so it was a really cool moment. Could not reverse engineer. I had a problem so I contacted Netflix.they contacted me [original “Avatar” composer] Jeremy Zuckerman. he was very kind. We were able to connect and explore his brain. He started beatboxing on his phone and said to me: this layers, and that One person is passing under it. He could just do it and listen to it on the phone. He was taking copious notes. It was really fun to go and record and create our own version of the end credits.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
