element-of-change:

amuseoffyre:

The cultures which inspired Avatar: The Last Airbender

• Air Nomads – The Monasteries of Tibet
• Water Tribe – The Inuit
• Earth Kingdom – Imperial China
• Fire Nation – Pre-Meiji Japan

This is stunning…ugh think how STELLAR A CULTURALLY ACCURATE AND IMPRESSIVE LIVE ACTION MOVIE COULD HAVE BEEN!

Also, I’d like to say, that there are many other cultural elements that influence these fictional nations. The Fire Nation has many recognizably Southeast Asian elements, in the dress, architecture, cuisine, etc.

Also, different parts of the Earth Kingdom are evidently influenced by different East Asian cultures. Some parts are obviously Korean, in dress, architecture, cuisine, etc. The Foggy Swamp is influenced by bayou culture. There are manifold cultural references in the Earth Kingdom, appealing to its diversity.

The Northern Water Tribe city has architecture like this world’s most famous waterborne city, Venice! Overall though, the dress, architecture (elsewhere), cuisine, etc. tend to be N. Native American (not just Inuit).