Inside the Real-World Locations That Brought ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ to Life

When Netflix’s live-action adaptation of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ debuted, viewers were captivated by the intricate world-building. The expansive kingdoms, ancient forests, and elemental battlegrounds felt remarkably real, prompting many to question where this enchanting universe was physically created.

The answer is surprisingly close to the Earth Kingdom. Filming for Netflix’s live-action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ took place in Vancouver and British Columbia, Canada, utilizing a mix of outdoor settings and advanced indoor technology to bring this animated world to life for a new generation of fans.

The production unfolded across several areas of Metro Vancouver, particularly the port city of Vancouver in the Lower Mainland. Canada has long been a preferred location for major productions seeking diverse landscapes without the Hollywood price tag, and ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ fully embraced this opportunity.

Filming took place in four municipalities: Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Langley, and Surrey, highlighted by Netflix in its Netflix in Your Neighbourhood series. The geographical diversity across these cities was crucial, as the show required environments ranging from arctic tundras to dense jungles within the same season.

Production began under the working titles ‘Trade Winds’ and ‘Blue Dawn,’ with principal photography kicking off in mid-November 2021. The filming team paused during the Christmas season, a break that extended due to the surge of the Omicron variant. This extended timeline ultimately allowed the crew to develop one of the most technically ambitious setups in recent streaming history.

The indoor aspect of the production is where it gets particularly impressive. Located at the Canadian Motion Picture Park in South Burnaby, the LED soundstage used for ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ is a collaboration between the visual effects company Pixomondo and Canadian film equipment rental firm William F. White International.

Spanning 22,000 square feet and measuring 80 feet by 27 feet 6 inches, the stage is lined with 2,500 LED wall panels and 760 LED ceiling panels, officially recognized as the world’s largest LED stage by Guinness World Records. This achievement was secured while the show was still in production, marking a significant milestone for Canadian filmmaking.

The LED wall technology generates photorealistic three-dimensional backgrounds that follow the camera’s movements, significantly reducing production costs, enhancing efficiencies, and speeding up the shooting process. This technology also provides realistic lighting that can be easily adjusted, a major advantage over traditional green screens, which require time-consuming repositioning. For a show with the visual complexity of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ this made a substantial practical difference.

In addition to the soundstage, several recognizable real-world locations across British Columbia served as iconic settings from the series. The local high rope and zipline park WildPlay Maple Ridge prominently featured as Jet’s forest hideaway on the outskirts of Omashu, with parts of the course visible when Jet introduces Katara to his hideout.

Scenes featuring Aang and Teo exploring a cavern in episode three were filmed in a real cave at the Jamestown movie set on MacInnes Farms in Langley. The Farm on 264th, another Langley studio popular with both Canadian and international productions, served as the backdrop for Zuko and Iroh’s exploration of the town of Senlin in episode five.

Aang’s journey to the spirit world, where he first encounters the legendary Avatar Kyoshi, was filmed in Robert Burnaby Park. Surrey also contributed local spots, including the Panther Paintball park and the expansive 18-acre A Rocha property, which appeared in the series.

The scale of what was achieved across British Columbia is impressive in its own right. Josh Kerekes, Virtual Production Supervisor and Head of Production at Pixomondo, described the challenge in an interview with IGN, explaining that the show operates like a fantasy travel series, with each episode landing in a different biome, transitioning from the South Pole to mountains to tropical seaports and ships at sea, sometimes all within the same week.

Kerekes noted that the team constructed approximately 26 sets with a vast array of scenarios, likely around 100, including the Northern Water Kingdom before and during its destruction. This ambitious scope required a blend of real outdoor British Columbia terrain and the controlled flexibility of the Burnaby LED stage working in harmony.

Netflix’s showrunner Albert Kim expressed excitement about utilizing Pixomondo’s technology to create the world of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ using the most advanced techniques available to filmmakers globally. Given that the production earned a Guinness World Record before the first episode even aired, this ambition clearly translated into something truly historic.

If you’ve visited any of the British Columbia locations featured in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ or recognized a landscape during your viewing, share which scene left a lasting impression on you.