Speaking with Michaela Jill Murphy, the original voice of Toph Beifong from the 2005 TV show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cameron was asked which Avatar was the best. To which the director admitted that since his children are bigger fans of the beloved animated series, he believes that The Last Airbender is better.
https://fandomwire.com/james-cameron-reveals-his-kids-prefer-avatar-the-last-airbender-to-avatar/
The story in the cartoon show is far better than the movies, and only about twice the runtime. Even the first season is better at ~1.5 hours shorter.
I like the TV show better myself but why would we be comparing it to the Avatar movie for any reason other than because they have the same name?
Why not? They’re both creative works in visual mediums, even sharing similar genres. That’s enough common ground, imo. Things don’t have to be identical to be comparable.