Based on all the group shots, the Southern Water Tribe's village has a population of twenty two people who are not away due to the war: nine adults (all women), eleven children (six boys and five girls), and two teenagers (Sokka and Katara, of course). However, one of the six boys is missing when Katara introduces "the entire village" to Aang. There is also a single pet animal (confirmed to be a polar bear-dog in Legend of Korra) present in some shots.
This is the first collaboration between Dave Filoni and Dee Bradley Baker, who would later join Filoni's Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), Star Wars: Rebels (2014), and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, voicing multiple characters.
While Aang and Katara are in the old Fire Nation ship, many weapons are visible that resemble actual ancient Chinese weapons. These include a guandao (crescent moon sword), ji (a type of spear), and a podao (a blade on a long pole).
In Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005), Katara's name was going to be Kya. Nickelodeon's legal department was responsible for the name change.
Although there are many astronomical oddities throughout the series, suggesting significant differences between Earth and the Avatar world (or indicating the filmmakers' poor knowledge in astronomy), the first two episodes provide a generally accurate depiction of the sun's position at the southern polar region in December (it is December because the winter solstice occurs shortly afterward): the sun is up around the clock (Sokka even mentions the midnight sun) and stands relatively low over the horizon. That being said, the sun is too low for the exact pole - only about 4-5 degrees. At the pole it should be around 20 degrees above the horizon in December. This can be explained if the village is about a thousand miles away from the pole (which is still within the polar circle, though). Or it can be simply added to the other oddities of the Avatar world.