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*'''[[Appa and Momo|Appa]]''' ([[Dee Bradley Baker]] in both the animated series and the live-action film)<ref name="more"/><ref name="TV Guide Cast">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/avatar-airbender/cast/194673|title=Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Details|publisher=[[TV Guide]]|date=|accessdate=November 26, 2008}}</ref> is Aang's flying [[bison]] who serves as the group's main [[Mode of transport|form of transportation]] around the world. He is stuck in suspended animation with Aang for 100 years, and shares a very strong bond with him.<ref name="The Storm">{{cite episode|title=The Storm|airdate=June 3, 2005|season=1|number=12|credits=Director: Lauren MacMullan; Writer: Aaron Ehasz|series=Avatar: The Last Airbender|network=Nickelodeon|episodelink=Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1)#ep12}}</ref> He possesses the ability to fly and can use his tail to create powerful gusts of air. According to Aang, flying bison were the first Airbenders.<ref name="The Southern Air Temple">{{cite episode|title=The Southern Air Temple|airdate=February 25, 2005|season=1|number=3|credits=Director: Lauren MacMullan; Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino|series=Avatar: The Last Airbender|serieslink=Avatar: The Last Airbender|network=Nickelodeon|episodelink=Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1)#ep3}}</ref>
*'''[[Appa and Momo|Appa]]''' ([[Dee Bradley Baker]] in both the animated series and the live-action film)<ref name="more"/><ref name="TV Guide Cast">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/avatar-airbender/cast/194673|title=Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Details|publisher=[[TV Guide]]|date=|accessdate=November 26, 2008}}</ref> is Aang's flying [[bison]] who serves as the group's main [[Mode of transport|form of transportation]] around the world. He is stuck in suspended animation with Aang for 100 years, and shares a very strong bond with him.<ref name="The Storm">{{cite episode|title=The Storm|airdate=June 3, 2005|season=1|number=12|credits=Director: Lauren MacMullan; Writer: Aaron Ehasz|series=Avatar: The Last Airbender|network=Nickelodeon|episodelink=Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1)#ep12}}</ref> He possesses the ability to fly and can use his tail to create powerful gusts of air. According to Aang, flying bison were the first Airbenders.<ref name="The Southern Air Temple">{{cite episode|title=The Southern Air Temple|airdate=February 25, 2005|season=1|number=3|credits=Director: Lauren MacMullan; Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino|series=Avatar: The Last Airbender|serieslink=Avatar: The Last Airbender|network=Nickelodeon|episodelink=Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1)#ep3}}</ref>


*'''[[Zuko]]''' ([[Dante Basco]]) is the 16 year old exiled prince of the Fire Nation and original [[antagonist]] of the series. Due to events in Zuko's past, his father [[List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters#Ozai|Fire Lord Ozai]], deems him a complete failure and burns his face, leaving him with his trademark scar, and banishes him. The only way for Zuko to regain his honor and return to the Fire Nation, is to capture the Avatar. Over time, Zuko struggles to deal with his anger, self-pity, and complex familial relationships. Over the course of the series he grows sympathetic to the people his nation has terrorized. He takes on the vigilante identity of "the blue spirit" at the end of season one and beginning of season two. In season three, he defects from the Fire Nation and joins the Avatar and the team in order to teach Aang Firebending. At the end of the series, he is crowned ruler of the Fire Nation.
*'''[[Zuko]]''' ([[Dante Basco]]) is the 16 year old exiled prince of the Fire Nation and original [[antagonist]] of the series. Due to events in Zuko's past, his father [[List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters#Ozai|Fire Lord Ozai]], deems him a complete failure and burns his face, leaving him with his trademark scar, and banishes him. The only way for Zuko to regain his honor and return to the Fire Nation, is to capture the Avatar. Over time, Zuko struggles to deal with his anger, self-pity, and complex familial relationships. Over the course of the series he grows sympathetic to the people his nation has terrorized. He takes on the vigilante identity of "the blue spirit" at the end of season one and beginning of season two. In season three, he defects from the Fire Nation and joins the Avatar and the team in order to teach Aang Firebending. At the end of the series, he is crowned ruler of the Fire Nation. For several years Zuko thought his mother had passed away after mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the night. Fire Lord Ozai had actually banished her from the Fire Nation. After Zuko is awarded his ruling, he asks his father, who is now behind bars, where his long lost mother is located. However, the creator of Avatar never identified the location of Zuko's mother, which leaves an unsolved mystery for viewers.


*'''[[Azula]]''' ([[Grey DeLisle]]) is the 14 year old manipulative princess of the Fire Nation. She is Zuko's younger sister and one of the major [[antagonist]]s of the series. Azula is a Firebending [[Child prodigy|prodigy]] and is one of the few living Firebenders capable of casting [[lightning]]. She uses fear to control her relatives and friends Mai and Ty Lee, reserving her family loyalty for her father alone. It is revealed, later in the third season, that, even though she was admired by everyone when she was young, her mother favored Zuko over her. At the end of season three, she goes insane over the betrayal of Mai and Ty Lee.
*'''[[Azula]]''' ([[Grey DeLisle]]) is the 14 year old manipulative princess of the Fire Nation. She is Zuko's younger sister and one of the major [[antagonist]]s of the series. Azula is a Firebending [[Child prodigy|prodigy]] and is one of the few living Firebenders capable of casting [[lightning]]. She uses fear to control her relatives and friends Mai and Ty Lee, reserving her family loyalty for her father alone. It is revealed, later in the third season, that, even though she was admired by everyone when she was young, her mother favored Zuko over her. At the end of season three, she goes insane over the betrayal of Mai and Ty Lee.

Revision as of 17:35, 26 March 2011

This article is about the TV series. For the 2010 film, see The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender
File:Avatar-TLAlogo.jpg
GenreAction/Adventure
Fantasy
Comedy-drama
Created byMichael Dante DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Written byMichael Dante DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Aaron Ehasz
Tim Hedrick
Nick Malis
Directed byLauren MacMullan
Dave Filoni
Giancarlo Volpe
Ethan Spaulding
Joaquim Dos Santos
Voices ofZach Tyler Eisen
Mae Whitman
Jack DeSena
Jessie Flower (Seasons 2 & 3)
Dante Basco
Grey DeLisle
Mark Hamill
Mako (Seasons 1 & 2)
Greg Baldwin (Season 3)
ComposerJeremy Zuckerman
Country of originTemplate:TVUS
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes61 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersMichael Dante DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Aaron Ehasz
Running time24 minutes
Production companyNickelodeon Animation Studios
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseFebruary 21, 2005 (2005-02-21) –
July 19, 2008 (2008-07-19)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang)[1] is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz. Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world[2] of Chinese martial arts in which psychic elemental manipulation is possible. The show drew on elements from traditional Asian culture, blending the styles of anime and American domestic cartoons.[3]

The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.[4] The pilot episode first aired on February 21, 2005[5] and the series concluded with a widely praised two-hour television movie on July 19, 2008.[6] The show is obtainable from various sources, including on DVD, the iTunes Store, the Zune Marketplace, the Xbox Live Marketplace, the PlayStation Store, Netflix Instant Play, and on the Nicktoons Network.[7]

Avatar: The Last Airbender was popular with both audiences and critics,[8] garnering 5.6 million viewers on its best-rated showing and receiving high ratings in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside its 6–11-year-old demographic.[4][9] Avatar: The Last Airbender has been nominated for and won awards from the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards, the primetime Emmy awards and a Peabody Award among others. The first season's success prompted Nickelodeon to order second[10] and third[11] seasons. In other media, the series has spawned a live-action movie trilogy, the first titled The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, scaled action figures,[12] a trading card game,[13][14] three video games based on the first,[15] second,[16][17] and third seasons, stuffed animals distributed by Paramount Parks, and two LEGO sets.[18] An art book was also released in mid-2010.[19] Furthermore, the president of Nickelodeon announced on July 21, 2010 that a spin-off mini-series called The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra will premiere in 2012.[20]

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the first of Nickelodeon's TV shows to never have a VHS release. The series was released only to DVD, a first for Paramount Home Entertainment's Home Video release of a Nickelodeon show.

Series overview

Main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes
A map of the four nations. The characters at the top, 群雄四分, mean "the heroes divide [the world or the country or the land] in four." The characters of the four lands are 水善 (Water Peaceful), 土強 (Earth Strong), 火烈 (Fire Fierce), and 气和 (Air Harmony). The phrase at the bottom, 天下一匡, reads "correct all things under heaven".

Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a world that is home to humans, fantastic animals, and spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations: the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Each nation has its own natural element, on which it bases its society. Furthermore, people known as Benders have the power and ability to control and manipulate the eponymous element of their nation using the physical motions of martial arts. The show's creators based each Bending style on a style of real-world martial art, leading to visual differences in the techniques used by Waterbenders (Tai chi), Earthbenders (Hung Ga kung fu, for the most part), Firebenders (Northern Shaolin kung fu) and Airbenders (Baguazhang).[21]

At any given time, there is only one person alive in the world of Avatar who is capable of bending all four elements: the show's eponymous Avatar, the spiritual entity of the planet manifested in human form. When an Avatar dies, he or she is reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle, in the order of the seasons. Legend holds the Avatar must master each bending art in seasonal order as well, starting with their native element. For the Avatar, learning to bend their opposite element can be extremely difficult; the example shown in the series is Aang's inability to stand his ground head-on while Earthbending, his Airbender training having placed emphasis on circling, approaching from new angles and adapting on the fly.[22]

The Avatar possesses a unique power and ability called the Avatar State, which endows the Avatar with all the knowledge and abilities of all past Avatars and acts as a self-triggering defense mechanism, although it can be made subject to the will of the user through various methods, such as extensive trial and training.[23] If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken, and the Avatar will cease to exist.[24] Through the ages, countless incarnations of Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony, and maintain world order.[21] The Avatar serves as the bridge between the physical world and the Spirit World, allowing him or her to solve problems that normal benders cannot.[25]

Season One (Book One: Water)

Main article: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 1)

One hundred years before the start of the series, a twelve-year-old Airbender named Aang learns he is the new Avatar. Fearful of the heavy responsibilities of the position, and being separated from his beloved mentor Monk Gyatso, Aang flees from home on his animal guide, a giant six-legged flying bison named Appa. During their flight, they become caught in a fierce storm and crash into the ocean; Aang's protective Avatar State is triggered, and it encases the pair in an iceberg, in suspended animation. Meanwhile, Fire Lord Sozin, who killed the previous Avatar because he would have acted to stop his war plans, begins a genocidal assault on the Air Nomads. Sozin knew that the new Avatar would be an Air Nomad, and eliminated them in order to ensure his domination of the world would not be interrupted. Ironically, Aang is the only Air Nomad to survive the attack.

One hundred years later Katara, a fourteen-year-old Waterbender girl, and her older warrior brother, fifteen-year-old Sokka, free Aang and Appa from the iceberg. The three travel to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang and Katara can learn Waterbending. While on their journey, Aang and friends visit the Southern Air Temple where Aang discovers that the Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads. At the Southern Air Temple Aang meets his Avatar guide, Avatar Roku. on their journey, the trio is constantly pursued by Prince Zuko, the exiled son of Fire Lord Ozai, who can only reclaim his honor and throne if he captures the Avatar. Zuko travels with his uncle Iroh, a legendary Fire Nation general and the older brother of Ozai. Competing with Zuko for the Avatar is Admiral Zhao, who leads a Fire Nation assault on the Northern Water Tribe. The attack is repelled thanks to Aang and his friends, but after the siege is ended, the Fire Lord tasks his daughter Azula to capture Zuko and Iroh, who are now considered traitors to the Fire Nation.

Season Two (Book Two: Earth)

Main article: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

After leaving the North Pole, Aang masters Waterbending under Katara's tutelage. Searching for a new Earthbending teacher, the group meets Toph, a blind Earthbending prodigy who teaches Aang how to "see" using Earthbending and vibrations. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh, now fugitives from the Fire Nation, attempt to lead new lives in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko, with the help of his uncle, tries to come to terms with his troubled past and his obsession with capturing the Avatar. Aang and his friends discover that an upcoming solar eclipse will deprive Firebenders of their bending, leaving them open to invasion and giving Aang his chance to defeat the Fire Lord, but in learning this Aang's Sky Bison is lost to a group of Sandbenders. Azula and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee pursue Team Avatar, who struggle to reach Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital, and tell the Earth King of the eclipse. After capturing and impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, friends of Team Avatar, Azula persuades an elite group of Earthbenders called the Dai Li to instigate a coup d'état, allowing the Fire Nation to capture Ba Sing Se. In a final confrontation, Zuko sides with his sister, who promises to restore his honor. Azula mortally wounds Aang, who is in the Avatar State, with a lightning blast. Iroh helps Aang and Katara to escape after Zuko betrays him, and is imprisoned by the Dai Li for his actions. Katara revives Aang with special spirit water from the North Pole, but his seventh chakra is blocked and he cannot enter the Avatar State.

Season Three (Book Three: Fire)

Main article: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3)
See also: Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle

Aang awakens to find the group disguised as Fire Nation soldiers heading West on a Fire Nation ship, while Zuko has been restored to his position as crown prince and Iroh is imprisoned as a traitor. Sokka has planned a small-scale invasion of the Fire Nation to capture the Fire Lord's palace and defeat Fire Lord Ozai, taking advantage of the solar eclipse. The invasion will be staged by a ragtag group of benders and warriors whom Aang has helped along his journey. Initially the invasion proceeds as planned, but Aang fails to find the Fire Lord before the eclipse ends. The invasion ultimately fails, and only Aang and the rest of the young ones are able to escape. Zuko, in a change of heart, decides to defy his father and join the Avatar. Zuko catches up with Aang at the Western Air Temple and offers to teach Aang Firebending. After some reluctance from Katara and Sokka, Team Avatar allows Zuko to join the group.

In the four-part series finale, Aang and his friends confront the forces of Fire Lord Ozai, who plans to use the power of Sozin's Comet to destroy the other nations and rule the world as the Phoenix King. Iroh, who escaped from prison during the eclipse, leads the Order of the White Lotus to liberate Ba Sing Se. Sokka, Toph and Kyoshi Warrior Suki take down the Fire Nation's airships, preventing them from burning down the Earth Kingdom. Meanwhile, Zuko and Katara take on Azula. Zuko seems to have the upper hand due to Azula's deteriorating mental state. However, when she fires a lightning bolt at Katara, he takes it to save her, gravely injuring himself in the process. Katara then manages to restrain Azula and heals Zuko. Aang struggles in his battle against Ozai, since he is reluctant to take his life. However, Aang is able to reenter the Avatar State and ultimately defeats Ozai by taking away his firebending powers with a technique known as energy-bending, taught to him by an ancient lion-turtle. With Ozai defeated, the war quickly ends. Zuko is crowned the new Fire Lord and, with the help of the Avatar and his friends, begins rebuilding the four nations. The series ends as Aang and Katara kiss beneath the sunset.

Characters

Main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters
  • Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) is the 12 year old fun-loving protagonist of the series who had been frozen in ice with his flying bison, Appa, for about 100 years. He is freed by a young Waterbender named Katara who later becomes his love interest. He is the current incarnation of the Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. Aang is a reluctant hero trying to return balance to the world. Aang also has arrow tattoos on his forehead and limbs, something that was part of Airbender culture before they were wiped out.[26] According to the shows creators in DVD extras the tattoos mark Aang as an airbending master and he is the youngest airbender in history to earn them.
  • Katara (Mae Whitman) is a 14-year-old Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and her brother, Sokka, discover and free Aang from a block of ice in which he had been frozen for 100 years. With her brother Sokka, she accompanies Aang on his quest to defeat the Fire Lord and, eventually, becomes his Waterbending teacher. Katara is the only waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe as well as one of the only Waterbenders that possesses the knowledge of bloodbending. Bloodbending allows her to control any person by bending the water inside the blood; although she is reluctant to use the ability. In the original un-aired pilot episode, Katara's name was Kya; this later is stated to be her mother's name.
  • Sokka (Jack DeSena) is a 15 year old warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. With his sister, Katara, he accompanies Aang on his quest to defeat the Fire Lord. As both the joker and the idea man of the group, Sokka describes himself as "meat-loving" and "sarcastic".[22] Unlike his companions, Sokka does not have any bending ability; however the series, though it often makes him the victim of comedy at his expense, frequently grants him opportunities to use his ingenuity and weapons, including his trusty boomerang and a sword he forged from a meteorite.
  • Toph Bei Fong (Jessie Flower) is a blind female Earthbender who is 12 years old.[21] She first appears in the second season of the show. Not long after meeting Aang and his friends, she leaves her wealthy family and comfortable home to join Aang on his quest and a plan to teach him Earthbending. This is because she was constantly belittled by her parents even though she secretly became one of the strongest earthbenders of the kingdom by competing in Tournaments. Though blind, Toph "sees" by feeling vibrations in the ground through her feet, she can even use this ability to tell the state of mind of those around her by feeling their breathing and heartbeat. She even uses this ability to develop the art of Metalbending, by feeling the earth and minerals in refined metal. Toph can be rigid and hard headed as she is true to her earthbending nature but as she gets to know the others better she begins to open up and becomes close friends to Aang, Katara, and Sokka.
  • Momo (Dee Bradley Baker in both the animated series and the live-action film)[27] is an intelligent and curious winged lemur. Aang found him at the Southern Air Temple soon after starting his quest and decided to keep him as a pet.[28] He often picks fights with other winged and smaller creatures and with Appa over food. Momo is shown to only understand Aang and has trouble deciphering other people's speech. In "Tales of Ba Sing Se", Momo’s name was written as 模模 (mó mó).
  • Appa (Dee Bradley Baker in both the animated series and the live-action film)[27][29] is Aang's flying bison who serves as the group's main form of transportation around the world. He is stuck in suspended animation with Aang for 100 years, and shares a very strong bond with him.[30] He possesses the ability to fly and can use his tail to create powerful gusts of air. According to Aang, flying bison were the first Airbenders.[28]
  • Zuko (Dante Basco) is the 16 year old exiled prince of the Fire Nation and original antagonist of the series. Due to events in Zuko's past, his father Fire Lord Ozai, deems him a complete failure and burns his face, leaving him with his trademark scar, and banishes him. The only way for Zuko to regain his honor and return to the Fire Nation, is to capture the Avatar. Over time, Zuko struggles to deal with his anger, self-pity, and complex familial relationships. Over the course of the series he grows sympathetic to the people his nation has terrorized. He takes on the vigilante identity of "the blue spirit" at the end of season one and beginning of season two. In season three, he defects from the Fire Nation and joins the Avatar and the team in order to teach Aang Firebending. At the end of the series, he is crowned ruler of the Fire Nation. For several years Zuko thought his mother had passed away after mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the night. Fire Lord Ozai had actually banished her from the Fire Nation. After Zuko is awarded his ruling, he asks his father, who is now behind bars, where his long lost mother is located. However, the creator of Avatar never identified the location of Zuko's mother, which leaves an unsolved mystery for viewers.
  • Azula (Grey DeLisle) is the 14 year old manipulative princess of the Fire Nation. She is Zuko's younger sister and one of the major antagonists of the series. Azula is a Firebending prodigy and is one of the few living Firebenders capable of casting lightning. She uses fear to control her relatives and friends Mai and Ty Lee, reserving her family loyalty for her father alone. It is revealed, later in the third season, that, even though she was admired by everyone when she was young, her mother favored Zuko over her. At the end of season three, she goes insane over the betrayal of Mai and Ty Lee.
  • Suki is Sokka's love interest after Princess Yue became the moon. She is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors.
  • Iroh (Mako Iwamatsu) in season one and two. Greg Baldwin in season three) is a retired Fire Nation general, known as the Dragon of the West, and Prince Zuko's uncle and mentor. Iroh was the original heir to the Fire Nation throne until his brother usurped the throne after Fire Lord Azulon's death.[31] Iroh may have been less eager to take the throne because his son Lu Ten was killed in battle and Iroh's grief kept him from power as well as taking the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. On the surface, Iroh is a cheerful, kind, optimistically eccentric tea-loving old man, but he still remains a powerful warrior and a devoted surrogate parent to Zuko. Iroh is a Grand Master of the Order of the White Lotus, a secret society of men from all nations and helps retake Ba Sing Se during the series finale. Unlike most Firebenders, Iroh does not use anger as the source of his strength; instead he uses the original Firebending skills learned from the Dragons.
  • Mai is Zuko's love interest and the friend of Ty Lee. She was Azula's friend until the middle of season 3. She is also very skilled at throwing knives.
  • Ty Lee is a circus girl and friends with Mai and Azula (until the middle of season 3). She fights using chi blocking and is extremely flexible and a skilled acrobat. In the final episode, she chooses to join the Kyoshi Warriors.
  • Ozai (Mark Hamill) is the father of Zuko and Azula, younger brother of Iroh, and rules the Fire Nation as Fire Lord. Although he is the primary antagonist for the series, he played a behind-the-scenes role during the first two seasons. His face was not shown until the first episode of Book 3.

Production

Michael DiMartino, one of the co-creators of the show, at the 2008 New York Comic Con.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was co-created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California. Animation work was mostly done by three animation studios in South Korea: JM Animation, DR Movie and Moi Animation. According to Bryan Konietzko, the program was conceived in the spring of 2001 when he took an old sketch of a balding, middle-aged man and re-imagined the character as a child.[2] Konietzko drew the character herding bison in the sky, and showed the sketch to Mike DiMartino. At the time, DiMartino was studying a documentary about explorers trapped in the South Pole. Konietzko described their early development of the concept:

We thought, "There's an air guy along with these water people trapped in a snowy wasteland... and maybe some fire people are pressing down on them..."

The co-creators successfully pitched the idea to Nickelodeon VP and executive producer Eric Coleman just two weeks later.[32]

The series was first revealed to the public in a teaser reel at Comic-Con 2004,[33] and aired February 21, 2005. In the United States, first two episodes of the series were shown together in a one-hour premiere event. A second twenty-episode season ran from March 17, 2006 through December 1.[10] A third and final season, beginning September 21, 2007, featured twenty-one episodes rather than the usual twenty.[11] The final four episodes were packaged as a two-hour movie.

Avatar is notable for borrowing extensively from Asian art and mythology to create its universe. The series' character designs are heavily influenced by anime as well as Chinese art and history, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism,[34] and Yoga.[3] Traditional East Asian calligraphy styles are used for nearly all the writing in the series. For each instance of calligraphy, an appropriate style is used, ranging from seal script (more archaic) to clerical script.[35] The show employed a cultural consultant, Edwin Zane, and calligrapher Siu-Leung Lee as consultants for the series' cultural influences.[3][36] The choreographed martial art bending moves were profoundly affected by Asian cinema.[2] In an interview, Bryan revealed that, "Mike and I were really interested in other epic 'Legends & Lore' properties, like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but we knew that we wanted to take a different approach to that type of genre. Our love for Japanese anime, Hong Kong action and kung fu cinema, yoga, and Eastern philosophies led us to the initial inspiration for Avatar."[37] The show's character designs are heavily influenced by anime; the show, however, is not generally considered to be "anime" because of its origination in the United States.

All music and sound used in the series was done by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who formed The Track Team. They experimented with use of a wide range of different instruments, such as the guzheng, pipa and duduk, to compose a background music that fits into the world.[38]

The term "Avatar" comes from the Indian language of Sanskrit. The word Avatāra, (Sanskrit: अवतार), which means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh. One who attains union with Spirit and then returns to earth to help humanity is called an avatar. The Chinese characters that appear at the top of the show's title card mean "the divine medium who has descended upon the mortal world."[35] According to the plot, during a period where Aang was young, he unknowingly revealed he was the Avatar when he chose four toys out of thousands, each of which were the childhood toys of the previous Avatars. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a similar test for reincarnations of a Tulku Lama. In Magic and Mystery in Tibet, Alexandra David-Neel writes that "a number of objects such as rosaries, ritualistic implements, books, tea-cups, etc., are placed together, and the child must pick out those which belonged to the late tulku, thus showing that he recognizes the things which were theirs in their previous life."[39] Each successor is expected to show signs of continuity with the previous Avatar, such as being born within a week of the death.

Avatar: The Last Airbender draws on the four classical elements common to many ancient philosophies for its bending arts: Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Although each has its own variation, most ancient philosophies incorporate these four elements in some way. Examples include the classical Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek elemental traditions. In the show’s opening, each element is accompanied by two Chinese characters: an ancient Chinese seal script character on the left representing the element being shown and a modern Chinese character on the right describing some feature of the element. The character 水 (pinyin: shui), which stands for water, is shown with 善 (pinyin: shan), which means benevolence and adaptivity. The character 土 (pinyin: tu), which stands for earth, is shown with 強 (pinyin: qiang), which means strength and stability. The character 火 (pinyin: huo), which stands for fire, is shown with 烈 (pinyin: lie), which means intensity and passion. Finally, the character 气 (pinyin: qi), which stands for air, is shown with 和 (pinyin: he), which means peace and harmony.[40]

In addition to the use of four classical elements in the series, the fighting styles associated with each element are all taken from different styles of Chinese martial arts. The series employed Sifu Kisu of the Harmonious Fist Chinese Athletic Association as a martial arts consultant.[41] Each fighting style was chosen to represent the element it projected. Tai Chi was used for "Waterbending" in the series, and it focuses on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization. Hung Gar was used for "Earthbending" in the series, and was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to present the solid nature of earth. Northern Shaolin, which uses strong arm and leg movements was used for "Firebending". Ba Gua, which uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes, was used for "Airbending".[21][42][43] The only exception to these styles is Toph, who can be seen practicing a Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis style.[44]

Reception

When the series debuted, it was rated the best animated television series in its demographic;[45] new episodes averaged 3.1 million viewers each.[45] A one-hour special showing of "The Secret of the Fire Nation" which aired on September 15, 2006, consisting of "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill", gathered an audience of 5.1 million viewers. According to the Nielsen Media Research, the special was the best performing cable television show airing in that week.[46] In 2007, Avatar was syndicated to more than 105 countries worldwide, and was one of Nickelodeon's top rated programs. The series was ranked first on Nickelodeon in Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Colombia.[47]

The series finale, Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle, received the highest ratings of the series. Its July 19, 2008 premiere averaged 5.6 million viewers, 95% more viewers than Nickelodeon had received in mid-July 2007.[48] During the week of July 14, it ranked as the most-viewed program for the under-14 demographic.[49][50] Sozin's Comet also appeared on iTunes' top ten list of best-selling television episodes during that same week.[51] Sozin's Comet's popularity affected online media as well; "Rise of the Phoenix King", a Nick.com online game based on Sozin's Comet, generated almost 815,000 game plays within three days.[52]

Awards and nominations

Awards Outcome
2005 Pulcinella Awards:[53]
Best Action/Adventure TV Series Won
Best TV Series Won
33rd Annie Awards:[54]
Best Animated Television Production Nominated
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production (The Deserter) Won
Writing for an Animated Television Production (The Fortuneteller) Nominated
34th Annie Awards:[55]
Character Animation in a Television Production (The Blind Bandit) Won
Directing in an Animated Television Production (The Drill) Won
36th Annie Awards:[56]
Best Animated Television Production for Children Won
Directing in an Animated Television Production (Joaquim Dos Santos for Into the Inferno) Won
2007 Genesis Awards:
Outstanding Children's Programming (Appa's Lost Days) Won
Primetime Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Animated Program (City of Walls and Secrets) Nominated
Individual Achievement Award (Sang-Jin Kim for Lake Laogai) Won
Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards 2008:
Favorite Cartoon[57] Won
Annecy 2008:
TV series (Joaquim Dos Santos for The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse)[58] Nominated
56th Golden Reel Awards:
Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation (Avatar Aang)[59] Nominated
2008 Peabody Awards:
"Unusually complex characters and healthy respect for the consequences of warfare"[60] Won

Other media

Literature

Dark Horse Comics released an art book titled Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Art of the Animated Series, on June 2, 2010 which contains 184 pages of the original art and creation behind the Avatar animated series.[61]

Promotion and merchandising

The "Avatar Airbender" roller coaster at Mall of America's Nickelodeon Universe.
The two Lego sets: a firenation ship and an air temple.

Avatar's success has led to some promotional advertising with third-party companies, such as Burger King and Upper Deck Entertainment. Avatar-themed roller coasters at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America and one formerly at Kings Island also appeared. During the show's runtime, Nickelodeon published two special issues of Nick Mag Presents dedicated entirely to the show. Various members of the Avatar staff and cast appeared at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International convention, while Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko appeared with Martial Arts Consultant Sifu Kisu at the Pacific Media Expo on October 28, 2006. Avatar also has its own line of t-shirts, LEGO playsets, toys, a trading card game,[62] a cine-manga, and three video games, as well as an MMO.[63]

The Mattel-produced action figure toy line generated some controversy with its exclusion of any female characters.[64] Mattel came to release information stating that they have taken account of Katara's increased role within the program, and that she would be included in the figure assortment for a mid 2007 release.[65] The figure ultimately went unreleased, however, as the entire line was canceled before she could be produced.

Nickelodeon executives have since released optimistic plans for upcoming marketing strategies in regards to Avatar. Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami openly stated her belief that the franchise "could become their Harry Potter".[66] They expect consumers to spend about $121 million in 2007, rising to $254 million by 2009.[66] The marketing plans are to be coincided with the release of the first live-action film based on the series in 2010, which will be the first film in a trilogy.[66]

Video games

A video game trilogy about Avatar: The Last Airbender has been created. Avatar: The Last Airbender, the video game, was released on October 10, 2006. Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth was released on October 16, 2007. Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno was released on October 13, 2008. The three games were loosely based on seasons one, two and three, respectively. Players can select characters and complete quests to gain experience and advance the storyline. Despite lackluster critical reviews, the games did extremely well commercially; for example, Avatar: The Last Airbender was THQ's top selling Nickelodeon game in 2006 and even reached Sony CEA's "Greatest Hits" status.[67]

Avatar: Legends of the Arena, a massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, was launched on September 25, 2008 by Nickelodeon.[68] Each user is able to create their own character, choose a nation, and to interact with others across the globe.[68][69][70]

Film adaptation

Main article: The Last Airbender

The first season of the show became the basis for the 2010 live-action film The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is claimed to be the first movie of a planned trilogy from each of the television 3 seasons. Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative, earning the film a 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and five Razzies in 2010. The film originally shared the title of the television series, but it was changed to The Last Airbender because the producers were worried it would be confused with the James Cameron film Avatar. The film version stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Dev Patel as Zuko, Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, and Nicola Peltz as Katara. Iroh is played by Shaun Toub and Fire Lord Ozai by Cliff Curtis.

Spin-off

Main article: The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra

It was announced at the annual Comic-Con in San Diego on July 22, 2010 that a series based on Avatar: The Last Airbender is currently in development at Nickelodeon and due for release sometime in 2012.[71][72] It will involve Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators and producers of the original series.[73] Tentatively titled The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra (originally titled Avatar: Legend of Korra), it will be a twenty-six episode[74] mini series that takes place in the same fictional universe as the original show,[72] except seventy-five years later.[75]

The series will focus on Korra, a teenage female protagonist from the Southern Water Tribe and the current reincarnation of the Avatar.[72] The character was partly inspired by Avatar Kyoshi of the original series, whom the creators say was very popular among fans. In order to avoid repetition of Aang's adventures, the creators wanted to root the show in one place, called Republic City. A concept drawing of the city, released with the announcement of the series, shows the city's design as inspired by Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, Hong Kong, Manhattan, and Vancouver. In the show, Korra will have to learn Airbending from master Tenzin, son of Aang and Katara, and contend with an anti-bender revolution taking place in the city.[76]

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