Avatar: The Last Airbender

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Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender logo. The Chinese characters 降卋(世)神通 (pinyin:Jiàngshì Shéntōng) that appear with the English logo translate to "The divine medium who has descended upon the mortal world."
Also known as	Avatar: The Legend of Aang
Genre	Adventure, Fantasy
Created by	Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Written by	Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko John O'Bryan Nick Malis Matthew Hubbard Aaron Ehasz Elizabeth Welch Ehasz Josh Hamilton Ian Wilcox Tim Hedrick
Directed by	Lauren MacMullan Anthony Lioi Dave Filoni Giancarlo Volpe Ethan Spaulding Joaquim Dos Santos
Voices of	Zach Tyler Eisen Mae Whitman Jack DeSena Jessie Flower Dante Basco Mako (Season 1-2) Greg Baldwin (Season 3) Dee Bradley Baker Grey DeLisle Crawford Wilson Olivia Hack Cricket Leigh Clancy Brown Mark Hamill Jason Isaacs
Theme music composer	The Track Team
Composer(s)	The Track Team
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	61 planned, 55 released (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Aaron Ehasz
Running time	24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Nickelodeon
Picture format	NTSC (480i)
Original run	February 21, 2005 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in several countries) is a multi award-winning American animated television series that airs on the Nickelodeon television network and every day 7-8 PM EST on Nicktoons Network. The show is set in an Asian-influenced world.^[1] of martial arts and elemental magic; the series follows the adventures of Aang and his friends, who try to save the world from war with the Fire Nation.^[2] The show's protagonist Aang is trapped in an iceberg when he is found by two members of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka.^[3] After being freed from the iceberg, Katara and Sokka join Aang on a long journey across the globe; their ultimate goal is to help Aang acquire the skills to defeat the Fire Lord, and end the war.^[4] In the series' terminology, each episode is referred to as a "chapter", and each season as a "book."

Originally slated to start in November 2004, the show was postponed twice: first to September 10, 2005,^[2], then to February 21, 2005, where it finally made its debut; it is now available on DVD, the iTunes Store, and the Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as its home on Nickelodeon.^[5] Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko co-created the series, and serve as executive producers alongside Aaron Ehasz. Avatar: The Last Airbender is popular with both audiences and critics,^[6] garnering 4.4 million viewers on its best-rated showing and receiving high ratings in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside its 6-11-year-old demographic.^[4][7] The series' success prompted Nickelodeon to order second^[8] and third^[9] seasons. Merchandise based on the series include scaled action figures,^[10] a trading card game,^[11][12] three video games based on the first,^[13] second,^[14][15] and third seasons, stuffed animals distributed by Paramount Parks, and two Lego sets.^[16]

[edit] Background

Avatar: The Last Airbender is co-created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California. According to Bryan Konietzko, the concept of the program was conceived in Spring 2001, when he took an old sketch of a balding, middle-aged man; he re-imagined the character as a child, and the show began to develop.^[1] Bryan drew the character herding bison in the sky, and showed the sketch to Mike DiMartino. At the time, Michael 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..."

—Bryan Konietzko^[1]

The co-creators proceeded to successfully pitch the idea to Nickelodeon VP and executive producer Eric Coleman just two weeks later.^[17]

The show was first revealed to the public in a teaser reel at Comic-Con 2004,^[18] and aired February 21, 2005. In the United States, the first two episodes of the series were shown together in a one-hour premiere event. At the conclusion of the first season, Nickelodeon ordered a second twenty-episode season that premiered on March 17, 2006, and concluded on December 1.^[8] The series maintained its success during the second season, causing Nickelodeon to order a third and final season, which began on September 21, 2007 and will feature twenty-one episodes rather than the usual twenty.^[9] The final four episodes will be packaged as a two-hour movie.^[19]

[edit] Premise

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." The "correct things" phrase, with roots of the Confucian analect phrase 一匡天下, refers to reunification.^{[citation needed]}

Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a fantasy world, home to humans, fantastic animals, and supernatural spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Each nation has its own natural element, on which it bases its society. The Water Tribes base their society on water, the Earth Kingdom on earth, the Air Nomads on air, and the Fire Nation on fire. Within each nation exists an order called "Benders", who have the ability to manipulate the element of their nation. The show's creators assigned each Bending art its own style of martial arts; each Bending art inherited the advantages and weaknesses of the martial arts it was assigned. The Bending types are Waterbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Airbending.^[20]

Each generation yields one person who is capable of Bending all four elements. This being is referred to as the Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. When an Avatar dies, they are reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle. The Avatar Cycle parallels the seasons: winter for The Water Tribes, spring for the Earth Kingdom, summer for the Fire Nation, and autumn for the Air Nomads.^[21] Legend holds the Avatar must master each bending art in order, starting with their native element. This can sometimes be compromised when the situation requires it, as Aang demonstrates in the show. For the Avatar, learning to bend the element opposite their native element can be extremely difficult. This is because opposing Bending arts are based on opposing fighting styles and disciplines. Firebending and Waterbending are opposites, as are Earthbending and Airbending.^[22]

The Avatar possesses a unique power called the Avatar State. It empowers the Avatar with the knowledge and abilities of all past Avatars, and is used as a defense mechanism.^[23] When an Avatar enters the Avatar state, their eyes and tattoos begin to glow. If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken, and the Avatar cycle will end.^[23]

Through the ages, countless incarnations of Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony, and maintain world order.^[20] 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.^[24]

[edit] Plot synopsis

Main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes

A century prior to the series' opening, when Aang was 12 years old, he was frozen into a state of suspended animation for 100 years.^[3] After being awoken by two children from the Southern Water Tribe, he finds the world at war with the Fire Nation. As the Avatar, he sets out to master the elements and ultimately defeat the Fire Lord and end the war.^[3]

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters

Avatar has been praised for its depth of characterization, from its "marvelously flawed" heroes to its sympathetic villains.^[25]

[edit] Main characters

Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) is the fun-loving, 12-year-old protagonist of the series. He is the current incarnation of the Avatar, the spirit of the planet in human form. As the Avatar, Aang must bring peace to the world and bring balance to the four Nations.^[26] Being a reluctant hero, he admits his preference for adventure over saving the world and making friends over fighting the Fire Nation. Aang's energetic nature and childish naïvete render him oblivious to the world around him, as well as the feelings of others. Over the course of the series, though, Aang gradually matures into his role as the Avatar. The blue arrow on his head, hands and feet are to show he is an Airbender.

Katara (Mae Whitman) is a 14-year-old^[20] Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Due to Fire Nation raids, she is the only remaining Waterbender in the South Pole. In the opening of the show, Katara discovers and frees Aang from the iceberg he was trapped in one hundred years ago. With her older brother Sokka, she accompanies Aang on his quest to defeat the Fire Lord, and bring peace to the world. Katara is kind, responsible, and particularly motherly; she developed this personality after her mother was killed in a Fire Nation attack. Though an apt leader,^[27] she can be overbearing and stubborn.^[28] In spite of her kind nature, she also has a temper. When her idealism and impressive waterbending skills are combined with this temper, she can be quite destructive.

Sokka (Jack DeSena) is a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. With his sister Katara, he accompanies Aang on his quest to defeat the Fire Lord. The joker of the group, Sokka describes himself as "meat-loving" and "sarcastic".^[22] Unlike his companions, Sokka cannot bend an element, but the series frequently grants him opportunities to use his true gifts: ingenuity and use of weapons. He takes great pride in his mental and physical strength, though it is often overshadowed by others' ability to bend. He is extremely clever, relying on science where the mystical and martial arts elude him. His immature manner often causes others to underestimate his intellect.

Toph Bei Fong (Jessie Flower) is a 12-year-old,^[20] blind Earthbender. In the second season of the show, she leaves her wealthy family and home to join Aang on his quest, with a plan to teach him earthbending. Though blind, Toph "sees" with Earthbending; she feels the vibrations in the ground through her feet. Using this method, she eventually learns how to bend metal, a knowledge which may be unique to her. Due to overprotective parents, Toph has lived a largely sheltered life; this makes her somewhat selfish and sarcastic. She does not hesitate to speak her mind, and is bluntly truthful. With the presence of friends, Toph gradually becomes less abrasive, and learns what it means to be part of a team.

Zuko (Dante Basco) is the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, and original antagonist of the series. In the first season, Zuko is obsessed with capturing the Avatar. He reveals that the quest is to restore his honor, and redeem himself in the eyes of his father. Due to events in Zuko's past, his father, Fire Lord Ozai, deems him a complete failure. The most defining aspect of his appearance is a scar over his left eye, which he received during a forced Agni Kai with his father; it was at the conclusion of this battle that he was banished from the Fire Nation.^[29] As a result of his traumatic life, Zuko is temperamental, bitter, and cold to others. However, he receives positive influence from his Uncle Iroh, and through his experiences in exile. Over time, Zuko struggles to deal with his anger, self-pity, and familial relationships; meanwhile, he grows sympathetic to the peoples his nation has terrorized.

Azula (Grey DeLisle) is the 14 year-old^[20] princess of the Fire Nation. She is Zuko's younger sister and one of the major antagonists of the series. Cruel and self-centered since youth, Azula is manipulative, sadistic and a self-admitted monster. She has no qualms about bullying and threatening her relatives, reserving any familial loyalty for her father, who favors her. As a ruthless firebending prodigy, and one of the few Firebenders shown to generate lightning, Azula is a dangerous opponent.^[23]

Iroh (Mako in seasons 1 and 2, Greg Baldwin onwards) is a retired Fire Nation general and Prince Zuko's uncle. Being the older brother of Fire Lord Ozai, Iroh was the original heir to the Fire Nation throne.^[30] A powerful Firebender of great renown and respect, he looks upon Zuko as a son more than as a nephew, especially after the loss of his own son, Lu Ten. On the surface, Iroh is a cheerful and kind old man; his hobbies include drinking tea, playing Pai Sho, and singing. But underneath his exterior remains a competent warrior and a devoted surrogate parent. Much older, more powerful, and more experienced than the other main characters, Iroh chooses to take a less active role in the affairs of the series, acting as a mentor and guide to nearly everyone he meets, especially Zuko.

[edit] Secondary characters

• Appa (Dee Bradley Baker) is a ten-ton flying bison, and Aang's primary animal companion. He is shown to be protective of Aang and loving towards the group. Appa is also the primary mode of travel for the group.
• Momo (Dee Bradley Baker) is an intelligent and curious Winged Lemur, who travels with the group. Momo is shown to have a strong relationship with his best friend Appa.
• Jet (Crawford Wilson) was a charismatic teen who held a deep grudge against the Fire Nation. He led the Freedom Fighters, but was killed by Long Feng near the end of season 2.
• Long Feng (Clancy Brown) is the intelligent and cunning Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, head of the Dai Li secret police, and adviser to the Earth King. Other than Princess Azula, Long Feng was the primary antagonist of Book 2, being responsible for deceiving and manipulating Ba Sing Se and the Earth King, Jet's death, and Appa's capture.
• Mai (Cricket Leigh) is an impassive, apathetic, and mysterious fifteen-year-old^[20] girl who accompanied Princess Azula on her quest to capture the Avatar. She has a relationship with Zuko.
• Fire Lord Ozai (Mark Hamill) is the ruthless ruler of the Fire Nation, father of Zuko and Azula, and younger brother of Iroh. When his father, Azulon, died, he took over the throne of the Fire Nation.
• Avatar Roku (James Garrett) was the Avatar preceding Aang, born to the Fire Nation. Naturally, in the cycle, Roku is a firebender.
• Suki (Jennie Kwan) is the fifteen year-old leader of the female warriors from Kyoshi Island. She has a relationship with Sokka, who, with Zuko, saved her from the worst Fire Nation Prison: The Boiling Rock
• Fire Lord Sozin (Ron Perlman) is Ozai's grandfather, Zuko and Azula's great-grandfather, and Avatar Roku's best friend when they were young. Sozin, desiring more power for him and the Fire Nation, started the century-long war against the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom by attacking and controlling an Earth Kingdom outpost which Roku traveled to in order to master earthbending. However, due to Roku's subsequent protest/warning not to start a war which could prove desasterous for all four nations, the war officially began after Roku's death. He is also responsible for the Air Nomads near-extinction in his search for the new Avatar, Aang, after the previous Avatar in the cycle, Roku's, death. Sozin died of old age but failed to find and capture Aang.
• Ty Lee (Olivia Hack) is a cheerful and energetic girl who accompanies Princess Azula on her quest to capture the Avatar. She is a gymnast whose power is to block chi flow to the bodies' extremities, essentially paralyzing them to stop them from bending or otherwise attacking.
• Princess Yue (Johanna Braddy) was the beautiful Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Yue sacrifices her life to restore the Moon Spirit at the end of Book 1. As a result, she becomes the Moon Spirit herself. She had a relationship with Sokka.
• Admiral Zhao (Jason Isaacs) was a hot-tempered Fire Nation admiral in pursuit of the Avatar and Zuko's principal rival throughout Book One. Other than Prince Zuko, Admiral Zhao was the main antagonist of Book 1, being responsible for besieging and nearly destroying the Northern Water Tribe as well as temporarily killing the Moon Spirit and almost killing Zuko.

[edit] Influences

[edit] Cultural references

Avatar is notable for borrowing extensively from Asian art and mythology to create its fictional universe. The show's character designs are heavily influenced by anime; the show, however, is not considered an "anime" because of its origination in the United States. Explicitly stated influences include Chinese art and history, Japanese anime, Hinduism(Indian), Taoism(Chinese), Buddhism(Indian),^[31] and Yoga(Indian).^[32] The production staff employs a cultural consultant, Edwin Zane, to review scripts.

[edit] Avatar

The term "Avatar" comes from the Sanskrit word Avatāra, (Sanskrit: अवतार), which means "descent." In Hindu mythology, gods manifest themselves into Avatars to restore balance on earth, usually after a period of great evil. 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."^[33]

When Aang was a child, he unknowingly revealed that he was the Avatar; he chose four toys out of thousands, each of which were toys that previous Avatars had selected. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a similar test for reincarnations of a Tulku Lama. According to the book Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Neel, "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."^[34] The show's official site states "the successor is expected to show signs of continuity with the previous Avatar, such as being born within a week of the death."^[20]

[edit] Elements

Avatar draws on the four classical elements common to most ancient philosophies (rather than the five classical Chinese elements) 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, Greek and Japanese elemental traditions.

In the show’s opening, each element is accompanied by 2 Chinese characters: an ancient Chinese seal script character on the left, and a modern Chinese character on the right:

• Water (水) is associated with "" (Chinese: 善; pinyin: shàn), which means "benevolent" or "adaptive."
• Earth (土) is associated with "" (traditional Chinese: 強; simplified Chinese: 强; pinyin: qiáng), which means "strong."
• Fire (火) is associated with "" (Chinese: 烈; pinyin: liè), which means "intense" or "ferocious."
• Air (气) is associated with "" (Chinese: 和; pinyin: hé), which means "peaceful" or "harmonious".^[35]

[edit] Western culture

Films series such as Star Wars, as well book series such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, were a heavy influence when it came to developing the story of Avatar; the creators wanted to tell their own epic Legend & Lore story.^[36]

[edit] Asian culture

[edit] Calligraphy

Traditional East Asian calligraphy styles are used for nearly all the writing in the show. For each instance of calligraphy, an appropriate style is used, ranging from seal script (more archaic) to clerical script.^[33] The show employs calligrapher Siu-Leung Lee as a consultant and translator.^[32]

[edit] Fighting styles

The fighting choreography of the show draws from martial arts; the fighting styles and weaponry are based on Chinese martial arts, with each bending art corresponding to a certain real-world style. The creators use Tai Chi for waterbending, Hung Gar for earthbending, Northern Shaolin for firebending, and Bagua for airbending.^[20] The only exception to this is Toph, who employs a Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis style.^[37] The show employs Sifu Kisu of the Harmonious Fist Chinese Athletic Association as a martial arts consultant.^[38]

Each fighting style was chosen to represent the element it projected:

• Tai Chi focus' on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization.^[20]
• Hung Gar was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to represent the solid nature of earth.^[20]
  • Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis has distinguishing movements and unique footwork that are employed by Toph Bei Fong to complement her blindness, giving her an anomalous style of Earthbending.^[37]
• Northern Shaolin Kung Fu uses strong arm and leg movements.^[20]
• Bagua uses erratic, circular movements.^[20] In Bagua, Centrifugal force plays a vital role in generating power, and the nearly constant circular movement creates angles between the fighters. This makes it easier for the practitioner to defend and attack.^[39][40]

[edit] Asian film

The choreographed martial art bending moves were profoundly affected by Asian cinema. Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino stated the particular influence in a magazine interview:

Asian cinema is really good at action comedy. Shaolin Soccer is one of our favorite movies. It has tons of fantastic action and lots of funny moments. Some of the effects provided inspiration for how bending moves might look on the show."^[1]

[edit] Anime

Avatar is not considered an anime because of its American origin; one review has commented that "Avatar blurs the line between anime and (US) domestic cartoons until it becomes irrelevant."^[41] Avatar has many features of anime, such as having a different color palette from other animated shows.^[42]

Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino confirmed a particular anime influence in a magazine interview:

The best anime balances great action sequences with humor and emotion, something we try to do on Avatar. We love all the films of Hayao Miyazaki, especially Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Both movies deal with spirituality and the environment in an entertaining way. Also, there's a lot of great animation."^[1]

According to an interview with the artists of Avatar, Appa's design was based on the Catbus in My Neighbor Totoro, due to the peculiar task of creating a mammal with six legs.^[43]

Avatar draws inspiration from the anime works of Shinichiro Watanabe's Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, as well as FLCL (Fooly Cooly) of Gainax. Other various studios from which inspiration was drawn include Studio 4 °C, Production I.G, and Studio Ghibli.^[44] Bryan has commented that some of his most cherished Watanabe fight scenes were the fight between Bebop's Spike Spiegel and a drug smuggler in "Asteroid Blues," as well as the duel between Mugen and a blind female Jojutsu-user in the Champloo episode "Elegy of Entrapment (Verse 2)." Avatar director Giancarlo Volpe also claims the staff "were all ordered to buy FLCL and watch every single episode of it."^[37]

[edit] Response

[edit] Ratings

When the show debuted, it was rated the best animated television series in its demographic,^[45] and averaged 1.1 million viewers when new episodes premiered.^[45] The one-hour special showing of Secret of the Fire Nation which aired on September 15, 2006 consisted of "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill", and gathered an audience of 4.1 million viewers. According to the Nielsen Media Research, the special was the best performing cable television show airing in that week.^[46] Avatar is currently syndicated to more than 105 countries around the world, and is one of Nickelodeon's top rated programs. The series is ranked No. 1 on Nick in Germany, Indonesia, Belgium and Colombia,^[47] and has a rating of 9.2 on TV.com.^[48]

[edit] Awards and Nominations

[edit] Media information

[edit] Promotion and merchandising

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 Kings Island and at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America 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, a cine-manga, and two video games.

The Mattel-produced action figure toy line generated some controversy with its exclusion of any female characters. 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.^[54]

Nickelodeon executives have since released highly optimistic plans for upcoming marketing strategies in regards to Avatar. Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami openly stated his belief that the franchise "could become their Harry Potter".^[55] They expect consumers to spend about $121 million in 2007, rising to $254 million by 2009.^[55] 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.^[55]

[edit] Feature film adaptation

On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures' MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they have signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series; the first of these films will encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One.^[56] The film was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership,^[57] which resulted in the film being titled The Last Airbender. It is set for release on July 2, 2010.^[58] Filming will begin in Philadelphia in May 2009,^[59] and it will be shot in Greenland.^[60]

Avatar co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have come forward to voice their opinion within an interview regarding M. Night Shyamalan writing, directing and producing the film.^[61] The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Avatar: The Last Airbender

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