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Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 1)

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Avatar: The Last Airbender
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNickelodeon
Original releaseFebruary 21 (2005-02-21)[1] –
December 2, 2005 (2005-12-02)[2]
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes

Season One (Book 1: Water) of Avatar: The Last Airbender had 20 episodes and they were shown from 21 February 2005[1] until 2 December 2005.[2] The series was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko,[3] and starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Mako, Dante Basco, and Jason Isaacs as the main character voices.

The season goes around the protagonist, Aang, and his friends Katara and Sokka and their journey to the North Pole (to North Water Tribe) to find a Waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara how to control water. Fire Lord Ozai, the current Fire Lord of the Fire Nation,[Notes 1] is waging a seemingly endless war against the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes,[Notes 2] and the already destroyed Air Nomads. Aang, the current Avatar, must master the four elements—Air, Water, Earth, and Fire—before win the Fire Lord and ending the war. Along the way, Aang and his friends are chased by various pursuers, including Prince Zuko, a banished Fire Nation prince, and Admiral Zhao, a key member of the Fire Navy.

Each episode of Season One attracted more than a million viewers on its first airing. Season One won "Best TV Series" and "Best Animated Television Series" in the boys 9–14-year old demographic at the 2005 Pulcinella Awards, which gives awards for excellence in animation.[4]

Between 4 January 2006 and 19 September 2006, five DVD sets were released in the USA, each had four episodes from the season. On 12 September 2006, Nickelodeon also released the "Complete Book One Collection Box Set", which had all of the episodes in the season as well as a special features disc.[5] The original releases were encoded in Region 1 (USA), a DVD type that plays only in American DVD players. From 2007 to 2009, Nickelodeon released Region 2 DVDs (Europe), which can play in Europe.[6]

The first has been adapted into a live-action movie The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and was released in July 2010.[7][8]

Production

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The show was produced by and shown on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom.[3] The show's creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, worked with Aaron Ehasz.[3][9] Eight episodes were directed by Dave Filoni.[9] Animation directors Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe directed five episodes each, and Anthony Lioi directed two.[3] Episodes were written or co-written by a team of writers, which included Nick Malis, John O'Bryan, Matt Hubbard, James Eagan, Ian Wilcox, Tim Hedrick and Elizabeth Welch Ehasz.[10] All of the show's music was written by "The Track Team", which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn,[3] who were known to Dante and Konietzko because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate.[11]

Cast

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Actor Role
Zach Tyler Eisen Aang
Mae Whitman Katara
Jack DeSena[3] Sokka
Dante Basco Zuko[12]
Mako Iwamatsu Iroh[3]
Dee Bradley Baker[10] Appa & Momo[Notes 3]
Jason Isaacs[10] Zhao[13]
Crawford Wilson.[10] Jet[14]

Reception

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movie critics appreciated the first season of Avatar because it attracted the attention of "an audience beyond the children's market with crisp animation and layered storytelling."[15] Lesley Aeschliman from Helium.com, said that she "enjoy[s] the storytelling of this series" and said that "the ending of each episode leaves you wanting to see more."[16] Another reporter from Helium.com, Nicki Marks said:

Typically kids shows are based solely on humor and have plot lines that only carry through that specific episode. Some minor characters do reoccur from time to time, but for the most part there is no real connection from episode to episode. The show can go on as long as people are interested.[17]

As for the video and picture quality, Gord Lacey from TVShowsOnDVD.com said that "the colors are bright, and the picture is nearly flawless." He said later in the review that "the audio is very nice, with lots of directional effects and nice musical cues."[18] Barnes & Noble reviewer Christina Urban praised the season's masterful combination of "elements from Chinese kung fu, Tibetan philosophy, Japanese martial arts forms, and even Hindu spiritual beliefs".[19] According to Aaron Bynum from AnimationInsider.net, "the series posted double digit year-to-year gains in May". He also said that the show has been number one in the boys 9–14-year old demographic, and has attracted many age and gender groups in its pool of 1.1 million viewers who watch each new episode.[20]

In addition, the season has won many awards during its runtime. During the 33rd Annual Annie Awards, the show was nominated for the "Best Animated Television Production" award. Because of the episode "The Fortuneteller", the show was nominated for the "Writing for an Animated Television Production" award. For the episode "The Deserter", the season was nominated for and won the "Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production" award.[21] During the 2005 Pulcinella Awards, the season won the "Best Action/Adventure TV Series" award as well and the general "Best TV Series" award.[4]

Episodes

[change | change source]
See the main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes
Episode's number[22] Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod. Code
1 The Boy in the Iceberg[23] Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino + Bryan Konietzko 21 February 2005 101
2 The Avatar Returns[24] Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino + Bryan Konietzko 21 February 2005 102
3 The Southern Air Temple[25] Lauren MacMullan Michael Dante DiMartino 21 February 2005 103
4 The Warriors of Kyoshi[26] Giancarlo Volpe Nick Malis 4 March 2005 104
5 The King of Omashu[27] Anthony Lioi John O'Bryan 18 March 2005 105
6 Imprisoned[28] Dave Filoni Matt Hubbard 25 March 2005 106
7 The Spirit World: Winter Solstice, Part 1[29] Lauren MacMullan Aaron Ehasz 8 April 2005 107
8 Αvatar Roku: Winter Solstice, Part 2[30] Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino 15 April 2005 108
9 The Waterbending Scroll[31] John O' Bryan 29 April 2005 109
10 Jet[32] Dave Filoni James Eagan 6 May 2005 110
11 The Great Divide[33] Giancarlo Volpe John O' Bryan 20 May 2005 111
12 The Storm[34] Lauren MacMullan Aaron Ehasz 3 June 2005 112
13 The Blue Spirit[35] Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino 17 June 2005 113
14 The Fortuneteller[36] Dave Filoni Aaron Ehasz 23 September 2005 114
15 Bato of the Water Tribe[37] Giancarlo Volpe Ian Wilcox 7 Οctober 2005 115
16 The Deserter[38] Lauren MacMullan Tim Hedrick 21 October 2005 116
17 The Northern Air Temple[39] Dave Filoni Elizabeth Welch Ehasz 4 November 2005 117
18 The Waterbending Master[40] Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino 18 November 2005 118
19 The Siege of the North, Part I[41] Lauren MacMullan John O' Bryan 2 December 2005 119
20 The Siege of the North, Part II[42] Dave Filoni Aaron Ehasz 2 December 2005 120

DVD releases

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Region 1

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Nickelodeon began releasing the Season One DVDs on 31 January 2006. Each DVD, with one exception, had four episodes on one disc. The exception was The Complete Book One Collection Box Set, which had all of the 20 episodes in the season on six discs.

In the USA, all Season One DVDs were encoded using NTSC. Since this is not compatible in most countries outside North America, Nickelodeon released separate DVDs in regions where the video would be encoded using PAL instead. These releases began on 19 February 2007;[6] each DVD was released months after the original release. As with the original DVDs, each set contained four episodes on one disc,[6][43][44][45][46] with the exception would be The Complete Book One Collection Box Set, which contained all of the twenty episodes in the season on five discs.[47]

Volume Discs Episodes Release date
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 1 4 24 January 2006[48] 19 February 2007[6] 15 March 2007[49][50]
2 1 4 28 March 2006[48] 4 June 2007[43] 5 July 2007[51]
3 1 4 30 May 2006[48] 3 September 2007[44] 13 March 2008[52]
4 1 4 18 July 2006[48] 18 February 2008[45] 19 June 2008[53]
5 1 4 19 September 2006[48] 26 May 2008[46] 5 March 2009[54][55]
Box set 6[56] 20[56] 12 September 2006[48] 26 January 2009[57] 4 June 2009[58][59]

Movie adaptation

[change | change source]
See the main article: The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender is a live action movie based on the first season of the animated television series and had a theatrical release on 1 July 2010. The movie is directed by M. Night Shyamalan.[7][8]

References

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General
  • "Season 1". Avatar: The Last Airbender. IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
Specific
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Avatar Sneak Peak". Nickelodeon. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mell, Tory Ireland (May 27, 2008). "The Siege of the North — Part 2 Review". IGN Entertainment. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Fries, Laura (February 21, 2005). "Avatar: The Last Airbender Review". Variety TV. Reed-Elsevier Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ryan Ball (May 3, 2005). "Cartoons on the Bay Picks Winners". Animation Magazine. Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Complete Book 1 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDvd.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Avatar — The Legend of Aang — Book 1 - Water Vol.1". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 McClintock, Pamela; Gabriel Snyder (January 8, 2007). "Shyamalan's 'Avatar' also to bigscreen". Variety.com. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fernandez, Jay A. (March 15, 2009). "Four more land 'Airbender' roles". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). "Interview with "Avatar" Program Creators — Page 3" (Interview). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original (Transcript) on August 4, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Hollywood.com. Hollywood Media Corporation. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  11. ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). "Interview with "Avatar" Program Creators — Page 4" (Interview). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original (Transcript) on May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2008. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ Director: Dave Filoni; Writer: Aaron Ehasz (December 2, 2005). "The Siege of the North, Part II". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 1. Episode 20. Nickelodeon.
  13. ↑ Director: Lauren MacMullan; Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino (February 25, 2005). "The Southern Air Temple". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 1. Episode 3. Nickelodeon.
  14. ↑ Director: Dave Filoni; Writer: James Eagan (May 6, 2005). "Jet". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 1. Episode 10. Nickelodeon.
  15. ↑ Rich, Jamie S. (September 27, 2006). "Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Complete Book 1 Collection". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  16. ↑ Aeschliman, Lesley. "TV show reviews: Avatar: The Last Airbender". Helium.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  17. ↑ Marks, Nicki. "TV show reviews: Avatar: The Last Airbender". Helium.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  18. ↑ Lacey, Gord (March 25, 2006). "Avatar: The Last Airbender — Book 1: Water, Volume 2 Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  19. ↑ Urban, Christina. "Avatar The Last Airbender — The Complete Book 1 Collection; Editorial Reviews". Barnes & Noble. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
  20. ↑ Aaron H. Bynum (June 30, 2006). "Avatar: Season 3". Animation Insider. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
  21. ↑ "Annie Awards: Legacy - 33rd Annual Annie Awards". International Animated Film Society. February 9, 2005. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Season 1". Avatar: The Last Airbender. IGN. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  23. ↑ The Boy in the Iceberg on IMDb
  24. ↑ "Tv.com - The Avatar Returns". Archived from the original on 2010-08-23. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  25. ↑ The Southern Air Temple on IMDb
  26. ↑ The Warriors of Kyoshi on IMDb
  27. ↑ The King of Omashu on IMDb
  28. ↑ Imprisoned on IMDb
  29. ↑ The Spirit World: Winter Solstice on IMDb
  30. ↑ Avatar Roku: Winter Solstice, Part 2 on IMDb
  31. ↑ The Waterbending Scroll on IMDb
  32. ↑ Jet on IMDb
  33. ↑ The Great Divide on IMDb
  34. ↑ The Storm on IMDb
  35. ↑ The Blue Spirit on IMDb
  36. ↑ "Tv.com - The Fortuneteller". Archived from the original on 2010-08-14. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  37. ↑ Bato of the Water Tribe on IMDb
  38. ↑ The Deserter on IMDb
  39. ↑ The Northern Air Temple on IMDb
  40. ↑ The Waterbending Master on IMDb
  41. ↑ The Siege of the North, Part I on IMDb
  42. ↑ The Siege of North, Part II on IMDb
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "Avatar — The Legend of Aang — Book 1 - Water Vol.2". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Avatar — The Legend of Aang — Book 1 - Water Vol.3". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "Avatar — The Legend of Aang — Book 1 - Water Vol.4". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Avatar — The Legend of Aang — Book 1 - Water Vol.5". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  47. ↑ "Avatar — The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 - Water — Collection (vol. 1-5)". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 48.4 48.5 "Avatar: The Last Airbender on DVD". TVShowsOnDVD.com. February 24, 2005. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  49. ↑ "Avatar - The Last Airbender: Book 1 - Water: Volume 1". EzyDVD. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  50. ↑ "Avatar: Book 1 - Water - Vol 1 DVD". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  51. ↑ "Avatar: Book 1 - Water Vol - 2". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  52. ↑ "Avatar: Book 1 - Water Vol - 3". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  53. ↑ "Avatar: Book 1 - Water Vol - 4". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  54. ↑ "Avatar: Book 1 - Water Vol - 5". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  55. ↑ "Avatar - The Legend of Aang: Book 1 - Water: Volume 5". EzyDVD. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 "Avatar: The Last Airbender — Season One DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  57. ↑ "DVD: Avatar: Book 1 Water: Volume 1/2/3/4/5: 5dvd (2009)". hmv.com. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  58. ↑ "Avatar - The Legend of Aang: The Complete Book 1 Collection (5 Disc Box Set)". EzyDVD. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  59. ↑ "Avatar: The Legend of Aang (Complete Book 1) (5 DVD Set) - DVD". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2009.

Notes

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  1. ↑ The Fire Nation it' s the nation who started the war, 100 years before the start of the story
  2. ↑ The North Water Tribe, the South Water Tribe and the Foggy Swamp Tribe
  3. ↑ Appa is the flying bison of Aang and Momo is the lemur of Aang
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