Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 1)

Season One (Book 1: Water) of Avatar: The Last Airbender had 20 episodes and they were shown from 21 February 2005 until 2 December 2005. The series was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, 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, is waging a seemingly endless war against the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, 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.
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. 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.
The first has been adapted into a live-action movie The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and was released in July 2010.
Production
The show was produced by and shown on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom. The show's creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, worked with Aaron Ehasz. Eight episodes were directed by Dave Filoni. Animation directors Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe directed five episodes each, and Anthony Lioi directed two. 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. All of the show's music was written by "The Track Team", which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who were known to Dante and Konietzko because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate.
Cast
Reception
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." 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." Another reporter from Helium.com, Nicki Marks said: 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." 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". 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.
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. During the 2005 Pulcinella Awards, the season won the "Best Action/Adventure TV Series" award as well and the general "Best TV Series" award.
Episodes
DVD releases
Region 1
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; each DVD was released months after the original release. As with the original DVDs, each set contained four episodes on one disc, 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.
Movie adaptation
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.