September 5, 2007
NICKELODEON’S AVATAR RETURNS TO
RESTORE PEACE TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD AND PREPARES TO FACE OFF WITH THE
FIRE NATION ONCE AND FOR ALL
Highly Anticipated Third Season of
Avatar: The Last Airbender Premieres
Friday, September 21 at 8:30 P.M.
Season Two of Avatar Comes to DVD on
September 11 in an Action-Packed Box Set
Featuring an Exclusive Interview
with M. Night Shyamalan –
Director of the Upcoming Avatar
Live-Action Feature Film
Click here to download the sneak
peak of
Avatar:
The Burning Earth Series Preview Video
The Avatar finally awakens after his
life-threatening battle at Ba Sing Se to find that he has a full head of hair
and a burning desire to finally defeat the Firelord. The epic third season of
Nickelodeon’s hit series from creator’s Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko,
Avatar: The Last Airbender, will premiere Friday, September 21 at 8:30 p.m.
(ET/PT). In support of this premiere, Nicktoons Networks will air mini marathons
of Avatar seasons one and two from Monday, September 17 at 2:00 p.m. (ET)
through Thursday, September 20. New episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender will
continue to premiere with new episodes in its regular timeslot on Fridays at
8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.
"Fans on Nickelodeon’s message
boards and countless Avatar online fan sites have been clamoring for the third
season to begin since the second season finale," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive
Vice President of Original Programming and Development, Nickelodeon Television.
"We’re excited that season three is finally here and it delivers great character
moments, exciting action and resolves the story arc which has captivated us
since the series debuted. It’s sure to be the best season yet, and we are
confident fans will agree."
In the season three premiere of
Avatar, "The Awakening," Aang wakes up to find himself aboard a captured Fire
Nation ship after sustaining serious injuries at the end of season two. Katara,
Sokka, and their father are with him and they recount the events that led the
four to the ship and how they plan to attack the Fire Nation. Aang struggles to
fight his own instincts to face the Firelord before he is ready, but ultimately
accepts that he needs time to heal and regain his strength. Meanwhile, Zuko is
dealing with his own issues as he journeys home for first time in three years,
fearing his father will reject him once again.
On Tuesday, September 11, timed to
coincide with the exciting season three debut, Nickelodeon Home Entertainment
and Paramount Home Entertainment will release Avatar: The Last Airbender: The
Complete Book 2 Collection. The deluxe box-set features all 20 Book 2: Earth
chapters along with a bonus disc full of exclusive material including an
interview with M. Night Shyamalan. The bonus disc also includes an exclusive
animated graphic novel, plus three original shorts and a martial arts featurette.
"Watching Avatar has become a family
event in my house – my daughters absolutely love the show and they are the ones
who initially told me about it, so we are looking forward to how the story
develops in season three," said M. Night Shyamalan. "Once I saw the amazing
world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film."
Also leading up to the premiere,
Nickelodeon will offer video shorts of Avatar, including clips, sneak peeks,
recaps of season two, as well as instant replays of episodes after its on-air
premiere, all on TurboNick, the network’s broadband video service on
www.nick.com. Additionally, short form Avatar content will be available on
Nickelodeon Mobile on various wireless carriers as of September. After the
launch of season three, fans may log on to play two new Avatar-themed offerings
in Nick’s Game of The Week section: "The Day of the Black Sun" beginning
November 15, and "Clash of the Benders" on November 29. Also post-premiere,
Avatar episodes will stream on Video-on-Demand and will be available for paid
download to purchase on Nickelodeon’s direct to video distribution partner
platforms each week after the episode premieres on Friday nights.
The third season of Avatar follows
Aang and his band of heroes during their latest attempt to save the world now
that Ba Sing Se has fallen. The group heads to the Fire Nation to face the
Firelord on his home turf, but the clock works against them as they travel from
one Fire Nation town to another. They plan to strike before the day of black sun
(an eclipse) that will cause the Fire Nation to lose their powers and leave them
in their most vulnerable state. Meanwhile, Aang faces new challenges and is
reluctant to master bending fire, the most difficult element he has yet to
learn.
Launched in February 2005, Avatar is
currently in its third season and is ranked among the top 10 animated properties
on commercial television among boys 2-11 and boys 6-11 (1Q07). The series
reaches a total of 18.4 million total viewers (persons 2+), including 8.9
million kids 2-11 and 5.8 million kids 6-11*. In 4Q06, Avatar was the
highest-rated animated program on all TV (including broadcast nets and all cable
nets) with Boys 9-14. (Source: *Nielsen CUME Data – May 2007)
The epic story of Avatar: The Last
Airbender follows the journey of Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), a young boy torn
between fulfilling his fate as the long-awaited Avatar and just wanting to be a
regular kid. Aang is called upon to lead the fight against the vicious Fire
Nation to restore balance in his war-torn world. Aided by a protective teenage
Waterbender named Katara (Mae Whitman) and her bull-headed warrior brother Sokka
(Jack DeSena), Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to save the world while
sometimes shaking off his heavy responsibilities so that he can enjoy being a
kid.
Avatar: The Last Airbender was
created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko who also serve as executive
producers. As an award-winning filmmaker, DiMartino has been a director at Film
Roman for six years, working on the prime-time animated series King of the Hill,
Family Guy and Mission Hill. During his tenure there, DiMartino animated and
directed the short animated film Atomic Love, which has gone on to screen at
festivals across the country including Sundance and the Los Angeles Film
Festival. It also aired as part of the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival on
Nicktoons Network.
Konietzko began his career in
animation as a character designer at Film Roman for Fox’s prime-time series,
Family Guy. He soon moved to the post of assistant director for two more Film
Roman shows, Mission Hill and King of the Hill, working beside animation
director DiMartino. Konietzko then became a storyboard artist and later an art
director for the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is
produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California.
Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is
the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global
business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes
television programming and production in the United States and around the world,
plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films.
Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in almost 94 million households
and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 13 consecutive years.
Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of
Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
