Avatar: The Last Airbender (abbreviated as ATLA), also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in some regions or simply Avatar, is an American anime-influenced animated television series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios. It was co-created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, with Aaron Ehasz serving as head writer. It aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons, from February 2005 to July 2008.
Avatar is set in an Asiatic-inspired world in which some people can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements—water, earth, fire or air—through practices known as “bending”, inspired by Chinese martial arts. The only individual who can bend all four elements, the “Avatar”, is responsible for maintaining harmony among the world’s four nations, and serves as the bridge between the physical world and the spirit world. The series is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons and relies on the imagery of primarily Chinese culture, with some other East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, New World, and Inuit and Sireniki influences.
The series is centered around the journey of twelve-year-old Aang, the current Avatar and last survivor of his nation, the Air Nomads, along with his friends Katara, Sokka, and later Toph, as they strive to end the Fire Nation’s war against the other nations of the world. It also follows the story of Zuko—the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, seeking to restore his lost honor by capturing Aang, accompanied by his wise uncle Iroh—and later, his ambitious sister Azula.
Avatar: The Last Airbender was a ratings success and received widespread acclaim from audiences and critics alike for its characters, cultural references, art direction, soundtrack, humor, and themes. These include concepts rarely touched on in youth entertainment, including war, genocide, imperialism, totalitarianism, indoctrination and free choice.[5] It won five Annie Awards, a Genesis Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Kids’ Choice Award, and a Peabody Award. The show is regarded by several critics as one of the greatest animated television series of all time.
The extended Avatar franchise includes an ongoing comics series, a prequel novel series, an animated sequel series, and a live-action film, as well as an upcoming live-action remake series produced for Netflix. The complete series was released on Blu-ray in June 2018 in honor of the tenth anniversary of its finale and was made available to stream on Netflix in the United States and Canada in May 2020, on Paramount+ in June 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video in January 2021.