Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3)

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes21
Release
Original networkNickelodeon
Original releaseSeptember 21, 2007 (2007-09-21) –
July 19, 2008 (2008-07-19)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 2
List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes

Season Three (Book 3: Fire) of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series on Nickelodeon, first showed its 16 episodes on television from 21 September, 2007 to 19 July, 2008. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and it starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, and Grey DeLisle as character voices.[1]

This third and final season focuses on Aang's quest to defeat the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai. In the season's beginning, protagonist Aang and his friends Sokka, Katara, and Toph are traveling through the Fire Nation, conjuring a plan for invading the Fire Nation and looking for a teacher to teach Aang Firebending. Midway through the season, Aang gathers friends he met in previous episodes and leads a failed invasion into the Fire Nation. Former antagonist and anti-hero Zuko changes sides and joins Aang, serving as his Firebending teacher until the season finale, when Aang finally defeats the Fire Lord and ends the war.

The final season features 16 episodes, one more than the previous two seasons. The season finale consisted of the four episodes showed together as a two-hour television movie. Season Three received a similar positive critic to that of the previous seasons. The season, and especially the finale, received much critical acclaim, with praises from sources such as DVD Talk[2] and IGN.[3]

Production

The season was produced by and aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom.[4] The show's creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, worked with Aaron Ehasz.[5] Most of the individual episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe.[1] Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, John O'Bryan; along with creators DiMartino and Konietzko.[1]

The season's music was written by "The Track Team", which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who were known to the show's creators because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate.[6]

Cast

See the main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters
Actor Role
Zach Tyler Eisen Aang
Mae Whitman Katara
Jack DeSena[1] Sokka
Dante Basco[7] Zuko
Jessie Flower Toph
Cricket Leigh Mai
Olivia Hack[1] Ty Lee
Grey DeLisle Azula

Mako's death

Mako Iwamatsu, the voice actor of Iroh at first season, died during the production and was replaced by Greg Baldwin.[8]

Episodes

See the main article: List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes
Episode's number Τitle Directed by Written by Original air date Prod. Code
1 The Awakening[9] Giancarlo Volpe Aaron Ehasz 21 September 2007 301
2 The Headband[10] Joaquim Dos Santos John O' Bryan 28 September 2007 302
3 The Painted Lady[11] Ethan Spaulding Joshua Hamilton 5 Οctober 2007 303
4 Sokka's Master[12] Giancarlo Volpe Tim Hedrick 12 Οctober 2007 304
5 The Beach[13] Joaquim Dos Santos Katie Mattila 19 October 2007 305
6 The Avatar and the Firelord[14] Ethan Spaulding Elizabeth Welch Ehasz 26 Οctober 2007 306
7 The Runaway[15] Giancarlo Volpe Joshua Hamilton 2 November 2007 307
8 The Puppetmaster[16] Joaquim Dos Santos Tim Hedrick 9 November 2007 308
9 Nightmares and Daydreams[17] Ethan Spaulding John O' Bryan 16 Νovember 2007 309
10 The Day of Black Sun Part 1 The Invasion[18] Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino 30 November 2007 310
11 The Day of Black Sun Part 2 The Eclipse[19] Joaquim Dos Santos Aaron Ehasz 30 November 2007 311
12 The Western Air Temple[20] Ethan Spaulding Elizabeth Welch Ehasz & Tim Hedrick 14 July 2008 312
13 The Firebending Masters[21] Giancarlo Volpe John O' Bryan 15 July 2008 313
14 The Boiling Rock Part 1[22] Joaquim Dos Santos May Chan 16 July 2008 314
15 The Boiling Rock Part 2[23] Ethan Spaulding Joshua Hamilton 16 July 2008 315
16 The Southern Raiders[24] Joaquim Dos Santos Elizabeth Welch Ehasz 17 July 2008 316
17 The Ember Island Players[25] Giancarlo Volpe Tim Hedrick, Josh Hamilton & John O'Bryan 18 July 2008 317
18 Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King[26] Ethan Spaulding Michael Dante DiMartino 19 July 2008 318
19 Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters[27] Giancarlo Volpe Aaron Ehasz 19 July 2008 319
20 Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno[28] Joaquim Dos Santos Michael Dante DiMartino 19 July 2008 320
21 Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang[29] Joaquim Dos Santos Michael Dante DiMartino 19 July 2008 321

DVD releases

Between 30 October 2007 and 16 September 2008, Nickelodeon sold four DVD volumes and a complete box-set.[30] Each of the four volume DVDs had one disc and five episodes, with the exception of volume four, which had six episodes, and the boxed set had all twenty-one episodes on five discs.[30] The boxed set of DVDs was sold on 1 February 2010 in the UK.[31]

Volume Discs Episodes Region 1 release (USA) Region 2 release (Europe) Region 4 release (Australia)
1 1 5 30 October 2007 Not released 1 June 2010
2 1 5 22 January 2008 Not released TBA
3 1 5 6 May 2008 Not released TBA
4 1 6 29 July 2008 Not released TBA
Box set 5[32] 21[32] 16 September 2008 1 February 2010[31] TBA

Critic

Like the previous 2 seasons, the critic was positive overall. Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk said, "In addition to the solid writing, Avatar the Last Airbender also has amazing animation. The character designs, with its roots in classic Asian folklore, are colorful and inventive, and the overall animation is smooth and consistently executed".[2] Jamie S. Rich wrote in another review:[33]

This final season in the trilogy is turning out to be the best... At this point in the story, major things are happening, with the characters going through changes and the various plot elements coming together. Thankfully, the show creators never rest, and the quality control is top-notch. The writing is smart, and the animation always impressive.

Henrik Batallones, a BuddyTV Staff Columnist, also noted the wide variety of positive reviews from the press for the season finale, noting that sources such as the New York Times and Toon Zone gave Avatar "glowing reviews".[34]

The season also received praise for its video and sound quality. Nick Lyons from DVD Talk felt that the video quality appeared better than previous seasons, which had also garnered additional awards. He also remarks that the sound is "spot on...as per usual."[35] At the 2008 Annie Awards, the season won "Best Animated Television Production for Children". At the same Annie Awards, Joaquim Dos Santos won the "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" caption for his directing in "Into the Inferno".[36] Joaquim Dos Santos also gave Avatar a nomination at Annecy 2008 for his work with "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse".[37] Additionally, music editor and composer Jeremy Zuckerman and the sound editing team were nominated a Golden Reel award for "Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation" for their work in "Avatar Aang".[38]

Film adaptation

The final part of the planned The Last Airbender trilogy is expected to be based on Book Three with the main cast of the first and second films and M. Night Shyamalan to return as director, writer and producer.

References

General
  • "Season 3". Avatar: The Last Airbender. IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  • "Season Three DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
Specific
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Details". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rich, Jamie S. (January 22, 2008). "Avatar The Last Airbender — Book 3: Fire, Vol. 2". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ Mell, Tory Ireland (July 22, 2008). "Sozin's Comet Review". IGN. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  4. ↑ Luening, Erich (September 7, 1999). "CBS, Viacom in blockbuster merger — CNET News". CNET. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  5. ↑ 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)
  6. ↑ 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)
  7. ↑ "Dante Basco". 2005. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  8. ↑ Fox, Margalit (July 25, 2006). "Mako, 72, Actor Who Extended Asian-American Roles, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ The Awakening on IMDb
  10. ↑ The Headband on IMDb
  11. ↑ The Painted Lady on IMDb
  12. ↑ Sokka's Master on IMDb
  13. ↑ The Beach on IMDb
  14. ↑ The Avatar and the Firelord on IMDb
  15. ↑ The Runaway on IMDb
  16. ↑ The Puppetmaster on IMDb
  17. ↑ Nightmares and Daydreams on IMDb
  18. ↑ The Day of Black Sun Part I The Invasion on IMDb
  19. ↑ The Day of Black Sun Part 2 - The Eclipse on IMDb
  20. ↑ The Western Air Temple on IMDb
  21. ↑ The Firebending Masters on IMDb
  22. ↑ The Boiling Rock Part 1 on IMDb
  23. ↑ The Boiling Rock Part 2 on IMDb
  24. ↑ The Southern Raiders on IMDb
  25. ↑ The Ember Island Players on IMDb
  26. ↑ Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King on IMDb
  27. ↑ Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters on IMDb
  28. ↑ Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno on IMDb
  29. ↑ Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang on IMDb
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "The Avatar: The Last Airbender Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3". Play.com. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Avatar: The Last Airbender Season Three DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  33. ↑ Rich, Jamie S. (May 6, 2008). "Avatar the Last Airbender — Book 3: Fire, Vol. 3". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  34. ↑ "'Avatar' Officially Over, but Perhaps Not Quite So". BuddyTV. July 22, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  35. ↑ "Avatar The Last Airbender Book 3 Fire, Vol. 1 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  36. ↑ "2008 Annie Awards: For Your Consideration". Annie Awards. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  37. ↑ "Annecy 2008 - Official Selection". Annecy 2008. 2008. Archived from the original on November 13, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  38. ↑ "56th Golden Reel Awards Television Nominees - Best Sound Editing in a TV Animation". Motion Picture Sound Editors. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2009.