Avatar Spirit

Finale Ratings, Avatar MMORPG & More

Posted by Acastus on July 28, 2008 @ 9:19 pm EST (link)

With all the activity around SDCC we forgot to relay some other excellent news.

Finale Ratings: First up is the fantastic ratings that the Avatar series finale achieved. The last four episodes broadcast on Saturday, July 19th apparently attracted 5.6 million viewers, a record for Avatar and good enough to place Avatar among the top five cable shows for that week. Check out the ratings as reported by USA Today about halfway down the page. This is a huge achievement to the show staff and the fans who waited many, long months without losing their enthusiasm for one of the best shows on television.

Avatar MMORPG: In another signal that Nickelodeon is continuing to support the franchise, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) for Avatar has been announced by Nick and Viacom that is to debut this coming September. You can download a preview of the beta here, and check out the Viacom press release using the link above or the press release itself in the Press Release section of ASN.

Season Three Box Set: Several days ago the good folks over at TV ShowsOnDVD.com published the reverse cover art for the season three box set of Avatar. The back side revealed the extras that are to be included. They are:

Inside Sozin's Comet: Exclusive Four-Part Audio Commentary by Creators

The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation

Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic Con

Also, don't forget that the volume 4 DVD goes on sale tomorrow!

SDCC Avatar Panel Review

Posted by Acastus on July 26, 2008 @ 1:18 pm EST (link)

Click here to go to the SDCC Saturday program schedule

SDCC's Avatar panel wrapped up at about 9 PM PST last night. The panel lasted about an hour and 45 minutes and was composed of Avatar creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Avatar Director Joaquim Dos Santos. The panel program was as follows:

Panel introduction & Avatar MMORPG game announcement by Nick Exec Roland Poindexter

Screening of finale episodes 320 and 321

Fanart Contest runner ups and winners presented by Mike & Bryan

Cosplay Contest presented by Mike & Bryan

"Forbidden Love" Joke Short

Q&A Session with Mike & Bryan

Not a lot of major news came out of the panel, but it was confirmed once again that season three was the end of the show. Here are a few other tidbits in no particular order:

Zuko finding Ursa was actually storyboarded for the finale by Avatar Director Joaquim Dos Santos, but was nixed by Mike DiMartino - not really sure why.

Avatar will be airing in order on Nicktoons "soon" - no date was announced though.
The lion turtle taught Aang how to spirit bend (Bryan called it "unbending", but still not clear exactly what to call it).
Aang can spirit bend or take other people's bending away at will, it wasn't just a one time thing.

A new Avatar MMORPG will be coming out soon, presumably like World of Warcraft or Everquest

This won't be the last Avatar panel at SDCC.

Mike made it clear that at least the first live action movie is a very faithful retelling of Book One: Water.

Everyone wants to see video from the panel, so, here's the JOKE short (Sorry, but there is NO season 4), "Book 4: Air - Forbidden Love":

The QA session of our video has also been posted, as well as the Fanart Contest section. Also, there were two cartoon shorts of Mike and Bryan used to introduce various segments of the program. Here is SDCC 2008 Mike & Bryan Cartoon #1 and here is SDCC 2008 Mike & Bryan Cartoon #2.

Toon Zone Interviews Avatar Director & SDCC Avatar Program

Posted by Acastus on July 22, 2008 @ 3:28 pm EST (link)

Click here to see the full Toon Zone article

Ed Liu over at Toon Zone has another sweet Avatar article for us, this time an interview with Avatar Director Joaquim Dos Santos. In it they cover the specifics of Dos Santos' directorial style, including specific questions about "The Puppetmaster" and his work on three of the four episodes of the series finale.

Click on the Toon Zone logo at left or the link above to read the whole interview!

Also, here is the basic rundown of official Avatar events at SDCC later this week for those who haven't already seen it:

Friday - July, 25th

Avatar Panel w / Mike & Bryan
Hours: 7:30-9:15 PM
Location: Room 6CDEF

Saturday - July, 26th

Mike and Bryan Autograph Signing
Line ticket drawing at 10:00 AM
Hours: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Location: Sails Pavilion AA4

Avatar Ends Three Year Run With Series Finale

Posted by Acastus on July 20, 2008 @ 10:55 am EST (link)

Avatar: The Last Airbender ended its three year run of original episodes last night with the two hour season and series finale for the show. Fans all over the internet have come together on forums, in chat rooms, and even in person to share the experience.

While the show itself is over, the fans still have the three live action movies to look forward to, the first scheduled to be released in theaters in July of 2010. Also, Mike and Bryan will be at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) next week and are hosting a huge Avatar panel (see prior updates below) where no doubt they will be asked about any other Avatar projects in the works.

In any event, it's been a wonderful, wonderful ride and we have much to thank Mike, Bryan, the show staff and Nick for. Of course, the show may be over, but both the fandom and the Avatar universe goes on. Here's hoping the next projects will be as good or even better than the first!

Toon Zone Review of Series Finale & Nick Mag Online Viewer

Posted by Acastus on July 18, 2008 @ 8:13 am EST (link)

Ed Liu over at Toon Zone has posted an excellent, spoiler free review of Saturday's Avatar season finale. The impression is definitely positive. Also, for those worried about not getting any real closure from the finale as far as Aang & the Gaang's story goes, Ed writes:

"There are definitely unresolved plot elements and unanswered questions by the end of "Sozin's Comet," and it is unquestionable that Avatar's creators, its fans, and Nickelodeon all want more stories set in the richly engrossing Avatar world. Even so, "Sozin's Comet" provides a powerful sense of closure to Aang's story. This tale is Finished. "

Of course, we'll all get to decide for ourselves come Saturday night starting at 8 PM EST!

Click on the Toon Zone icon or the link above to check out Ed's complete review.

Click here to go to the Nick Magazine website

In an unrelated note, Nickelodeon Magazine some time ago launched their online magazine viewer on their website. Now fans can check out pieces of the magazine and other cool stuff online at any time. The viewer itself allows you to select the different pages available, to zoom in and out, and to print whichever pages you want.

Make sure to check it out each month, hopefully for some cool Avatar content!

New Episodes Begin Again Tomorrow Night In USA

Posted by Acastus on July 13, 2008 @ 8:22 pm EST (link)

Just to remind everyone, or in case anyone has just arrived from the 14th century, new episodes of Avatar begin airing once in the United States starting tomorrow night. Broadcast time will be 8 PM EST / 7 PM CST. A new episode will be broadcast each night beginning with episode 312, " The Western Air Temple." The season and series finale will be broadcast in a two hour block of the final four episodes on Saturday, July 19th at 8PM EST! Also, ASN will not be posting screenshots form the TV broadcast of these episodes, just ones from the DVDs since these are or will be available shortly.

SDCC Update: The tickets for Friday night are now (and have been for a few days) sold out. Sorry to all those who didn't get a ticket due to the late news. There will no doubt be many, many videos of the panel available though very shortly after the panel, so don't worry too much!

Lastly, the full SDCC schedule has been released and is now available on the SDCC website. Click on the links or SDCC logo on the update below for complete details.

Nick Announces Avatar Fan Art Contest

Posted by Acastus on July 9, 2008 @ 5:46 pm EST (link)

Nickelodeon has announced an Avatar fan art contest. The top ten entries will be featured on Nick.com., and shown at the SDCC Avatar panel by Mike and Brian, where they will announce the contest winner!

Here's the text of the announcement:

"Sharpen your pencils, breakout your paints, Nickelodeon wants to see your best Art-bending moves!

Submit your version of a movie poster for the "Avatar" season finale event, "Sozin's Comet" to Nick.com by 12 PM EST, on July 15th.

The Top Ten finalists will have their art shown during the exclusive "Avatar" panel at this year's San Diego Comic Con, where "Avatar" co-creators and producers Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will personally select and announce the Grand Prize Winner! In addition, all finalists will have their artwork featured on Nick.com!"

Click on this link or the banner at left to go to the announcement on Nick.com. There is a big blue button in the upper right hand corner of that page that says "Click here to upload your art NOW!", in case you're worried about how to submit your entry.

This is great news for the legions of talented fan artists in the Avatar fandom. Best of luck to everyone who enters, and can't wait to see the selections at the panel!

SDCC Avatar Panel on Friday Night

Posted by Acastus on July 5, 2008 @ 7:32 pm EST (link)

ASN has just received word directly from Bryan Konietzko, one of the creators of Avatar, that there will indeed be an Avatar panel at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) on Friday night, July 25th. He sent us an announcement that reads as follows:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: One week after the last 10 episodes will air on Nickelodeon, the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" panel will be at the San Diego Comic Con on Friday evening, July 25, 7:30-9:15pm in one of the (big!) 2000 person rooms. Please join co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and director Joaquim Dos Santos for a screening of the final chapters 320 & 321 and other fun activities (details to follow shortly on Nick.com and the SDCC website). Friday passes are almost sold out, so please act fast! We really want to see as many fans as possible in the room! On Saturday, Mike and Bryan will do a poster signing (time and details to follow). See you in San Diego!"

This is great news for Avatar fans, but if you haven't bought tickets yet please be aware that the passes for Friday are 89% sold already (click on the SDCC icon at right or the link below for details), and the four day passes are sold out. If you want to go, head over to the SDCC website and get a Friday pass so you can attend!

Nick Magazine Says Finale Will Be Broadcast on July 19th

Posted by Acastus on June 17, 2008 @ 6:58 pm EST (link)

Click here to see a larger version of the magazine clip.

As has been reported elsewhere, Nickelodeon Magazine's July issue has a two page spread with Avatar puzzles and other tidbits. Of greater interest is the announcement that the remaining episodes of Avatar will be broadcast in the United States one each night starting July 14th, and ending with a two hour finale special on Saturday, July 19th.

Click on the icon at left for a full size view of the splash in the July Nick Magazine that contains the source of this information.

Separately, Nick / Viacom released a press release last week on the Avatar live action movies. It doesn't contain much new information, but Shyamalan does wax optimistic about the project and the show, calling the franchise "the next Star Wars." Click on the link above or go to ASN's Press Release Section to read the whole thing.

Two New Shyamalan Interviews

Posted by Acastus on June 10, 2008 @ 7:37 pm EST (link)

Click here to go to the first interview.

Two new interviews came out recently with M. Night Shyamalan that touch on the upcoming live action Avatar movies. One is posted on ComingSoon.net and the other is on RopeOfSilicon.com.

The ComingSoon.net article has a few interesting comments on the potential audience rating for the film. Shyamalan says it will be tough making it "PG" since he's used to the relative freedom of an "R" rating.

The RopesOfSilicon interview has a few Avatar questions toward the end. He remarks that construction for the sets will start in August, and then goes on to discuss the role of CGI in the films.

Click on either link or the logos on the left or right to read the entire articles. Thanks to the many people who emailed in links!