45. Avatar: The Last Air Bender

Avatar The Last Airbender by Michael Dante DiMartino (and many others) (Nickelodeon Animation) 2005

Genre

Television program/DVD

Review

In the world of Avatar, warriors can control one of four elements: air, water, fire, or earth.  For each generation there is one warrior -- the Avatar -- who can control all four elements.  He or she is supposed to be born into successive tribes (i.e. in one generation the Avatar will be born into the tribe that controls water, and in the next, the tribe that controls air).  The Avatar is supposed to help bring peace and balance to the world.  At the time the story begins there has not been an Avatar for 100 years, the fire tribe is making war with other tribes, and the air tribe has disappeared.  The series begins when Katara -- a water bender -- and her brother Sokka find a boy frozen in a glacier named Aang.  It becomes clear that he is an airbender and the Avatar.  The children must journey to the four tribes so Aang can master all of the elements.

Opinion

The show nicely balances childish whimsy like flying bison, Aang's desire to go "penguin sledding," and gross humor: Aang's bison sneezes green mucus onto Sokka (reminiscent of slime from Nickelodeon's early days) with complex stories about war and genocide.  While clearly directed at and designed for children, the show challenges them to think.  I also appreciate the strong female character Katara.

Ideas

The show is bound to appeal to children of both genders; in fact a sequel to the show, Leged of Korra, is being produced with a female main character.  Screenings of the show, or events based around it could be fun programs for tweens.