Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2
Avatar: The Last Airbender | |
---|---|
Season 2 | |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Release | |
Original network | Nickelodeon |
Original release | March 17 December 1, 2006[1] | –
Season chronology | |
Book Two: Earth is the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. The series stars Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Mako Iwamatsu and Grey DeLisle as the main character voices.[1][2]
In the second season, Aang and his friends Katara and Sokka are on a quest to find an Earthbending teacher which finishes when they recruit Toph Beifong. After finding important information concerning the war with the Fire Nation, Appa ends up kidnapped. Their journey leads to Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, where they uncover a great internal government conspiracy. Meanwhile, due to their actions at the North Pole in Book One, Zuko and Iroh are declared traitors of the Fire Nation and desert their country, becoming fugitives in the Earth Kingdom. Pursuing both Zuko and Aang is Princess Azula, Zuko's younger prodigy sister.
Book Two: Earth premiered on Nickelodeon on March 17, 2006. It consisted of 20 episodes and concluded on December 1, 2006. The season received considerable acclaim, with the series being called "consistently excellent."[3] The series won multiple awards, including Best Character Animation in a Television Production from the 34th Annie Awards[4] and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation at the 2007 Emmy Awards.[5]
Between January 23, 2007 and September 11, 2007, Paramount Home Entertainment released four DVD sets containing five episodes each before releasing the entire season as a boxset.[6]
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Animated by | Original air date | Prod. code [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 1 | "Chapter One: The Avatar State" | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick and John O'Bryan | DR Movie | March 17, 2006 | 201 |
22 | 2 | "Chapter Two: The Cave of Two Lovers" | Lauren MacMullan | Joshua Hamilton | JM Animation | March 24, 2006 | 202 |
23 | 3 | "Chapter Three: Return to Omashu" | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | DR Movie | April 7, 2006 | 203 |
24 | 4 | "Chapter Four: The Swamp" | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick | JM Animation | April 14, 2006 | 204 |
25 | 5 | "Chapter Five: Avatar Day" | Lauren MacMullan | John O'Bryan | DR Movie | April 28, 2006 | 205 |
26 | 6 | "Chapter Six: The Blind Bandit" | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino | JM Animation | May 5, 2006 | 206 |
27 | 7 | "Chapter Seven: Zuko Alone" | Lauren MacMullan | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | JM Animation | May 12, 2006 | 207 |
28 | 8 | "Chapter Eight: The Chase" | Giancarlo Volpe | Joshua Hamilton | DR Movie | May 26, 2006 | 208 |
29 | 9 | "Chapter Nine: Bitter Work" | Ethan Spaulding | Aaron Ehasz | DR Movie | June 2, 2006 | 209 |
30 | 10 | "Chapter Ten: The Library" | Giancarlo Volpe | John O'Bryan | JM Animation | July 14, 2006 | 210 |
31 | 11 | "Chapter Eleven: The Desert" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | DR Movie | July 14, 2006 | 211 |
32 | 12 | "Chapter Twelve: The Serpent's Pass" | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino and Joshua Hamilton | JM Animation | September 15, 2006 | 212 |
33 | 13 | "Chapter Thirteen: The Drill" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko | DR Movie | September 15, 2006 | 213 |
34 | 14 | "Chapter Fourteen: City of Walls and Secrets" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | JM Animation | September 22, 2006 | 214 |
35 | 15 | "Chapter Fifteen: The Tales of Ba Sing Se" | Ethan Spaulding | The Tale of Toph and Katara Joann Estoesta and Lisa Wahlander The Tale of Iroh Andrew Huebner The Tale of Aang Gary Scheppke The Tale of Sokka Lauren MacMullan The Tale of Zuko Katie Mattila The Tale of Momo Justin Ridge and Giancarlo Volpe | DR Movie | September 29, 2006 | 215 |
36 | 16 | "Chapter Sixteen: Appa's Lost Days" | Giancarlo Volpe | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | JM Animation | October 13, 2006 | 216 |
37 | 17 | "Chapter Seventeen: Lake Laogai" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | DR Movie | November 3, 2006 | 217 |
38 | 18 | "Chapter Eighteen: The Earth King" | Ethan Spaulding | John O'Bryan | JM Animation | November 17, 2006 | 218 |
39 | 19 | "Chapter Nineteen: The Guru" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko | DR Movie | December 1, 2006 | 219 |
40 | 20 | "Chapter Twenty: The Crossroads of Destiny" | Michael Dante DiMartino | Aaron Ehasz | JM Animation | December 1, 2006 | 220 |
Production
The season was produced by and aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom. The season's executive producers and co-creators are Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who worked alongside episode director and co-producer Aaron Ehasz.[7] Most of the individual episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe.[2] 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.[2]
The season's music was composed 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.[8]
Cast
Most of the main characters from the first season remained the same: Zach Tyler Eisen voices Aang, Mae Whitman voices Katara, Jack DeSena voices Sokka,[2] Dee Bradley Baker voices both Appa and Momo, and Dante Basco voices Zuko.[9]
However, several new characters appear: Jessie Flower voices Toph Beifong, Grey DeLisle voices Azula, Cricket Leigh voices Mai, Olivia Hack voices Ty Lee, and Clancy Brown voices Long Feng.[2]
Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced Iroh in the first two seasons, died from throat cancer after production was completed; he was replaced by Greg Baldwin for the following season and The Legend of Korra.[10]
In the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se, the segment titled "The Tale of Iroh" features a dedication to Mako at the end when Iroh is tearfully singing to mourn the loss of his only child Lu Ten.
Reception
In a review of the Volume 2 DVD Release for Book 2, Gabriel Powers from DVDActive.com described the series as one of the best children's series in recent times, making comparisons with Samurai Jack and Justice League, and complimented it for its depth and humour.[11] Powers also comments:
Without dumbing down its characters, plots, or humour, and without overtly taming-up the action or peril, Avatar manages to enthral children and adults, ages 4 to 56...There is a genuine classic feel to the series, which uses actual Asian culture and lore as its base. Like Star Wars, the creative forces behind the show have tapped into that basic, generation spanning storytelling that will live long after the series' youngest fans are old and bitter.[11]
For the video and audio quality, Powers says "Season two generally looks better than the bulk of season one, but still has some issues" concerning image sharpness. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 87% fresh rating in 2008.[12] Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk says that "As a flat concept, Avatar the Last Airbender is nothing special, but in execution, it is head and shoulders above other children's entertainment", and that "as a whole, the look of Avatar is consistently excellent".[3]
The show also received acclaim for its visual appeal. In the 34th Annie Awards, the show was nominated for and won the "Best Character Animation in a Television Production" award, for Jae-Myung Yu's animation in "The Blind Bandit", and the "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" award, for the episode "The Drill".[4] In 2007, the show was nominated for "Outstanding Animated Program" in the 2007 Emmy Awards for the "City of Walls and Secrets" episode,[13] though it did not win.[5] However, the show did win the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation" award for Sang-Jin Kim's animation in the "Lake Laogai" episode.[5]
Home media
Nickelodeon began releasing DVDs for Book 2 on January 23, 2007.[14] The first four DVD releases contain one disc that consisted of five episodes each.[15] The final DVD was the "Complete Book 2 Box Set", which contains all of the episodes in the season on four discs, and packaged with a special features disc.[6] All of the DVD sets for Book 2 were released with Region 1 encoding, meaning that they can only play on North American DVD players. Book 2 was released on Region 2 on July 20, 2009.
Volume | Discs | Episodes | Region 1 release | Region 2 release | Region 3 release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 5 | January 23, 2007 | Not released | June 4, 2009[16] |
2 | 1 | 5 | April 10, 2007 | Not released | August 6, 2009[17] |
3 | 1 | 5 | May 22, 2007 | Not released | October 29, 2009[18] |
4 | 1 | 5 | August 14, 2007 | Not released | March 31, 2010[19] |
Box set | 4[20] | 20[20] | September 11, 2007 | July 20, 2009 | September 9, 2010[21] |
Footnotes
- 1.^ Production code format taken from the commentary for "Sozin's Comet: The Phoenix King"
References
- General
- "Season 2". Avatar: The Last Airbender. IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- "Season 2 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. February 24, 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
- Specific
- ^ a b "IGN: Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 2". IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Details". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
- ^ a b Rich, Jamie S. (September 12, 2007). "Avatar The Last Airbender — The Complete Book 2 Collection". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
- ^ a b "Annie Awards: Legacy - 34th Annual Annie Awards". International Animated Film Society. February 9, 2006. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
- ^ a b c Mesger, Robin (September 8, 2007). "59th Creative Emmy Awards Winners" (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. pp. 11–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 28, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ a b "Season 2 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. February 24, 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
- ^ DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). "Interview with "Avatar" Program Creators — Page 3". Animation Insider (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ^ DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). "Interview with "Avatar" Program Creators — Page 4". Animation Insider (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ^ "Dante Basco". 2005. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
- ^ "Avatar: Why Uncle Iroh Was Recast In The Last Airbender". ScreenRant. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
- ^ a b Powers, Gabriel. "Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 2, Vl.1". DVDActive. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ Powers, Gabriel. "Avatar: The Last Airbender, Season Two Collection". DVDActive. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ "59th Creative Emmy Awards Nominations" (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2007. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ "Avatar: The Last Airbender Search". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ "The Avatar: The Last Airbender Series". Amazon.co.uk. Amazon.com, Inc. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ "Buy Avatar: The Legend of Aang - Book 2: Earth - Volume 1 on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au".
- ^ "Buy Avatar: The Legend of Aang - Book 2: Earth - Volume 2 on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au".
- ^ "Buy Avatar: The Legend of Aang - Book 2: Earth - Volume 3 on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au".
- ^ "Buy Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 2: Earth - Volume 4 on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au".
- ^ a b "Avatar: The Last Airbender — Season Two DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- ^ "Buy Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Book 2 Collection (4 Disc Box Set) on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". Archived from the original on 2010-09-09.