Avatar: The Last Airbenderis hands down one of thegreatest animated series ever made. And this year, the celebrated series gets to enjoy its 15th anniversary in style. Nickelodeon’s critically-acclaimed, Emmy award-winning series receives the SteelBook treatment asAvatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Series Blu-ray 15th Anniversary Limited Edition SteelBook Collection, and it arrives today!
The 3-book collection features stunning new artwork by artistCaleb Thomas, with each book featuring a different element (Water, Earth, and Fire) and the covers combining to form a beautiful triptych. Thomas was handpicked to design the collection’s covers after series co-creatorBryan Konietzkobecame a fan of Thomas’ art style on social media. The collection’s production run will be limited to 20,000 units, so get yours ASAP!
Created by Konietzko andMichael Dante DiMartino,Avatar: The Last Airbenderaired on Nickelodeon from February 2005 through July 2008, garnering both critical and audience acclaim while also winning Annie, Genesis, Primetime Emmy, and Peabody awards. The series features an iconic blend of anime and traditional animation, alongside a talented voice cast includingZach Tyler Eisen,Mae Whitman,Jack DeSena,Dante Basco,Dee Bradley Baker, andMark Hamill. The fan-favorite series has spawned a beloved animated sequel series,The Legend of Korra, as well as anupcoming live-action remake (with its original creators) to be produced for Nickelodeon and Netflix.
The artwork that adorns this SteelBook is gorgeous and display-worthy; you may swap out each individual seasonal SteelBook, each of which features a front and back cover design, to change up your front-facing display on your media shelf. Additionally, inside the case is a preview of the 2019 bestseller,F. C. Yee’sThe Rise of Kyoshi;the sequel novel is due out this July, so keep an eye out for it! We may just get to see more of Kyoshi in the new Netflix series …
As for the actual content in the SteelBook collection, well, the only downside to this special edition is that there is no new content for its release; you get the very same collection ofepisodes and Special Features that were released in the Blu-ray edition. So if you already have that, the only reason to pick up this edition is either because you’re a superfan and want every release, and/or you just really appreciate the beautiful artwork on display here and want to show it off. My review for the Blu-ray version’s content follows below and can apply to the Limited Edition SteelBook as well:
Water, Earth, Fire, Air. Four nations. One war-torn world. Celebrate the 15th anniversary of the epic saga,Avatar: The Last Airbender, with this 3 SteelBook collection, featuring all-new art for each book! Go back to the beginning to experience the animated series that quickly became a phenomenon with a huge fan base that spans the globe! This complete collector’s edition includes all three powerful books: Water, Earth, and Fire.
Special Features:
Book One: Water
Behind the Scenes Kung Fu Featurette(5 minutes) – Sifu Kisu leads us through the various martial arts styles that were used for inspiration to create the various elemental bending styles.
Credits(1 minute) – The show’s end-credits sequence, giving credit where credit is due.
The Making of Avatar: From Real Life to Animation(4 minutes) – Show creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino act out scenes from various scenes in their scripts for animators to have a reference to draw from.
Behind the Scenes: Voices of Avatar(5 minutes) – The voice actors talk about their characters in this behind-the-scenes featurette.
Ask the Creators Featurette(4 minutes) – Q&A from Konietzko and Dane DiMartino
Original Uncut Animatic – Episode #15 “Bato of the Water Tribe” (25 minutes)
Disc Three:
Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast and Crew
Behind the Scenes with the Avatar Cast & Crew(3 minutes) – A behind-the-scenes featurette that introduces the cast and crew as a way to introduce newcomers to the show itself.
Avatar Pilot Episode with Audio Commentary
The Making of Avatar – Inside the Sound Studios(7 minutes)
The Making of Avatar – Inside the Korean Animation Studios(30 minutes)
Book Two: Earth
Disc Four:
Original Uncut Animatic – Episode #21 “The Avatar State”
Audio Commentaries:
Disc Five:
Interview with Creators and M. Night Shyamalan(10 minutes) – A sit-down interview between the animated series creators and Shyamalan, director of the much-maligned (and rightfully so) live-action adaptation. It’s a bizarre, almost out-of-body experience watching this interview while knowing everything went so wrong, but it’s also clear that Shyamalan never understood what made the show such a hit to begin with.
The Essence of Bending with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu(10 minutes) – A Q&A between Konietzko and Sifu Kisu to breakdown the elemental bending styles and their real-world martial arts equivalents. They also walk through the process of translating the writers’ ideas into Sifu Kisu’s movements, which are then recorded, edited, and delivered to the animators for reference.
Avatar Super Deformed Shorts: Chibi-style shorts featuring your favorite characters.
Escape from the Spirit World: Animated Graphic Novel(13 minutes) – Aang must learn how to master the Avatar State from previous avatars in order to avoid the clutches of Koh and escape the Spirit World in this animated comic. There are a handful of trivia tidbits along the way as Aang visits with each representative of the four elements.
Book Three: Fire
Disc Seven:
Disc Eight:
Disc Nine:
Audio Commentaries (Some video in standard definition)
The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender(20 minutes) – Female-focused featurette on Katara, Toph, and Azula with the voice actors and the show’s co-creators.
Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation(12 minutes) – An incredible look at the thousands of pencil drawings that are put together to animateAvatarand the series’ epic, action-packed finale.
Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con(60 minutes) – A recap of the San Diego Comic-Con panel, complete with special guests, sneak peeks and Q&As.
