‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Renewed for Two More Seasons as Social Fandom Heats Up Avatar Renewal Announcement

From the Netflix Newsroom:

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Renewed for Two More Seasons as Social Fandom Heats Up

Avatar Renewal Announcement

Avatar State has officially taken over the world.

Fans across the globe have embraced Avatar: The Last Airbender, leading to a two-season renewal. The live-action reimagining of the beloved animated series follows Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.

Since the show’s Netflix debut on February 22, Avatar: The Last Airbender has reigned as the top English TV show with 41.1M views in just the first 11 days. The series ranked No. 1 in 76 countries and in the top 10 in 92.

Leading up to the series premiere, we harnessed all four elements to heighten excitement with fans old and new.

EARTH

We kicked things off at our Tudum: A Global Fan Event celebration in Brazil in June 2023, where fans went wild for the first looks and first tease of the show. The official teaser debuted during Geeked Week 2023 followed by the full trailer debut in January. Overall, Avatar: The Last Airbender has amassed 2.2B global campaign views on Netflix platforms to date.

Leading up to the series debut, we hosted the US world premiere at the Egyptian in Los Angeles followed by activations in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Thailand to celebrate with fans in person.

The cast and crew of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ at the world premiere in Los Angeles.

AIR

Fans showed off their airbending skills on TikTok, like this very enthusiastic AccuWeather meteorologist who used his magic to manipulate weather patterns.

Overall, the series has seen outsized success on the platform, where user-generated content drew 1B impressions on the #AvatarTheLastAirbender hashtag on TikTok in the first week of release.

On YouTube, Filipino actress and comedian Melai Cantiveros took to the sky for a custom promotional spot for the fictional Appa Air — complete with unlimited cabbages and Aang’s iconic airball. The spot even elicited a response from the “benders” of Philippine Airlines. 

FIRE

Self-proclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender superfan (and 23-time Grand Slam winner) Serena Williams served the heat, literally, in a special promo to show fans how to get into Avatar State.

And Serena wasn’t the only one. Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam, Olympic skater Sky Brown, NFL players Jermain Johnson and DeMarcus Lawrence, former US women’s soccer player Carli Lloyd, Olympic gymnast Kaitlyn Ohashi, NBA players Karl-Anthony Towns and the Milwaukee Bucks, and the University of Alabama football team also donned the iconic blue arrow. Fans can now get in on the action thanks to a custom filter available on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. 

WATER

We channeled the power of water for a special Avatar: The Last Airbender takeover at Sphere on the night of premiere. The video of the display, which shows Aang finally breaking free after 100 years trapped in ice, was also shared on X with fans across the globe.

❄️🌀 After 100 years trapped in ice, Aang is finally breaking free! Join the Avatar on his journey starting TOMORROW 🧊 @spherevegas

Only 12 more hours until Avatar: The Last Airbender! pic.twitter.com/VUogTwZRxz

— Netflix (@netflix) February 21, 2024

With two more seasons officially on the horizon, Avatar State is just heating up.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ stars Ian Ousley, Kiawentiio, Gordon Cormier, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and, Dallas Liu at FAN EXPO Vancouver. Credit: Mark Yuen Visuals for FAN EXPO Vancouver"

@KohakuKuun, @LizaGrimm, @FabiAang and Sebastian Gerdshikow of Filmstarts took part in a YouTube livestream in Germany to celebrate ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’

Fans lined Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur for a special Appa lion dance activation to mark Lunar New Year.

Influencers attended a special screening in Mexico City.

Stars Dallas Liu and Gordon Cormier sat with fans before a special screening in Manila.

Fans gathered for a special Appa Chinese New Year lion dance activation in Bangkok's Chinatown.

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The order will conclude the story of Aang’s journey to become the Avatar in fantastical world.

While the first season was eight episodes, there’s no word yet on the episode count of the final two seasons. Netflix has done double-season renewals before (on shows like Emily in Paris and Stranger Things), but this might be the first time the streamer has ordered two seasons to close out a series. The Avatar animated series likewise told its story across three seasons.

The story follows Aang (Gordon Cormier), the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the Fire Nation.

The Last Airbender also stars Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh, Ken Leung as Commander Zhao, Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, Kiawentiio as Katara, and Ian Ousley as Sokka.

The project is a reimagining of the Nickelodeon animated series that ran for three seasons starting in 2005. Albert Kim serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer. Kim executive produces alongside Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore, Jabbar Raisani and Michael Goi. Roseanne Liang will direct alongside Goi, Raisani and Jet Wilkinson.

The official detailed description: “Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang (Cormier), a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka (Ousley) and Katara (Kiawentiio), siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai (Kim). But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko (Liu) determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.”

Stream the original animated Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra on Paramount+ and Netflix! Try Paramount+ for FREE at ParamountPlus.com

Listen to the brand new podcast, Avatar: Braving the Elements!

Subscribe to the official Avatar: The Last Airbender YouTube channel!

More Nick: Three Animated ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Movies In Works From Paramount, Nickelodeon; Lauren Montgomery To Direct The First!

Originally published: March 06, 2024 at 21:26 GMT.

Additional source: The Hollywood Reporter; H/T: Special thanks to What's on Netflix and @KeydalisColo!

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Janice Burgess, Longtime Nickelodeon Producer and Creator of 'The Backyardigans' Passes Away, Aged 72

Janice Burgess, a former television executive, screenwriter, and producer for Nickelodeon, sadly passed away on Monday, March 4, aged 72.

Courtesy of Nickipedia.

The two-time Daytime Emmy winner's death was confirmed by Nick Jr. creator Brown Johnson, a friend who told The New York Times she died of breast cancer.

Burgess' passing was also confirmed by Nickelodeon on their Nickelodeon Family Instagram account. In a tribute to the late producer, Nickelodeon said: "We are saddened to learn of the passing of one of the great architects of Nick Jr. and creator of the globally beloved series, The Backyardigans. Janice Burgess was one of the greats--inherently creative and kind, and dedicated to the preschool audience everywhere."

Burgess, who celebrated her birthday just last week, joined Nickelodeon in 1995 as executive-in-charge of production. During her time at Nickelodeon, she created the Nick Jr. series The Backyardigans and worked as a writer and creative director for Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club. Both shows were produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

Fracaswell Hyman, a long-time friend who previously worked with her, confirmed on Monday (March 4) that Burgess had recently died. Her cause of death was not immediately known.

“Janice created The Backyardigans and guided countless other shows for Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, Disney and Apple TV,” Hyman wrote. “Her script/story critiques were astute, clear and constructive – and I really thank her for that.”

“I will miss my dear friend,” he added.

Burgess grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended The Ellis School. Planning to become an art historian, she graduated from Brandeis University in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in art history.

According to an interview with Investor's Business Daily, Burgess did not enjoy traveling "in art circles with collectors and high society," so she sought out a different career after college. She volunteered for a job at the public television station WQED, where she was put in charge of craft services.

In the early 1990s, Janice Burgess held positions at the Children's Television Workshop, including as an assistant travel coordinator for 3-2-1 Contact and project manager for Ghostwriter. For the latter, she coordinated the efforts of a tie-in magazine and teacher materials with the content and goals of the television show. It was during this job that she was notified of an opening at Nickelodeon; Burgess joked that she interviewed for the job "about 11,000 times." She was hired as the executive in charge of production for Nick Jr., overseeing the development of Blue's Clues and Little Bill. Burgess later became the vice president of Nickelodeon's preschool Nick Jr. division.

While working as an executive, Burgess attended scripting and concept development meetings, where she enjoyed helping the creative teams with characters and storylines. Burgess was eventually given the opportunity to transition to a creative role by senior vice president of Nick Jr., Brown Johnson. She asked Burgess to develop an idea for a new Nick Jr. show, and Burgess produced a pilot episode called Me and My Friends at Nickelodeon Studios Florida in 1998. The pilot was a live-action, full-body puppet show that featured music and dance. 

It was not picked up for a full series, but several months after the rejection, Johnson asked Burgess to retool the concept. She liked the characters and music from Burgess's pilot and felt the show would work better in animation.

Using the characters from Me and My Friends, Burgess wrote a second pilot, which was produced at Nickelodeon's New York studio in 2001. The show, now fully computer-animated and renamed The Backyardigans, was greenlit for a full season of 20 episodes. Reflecting on the shift to animation, Burgess said, "Sometimes your first attempt is just not all that great. In this case, my second attempt was much better." The Backyardigans premiered on Nickelodeon on October 11, 2004.

Janice Burgess served as executive producer for The Backyardigans throughout its run of four seasons. In 2006, she described her work on the show positively: "making The Backyardigans has become sort of like an adventure that I go on with my friends. Of course, we get paid, but we do get to be carefree in our work, enjoy each other, hang around a lot, travel a little bit, and make up stuff."

The Backyardigans follows animal neighbors Austin, Tasha, Tyrone, Pablo and Uniqua as they seek out fun-filled adventure and reimagine their backyard as different landscapes. Song and dance was central to the themes featured in the series, which was partly inspired by Burgess' own childhood backyard adventures growing up in Pittsburgh. As a kid, she and her friends would play hide and seek and imagine they were sailing ships and fending off lions.

“I really remember it as a wonderful, happy, safe place,” Burgess once told The New York Times. “You could have these great adventures just romping around. From there, you could go anywhere or do anything.”

And one of the five characters was even inspired by her.

“Uniqua is me. Or at least, who I was as a kid,” Burgess explained. “She’s a ringleader. Out of the five, Uniqua is the main character, and we use her in every story. I think most preschoolers have a sense of their own specialness, and that’s what Uniqua is about.”

In 2021, The Backyardigans had a post-pandemic moment on TikTok when a pair of songs from the program, "Into the Thick of It!" and "Castaways," delighted the internet and 2000s kids alike.

"Why is Backyardigans a musical? Why not?," she told Nickelodeon Animation.

Burgess drew inspiration from action films when writing episodes of the show, as she wanted to adapt high-stakes stories for a young audience. The series received eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations, and Burgess won the 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program. After The Backyardigans wrapped production in 2010 on the fourth and final season, much of the series' staff members regrouped to work on Nickelodeon's Winx Club, including Burgess. She worked as a writer, story editor, and creative director on the action-adventure series.

During her time at Nickelodeon, Burgess worked on a number of shows for Nickelodeon, including Gullah, Gullah Island, Allegra’s Window, Blue’s Clues and Bubble Guppies. She also served as a writer on Unfabulous and as a producer on House of Anubis. She also wrote for Three Delivery, which aired on the Nicktoons Network.

R.I.P. Janice Burgess, 1952-March 4, 2024.

Originally published: March 04, 2024 at 03:56 GMT; Sources: Wikipedia, @PopBase, @KeydalisColo.

Classic Rugrats Comic Strip for March 6, 2024 | Nickelodeon

Classic Rugrats Comic Strip for March 6, 2024 | Nickelodeon

Stream the classic and the all new CG-animated Rugrats series on Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!

Rugrats, provided to Creators Syndicate by Nickelodeon, based off the popular animated television series has been created for children and family's to laugh and enjoy together.

Follow these comics and their take on real episodes of the show and their own spin on hilarious adventures.

Read more Rugrats comic strips!: https://www.creators.com/features/rugrats

More Nick: Paramount+ Renews 'Rugrats' For Season 3!

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ID Unveils New Footage Featuring Drake Bell From Highly Anticipated Docuseries 'Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV'

ID Unveils New Footage from Highly Anticipated Docuseries QUIET ON SET: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV

Former Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell Shares His Story for First Time

-- QUIET ON SET to premiere across two-nights on ID beginning Sunday, March 17 at 9/8c --

- Watch the new footage from the docuseries here -

INGLEWOOD, CA - AUGUST 27: Drake Bell attends the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

(New York, N.Y.) - Today, Investigation Discovery, the leading true crime network, unveiled new footage from the forthcoming QUIET ON SET: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV. The clip reveals that former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach who was convicted in 2004 for his crimes against Drake and ordered to register as a sex offender. QUIET ON SET: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV will premiere across two nights, Sunday, March 17 and Monday, March 18, from 9-11PM ET/PT on ID.

QUIET ON SET: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV uncovers the toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic children's shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture. Over the course of its four parts, the docuseries reveals an insidious environment rife with allegations of abuse, sexism, racism. QUIET ON SET will shine a spotlight on these emotional accounts, chronicling a pattern of gross, abusive, and manipulative behavior that unfolded across decades, as well as exclusive stories about child predators on set. These interviews, woven with archival footage (some of which has never been broadcast), scenes from the shows and social media commentary, will recontextualize many moments within these series that may have seemed silly or off when first aired but now carry a much darker undertone, offering a powerful reframing of these beloved shows.

QUIET ON SET is directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz and produced by Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television - Nonfiction in association with Business Insider.

Use #QuietOnSet to join the conversation and follow on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube for exclusive content.

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Stream a Mountain of Entertainment, including your Nickelodeon favorites on Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!

More Nick: Paramount Plus Expands Kids and Family Programming with New Slate of Films and Series from Nickelodeon Studios!

Originally published: March 06, 2024.

Press release courtesy of TheFutonCritic.com; H/T: @KevDGrussing, @SonicBlueRanger.

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First Look and Details of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed' Unveiled

First Details And Screenshots Of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed

In August 2023, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrived in theaters, and, much to the delight of both longtime and newer fans, it was a terrific and fun watch. Just over a month after its theatrical debut, Paramount and Nickelodeon announced that publisher Outright Games and developer A Heartful of Games would be releasing a follow-up video game set in the Mutant Mayhem universe. While it hasn't had a name to this point, Game Informer has revealed that the title is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

The 3D brawler/platformer picks up after the events of TMNT: Mutant Mayhem; the Turtles have been accepted by society following their heroics against Superfly and his band of mutants. Unfortunately, their dream of attending high school as average, everyday students is suddenly interrupted by a new wave of mutants invading New York City. Featuring an all-original storyline, Mutants Unleashed aims to have the same brand of humor as the 2023 film.

Players take control of the four hero turtles, each with a unique playstyle, as they fight their way through the sewers and streets of New York. Outright Games touts how immersive both the world above and below ground is, as well as the cast of familiar faces for the brothers to meet and fight. As co-op is a massive piece of the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games, players can enjoy two-player local co-op in Mutants Unleashed.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is set to arrive near the end of this year for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

The news Paramount announcing that the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is set to be released on October 9, 2026. Although that may seem far away, Paramount+ will debut the first season (of two) of Tales of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which will take place between the events of the feature film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the forthcoming sequel, this summer.

In further TMNT video game news, Raw Thrills is set to release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, the 2017 arcade game based on the 2012 Nickelodeon TV series, on all home consoles on April 23. It'll be priced at $29.99.

THQ Nordic is also currently working on TMNT: The Last Ronin, a new video game based on the beloved IDW TMNT graphic novel series of the same name. The title is currently in development in partnership with Black Forest Games and Nickelodeon, and will be released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game's release date has yet to be announced.

Stream the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe, including Mutant Mayhem on Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!

Stream Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie on Netflix!

Subscribe to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles OFFICIAL YouTube channel - the ultimate home for all things TMNT! Here you’ll find Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello’s best moments from all your favorite TMNT series. Join the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in their fight against evil, and be the first to get notified of exclusive original content you won’t find anywhere else! https://at.nick.com/TMNTSubscribe

More Nick: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ Movie Sequel and Paramount+ Series in the Works!

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