Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 21 February 2005 |
| Status | Ended, last episode 19 July 2008 |
| Genre | Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
| Created by | Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko |
| Starring | Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman and Jack De Sena |
| Seasons | 3 seasons, 61 episodes |
| Episode length | about 24 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 24 hours |
| Rated | TV-Y7 |
| Scores | Trakt.tv 91% · IMDb 9.3/10 · TMDB users 8.8/10 |
Where to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is streaming on Netflix ($17.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Paramount+ ($13.99 a month). At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 1 month of Paramount+, or $13.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 12 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
What kind of watch this is
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a 2005 animated series where elemental magic fuels a global war. It runs 24 minutes per episode across 3 seasons, totaling 61 episodes. That is 24 hours of watching, which feels like a long weekend but ends faster than the lessons stick. The creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, built a world where balance is a weapon. The hook is simple: a boy wakes up with a job he never asked for.
What the critics said
Critics did not merely like it; they anointed it. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% score as of July 2020, based on 23 reviews. That is a perfect ten, which usually signals either brilliance or a lack of critics. Nick Hartel of DVD Talk called it a "child friendly show" whose legacy "should endure for years to come." Max Nicholson of IGN labeled it a "must-watch." The praise is nearly unanimous, though some noted the anime influences. It is the kind of show parents pretend to watch, then secretly binge.
How it did with audiences
TMDB users give it an 8.8 out of 10. IMDb rated it 9.3/10 in November 2024. The finale, "Sozin's Comet," averaged 5.6 million viewers, a jump of 195 percent over the mid-July 2007 baseline. That spike wasn't just a spike; it was a declaration.
Awards
The series collected 4 awards from 2 nominations. Nickelodeon took the 2008 Peabody, while the show itself claimed the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon that year. It also won the Genesis and Annie for Best Animated Television Production for Children. A solid haul for a show about bending elements.
What came next for the cast
Mae Whitman traded a role in Arrested Development for a string of youth-oriented films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The DUFF. Dante Basco moved from Hook to projects such as Take the Lead. The credits cannot say the show caused that shift. They can say what followed.
Where it left its mark
The show changed how networks thought about kids’ programming. It pushed the boundaries, leading to later shows that mixed youth and adult themes. Critics ranked it highly; TV Guide listed it among the 60 greatest cartoons in 2013, while Vanity Fair placed it 11th in 2018. IndieWire ranked it 36th in the same year. When it landed on Netflix in 2020, it hit number one in the U.S. within four days. It stayed in the top ten for a record 60 days. Co-creators DiMartino and Konietzko linked this surge to real-world events like the pandemic. The show’s heavy themes, they noted, mirror our ongoing struggles with injustice.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Sources
- Avatar: The Last Airbender on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q11572 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Avatar: The Last Airbender” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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