Epic Battle Breaks New Ground in One-Hour Adventure 'Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation'

Epic Battle Breaks New Ground in One-Hour Adventure 'Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation'

Premiering Friday, September 15 at 8:00 P.M. on Nickelodeon

Fans Can Produce and Animate Original 'Avatar' Characters and Scenes in 'Avatar Secret Scene Creator' on Nick.com

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The secret is out when Nickelodeon's hit animated comedy/adventure series, "Avatar: The Last Airbender," premieres an all-new epic adventure titled "Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation" on Friday, September 15 from 8:00-9:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Aang and his friends are prevented from taking the easy route into Ba Sing Se while escorting a family of refugees and are faced with the challenge of making their way through the deadly Serpent's Pass. Along the way, Aang discovers a secret Fire Nation invention heading straight for Ba Sing Se and must stop it before it destroys the great wall that protects the city from invasion. The special will repeat Saturday, September 16 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 17 at 4:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060906/NYW045 )

In addition, for the first time ever, fans who are looking for a deeper, interactive "Avatar" experience can log onto the "Avatar Secret Scene Creator" on http://www.nick.com/, where they will find the tools they need to create an original character and animate it, producing their own "Avatar" scenario. Beginning one week prior to the premiere of the on-air special, Nickelodeon will randomly select ten scenes from the online game, record the dialogue with the actual "Avatar" voice actors and feature the completed scenes on Nickelodeon television as on-air interstitials. More than 100,000 scenes have been created and submitted to date. The Secret Scenes Creator is just one part of a larger online initiative for "Avatar." In July, a new enhanced "Avatar" supersite launched on Nick.com (http://www.nick.com/all_nick/specials/secret ), which provides fans with the content they crave, such as details on the environments, games, videos, character profiles and more.

"'Avatar' fans are among the most interactive in Nickelodeon's history, so along with this special, which is full of captivating martial arts and incredible adventures, we've added another way for viewers to engage with the show," said Tom Ascheim, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Nickelodeon Television. "For the first time, fans that go to nick.com will be able to create their own 'Avatar' character and animate their own ideas into fantastical adventures -- landing some of their scenes on our air."

Launched in February 2005, "Avatar" is currently in its second season and is ranked among the top 10 animated properties on commercial television among kids 2-11 and kids 6-11. The series reaches an average of 7.6 million total viewers (persons 2+), including 4.2 million kids 2-11 and 3.1 million kids 6- 11*. "Avatar" is the number one Nickelodeon program for the network on Friday nights with teens 9-14 and kids 6-11 as well as boys 9-14 and girls 9-14**. (Sources: *Nielsen CUME Data - May 2006; **NMR - Friday night programs 3/17/06-7/9/06, 7-10 p.m.)

Nickelodeon will also offer a two minute sneak peek of "Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation" on TurboNick, the network's broadband video service on Nick.com during the week leading up to the special. On September 5, a one minute trailer of the special will be available on Nickelodeon's various wireless carrier partners. Following the television premiere of the special, "Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation" will stream on TurboNick and Video-on- Demand and will be available for paid download on Nickelodeon's partner video distribution platforms.

Kids may also log onto Nick.com, to play "Avatar: Trials of Serpent's Pass" where they are able to guide a band of hearty travelers through the perilous Serpent's Pass. Also available from THQ will be a new "Avatar: The Last Airbender" videogame. On September 19, Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment will release a six-disc box set, "Avatar: The Complete Book 1 Collection."

The epic story of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" follows the journey of Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), a 12-year-old boy torn between fulfilling his fate as the long-awaited Avatar and just wanting to be a regular kid. Aang is called upon to lead the fight against the vicious Fire Nation to restore balance in his war-torn world. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Mae Whitman) and her bull-headed warrior brother Sokka (Jack DeSena), Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to save the world while sometimes shaking off his heavy responsibilities so that he can enjoy being a kid.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" was created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko who also serve as executive producers. Award-winning filmmaker, Michael DiMartino has been a director at Film Roman for six years, working on the prime-time animated series "King of the Hill," "Family Guy" and "Mission Hill." During his tenure there, DiMartino animated and directed the short animated film "Atomic Love," which has gone on to screen at festivals across the country including Sundance and the Los Angeles Film Festival. It also aired as part of the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival on Nicktoons Network.

Bryan Konietzko began his career in animation as a character designer at Film Roman for Fox's prime-time series, "Family Guy." He soon moved to the post of assistant director for two more Film Roman shows, "Mission Hill" and "King of the Hill," working beside animation director Michael DiMartino. Konietzko then became a storyboard artist and later an art director for the Nickelodeon animated series "Invader Zim."

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is produced at the Nicktoons Studios in Burbank, California.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060906/NYW045
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN6
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Press: Nicole Parker, +1-818-736-3613, nicole.parker@nick.com,
or Photo: Michelle Hernandez, +1-212-258-7722, michelle.hernandez@nick.com,
both of Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/specials/secret

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