Avatar's influences
I've already described Avatar as Dances with Blue Tabby Cat People meets MechWarrior: The Clueless Age. Turns out that Yes fans are up in arms because Roger Dean's influence, obvious in the conception and execution of the planet Pandora right down to the color palette much less the floating islands, is mentioned nowhere in the film credits or in any of Cameron's comments on the film.
A reference I didn't catch, while all hung up on the Dances With Wolves off-ripping, is the obvious similarity to Disney's Pocahontas. (That Vanity Fair link also suggests some influence from the furry side of the force, but I don't buy that idea nearly so much.)
And if you weren't sure about Cameron's off-ripping of a 30+ year old role-playing game, let's do some comparison: BattleTech/Mechwarrior meets Avatar.
No one could ever accuse Cameron of not being interested in advancing cinematic technologies. But few could ever accuse him of not snatching direct inspiration either. It's the nature of art to imitate and "borrow;" it's just been a long time since I've seen such prodigious and obvious borrowing, though.
Yes, this is how I entertain myself when I'm supposed to be studying. (Don't tell jackwilliambell; he'll be very disappointed with me....) I'll get down to the studying now, I promise. (But this sort of picking movies to bits is fun, you've got to admit....)
A reference I didn't catch, while all hung up on the Dances With Wolves off-ripping, is the obvious similarity to Disney's Pocahontas. (That Vanity Fair link also suggests some influence from the furry side of the force, but I don't buy that idea nearly so much.)
And if you weren't sure about Cameron's off-ripping of a 30+ year old role-playing game, let's do some comparison: BattleTech/Mechwarrior meets Avatar.
No one could ever accuse Cameron of not being interested in advancing cinematic technologies. But few could ever accuse him of not snatching direct inspiration either. It's the nature of art to imitate and "borrow;" it's just been a long time since I've seen such prodigious and obvious borrowing, though.
Yes, this is how I entertain myself when I'm supposed to be studying. (Don't tell jackwilliambell; he'll be very disappointed with me....) I'll get down to the studying now, I promise. (But this sort of picking movies to bits is fun, you've got to admit....)