James Cameron confesses if ‘Avatar’ story is based on a book

A storyline where men come to colonize a strange land isn’t entirely original to James Cameron, however, there is a lot of overlap between the ‘Avatar’ movies and some books with a similar premise. And not only that, there are also several works that, oddly enough, are very similar to the plot starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, and directed by James Cameron.

Of, James Cameron clarifies if ‘Avatars’ it is based on a book, repeatedly. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the director revealed the sources of inspiration for his sci-fi/fantasy space odyssey. At the time, Cameron faced many lawsuits for alleged plagiarism, which is to be expected after seeing a very mundane story in art.

James Cameron acknowledges that there is something of “Pocahontas” about his exploration of Pandora, but the truth is that “Avatars’ not based on any book in particular, but in different ideas from different sources that the director turned to. The Disney franchise owes its existence to the confluence of several stories that inspired its director to create (or reuse) them in his saga.

But if there is a work that was directly the main seed, that is ‘Spring on planet Flora’, a design that inspired the story of ‘Avatars’. James Cameron saw this illustration in his teens, however, it wasn’t the only spark for the director, years later, to have the idea to tell the life of Jake Sully and his love affair with Neytiry and the his people of blue giants.

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The sources that inspired the story of ‘Avatar’

The director also cites various sources of inspiration for the story of ‘Avatar’, such as ‘Solaris’, the novel by Stanislaw Lem, later adapted by Andrei Tarkovsy, which ended up in the screenplay of ‘Chrysalis’. He later mentions “Xenogenesis”, James Cameron’s first short film, and that some arcs were revived for “Avatar” and its sequels.

His stint on a failed attempt at ‘ET’ movies also inspired many of Cameron’s ideas on ‘Aliens: The Return’ and ‘Avatar’. And although many authors affirmed to the director his ideas seen in the sci-fi franchise, the creator pointed out that Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The name of the world is the forest” was one of the novels that helped shape his version finale of ‘The Way of the Water’.

While there are plenty of stories where two cultures fight for their survival, it’s easy to believe that Cameron stole some of the ideas for the artwork he consumed throughout his lifetime to craft the story of “Avatar.” However, all art is built on the shoulders of giants, so each work could be traced back to each source of inspiration.