On Sep 23, 8:04 pm, Spaceman Spliff <w...@out.there> wrote:
> everyone knows it was Alan Thicke.
Someone told me in rec.arts.moviespast-films last January that James
Cameron is thought to have taken the idea from other writers.
If you're talking about "Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson, the
similarities were indeed noted when AVATAR came out.
Check out this link which mentions that one and, in the comments, a
couple of other sci-fi novels from the '50s that might have given
Cameron more of his ideas for AVATAR.
http://smellslikescreenspirit.com/2009/10/james-camerons-avatar-inspired-influenced-or-plagiarized/
---------------------------------
Here's another link. The previous one doesn't seem to be working.
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2009/10/james-cameron-stole-avatar-question-mark
Here's the text, if the link doesn't work:
"A reader over on Io9 recently brought up some striking similarities
between James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar and a 1957 short story called
Call Me Joe, written by Poul Anderson and included in The Science
Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two.
Like Avatar, Call Me Joe centers on a paraplegic — Ed Anglesey — who
telepathically connects with an artificially created life form in
order to explore a harsh planet (in this case, Jupiter). Anglesey,
like Avatar’s Jake Sully, revels in the freedom and strength of his
artificial created body, battles predators on the surface of Jupiter,
and gradually goes native as he spends more time connected to his
artificial body.
Should the similarities between Avatar and Call Me Joe cause problems
for Cameron, it wouldn’t be the first time. After The Terminator
came
out, writer Harlan Ellison sued the production company for
plagiarizing two episodes he wrote for The Outer Limits. Even though
Cameron took Ellison’s ideas in a very different and novel direction,
the company settled with Ellison, who is now acknowledged in the
film’s credits.
Call me Joe sounds pretty similar to the Avatar plot, and if the
cover
art means anything, in both the aliens are blue cat people (though in
Call Me Joe’s case they’re way-more-awesome centaurs). Poul Anderson
also wrote a 1978 novel called The Avatar, which says… uh… something.
But even if Cameron did steal it, at least give him credit for
finding
something people had forgotten while everyone else in Hollywood is
busy ripping off 300 and Shaun of the Dead. And for being able to
read."
The two "Outer Limits" episodes are: "Soldier" and "Demon with a
Glass
Hand."