Avatar Land Artwork Revealed ! Plus: Nighttime Entertainment Coming at Disney's Animal Kingdom !

Oh-ho, there is some biiiig news for this Saturday morning as Disney released the renderings of the upcoming and awaited Avatar land!!!

It seems that WDI has decided to play a max the Avatar "vegetation" card - extraterrestrial vegetation in this case - and considering that we are at Animal Kingdom it's probably the best to do indeed. Not a lot of details on the rides but as rumored there is a boat ride which should be particularly magical at night and a "flying" ride  where guests will "fly" with the Banshees!

Below, Tom Staggs announcement and after each rendering, in ital, my own feeling about them. Also, click on each artwork to see them in high-res!

"From the moment AVATAR was released, people were captivated by the mythical world of Pandora. When we announced that we’d be working with James Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment to bring this world to life in our parks, we felt certain that this partnership and combination of talent and imagination would produce an experience unlike any other ever created.

Our combined team has taken huge steps forward in “imagineering” Pandora as a real place for our guests to see, hear and touch. At the first-ever D23 Expo in Japan, we shared an early glimpse of the plans for AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park and I wanted to share some of these breathtaking images and a short preview of what’s to come with all of you."

As i said above WDI is playing the extraterrestrial vegetation "card" and it will be interesting to see how they will do to create vegetation from another planet, it might be less simple than you can think. You'll note that the spectacular "floating mountains" will also be there, of course here probably not totally "floating" for gravity reasons, except if they do some go them like themed balloons.

"As these concept renderings show in epic scale, in the world of AVATAR guests will encounter awe-inspiring floating mountains and wander through a nighttime jungle of bioluminescent plants that are alive with light and sound. Guests will also discover what it feels like to soar into the sky riding a Banshee".

Above is the expected boat ride which should be particularly spectacular indeed at night with all the bioluminescent plants. Considering that Animal Kingdom is the most "contemplative" of all DIsney Parks - almost as much a "vegetation kingdom" than an "animal" one - i think it's pretty smart from WDI Imagineers to play this vegetation card. Chances are that there will be some thrill moments during the ride, not revealed yet. Also, you'll notice that there is no rooftop on the boat which may look surprising as it is raining quite often in Florida. No rooftop could mean that the ride might be stopped when it will rain. Of course there might be one at the end, but not shown here on the artwork for artistic reasons. 

And here is the expected flying simulator ride. Most probably a "Soarin' " kind of ride but all the question is to know how will look the simulator itself. Sure, they can do easily one which will look like the one of Soarin' - and it'll be probably the best for ride capacity - but i have the feeling that James Cameron would prefer a more designed one. Of course the best would be if guests would be seating upon recreated Banshees which could even have some Audio-Animatronics parts for the neck, head and wings, but considering their size it might be difficult  to put enough guests on them to have an adequate attraction capacity. 

Above, James Cameron with Tom Staggs and WDI Imagineer Joe Rhode in front of an Avatar model.

And there is a "one more thing" as Tom Staggs also announced new nighttime entertainment for Animal Kingdom! :

"And the new AVATAR-inspired land won’t be the only change coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As part of the largest expansion in the history of the park, we’ll be adding all-new entertainment experiences, including a new nighttime spectacular where live music, floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery all combine to bring a show to Discovery River that will delight our guests and truly cap off their day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The park will introduce more nighttime entertainment as well, including live performers on Discovery Island (pictured above) and a new nighttime version of the Kilimanjaro Safaris".

You'll note on the above rendering the glowing effect on the  Tree of Life which might be a way to introduce the Avatar bioluminescent vegetation effects which for sure will amaze AK guests when the Avatar land will finally open in 2017.

Artworks and picture: copyright Disney

James Cameron confirms Avatar 4 and reveals that it will be a prequel !

Some weeks ago i told you that three more Avatar movies would be released in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Then three days ago IGN said that the Avatar 4 movie was apparently cancelled and only two sequels would be released. But as James Cameron revealed in the video interview below an Avatar 4 should finally be done, except that it would be a PREQUEL to the Avatar 1:
"I haven't really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na'vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world," Cameron said, adding: "Because when we drop in, even in the first film in 'Avatar 1,' as it will be known in the future, we're dropping into a process that's 35 years in to a whole colonization. That will complete an arc and if that leads into more, we'll start, not imitating 'Star Wars,' but it's a logical thing to do because we'll have completed the thematic arc by the end of three. The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It's a plan."

If we add to this news the last report from Screamscape about the Avatar Land saying: "Despite the rumor from IGN claiming that the Avatar project may have hit a speed bump, local sources say that the early prep work projects are moving full steam ahead, with deadlines to keep" , it seems that finally everything goes pretty well for all Avatar projects whether it is the movies or the the new land at Animal Kingdom.

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Video: copyright MTV News


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Breaking News: Avatar Land coming to Animal Kingdom !

It was just announced today officially by Bob Iger and Tom Staggs and it is like a thunder lightning: Disney and James Cameron made a deal to bring the world of Avatar to Disney's Animal Kingdom, with works beginning in 2013!

Nobody saw this coming and for once the secret was well kept. That is one of the best move Disney ever did and for sure the best counter-attack to IOA Harry Potter's land, specially considering that there is two more Avatar movies to come and i wouldn't be surprised if WDI Imagineers will use the different episodes of the trilogy to create the various theme lands of this Avatar land. Animal Kingdom is definitely the perfect choice for an Avatar Land and its environmental message and i can't wait to see renderings and to know which kind of attraction will be put in this new land!



Here is more from the Disney Parks blog:

"At a press conference happening right now at Walt Disney Imagineering, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs just announced a long-term creative partnership with James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the fantasy world of AVATAR to life at Disney Parks. And it’ll all begin at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.

James and his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at Lightstorm Entertainment will serve as creative consultants on the project and will work side-by-side with our Walt Disney Imagineers as we dream up experiences that will take our guests deep into worlds of AVATAR like never before. There are also two sequels to the record setting first film in the works, which will offer more fascinating stories, characters and locations to explore in the AVATAR universe. Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort is planned as the site of the first AVATAR-themed land with construction expected to begin by 2013.
We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR."



Also, from the L.A Times, James Cameron statement: "I'm chomping at the bit to start work with Disney's legendary Imagineers to bring our AVATAR universe to life," Cameron said in a statement announcing the deal Tuesday morning. "Our goal is to go beyond current boundaries of technical innovation and experiential storytelling, and give park goers the chance to see, hear, and touch the world of AVATAR with an unprecedented sense of reality."

Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman Jim Gianopulos, whose movie studio financed, marketed and distributed "Avatar," said Disney was a natural choice as a licensing partner because of its global reach and stature. He said the world Cameron envisioned, starting with Pandora and stretching out to include other creatures and settings, is a natural fit for a theme-park experience.

"It lends itself very well, not only to subsequent films, but to be imagined and realized in the parks," Gianopulos said. "Yes, it's creative content. But what it really is is an immersive world. And that's what Disney intends to create."



More from the NY Times: "Construction on “Avatar”-themed rides, shops and restaurants will begin in 2013 –- the planning phase has just started -– and the land will open to visitors three or four years after that. Fox and James Cameron, the director of “Avatar,” will receive a licensing fee and a percentage of related merchandise and food and beverage sales.

Mr. Cameron, who is working on two “Avatar” sequels, will collaborate with Disney engineers to design the themed land. Disney’s parks overseas – particularly one under construction in Shanghai – are likely to see “Avatar” themed areas down the road. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday morning, Mr. Cameron said he envisioned the use of animatronic robots and cutting-edge video effects.

“Whatever makes sense to bring this world to life and allow people to wander in it,” he said. “The scenes from the movie that people liked best were not the obvious things like the big battle scenes. It was the creatures. It was learning to fly. It was being in the forest at night.”

I'd like to add that the NY Times is probably right when that say that "Disney’s parks overseas are likely to see “Avatar” themed areas down the road". It will probably be the case for Shanghaî Disneyland but i wouldn't be surprised too if an Avatar attraction was coming too at the Walt Disney Studios...

Jeez, that was a really big news, wasn't it? Also, have a look at Inside the Magic where you'll see some renderings from a Disney patent that could be used for this Avatar land project.

Picture: copyright 20th Century Fox and Disney

James Cameron announces new release of Titanic in 3D for 2012, new Avatar version coming back in 3D theatres this fall

3D fans will be happy to learn that James Cameron has announced in a USA Today interview that Titanic will be released in a new 3D version and gave an estimated release frame: "We're targeting spring of 2012 for the release of a 3D version of Titanic, which is the 100 year anniversary of the sailing of the ship" Cameron said in an interview about 3D technology at theaters and in the home.

He added that Avatar may return to 3D theaters this fall with extra footage and also talked about the awaited 3D Blu-ray of Avatar: "We're not officially announcing it right now but I'm hoping for fall. The wildcard is that we might be re-releasing the movie this fall. It's kind of gjavascript:void(0)otten stomped out (in theaters) because of 'Alice in Wonderland.' The word we're getting back from exhibitors is we probably left a couple of hundred million dollars on the table as a result. The question is the appetite still going to be there after the summer glut of movies. We're going to assess that. We're talking about maybe adding in additional footage and doing something creative."

You can read the full Cameron interview on USA Today HERE.

Text from USA Today

Universal Studios Terminator 2 3D Artwork

The artwork article of the week is, for once, not about WDI artwork but about the very popular Universal Studios Terminator 2 3D : Battle Across Time attraction.

Terminator 2 3D is a mini-sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and reunites director James Cameron and the main cast from the movie, including Arnold Schwarzenegger as "The Terminator", Linda Hamilton as "Sarah Connor", Edward Furlong as "John Connor", and Robert Patrick as the "T-1000". The show is presented in two parts; a pre-show where a Cyberdyne Systems company hostess shows guests a brief video presentation about the company's innovations, and the main show, where live performers interact with a 3-D film.

During the main show guests are ushered from the pre-show auditorium into a large theater where they are to see a demonstration of Cyberdyne's newest creation, robotic soldiers called T-70 Terminators. Once guests are seated, they put on their "safety visors" to watch a demonstration of the Terminators in action...



However, John and Sarah arrive and disrupt the proceedings, followed by a T-1000 Terminator from the future. A second Terminator, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, rides through a time portal on a motorcycle to rescue John. He takes John back through the portal and into the future war between humans and machines...



John and the Terminator make their way across the war ravaged landscape as they head towards Skynet. Along the way, they are chased by a Hunter-Killer (which was mentioned by Kyle Reese and seen in the first Terminator film), mini-hunters, and a terminator endoskeleton. When they finally reach the Skynet core, they battle the "T-1000000", a giant liquid metal spider that is similar to a very large T-1000.



The Terminator finally sends John back to the present while he stays behind to blow up Skynet and the T-1000000. The show ends with Sarah and John alone once again. Sarah finishes the show by saying that she feels that she owes her life to the Terminator for saving John's life. During this narration, a terminator endoskeleton's face is shown on the screen, which morphs into Schwarzenegger's face before the theatre goes black and the show ends.



The show was created by Landmark in cooperation with James Cameron, and it's one of the best attraction they've designed for Universal Studios along with others like Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park and the Spiderman ride. The show who was a success from day one opened at Universal Florida and Hollywood as well as Universal Osaka.

You can watch a very good making-of of the attraction on Youtube in three parts HERE, HERE and HERE

Here is a kind of "backstage video" from the Discovery Channel



And you can also find footage of the attraction movie and pre-show on Youtube HERE


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

Artwork: copyright Universal Studios - Landmark Entertainment

Videos: copyright Universal and Discovery Channel

Thanks to Wikipedia for part of the text.

New James Cameron's Avatar interactive trailer

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i have the feeling that this new James Cameron's Avatar interactive trailer is a premiere. I mean, isn't it the first time that a trailer give you an interactive possibility with multiple choices? May be, may be not, that's not really the problem, what's interesting in all this, thanks to this "ultimate" version of the trailer, is that we can discover new shots of the movie!

How does it works? Very simple: just click HERE and on the page that will open you will be ask to install a light Adobe Air program - it's perfectly safe and takes less than five seconds - then the interactive trailer will appear and will stop at some points where you'll have the choice to watch (or not) some featurettes explaining each character or how they've designed creatures or other special effects for the movie. It's pretty well done and works very well and if you ask my opinion i think that all trailers should be like this!



Another function of this trailer will give you access to a lot of interesting links, all talking about this highly awaited movie released December 18th, and in 3D!



Pictures: copyright 20th Century Fox

James Cameron's Avatar Behind the scenes video

As it's often the case during week-ends, lejavascript:void(0)t's talk about something different than Disney.

Just like "A Christmas Carol", a big part of James Cameron's Avatar - released December 18th - was filmed in "performance capture", but i have the feeling that one (Avatar) is going to send the other (A Christmas Carol) to prehistoric times.

We will check this in person next December but in the meantime, have a look at this behind the scenes featurette which also show some never-seen-before shots of the movie!



Those of you who are video games addicts might be happy to learn that Ubisoft designed an Avatar video game released December 15th, and here is the trailer.



Artwork and Videos: copyright 20th Century Fox and Ubisoft

James Cameron's Avatar second trailer is a big WOW !

The second Avatar trailer is now released and it's a big WOW! One of the main reason is that in most of the scenes of the movie - out of the human base - absolutely everything doesn't exist in real, eveything was digitally created: Pandora's lush jungle, the animals, the war planes, the Navi's - Pandora natives - everything! And if we think one minute about all this, we understand that the work it represents is awesome. Of course, the digitally created Navi's will mark a new step in special effects but the movie with its epic story - kind-of "Apocalypse Now meets Dance with the Wolves" - promise to be not only spectacular but also emotionally strong. James Cameron is known as a master director and for his stunning special effects, but we forget that he is also a brilliant director of emotions.

Below, the Avatar synopsis - there may be some spoilers in it, but not too much - and of course this incredible trailer. Avatar is released in a month and a half from now, on December 18, and i predict a huge world success to the movie, which will be also released in 3D!

"Avatar is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called Pandora, which orbits a gas giant. The storys protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying.



Pandora is also home to the Navi, a sentient humanoid race that are more physically capable than humans, although considered primitive. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Navi live in harmony with their unspoiled world and peaceful unless attacked. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Navi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.



Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Navi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human "driver" through a technology that links the driver's mind to their Avatar body.



On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Navi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is only matched by her ferocity in battle. Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri's clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Navi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world."

No need to be a genius to understand that Avatar is a parable on our world, on how humans with the help of military-industrial estate are ready to create wars to put their hands on precious raw materials even if this will destroy some precious nature and human being.

And now, on with the show, here is the Avatar trailer, i highly recommand to watch it in full screen mode! Enjoy!

Pictures and video: copyright 20th Century Fox

James Cameron " AVATAR " - First Trailer of the most awaited movie of the year!

James Cameron's AVATAR is without any doubt the most awaited movie of this year, and there is a good reason: it's James Cameron first "real" movie - not a documentary - since Titanic! You will find the incredibly awesome trailer below, but first let's learn a bit more about the story line.

Here is what IMDB tell us about the story: "A band of humans are pitted in a battle against a distant planet's indigenous population. In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture."

And Here is another plot summary, released by Fox: "Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people."

And more from Wikipedia: "The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully, is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. In order to participate in the Avatar program, which will give him a healthy body, Jake agrees to travel to Pandora, a lush rainforest environment filled with incredible life forms – some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also the home to the Na’vi, a humanoid race that lives at what humans would consider to be a primitive level, but are actually much more evolutionarily advanced than humans. Ten feet tall, with tails and blue skin that sparkles, the Na’vi live harmoniously within their unspoiled world. But as humans encroach on Pandora in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi’s very existence is threatened – and their warrior abilities are unleashed.

Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies in the real world, controlled by a human driver through a technology that links the driver’s mind to the Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Moreover, he falls in love with a young Na’vi woman, Neytiri, whose beauty is matched by her ferocity in battle.

As Jake slides deeper into becoming one of her clan, he finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi – forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world."



More than 10 years in the making, “Avatar” marks Cameron’s return to feature directing since helming 1997’s “Titanic,” the highest grossing film of all time and winner of 11 Oscars including best picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “King Kong,” will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3-D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters."

Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and many others are playing in the movie which will be released in 3D - and even IMAX 3D - next December, and you can count on stunning digital effects.

Here is a picture of Sam Worthington with "his" Avatar...



One of James Cameron in the "Avatar" chamber...



And a last one of James Cameron with Sam Worthington.



In December 2006, Cameron explained that the delay in producing the film since the 1990s had been to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough. The director planned to create photo-realistic computer-generated characters by using motion capture animation technology, on which he had been doing work for the past 14 months. Unlike previous performance capture systems, where the digital environment is added after the actors' motions have been captured, Cameron's new virtual camera allows him to directly observe on a monitor how the actors' virtual counterparts interact with the movie's digital world in real time and adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action; "It’s like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly through space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale."

Other technological innovations include a performance-capture stage, called The Volume, which is six times larger than previously used and an improved method of capturing facial expressions. The tool is a small individually made skull cap with a tiny camera attached to it, located in front of the actors' face which collects information about their facial expressions and eyes, which is then transmitted to the computers. This way, Cameron intends to transfer about 95% of the actors' performances to their digital counterparts.

Before you have a look at this awaited trailer, a great news: tomorrow friday 21st there will be a special screening of 15 minutes of Avatar - yes, FIFTEEN! - all around the world - not only in the U.S! Look on internet to find which theatre near your home is part of this special event!

And now, let's discover the first images from Avatar! As you will see it is over awesome, no words exist to describe this amazing, stunning trailer! Highly recommanded to watch it in full screen, and remember that all "Blue" creatures are digital creatures... amazing!

If the video below was disabled from Trailer addict, please go on Apple Movie Trailers to watch this awesome trailer!



Picture and Video: copyright 20th Century Fox

Special movie preview : Some news from James

It's one of the most awaited movie of next year - if not THE most. It will be also the big return of the director who did the most successful movie of all time. And it will also be a technological feat.

James Cameron's "Avatar" will be release in 3D - and a "special" 3D, developed by Cameron and his team. As a matter of fact, there will be more than one technological innovations as revealed slashfilm.com.

As for the story, here is the synopsis:
In a distant future, humanity discovers the planet 'Alpha Centauri B-4', and for those scientists and astronauts who've traversed the gulf between neighboring suns and arrived on its alien soil know it as 'Pandora'. A world filled with an incredible diversity of beautiful and deadly ammonia-breathing lifeforms. Its also a world that harbors treasures and resources almost beyond price. But just as the original Pandora's Box wrought devastation on those who would use it for their own gain, so too this world may destroy not just the Pandorans home, but ours as well.

Avatar is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Below, here is a concept sketch for one of the alien creatures of Avatar



Avatar will use so many innovations and had a such long development - not to mention that its release date has moved from May to December 2009 - that we can be sure that James is not going to fail his comeback in SF movies..."It is the most challenging film I've ever made," Cameron said, and for sure we believe him. D&M will keep an eye on it and let you know more as soon as news will be available!

Artwork: copyright James Cameron