The 7 Eeriest Parallels Between Avatar and Delgo
For better or worse, I consider myself something of a Delgo connoisseur -- a fascinated observer and loyal fan of perhaps the most misconceived animated film and biggest box-office debacle in the history of movies. But maybe Delgo's creators were on to something when they undertook their story of two races battling it out for the soul of a planet, with some wicked fantasy adventure and a tender love story tossed in for good measure. After all, James Cameron seems to have been influenced by some oddly similar visuals and themes you'll find threaded throughout his new trailer for Avatar.
Or was he? Can two films on opposite ends of the Hollywood spectrum actually be kindred spirits of creativity -- and/or too close for comfort? See some of the uncanniest parallels after the jump, and judge for yourself.
· First of all, both films have heroic male leads who sprint through woodsy shadows in foreign lands:
· Both films feature tough but emotional female leads:
· Both films feature those female leads (among others) flying on the backs of winged reptilian beasts:
· Both films feature aircraft zooming through fields of massive floating rocks:
· Both films feature big, scary, fanged monsters of various types threatening their heroes:
· Both films feature alien warriors uncorking their fiercest battle cries:
· And both films feature all of the above as individual hurdles in the undying quest for love.
Oh, and both films harbored ambition and vision that required the better part of a decade to produce. Coincidence?
· Delgo Trailer [Apple]
· Avatar Trailer [Apple]
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Comments
Seriously? I watched both previews and saw no similarity (at least story wise) minus the screen capped comparisons above, and of course all the common Cliche's the use in every other movie. I can take most sci-fi fantasy movies and find similar positioned screens. If anybody is whining about it Star Wars did it first... I kid, I kid. Not to poo on anyone's parade but after seeing Delgo's trailer I did not want to go rushing out to see it. Loading college grade CG, and bad story telling, with tons of recognizable celebrities, to me, says STAY AWAY!
Oh man, I've never seen, aliens, a kiss scene, dinosaur riding, and running through the woods in any other movie, they must by copying.
So be nice with everyone: write here a list of other 10 movies (ok? not less than ten movies) with inside an army of humanoid aliens vs an army of humans, bunch of mechas, two ugly aliens that hug eachothers, a romantic night with around happy alien lullabies, dinosaur riding, flying islands and a fast ride through the woods.
These scenes have to be all together in one movie (So don't say we have seen dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, we have seen battles in Starship Troopers and that stuff), I'm asking for other 10 different movies that look like Avatar and Dengo, sharing the same scenes.
Can you do this please? You and everyone above that says "Come one, all the sci-fi movies have this inside...=.
Well, I wish to know which sci-fi movies you're talking about. Only movies. No videogames (too easy), no comics/manga/anime/cartoons (too easy part two), no South Park's Imageland.
except for the flying islands everything else sounds like a regular hollywood sci fi epic movie. don't forget battle for terra also had flying aliens and big beasts.
I don't know anything about either, but the images for Avatar look way better than the ones for Delgo.
Delgo looks like some crappy kids' made-for-TV animation.
Yet Delgo was release first which means James Cameron is a dirty thief.
He also took the name from another series because he lacks originality.
NOTE TO ALL.......
READ Alan Dean Foster's book Mid-World & THEN tell me about rip-offs!!!
Thanks Michael S., I'm glad someone else saw the similarities to Mid-World (came out in 1975 and still one of the best books I've ever read).
SERIOUSLY.
Just saw the movie. This is NOT "similar themes". This is a blatant rip-off of Alan Dean Foster works - didn't even bother to change the names ("Skypeople", "Hometree", etc.).
The plot comes DIRECTLY from Mid-world by Alan Dean Foster. The star of the show replaces the character "Flinx" from the book Mid-Flinx (same planet as Mid-world, just a few thousand years after the last batch of skypeople were absorbed by the planet they tried to take advantage of...). And the fact that every sentient creature has a plug at the back of their head allowing them to communicate with any other sentient creature - (similar theme? maybe - but too much in the same universe) was a small bit lifted from Alan Dean Foster's "Sentenced to Prism".
But it's 90 to 95 percent Midworld/Mid-Flinx. The only original addition was the Avatar. The only non-Alan Dean Foster idea stolen was the "Impressing" of various beasts for life with their riders. That one came from Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonrider series. But - EVERYTHING ELSE - came from Alan Dean Foster.
He better be paid a huge amount for this movie. Otherwise, it's outright theft.
Two ugly aliens that hug EACHOTHERS
++++++++++++++++++
Firstly, the two Na'vi character ARE NOT ugly.
Secondly, the picture of them looking into each other's eyes which is shown above is far more reminisent of Arwen and Aragorn.
Thirdly, why would Cameron want to copy a turd-burger like Delgo?
Fourthly, it's EACH OTHER, not eachothers
I love how folks are getting pissed over the film being called Avatar thinking he stole it from that crappy nick animation. Get over yourselves. There are movies and games and television shows that predate that bloody cartoon and all of them carry the same name or similar ones. Like that cartoon somehow owns the rights to a word. And secondly, you cannot even compare Delgo to Avatar, it's night and day.
Anyone with a brain can see they are in no means the same movie, nor is one a rip off of the other.
Granted I have not read the tons of comments, but just the article itself.
However, I was incredibly amazed at what generalized comparisons this article offered.
So they are the same movie because....both movies feature a love subplot? a strong female lead? a heroic male lead?
Well duh, isn't that the case for about 75% of all movies?
I mean, honestly, you could LITERALLY compare Delgo to Star Wars using the EXACT SAME points used in the article above, and it would fit just as well as Avatar...in fact, it would fit just as well with Lord of the Rings and almost any other fantasy movie out there.
This article is a travesty and a poor excuse for good journalism. We are all dumber for reading this article. At no point in the rambling words did we even come close to a coherent point. May god have mercy on the writer's soul.
Ok, a little melodramatic mixed in with some Billy Madison, but you get my point.
All this is another attempt to water down very BASIC aspects of Avatar's story, while ignoring the incredibly original ideas and content within the story.
a love story, floating rocks, shouting monsters, a crying girl, someone flying a dragon... has been there millions of times before, noone can copyright faiytale's content. 😉
delgo is cheap, unoriginal and not known, avatar in the other hand its all of the oposite
end of discution
Hey, we're not done yet, there's more parallels and they're even eerier!
Both films feature humans.
Both films feature walking.
Both films feature fighting.
Both films feature monsters (oh, sorry, you mentioned this already).
Both films have special effects.
Both films take place on an alien planet.
Jesus Christ you can make up another million of those! I'm not saying I'm a big fan of Avatar - it kind of sucked, actually, but this is just pathetic. Don't you have anything better to do?
Aside from riding flying reptiles, the same exact scenes are exhibited in Star Wars. Most fantasy sci-fi films exhibit similar scenes / themes. Art Direction of Delgo is amateurish (color schemes/choices are horrendous, characters look childish and cartoonish). Movie was obviously targeted at children so for its budget and target audience - fair attempt. Art Direction for Avatar is superior simply because they had the budget to hire the best artists. There is no comparison and no rip offs, and in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of a moot point. I guess I'm in the Avatar camp here.
No offense meant to Delgo fans, but there's a certain limit to human creativity. All popular movies- and stories for that matter- have a similar arc.
Sympathetic character encounters a problem. The problem gets worse because it affects loved ones. Sympathetic character learns more about him or herself as he/she overcomes the problem.
Add in some action, a love story, some sci-fi tropes, and some racial stereotypes for good measure, and you've got a movie we can relate to. Hell, throw in some save-the-environment moral if you want to make the kids happy.
If we don't have these familiar elements, we end up with a weird, avant-garde mess that might win some awards in film festivals, but wouldn't speak to the public-at-large.
Also, Delgo isn't the only story that is similar to Avatar. There's this Chinese fellow who tried, unsuccessfully, to sue James Cameron for stealing his ideas.
Let's face it - the Avatar story isn't that outstandingly creative. It's pretty easy to 'accidentally' come up with a similar story.
"This is like taking a light skinned black man and mexican and standing them side by side and saying that they are the same thing. This is an absoloutley pathetic comparison."
Your comparison is even worse. Good job.
Character of "It is realization as for the shopping frame of the credit card" seen well on the Internet. Seeing with the advertisement of two channels etc. might be more abundant. This is a system that borrows money by using the shopping frame of the credit card as its name suggests.
Um... The word Avatar is from Sanskrit avatāra, and is by no means original to the film Avatar, or the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
An Avatar by definition is the incarnation of a god in human or animal form..
For example, The Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu. That's why The Buddha sees several incarnations, because in his true form, he is not a man, but Vishnu.
So saying anyone ripped the word "Avatar" off of anyone is just plain silly and a rather uneducated statement... O___O
I found your analysis of the plot to be very enlightening. Cameron has encorporated anti-capitalism messsages in previous movies (such as aliens where the corporation wants to capture the alien for a bio weapons program). I enjoyed this post!
On their last dime, but excited about a new opportunity, they missthe find print and wind up in default with their banks
I don't feel I have ever noticed a new site using this numerous remarks in it!
I think I would have to agree with most of what you have stated in this post.
[...] Avatar - blatant ripoff of The Word for World is Forest And Call Me Joe, by Poul Anderson, and Delgo... Avatar has its own thread - have a look: Avatar - [...]
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