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Avatar and Ferngully
11/07/09
I thought to myself: "Where have I seen this theme- man exploiting nature and corrupting an innocent culture with his greedy ways and lust for conquest?"
Then, it came to me: just about everywhere! So, I go on youtube for a clip of Ferngully in order to make my point in a humorous way and bam! I discover that somebody had the same idea:
**update**
It's worse than I thought. One would expect Big Hollywood to ding a movie for its overt liberalism, but Variety?
Thematically, the film also plays too simplistically into stereotypical evil-white-empire/virtuous-native cliches, especially since the invaders are presumably on an environmental rescue mission on behalf of the entire world, not just the U.S. Script is rooted very much in a contemporary eco-green mindset, which makes its positions and the sympathies it encourages entirely predictable and unchallenging.
It's a near 100% rule that people love messages in movies...as long as they agree with them (making a point of not having a message is a message too- nihilism). So, who will love the messages in this movie? Anti-Americans and Naturists.
**update #2**
Apparently, it urges people, indirectly, to root against Americans and encourages military desertions.
**update #3**
A more in-depth analysis here.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (Family Fun Edition)
FernGully 2 - The Magical Rescue
Dances with Wolves - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Pocahontas (10th Anniversary Edition)
Pocahontas II - Journey to a New World (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
65 comments
You are amazing. Well done. 
I was thinking the same thing about the FernGully / Avatar connection through the entire movie... luckily I also liked the movie FernGully when I was growing up AND absolutely loved Avatar.... it's very similar on MANY different levels. It's a good story [MESSAGE]... that SHOULD be told over and over again. That's as far as I'll go into it though... I'm glad I wasn't the only one to see the connections.
I found this article because I googled "Avatar + Ferngully" moments after seeing the film. Glad I'm not the only one.
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I agree with the FernGully/Avatar connection! But I loved BOTH movies. I definitely saw comparisons and also googled Avatar and FernGully to see if anyone else had the same idea...I guess they did. :)
Yep. Avatar is Fern Gully with 2009 level CGI. That being said, I enjoyed it thoroughly. 
i thought we were the only ones who saw Ferngully! We've had it in our house on DVD or the last decade and reference it whenever we see a man versus nature theme. That bad guy bulldozer with the scary face used to cause nightmares for my little ones! Now they are in college and while sitting in Avatar turned to me and said,, This is Ferngully on steroids! "
Jim has got a lot of nerve telling people that he thought of this idea when he was a kid. He thought of it when he watch Ferngully. He didn't even try that hard to make it different
Yeah, I noticed it had the same plot. I think you're out of line by saying that the movie promotes "Anti-American" sentiment, though. Colonialism and military occupations are nothing new, so it's not solely directed at America. If you're making that connection, then you're already admitting that America is a colonialist bully. This movie is not anti-American, it is anti-colonialism, and if you can't tell the difference then you've defeated your own argument. 
Ev said it perfectly. 
I think Ev makes a good point as well. If we resemble the insult, then that's it. The next step would be to add context, as in: how could the United States have developed staying within Plymouth Rock?
Honestly, the "message" is so embarrassingly obvious and predictable there's nothing to discuss. Yes, America is full of greed and guns, and yes, the rainforest is full of magic and wonder, yada yada. The plot was an afterthought I'm sure; playing second fiddle to CG. The movie doesn't promote anything than a tired story that we've ALL seen and heard many, many times before. It's no more political than Lord of the Rings.
No idea what all the hype is about...
Avatar immediately made me think of Ferngully, though it's been so long I had to Google the details to come up with the name. It also has elements of Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, 300, Jurassic Park, and Alien. And no matter how blatant and predictable the message, seeing it in 3D Imax is amazing. ;)
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I wonder if it is just the jaded parents who saw the Fern Gully connection - as I did. My 14 yr old son thought it was a great flick - as I did. It suprised me that J.C can be so blatantly anti-US albeit in a cowboys and indians Custers last stand sort of way 
From the very first time I watched the trailers for this movie I thought Ferngully! When I mentioned that to other people they had noooo idea what movie I was talking about! It seems that not too many people watched or remember Ferngully. I just got back from watching Avatar and googled Ferngully to make sure that I was in fact drawing parallels and it seems that I'm not the only person that saw this connect. The movie itself is a breakthrough in theater technology and visual 3D effects but the story line is simple and familiar. I would still recommend it though! 
Just saw Avatar and in one word the story was "Ferngully". Which was a favorite when my kids were growing up. Kinda missed the Batty Koda character but all in all was a wonderfully visual movie. I think the "bad" guys were more of a militant contractor of sorts. Yes, this theme also applies to the conquering of the American Indians as well. In any case, a good movie with exceptional CGI. Most likely buying the DVD so I can see the Special Features. That reminds me I should also get a copy of FernGully on DVD to replace my old VHS copy. 
add one more to the count. fern gully hasn't crossed my mind in 20 years, and yet BAM there it was. And dances with wolves. And atlantis...Heck, really enjoyed avatar anyway. Hope block buster has FG on the shelf- need to rent it for my husband (and kids). 
I just saw Avatar on New Year's Day, and I definitely agree that it is FernGully for adults. I loved the characters and the beautiful fantasy of the forest effects of both the cartoon and the Cameron movie. The war scenes in *Avatar* and the bulldozer demon scene in Fern Gulley are both horrid. Americans are definitely the bad guys--they have the accents, the machinery, and the clothing. I think the violence uglifies both films-- so much for messages. Give me fantasy in film every time! 
Glad it wasn't just me seeing the connection. I also typed in Avatar FernGully into Google, and this is where I ended up.As others have commented, I haven't seen or thought about FernGully in years, and yet there I was thinking about it in the cinema and how similar it was. Good thing I enjoyed both films and was very impressed with Avatar.
Funny to watch that youtube mash-up video!
ur definitely right.. at the time i've seen the half of the movie it recalled me of ferngully... even the confession scene... but after all i still think it was worth 2 watch.. 
It took about 60 seconds of viewing the animation portion of this movie to realize it is a ripoff of Fern Gully. Mr. Cameron should give credit where credit is due. 
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