Avatar aka Fern Gully 3 (Spoiler alert)

James Cameron’s recent film Avatar was an exciting, visually amazing ride that ‘did it’ for me as a viewer. I gasped and smiled and even shed a tear. I got completely involved in the characters and their struggles, and I came out of the cinema saying ‘WOW!’ That being said you could be forgiven for enjoying just about anything if, like I had, you had finished watching the spectacularly boring and irritating new bundle of crap in the Twilight saga fifteen minutes before Avatar. The only consolations in the pile of smelly film that was New Moon were a disturbingly attractive shirtless teenage werewolf and half a minute of a vampiric red eyed Dakota Fanning who tortures then pouts. Delightful.

Anyway, after a few minutes of raving about the wonderfulness of Avatar to my less enthusiastic partner, my ‘children’s literature’ brain that had worked so hard at uni a few years ago switched itself on… the movie had reminded me of something. Dinotopia? Lush tropical plants and some pteorodactyl-like creatures, sure, but no. Fern Gully? Yes! In fact, I realised – and bored my partner to death as I explained it all out in excruciating detail – they had the exact same plot!

I got home and instantly googled ‘Fern Gully’ and ‘Avatar’. I was a little disappointed to realise that ten billion katrillion bloggers and youtubers had realised the same fact before me, but at least I knew I wasn’t being crazy. It really was the same plot: human male comes into forest as part of team destroying the forest, upsetting the natives who are in tune with and connected to the forest and who live in the trees. The handsome human man is transformed into a native and learns their ways, slowly (and almost too late) figuring out the error of his own people’s ways. He falls in love with the pretty native lady, pissing off the handsome native man who had dibs on her first, and decides to join forces with her people to defend them against the evil human tree destroyers. In typically unrealistic hollywood fashion a few key-but-not-too-key people kick the bucket, the handsome human gets the girl, the evil treehaters leave, and the natives live happily ever after in their magical forest (one presumes until the next technologically advanced exploitative bunch of humanoids decide to drop in for a visit/war).

Amazing.

That being said, Avatar was way cooler than Fern Gully. If it did copy the plot, it also improved on it. Plus the chicks were way hotter (and isn't that the most important thing, really?). That’s why it pains me to tear into it the way I’m about to. I hope that after analysis it will still hold up as a movie I can enjoy.

Will start posting my savaging/comparison of Fern Gully and Avatar soon...

Eco kiddie film - five stars from me!

Bertie and I finally watched WALL-E tonight, and it was magical. A great main storyline (how can a romance between robots be so emotional and compelling?), a great message about the meaning in our lives, the world we live in and on, the environment and our relationship to it, and the beauty and importance of connections between beings, whether they be human or robot or cockroach.

This film ends up being extremely uplifting and hopeful - a great choice for a family flick to sit down and watch together. I think this film would provide a good starting point for some parents to converse with their children (or children with their parents?) about environmental issues. It'd also be a great one for primary or secondary school kids to watch and discuss in class.

There were some amazing images in the film that really stayed with me - the skyscrapers WALL-E makes from rubbish blew me away; I thought they were a great way to conceptualise the link between development and 'progress', and waste/rubbish/excess in our world. To begin a 'children's film' with an Earth that has been abandoned due to pollution, rubbish and toxicity is a very powerful thing, and I think Pixar handles it well in that it has an impact without being too overwhelming or depressing. The loveable WALL-E characer (and the romantic storyline) certainly balance out the potentially doom-and-gloom-ish beginning.

Another image that stays with me is that of a plant, a bit of green, in a world that is mostly dead and brown. To see a small green thing being sought after, protected, cherished... another great way into conversations and lines of thought around the environment. What do we value? Why do we value it? What would it take for us to value environmental assets as well as, or even instead of, financial ones?

A lovely movie for kids, an even lovelier movie for adults. I must admit to a bit of a film cry, though that could come down to my being a wee bit exhausted and emotional. Who knows.

If you happen to get the extras on the dvd, watch the two shorts. The one about the BURN-E robot is gold, and is a lovely complementary storyline to the main film.

The best Pixar film yet, in my opinion. Five stars from me.