'Avatar' filmmaker James Cameron explored Disney?s Animal Kingdom on Monday as part of the effort to create a real-life version of the fantasy world Pandora.
Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment producing partner Jon Landau toured the park to work on the creative partnership with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Fox Filmed Entertainment and Lightstorm Entertainment that was announced Sept. 20, according to the Disney Parks Blog.
Recommended Videos
?Getting the chance to roll up my sleeves and explore Disney?s Animal Kingdom from the inside out was a phenomenal experience,? Cameron said. ?As I walked through the park, I kept imagining Pandora coming to life all around me and found my mind racing with all the possibilities of what we will be able to create in the years ahead. Disney?s Animal Kingdom is truly a remarkable place, and I can?t think of a better home for our first Avatar experience.?
Tom Staggs, the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Imagineer Joe Rohde showed Cameron and Landau around the park to discuss the first Avatar-themed land that will be built at Animal Kingdom.
?We do a significant amount of work at the beginning of our projects to ensure that the final experience has the attention to detail, theme and uniqueness for which Disney is known,? Staggs said.
Construction of the land won?t begin until 2013 but Staggs said that the visit was an important part of the creative process.
Cameron and Landau will join their team at Lightstorm Entertainment as creative consultants, and they will work side-by-side with Imagineers to dream up experiences that will make the Avatar world come to life.
?Avatar and Disney?s Animal Kingdom share a common bond in that they both focus on adventures that will radically change your perspective. They call you to take action on behalf of nature wherever it may be found,? said Rohde, who led the creative team that designed the park. ?This is a rare opportunity to collaborate with [Cameron], who has an incredible eye for detail and a passion for doing things that haven?t been done before.?