by “You’re not in Kansas anymore, you’re on Pandora.”
But for mega-fans of James Cameron’s 2009 hit monster Avatar (back in IMAX 3D this weekend), the problem arose after its nearly three-hour runtime ran out…they weren’t over on Pandora, they had been descended back to Earth.
Avatar was a phenomenon, not just another box office giant, but a film that dominated cultural conversation as a new decade dawned.
Read more: Everything we know about Avatar 2
Its lovers (“It’s an impressive treatise on colonialism!”) and its detractors (“It’s the Smurfs who meet Ferngully: the last rainforest, but not as fun!”) just couldn’t help but speak of it.
The film’s financial success, like Cameron’s former box office kingpin Titanic, relied heavily on repeat viewing: once audiences left Pandora, they couldn’t help but book a viewing of return.
Fast forward over a decade, and with a long-awaited sequel finally hitting theaters, that audience can relive Avatar all over again.
On December 16, Avatar: The Way Of Water – the first of at least three other sequels – hits IMAX and theaters.
Watch the trailer for Avatar: The Way of the Water
Avatar is already the highest-grossing movie of all time, thanks in large part to a previous re-release last year in China that pushed it past the $2.8 billion mark and beyond Avengers. : Game over.
So, is the Pandora withdrawal about to happen again?
Read more: James Cameron responds to Avatar criticism
This feeling of being transported to another immersive world isn’t just something superfans imagine – it’s actively promoted in the franchise’s marketing.
In January 2020, when new concept art for the sequels was unveiled, the Official Avatar Twitter Account Released“In the Avatar sequels, you won’t just return to Pandora, you’ll explore new parts of the world.”
Exactly 10 years earlier, in January 2010, CNN reported how audiences were experiencing what they called “Avatar blues” after the film’s release.
Read more: Did James Cameron spoil the ending of Avatar?
one online Avatarr fan forum at the time contained a thread called, “Ways to Deal With Depression from Pandora’s Dream Being Intangible”.
He received hundreds of messages from fans who said they were depressed that Pandora wasn’t real.
Site administrator Philippe Baghdassarian said: “I wasn’t depressed myself. In fact, the movie made me happy.
“But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something that we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw that we could live in a completely different world and it made them depressed.”
Some of those who posted said they were upset because Pandora would always remain a place of fiction. Others said the film depressed them, not because they couldn’t be a part of the world it portrayed, but because it highlighted how we humans in the real world exploit our natural resources.
There’s an interesting battle at the heart of Cameron’s depiction of Pandora’s moon, whose native humanoid population – the Na’vi – are threatened by human colonizers trying to mine a mineral called Unobtanium (subtlety doesn’t has never been Cameron’s calling card).
On the one hand, Avatar portrays Pandora as an otherworldly idyll, descending with lush colors and floating islands. Those trying to mine Pandora see it quite differently.
Read more: Avatar 2 concept art reveals new flora and fauna
Mine safety chief Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, is the originator of the famous “Kansas” speech in the movie Wizard Of Oz. What we often forget is that he continues with: “If there is a hell, maybe you should go there to relax after a tour on Pandora.”
It’s not hard to guess which vision of Pandora — Cameron’s or Quaritch’s — is the one audiences yearned to be part of.
At the time of Avatar’s release, there was no way to approach the experience of being “inside” the film. But by May 2017, fans could do the next best thing: go to a Disney theme park.
Pandora – The World of Avatar, part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, opened five years ago and offers visitors the opportunity to participate in the Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey rides.
Later that year, Disney announced its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the studio responsible for Avatar.
Perhaps Pandora’s withdrawal isn’t as much of a factor following the release of Avatar: The Way Of Water, in a modern cinematic world where every blockbuster movie franchise is only a step away. become a theme park ride.
Avatar: Way of the Water hits theaters on December 16.
Watch: Disney’s Theme Park Ride Pandora – Avatar World
