James Cameron Made the Na'Vi Blue for One Simple Reason
If you ever wondered why the Na'Vi race in 2009's Avatar have blue skin, director James Cameron recently explained the reason behind it – and it's not because they feel blue.
In a recent interview with Empire, the filmmaker made it clear that there was only one main reason why he made the inhabitants of Pandora blue.
According to him, the color was not used extensively by other movie characters. But what about the Aladdin's Genie?
"Green was taken. There was a long history of green aliens. Plus, the Hulk. And the human colors, pinks and browns, weren't alien. SpongeBob was yellow," Cameron told Empire. "That pretty much left blue and purple. Purple is my favorite color, but I figured we'd use that for one of our main bioluminescence colors, which we did, associating it with Eywa and anything sacred to the Navi," the Titanic director explained.
Interestingly, he went on to explain how his mother influenced the creation of the Na'vi characters. Cameron shared a dream she once had about a ten-foot tall blue woman. One of the strangest things about her was that she had multiple breasts.
"My mom told me about this dream she had where there was a ten-foot-tall blue woman with six breasts," Cameron said, adding that the image looked great and he drew the woman, albeit without the six breasts. "The six breasts thing didn't come out looking as good as it sounds, plus would mess with the rating. So, anyway … blue," the filmmaker joked.
James Cameron was speaking ahead of the December release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the first sequel to the 2009 original, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, earning an astonishing $3 billion worldwide.
While the first film was embraced by cinephiles for its unparalleled quality and technical wonders, the sequel may not be as successful – or so say fans.
One of the reasons is that instead of focusing on Pandora, the director brought back the old villains. Once again, evil humans will harvest the planet for resources and money, which is an old and boring story.
One of the commenters on Reddit said that James Cameron seems to be one of those directors who was much better when he couldn't do whatever he wanted. When monsters were done with puppetry, practical effects, etc., they were able to produce fantastic masterpieces. But it seems that for some really talented people, computer technology, the ability to do CGI and post-production, is like kryptonite.
Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water will premiere on December 16. If Avatar 3, scheduled for 2024, proves to be financially successful, it will be followed by 2 more installments of the franchise in 2026 and 2028.