Avatar - a Roger Dean 'Floating Islands' rip off?

[Earl Grey]

I'm rarely gobsmacked by a film,

AVATAR gobsmacked me.

I wasn't expecting it. Lisa told me that she had heard that it was 'this generation's Star Wars', and I was dubious.

I'm reminded of when I first heard Radiohead's OK Computer, and it actually WAS as good as they were saying it was.

Yes. Avatar is that good. It's the proverbial 'good' science fiction movie. Those come along maybe once every thirty years or so.

Roger Dean should sue the FU*K out of them. The floating mountains, not to mention the cover of Keys To Ascension (Those inimitable loops of stone).

I'm sure James Cameron worked the Roger Dean lawsuit into the budget. It was nice, actually seeing some of the YES landscapes we've lived in in our heads, finally presented on the Big Screen (A bit of The Leura Forest from NSW's 'Blue Mountains' in there as well Brian!).

The movie transports you to the inner sleeve of Yessongs. And the story is pretty good too!

Roger Dean has a $1,000,000.00 price tag on the original TALES and RELAYER paintings. So I can imagine how much he would have wanted from Cameron for his images. Cameron should have been up front about it, and paid the man.

Roger needs to get his lawyers out on this, and sue the hell out of them, as they ripped-off a plethora of his distinct ideas.

Yes, you should go see the film. Don't worry. They'll wind up paying Roger his share.

An amazing film.



URL

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Earl Grey

I'm rarely gobsmacked by a film,

AVATAR gobsmacked me.

I wasn't expecting it. Lisa told me that she had heard that it was 'this generation's Star Wars', and I was dubious.

I'm reminded of when I first heard Radiohead's OK Computer, and it actually WAS as good as they were saying it was.

Yes. Avatar is that good. It's the proverbial 'good' science fiction movie. Those come along maybe once every thirty years or so.

Roger Dean should sue the FU*K out of them. The floating mountains, not to mention the cover of Keys To Ascension (Those inimitable loops of stone).

I'm sure James Cameron worked the Roger Dean lawsuit into the budget. It was nice, actually seeing some of the YES landscapes we've lived in in our heads, finally presented on the Big Screen (A bit of The Leura Forest from NSW's 'Blue Mountains' in there as well Brian!).

The movie transports you to the inner sleeve of Yessongs. And the story is pretty good too!

Roger Dean has a $1,000,000.00 price tag on the original TALES and RELAYER paintings. So I can imagine how much he would have wanted from Cameron for his images. Cameron should have been up front about it, and paid the man.

Roger needs to get his lawyers out on this, and sue the hell out of them, as they ripped-off a plethora of his distinct ideas.

Yes, you should go see the film. Don't worry. They'll wind up paying Roger his share.

An amazing film.



URL

I have yet to see the movie but wait expectantly Earl. Mate - I am SO pleased that Leura Forest has remained in your psyche for so long - that was really a leap of faith when we took you and Lisa down there!

Just to clarify the title of the thread - I'm not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that the whole movie has been 'influenced' or 'ripped off' - whichever way you think it might be - I'm just talking about the background art work, floating islands, dragons & arches which from just the trailers would lead one to believe that Roger did the art direction of the movie.

I spoke with Roger the other day and he is in a quandary about what to do at this point.

[Earl Grey]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I have yet to see the movie but wait expectantly Earl. Mate - I am SO pleased that Leura Forest has remained in your psyche for so long - that was really a leap of faith when we took you and Lisa down there!

Just to clarify the title of the thread - I'm not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that the whole movie has been 'influenced' or 'ripped off' - whichever way you think it might be - I'm just talking about the background art work, floating islands, dragons & arches which from just the trailers would lead one to believe that Roger did the art direction of the movie.

I spoke with Roger the other day and he is in a quandary about what to do at this point.

Brian...

Roger should sue the FU*K out of them. Unfortunately, that's how Hollywood works. I'm sure Cameron will see it coming.

Maybe they can work out an agreement.

Roger should get residuals. They not only ripped-off his style, but specific images. He should see something for that.

All said, it's a KICKER of a movie.

Cameron will be fine if Roger sues him. Again, he probably expected it, and wrote it into the budget.

Tell Rog to sue away, and enjoy the film while doing so.

You should see the thing too.

You'll freaking LOVE it (You could get the images from The Leura Forest out of my mind about as easily as you could erase an actual visit to Jurassic Park. Truly, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and I've seen some amazing vistas in my day).

[Fly By Light]

Interesting! I plan to see this movie at some point. Thank you for sharing this.

[90125yes]

there is a similar thread to this already

as roger's prject has not seen the light of day how can we make the comparison apart from looking on album covers ?

[Starguard]

Does anyone else have Magnetic Storm?

Check out the body paint Dean did near the middle of the book.

I mean it's exactly the same as the war paint.

I was just curious. Conspiracy theory!

[90125yes]

Originally Posted by Starguard

Does anyone else have Magnetic Storm?

Check out the body paint Dean did near the middle of the book.

I mean it's exactly the same as the war paint.

I was just curious. Conspiracy theory!

---

or indeed how abwh were painted for that video

[Suntower Asking]

Yeah I saw some floating rocks in the preview and I thought it looked cool.

I hope the art director is a fan of Roger and just trying to add some dean influence in there. If it's a blatant rip off that would suck.

[relayer_1]

Not only the floating islands, all the creature designs and landscapes are so similar, that was the first thing that came to my mind!!

Talk about being ripped off, this defines it:

plagiarism

1. the verbatim copying or imitation of the language, ideas, or thoughts of another author and representing them as one’s own original work.
2. the material so appropriated. Also plagiary. — plagiarist, n. — plagiaristic, adj.

[ladybugjt68]

FROM STEVEN KELSO's FACEBOOK PAGE:

OK. Roger Dean's new website is finally up. ...and since Roger didn't get a mention in the credits about being the inspiration for the new "Avatar" movie of course... it is the main news story. I don't think Roger is to pleased with James Cameron right now. Go check it out.

http://www.rogerdean.com/

HMMMMMMM........

[gathernear]

Originally Posted by ladybugjt68

FROM STEVEN KELSO's FACEBOOK PAGE:

OK. Roger Dean's new website is finally up. ...and since Roger didn't get a mention in the credits about being the inspiration for the new "Avatar" movie of course... it is the main news story. I don't think Roger is to pleased with James Cameron right now. Go check it out.

http://www.rogerdean.com/

HMMMMMMM........

Very interesting! I was wondering how Roger actually felt about this.

[ladybugjt68]

hehe...........

[pedro skychaser]

the plaintiff would like to submit articles 1 - 28, m'lord.....







Did Prog Rock's Greatest Artist Inspire Avatar? All Signs Point To Yes


James Cameron spent years creating Avatar's floating islands and crazy dragons, and then an army of concept artists brought them to life. But maybe they had some inspiration from somewhere else? Like classic album-cover artist Roger Dean? Behold the evidence.
Chances are, if you've looked at a weirdshistic record cover by Yes, Asia or other bands, you've admired Roger Dean's paintings of surreal landscapes. If you've ever seen all good people turn their heads each day, then you're already a Dean fan.
Connor Freff Cochran, founder of Conlan Press (which is busy putting out a bunch of Peter S. Beagle books, hosting Beagle's 52/50 poetry subscription service, and putting out art books) contacted us and suggested that Avatar's lush moon might have gained some inspiration from Dean. And when you look at Dean's artwork and compare it to the concept art we posted the other day, it's hard not to see the resemblance.
All of this makes me want to rent Avatar (when it's released on DVD) and see if I can sync it up with YesSongs.

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www.pedro-tv.com

[denmac]

Originally Posted by relayer_1

Talk about being ripped off

As I noted in the Roger Dean thread about the same subject -

"Careful with the "rip off" label when discussing art - see the work of American illustrator Maxfield Parrish (1870 - 1966).

Maybe use the word "influence" instead!!

I'm just sayin'."

[InverYes]

Merged the two threads

[Jackaranda]

Originally Posted by Jackaranda

I saw it today and felt like, scenery wise, I was looking at Yesland.

It IS an amazing piece of work, and Dean's art had to be Cameron's inspiration...surely somehow he is getting a cut of the profits.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by gathernear

Very interesting! I was wondering how Roger actually felt about this.

Having spoken with him in the past week I can assure you that he is not very happy about it

[True Believer]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Having spoken with him in the past week I can assure you that he is not very happy about it

Ooo-er. But can he do anything about it?

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by True Believer

Ooo-er. But can he do anything about it?

I suppose if he feels that there is sufficient evidence of plagiarism and/or copyright infringement he could take legal action. But that is a big and potentially expensive step to take even if he were successful in the action.

[relayer_1]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Having spoken with him in the past week I can assure you that he is not very happy about it

Maybe Roger is not calling it Rip off or plagiarism, but his sentiment confirms he is most definitely not being careful about calling it an "influence" and should be consulting with this legal team by now...