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COM Terra Incognita & Avatar Comparison

My name is Skyler, I am eighteen years old. I wrote the "Terra Incognita & Avatar comparison". Avatar is one of my favorite movies, so I was very interested in reading Emil's script when he told me about the similarities between his script and Avatar. I've read the script many times, and watched Avatar many times, and the similarities are astonishing. At the conclusion I have come to is that although the exact story lines differ, the core concepts and main characters are almost exactly the same

Concept Similarities
IMPORTANT- Each of the following Terra Incognita quotes or statements, describe both Terra Incognita & Avatar "The major concept of the mythical land, peoples & creatures of Terra Incognita is to compare & contrast how their different values allow another way of life from what we witness & experience on earth, mainly due to absence of racism. The Terra Incognita beings work together to create a harmonious existence without damaging the environment. This concept enables the viewer to not only escape into a highly mythical world. But also challenges the individual by helping question the values shaping our existence in an educational & stimulating way" TI pg 41 "The basic concept is to create a community that is similar to earth people in many ways but is different in ways that stretches our imaginations & questions our values" TI pg 1 "Our aim here is to learn respect for other creatures through understanding, similarly to value the environment, or the habitats in which animals live" TI pg 13

It is mentioned in the script, that Terra Incognita is to be realistic, using computer animation, to capture the audience. "This Particular concept only works if done as real-not cartoons" TI pg 3 "The animals are to be real, like the animals in Jurassic park were real, or as ET was real" TI pg 31
Coincidentally, before even reading Terra Incognita, after I watched Avatar, the last 4 points describe my experience.

"Racism does not exist in their world" TI pg 3b "The astronauts found meadows, rivers, lakes and forests like on earth but they noticed everything more clean & lush & waters full of fish" TI pg4 "The energy source, called orgonite, is known to have been in short supply on terra, as an evil god secretly removed this substance to another planet" TI pg 10b "Heat & light source magnetically generated from within, thus creating a magnetic barrier that disrupts radar transmissions of any sort" TI pg 12b
(same scenario occurs in Avatars flux vortex)

Both the planets, Pandora (Avatar) and Terra Incognita (Terra Incognita) are blue planets

Character Similarities
Terra Incognita - Lt Deming Avatar - Col. Miles Quaritch

1"Lt Deming is a member of a secret military organization who's assigned to monitor the NASA space program" TI pg 4b 2 "At 35 he is a strong, well built soldier who stands over 6 5 & has no sense of humor & takes trivial matters seriously" TI pg 4b 3"Deming often thwarts the heroes efforts by coming in guns blazing & weapons of mass destruction at the ready. Though they are both on same side, Demings patronizing attitude toward Mathew and his gang, and his refusal to listen to the histories of the conflicts makes him an antagonist figure" TI

1Part of military space program 2Very serious, strong, well built soldier 3Thwarts heroes efforts by coming in guns blazing, Antagonist to main characters 4Believes main characters are "betraying their own race", & does everything possible to thwart Dr Grace Augustine, Jake & his friends from Pandora who he believes are enemies of earth and does everything he can to stop them 5Puts main characters in jail 6Hard nosed Soldier who believes all battles are fought with weapons

pg3e 4 "he sees Mathew and Prof. Pyre as dreamers & considers them especially to be a menace to his own plans to save earth & does everything possible to thwart prof. Pyre, Matt & his friends from Terra who he believes are enemies of earth" TI pg5b 5Puts main characters in jail 6"Hard nosed Soldier who believes all battles are fought with weapons" T.I. pg 8f

Terra Incognita - Matt

Avatar - Jake Sully

1Leaves earth on a special mission to another planet 2Befriends daughter of the clan leader and falls in love 3"He meets Ophir, daughter of Yushin, the ruler of Terra Incognita, together they embark on many adventures" TI pg 4 b 4"The final prophecy shows Mathews life sacrificed saving the planet" T.I. pg"15c "then before their eyes, the ashes roll into a ball and the ball becomes a boy, and the boy is Mathew. He is cleansed by fire and reborn." TI pg 17 c 5"Mathew didnt set out to save the world, but once he realized he might be the only one to do it, he took on the challenge" TI pg1f 6 Mathew has a dragon - Quetzalcoatl

1Leaves earth on a special mission to another planet 2Befriends daughter of clan leader and falls in love 3He meets Neytiri, daughter of Eytukan, the ruler of the Omaticaya, together they embark on many adventures 4After fighting off the humans, saving the planet, his human body dies and he is reborn in avatar body at the end of movie 5Took on challenge to save the Omaticaya 6 Jake has a dragon Last Shadow

Terra Ingognita-Mathew-con'd Avatar - Jake Sully - contd

7 Mathews scientist father, named Jake, was sent to an alien planet by the NASA space program to gather orgonite, which is key to save earth from impending disaster. Jake was a significant investment for the NASA space program because he was a trained astronaut & the first to visit Terra Incognita, but he went missing. So Mathew, completely inexperienced in his fathers field, took his place. Jake, Mathews father, is a NASA scientist who has always dreamed and believed in extraterrestrial lifebravely sacrifices his life on Earth by being assigned to a special NASA mission in order to save the planet from an impending disaster. Pg 5 b Five years ago Jake disappeared on a special mission to the planet Terra Incognita. pg 3 b "The orgonite energy is what will also save Earth from destruction. pg 10 b Jake knew that others would eventually discover that Quetzalcoatl would be the key to locating the orgonite on Terra. He thought that if he travelled to Terra Incognita and retrieved the energy source, he would save Earth from destruction. Pg 11 b 7 Jakes scientist brother, named Tommy, was going to be sent to an alien planet for the Avatar program, which is an offshoot of the R.D.A. , whos main mission is to mine unobtanium , to save earth from its energy crisis. Tommy was a "significant investment" of the Avatar program because he had years of training for it, but he was murdered. So Jake, completely inexperienced in his brothers field, took his place. "Unobtanium (pronounced un-ub-TAIN-e-um) is a highly valuable mineral found on the moon Pandora. Humans mine unobtanium to save the Earth from its energy crisis; bluntly put, they need it for their survival." Quote from Avatar wiki - http://james-cameronsavatar.wikia.com/wiki/Unobtanium The Resources Development Administration, or RDA, is the largest single non-governmental organization in human space. Its power is such that it outmatches most Earth governments in wealth, political influence, and military capability. The RDA has monopoly rights to all products shipped, derived, or developed from Pandora and any other off-Earth location. Quote from avatar wiki http://james-cameronsavatar.wikia.com/wiki/RDA

Terra Incognita- Ophir

Avatar - Neytiri

1Daughter of clan leader 2"She can be quick tempered, impatient and defiant, she is also very intelligent and caring" TI pg 5b 3"African Features" TI pg 5b 4"Living with the animals, Ophir has learned to stalk like a panther, climb like a cat, make animal sounds, and run like a gazelle" TI pg5b 5"Her martial arts style excellence makes her a formidable opponent." TI Pg 3f 6"She has a major attitude" TI page 3f

1Daughter of clan leader 2Quick tempered, impatient and defiant, she is also very intelligent and caring 3African features 4Living with the animals, Neytiri has learned to "stalk like a panther", "climb like a cat", make animal sounds, and "run like a gazelle" 5Well trained in martial arts 6 She has a major attitude

Terra Incognita - Prof. Pyre

Avatar - Dr Grace Augustine

1Red hair 2Age 53 3Scientist character

1Red hair 2Age 50 3Scientist character

4" Morpheus Pyre, age 53 is a world 4Dr Grace Augustine, 50 years old, is a world renowned renowned archeologist and scientist, and is author of a comprehensive book on Pandora's plants and a a consultant for the NASA space program. xenobotanist, and is in charge of the Avatar Program. 5"Pyre is often in trouble with the management of space program, however is well respected" TI pg4b 6Surrogate father to Mathew 5She is often at odds with the management of the AVATAR program, however is still well respected. 6Mothering to Jake

Terra Incognita Riva

Avatar - Thanator

1"A massive black panther like creature which nearly vanquishes Mathew on Terra" T.I. pg 7f 2"A hissing disturbs them. Down jumps a huge black panther-like creature. This is Riva." TI pg 10 3Later on Riva becomes an ally 4"Riva is virtually indestructible" 5"Riva starts to untie the vines at frantic speed, then having no luck, starts to gnaw, her teeth do the work in seconds and vines snap" TI pg 95d

1A massive black panther like creature which nearly vanquishes Jake on Pandora 2In Avatar, in the scene where Jake thinks he scares a Hammerhead Titanothere, a hissing disturbs them, and down jumps a huge black panther-like creature. The Thanator. 3Later on the Thanator becomes an ally 4The Thanator is unharmed by bullets 5The scene where the Thanator chases Jake, it starts to untie vines at frantic speed trying to get at Jake hiding underneath, then having no luck, starts to gnaw, its teeth do the work in seconds and the vines snap like twigs.

Terra Incognita IKHN

Avatar - Parker Selfridge

The boss of mineral mining operation Powerful Greedy Rich Kills planet inhabitants

The boss of mineral mining operation Powerful Greedy Rich Kills planet inhabitants

Other Character Similarities

Cross between earthly animal species (Note that the exact animal crosses between
Avatar and T.I. are different, but the concept of crossing earthly animal species remains the same.)

Terra Incognita

Zebra Rhino

Rabbit Peacock

Elephant Giraffe

Monkey Panther

Avatar

Elephant body & Hammerhead shark head

Reptile head, bird/bat body, bug wings.

Horse body, ant-eater tongue

Dog body, reptile teeth, monkey hands.

Hair braids Terra Incognita Avatar

Big cute "cuddly" eyes for merchandising

"They must pass the "stuffed animal" test, this is important for two reasons; one, merchandising; and two, cuddliness promotes bonding and bonding promotes caring." "Large eyes in proportion to head" TI pg2

Terra Incognita

Avatar

Girls wearing almost no clothes to attract males.

"The older boys will be able to identify and enjoy the adventures & boobs TI pg 31 Screenshot of practically topless Neytiri from Avatar

Environmental Similarities
"The trees rise above them like gnarled sky scrapers, a mass of twisted limbs & vines. The whole forest is a monochrome of darkness" TI pg 41 D
Screen shot of Avatar forest

"we can see its an enormous tree, the width of a city block, and so tall its branches disappear into the night sky" TI pg 58D
Screenshot of home tree from Avatar

"where ever Mathew has been, the trees walls have lit up & the whole area is being suffused with a blue light" TI pg 96d
Screen shot of Avatar's Jake walking through forest at night

"The orgonite energy source gives off a strong glowing light" TI pg 13 "The life tree, orgonite runs through it like sap" TI pg 58D
Screen shot of tree of souls from Avatar

Other Similarities
Third eye symbolism & telepathy
The third eye symbolizes consciousness. It is believed in cultures around the world once its opened, telepathy and other psychic abilities are activated. In Terra Incognita, Mathew communicates telepathically with Quetzalcoatl. In Avatar the Na'vi communicate telepathically with each other, animals and trees, through the bond.

Terra Incognita

Avatar

Terra Incognita

Avatar

Mining of precious stones Terra Incognita -Orgonite

"The orgonite is being shipped from Terra to the god of gold on another planet" TI pg 146

Avatar -Unobtanium
Unobtanium is being shipped from Pandora to another planet, Earth.

Screenshot of Avatars unobtanium

Sacred tree with mineral deposits underneath

Terra Incognita Lifetree, with orgonite underneath Avatar Home tree, with unobtanium underneath
Screenshot of Avatars home tree being analyzed for destruction in order to mine minerals underneath

Collective memories Terra Incognita -Ophir shows Mathew the memories of her people
"She reaches into her robes and pulls out a forked stick" "its called the pacal. It is sacred to our people. Within it are contained our collective memories." TI pg 31D

Avatar - Neytiri shows Jake the memories of her people

Neytiri shows Jake the tree of voices, which contain the voices of her ancestors

Screenshot of Avatars Neytiri showing Jake tree of voices

Inhabitants of planet fight off aliens Terra Incognita- The children and animals of terra incognita bond together to fight the enemies of
their planet" TI pg 3b

Avatar- In avatar the clans & animals of Pandora bond together to fight the enemies of their planet
Screenshots of children and animals of Pandora bonding together to fight enemies of planet

Animal communication, friendship & integration into society Terra Incognita -Animals talk, are befriended as equals, and integrated into workplace. Avatar - The Na'vi communicate with animals through "the bond", the Na'vi bond with the banshees as
friends, they fly banshees to hunt ground animals

Use of Helicrafts Terra Incognita - "Matthew boards the helicraft" TI pg 2g Avatar - Helicraft are main modes of transportation in Avatar
Screenshot of Avatar helicraft

And lastly On side of the "dragon warship" in Avatar, it's the same dragon as Quetzalcoatl from Terra Incognita

Core Differences between Avatar & T.I.

-The AVATAR program whereby a human is hooked up to a machine and has its consciousness transferred into the body of an alien, in order to operate in an alien environment. -"The Bond" (the tentacle hair that allows telepathy) -The dialogue script -The linear storyline (only random segments of the T.I. storyline seem to have been used, and not in chronological order)

One last observation

-It looks as though James Cameron attempted to cover up and change Terra Incognita as to be un-recognizable, but failed because as you can see, the similarities dramatically outweigh the differences.

In conclusion, the similarities are astonishing; it is clearly evident that Terra Incognita has laid down the foundation and framework for Avatars Creation. This cannot be coincidence or divine intervention.