10 to watch: Avatar

The 10 things that influenced director James Cameron... Discuss this article

Fraggle Rock

Jim Henson's unpersuasive '80s Muppet spin-off about a commune of ecologically sound, dreamweaving sock puppets.

Similarities: An isolated race of tufty furbags engaged in a highly complex and evolved societal structure that places symbiotic harmony with Gaia above all. Big Jim Cameron was mad busy in the mid-'80s, but it looks like he still managed to carve out time for a regular fix of Saturday morning TV.

Differences: Chances are ‘Avatar' won't feature an impossibly chipper theme song, a talking compost heap or a vacillating acid-casualty called Wembley, but don't rule out the inclusion of Screaming Iceworms, Singing Cacti or some Moss-billed Flubberducks!

Return of the Jedi

The inspiration behind the Ewoks was George Lucas's desire to show a pre-industrial race opening a can of furry violence on the technologically advanced Imperial stormtroopers.

Similarities: Hirsute, spear-chucking forest-dwellers v body-armoured goosesteppers out to conquer the galaxy.

Differences: Don't expect Toys R Us to be crammed with Naavi dolls this Christmas.

Blue Man Group

'Edgy', body-paint based stand-up for people who think ‘Rent' is a little too outré.

Similarities: Well, they're... blue? That's about it.

Differences: From what we've seen thus far, there's no sense that Cameron is going to sling the gunships aside and have the blue nymph creatures splash poster paint over each other while ‘Stomp'-style drum clattering plays out in the background.

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin

Le Guin's hard-hitting, ecologically aware sci-fi novel imagines the (often literal) destruction of an agrarian alien race by human invaders.

Similarities: The idea of pumped-up imperialist jarheads exploiting indigenous peoples for their own gain goes back to the Egyptians, but Le Guin's tree-hugging sci-fi angle, plus the film's arboreal setting, make it an obvious inspiration.

Differences: The dumpy, fur-covered, psychedelically inclined Athsheans are to Jim Cameron's athletic Naavi what the cast of 'Easy Rider' are to the US Marine corps.