Suvudu Universe

I’m not sure the premise of this article, on how Avatar “is all-but-forgotten in the pop culture landscape”, will remain true — particularly when Avatar Land opens at Walt Disney World in 2017 — but it’s a fascinating reminder of how something well-known can burn out quickly, and how fickle popular tastes can be.

The James Cameron film is the highest-grossing of all time, and it made 3-D a reputable artistic technique, not just a gimmick, but on its fifth anniversary, there are no “multimedia spin-offs”, no merchandise, and no value in the brand. Perhaps that’s because the plot is not particularly clever or original. Under everything, I believe, it comes down to story. Summing up,

Avatar was not the first mega-blockbuster where Hollywood learned all of the wrong lessons (examples: nearly every other blockbuster ever made). But considering how big a deal it was for a brief period in time, it is all the more odd that exists solely as “that 3D movie that made a bunch of money.”