“Green was taken”: James Cameron reveals how he created the Na’vi and why they are blue

The reason behind the prevailing color in the ‘Avatar’ franchise is much simpler than we imagined.

The premiere of Avatar: The Sense of Water 13 years after the debut of the original film, it has allowed lovers of the unforgettable film to meet again with the Na’vi once again and get excited about a new episode of his story. In avatar 2 We return to Pandora to meet Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), who are now parents and live peacefully with their children in the forests until humans return with the aim of colonizing the place.

In the new film several actors reprise their roles, but mainly we meet new characters, many of them Na’vi who help us get to know the humanoid race better. However, there are some questions about the Na’vi which can only be answered by James Cameron, director of the science fiction saga and, ultimately, father of these creatures and their universe with his creative team.

Why are the Na’vi blue? is the question asked by Sigourney Weaver, who in the first film played a human scientist and who in avatar 2 has returned as the teenage daughter of Sully and Neytiri. The veteran actress has been one of the members of the industry who have been able to ask Cameron what they wanted for the magazine Empirewhich has dedicated its latest issue to the premiere of the most anticipated film of the decade.

And Cameron has expanded at ease with his response, in which he delves into the creative process of Avatar Y clears up some questions and reasons behind the creative decisions made by him and the team to bring life which is undoubtedly an essential aspect of the franchise.

The green was taken. There is a long history of green aliens. In addition to ‘Hulk’. And the human colors, pink and brown, are not alien. Spongebob was yellow. Which practically left blue and purple

“Purple is my favorite color, but I thought we would use it as one of our main bioluminescence colors., which we did, associating it with Eywa and anything sacred to the Na’vi,” Cameron continues to explain about his choice. “Also, my mother had told me about a dream she had in which there was a blue woman ten feet tall. height with six breasts. A great image. I drew her, but the six breasts thing about her didn’t look as good as it seems, plus it would affect the ranking. So… Blue.”

“I wanted to make a story set in a strange world”

Although Cameron’s explanation has a joking point, Cameron goes quite deep when it comes to explaining how he began to envision the Na’vi: “I wanted to make a story set in an alien world, that was both beautiful and terrifying”, comment on your starting point. She wanted the public to experience her through the eyes of indigenous peoples. Therefore, I did a lot of research on indigenous cultures around the world and tried to draw some common denominators, such as their innate reverence for the living world around them and their methods of cooperation and conflict resolution, as well as their spirituality and traditions.” .

He wanted the audience to side with the indigenous people and see humans as the invaders from space that were devastating their world. A look at all those “aliens invade Earth” stories we’ve grown up with

And taking all that as a starting point, “the Na’vi design was the result of an intensive process with some talented creature and character artists” from which came the first versions that would not be definitive but would guide the final result: “Some of the first designs were too amphibious or lizard-like, but I wanted relatability. I realized that we could emotionally relate to dogs and cats, as well that we gave the Na’vi tails and expressive ears that had that familiarity. In the end, their strangest features were their scale and color.”

In avatar 2 the Na’vi have returned to captivate the public but there is a third film, avatar 3which has already been filmed and whose first details Cameron begins to share in which he plans to further expand his universe: “I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I’ve only shown their good side.”

“Green was taken”: James Cameron reveals how he created the Na’vi and why they are blue