James Cameron Wants To Make An Animated Anthology Series Based On His Animated ‘Avatar’ Films

James Cameron, director of the almost entirely animated Avatar film series, has set his sights on a new direction for the sci-fi universe and revealed ambitions to create an animated anthology series set on Pandora.

Speaking with Empire Magazine, the director recalled a meeting with Disney: “I said, ‘Look, I want to do an animated anthology series that’s essentially in the world, but stories that you wouldn’t have expected from that world. “He went on to explain that the project could even evolve into a feature-length installment, whether for streaming platforms or a theatrical release. “There might even be an animated feature in there – it might be a feature for streaming, or a theatrical feature,” he added.

Cameron pointed to earlier anthology successes as inspiration for this potential expansion of the Avatar mythos. “A good early example is The Animatrix, where they went afield in the Matrix world,” he explained. “These are all great examples for how we can add texture and baroque detail to the world of Avatar.”

A new aesthetic for Pandora could add great depth to the Avatar universe, although it’s worth reiterating that the existing Avatar films are already almost entirely animated, despite how they are often marketed. Upon watching the new trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash, it is clear that the vast majority of this one will be, too.

Industry experts estimated that roughly 60% of the first film, released in 2009, was computer-generated. That figure jumped to 90% for 2022’s The Way of Water, with the film’s VFX outfit, Weta FX, explaining: “In fact, only two shots in the entire film do not contain any visual effects at all.”

The envisioned anthology would offer a unique opportunity to explore the lesser-known aspects of Pandora’s lore. “Backstory on characters and tangential stuff that happened off-camera within the movies. Who first landed on Pandora? The first expedition. You could go anywhere you want,” Cameron said.

Although the idea is still in its infancy, Cameron confirmed that preliminary discussions and creative exploration have begun. “We haven’t done much with that yet,” he admitted. “We’re still gathering our stories and that sort of thing,” he said, adding that finding the right creatives is a crucial next step. “I’ve got to find the boutique filmmakers, the animators, that want to do it.”

Given the recent success of sci-fi anthology series like Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots, Prime Video’s Secret Level (both up for Emmys this year), and Disney’s Star Wars: Visions, a similar offering based on the billion-dollar Avatar feels like an easy win, if done with the respect and care of those other shows.