Today, Disney leadership, members of the media, and the cast of Avatar gathered for the dedication of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Pandora – The World of Avatar. The celebration featured a drum circle and remarks for Disney’s Chairman and CEO Bob Iger along with Avatar creator James Cameron.
Bob Iger: I’m going to go off-script for one second to take this all in. At Disney, we have a how do they do that standard. What does that mean? We love to build things, create things, and people look at them and say, “How did they do that?” I cannot think of a better example of that than what we’re standing in front of right now.
Officially, good morning. We’ve been looking forward to this moment for quite a long time, and we’re thrilled that we have a chance to share it with all of you. Walt Disney famously said that “it’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” 0and it’s a sentiment that captures the soul of our company, reflecting the optimistic spirit that really drives everything that we do.
Disney has been doing things no one thought possible for almost a century now thanks to the visionaries and innovators that have gigantic ideas and great courage and the sheer will to deliver the impossible. Of course, at Disney we call these people Imagineers, who turn bold ambitions into incredible experiences that only Disney can create. Special thanks to the creative and spiritual leader of this great land, Joe Rohde. Joe? Thanks, Joe.
Jim Cameron could easily be a Disney Imagineer. I wish Jim Cameron were a Disney Imagineer. With big dreams and bold ideas, and the immense drive necessary to see his visions come true, he does the impossible again and again and again, merging wonderful storytelling with mind-blowing technology to create experiences that no one has seen before. Avatar is definitely one of them.
From the moment I first saw the film, I believed that Pandora actually existed. It just felt so real to me, and I wanted to visit there like millions of other people whose curiosity and wonderment drove Avatar into the record books as the highest grossing movie of all time. Avatar introduced us to a stunning new world, breathtakingly beautiful and exotic. Today, some years after its release, it’s still captivating us as we eagerly await its next chapter. No pressure, Jim.
Working with Jim and his team, notably Jon Landau, was a dream come true for all of us as we pushed the limits of creativity and innovation to bring the digital world of Pandora to the real world of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Now everyone, including me, who has ever dreamed of visiting this extraordinary world can explore its astonishing landscape and ecosystem, see the Na’vi, soar on the back of a banshee, and become part of the Avatar adventure. Pandora is just as great in person as it is on the screen. I’ve been here several times and I’ve had the chance to enjoy all that Pandora has to offer, and I don’t think the sense of awe and wonder will ever go away for me or for any of the guests that we will welcome here in the years to come.
Jim, thanks for introducing us to all of the endless jaw-dropping wonders of Pandora, for your partnership on this grand expedition into an amazing world, and for believing that we could do the impossible together to deliver a spectacular experience our guests will never forget. Please welcome our partner in this great, great land, visionary, innovator, and storyteller, Jim Cameron.
James Cameron: Oel ngati kameie. Oel ngati kameie. That means, “I see you.” Thank you, Bob. I really mean that. This is a spectacular, very surreal day for me. Thank you so much to everyone at Disney who made today a reality. I think back to when I was 19 years old and I had a dream, literally a dream, of a bioluminescent forest with glowing trees and little spinning glowing fan lizards. I woke up very excited and I sketched it and I painted it, and I remembered those images years later when I started writing the script for Avatar. Then we made the movie and now here we are years later. Literally a dream has come true all around me. It’s an amazing experience.
I also want to give a quick shout-out and thanks to my partners at Twentieth Century Fox, including Stacey Snider, Emma Watts, and Vicky Rossellini. Anyway, without their amazing and ongoing support of Avatar, none of this would have been possible. Joe Rohde and his incredible team of Imagineers have exceeded my wildest dreams in bringing Pandora to life. They worked hand in hand with Richie Baneham and many others on our team at Lightstorm, including my friend Jon Landau, without whose contributions this project would not have made such an amazing indelible impact.
(L-R) Jon Landau, Wes Studi, Joel David Moore, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, CCH Pounder, Bob Iger, Sigourney Weaver and Laz Alonso
Thanks to this collaboration, beginning today anyone can now visit Pandora in all its majesty, and when they do they can learn about the Na’vi and the Na’vi culture and their values. The Na’vi have a spiritual connection with their world. That makes Disney’s Animal Kingdom, this part, which is based on a deep respect for nature, the perfect place to connect Pandora to our world. Pandora and Disney’s Animal Kingdom both inspire us to understand and respect the natural world and our place in it.
Bob Iger: Now we stand here in this amazing new landscape to honor the best of both of our worlds.
James Cameron: And to open Pandora to everyone who has ever dreamed about visiting.
Welcome to Pandora.