Comments on: Should Roger Dean sue over Avatar film?

By: Artists UK

Artists UK — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:54:48 +0000

Err, yes John … what exactly is your point?

By: john

john — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:58:34 +0000

Did no-one ever read gullivers travels?

By: Firefyte

Firefyte — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:03:41 +0000

My bad…Ridley Scott made Aliens….but Camerron still should not have made the Marine Corps out as just a bunch of blood thirsty thugs.

By: Firefyte

Firefyte — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:58:48 +0000

I totally agree. Anyone looking at the conceptual art used in Avatar can clearly see Roger Deans genius. Dean had visualized floating land masses, skeletal rock formations and flying dragons with vividly colored camouflage patterns decades ago. In many cases Dean would focus an entire series on creatures with fantastic camouflage. Not only did Camerron take from Roger Dean but he also took from the cover artwork of the Edgar Rice Borroughs John Carter of Mars series. These classic covers had several multi-legged creatures very similar in concept to the creatures in Avater. Perhaps Michael Whelan might also have a bone to pick with Camerron. If push comes to shove I am sure we will hear Camerron say something dismisive like “all artists build on the work of other artists” but the mind of Roger Dean is just too evident in Camerrons movie…..he should at the very least be honest and give Dean the credit he deserves. I have other issues with Camerron….he tends to enjoy portraying the Marine Corps as either unprofessional and incompetent (Aliens) or a bunch of blood thirsty rednecks (Avatar). Avatar being a work of pure fantasy… Camerron could have just as easily made the ruthless attacking human forces a corporate security group (Blackwater) hired to do the company’s dirty work….or even some specialized branch of the Army or a detachment of Space Rangers. Instead Camerron took the opportunity to make the Marine Corps the bad guy….that is why I never paid him my $11 to see Avatar at the movies.

By: Roger Dean should be PISSED! [Avatar]

Roger Dean should be PISSED! [Avatar] — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:51:32 +0000

[...] READ: Should Roger Dean sue over Avatar film? As far as we know Roger Dean was not involved at all in the Cameron film Avatar but clearly his [...]

By: Artists UK

Artists UK — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:53:57 +0000

Hi Graham

You probably paid about £1.99p each for those Roger Dean Big O posters and in pristine/very good condition they would now almost certainly both be worth over £200 each. The white and lime green wall would almost certainly be worth less

It is a shame that litigation hangs around the creative fields of art and music like a dark thundercloud but until we have a world in which people respect each other properly and treat each other with friendliness and generosity that is the price we all pay. We can hope but we may be waiting some time for it to change …

By: graham belfast

graham belfast — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:16:29 +0000

Thanks for the reply . I do take your point I was brought up on the Yes albums in the 70s, and Roger Deans album sleeves somehow mirrored the music [also Uriah Heeps albums ] SO I do have empathy with the whole copyright argument

They are unique I remember painting my bedroom white and lime green and plastering the posters from ” Tales from Topographic Oceans” and” Close to the Edge” all over the walls lol much to the bemusment of my parents who thought I had joined a cult and were flicking through the yellow pages for the guys in the white
coats !

My point was just to put some balance on the discussion you have comments about suing for millions of dollars etc I hope the exposure results in a whole new generation of people who might never have had the chance to enjoys Roger Deans Art work and maybe by default discover some Yes music [surely a good thing]

I was commenting mainly from an esoteric view point about the art and music but maybe Cameron in hindsight should have credited his inspirational muses its kinda sad that didnt happen

one thing you maybe should highlight here is the roger dean web site where you can still enjoy his porfolio and maybe buy a few items to redress the balance WWW rogerdean.com ———- its all about EGO lol my advise is to surrender the Ego and forget about conflict

Life is an illusion[albeit a very powerful one] and as said previously in the end ” Everythings gonna be alright”

PS all flights back to normal maybe Roger is on his way to Iceland as we speak with paintbrush and easle another volcanic landscape and masterpiece in the making methinks

peace

Graham Astral traveller Belfast