‘Avatar 2’ concept art reveals connection with Disney’s Flight of Passage ride
Jon Landau, the producer for “Avatar” and its four upcoming sequels, showcased a new piece of concept art for the upcoming films to celebrate World Oceans Day. As you probably know, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the host to Pandora – The World of Avatar, an incredibly detailed and immersive land that places visitors on Pandora. This land was created in partnership with Landau, Director James Cameron, and Imagineer Joe Rohde. Now, we can see even more details for how interconnected these films and theme park attractions truly are.
Avatar Flight of Passage, one of the highest-rated Disney attractions in recent years, takes riders on the back of a mountain banshee as they soar across the skies of Pandora. The ride was created with future films in mind, with the culmination of the creative geniuses mentioned above working together for a succinct future. When the ride first debuted, it took riders to places of Pandora that had not been explored in the original film. While we knew some areas dealt with future films, it was harder to pinpoint exact locations for them. “Avatar 2” will come out more than 10 years after the original film; connecting a 2009 film to a 2017 ride, and then to a 2022 movie requires extreme forethought.
The above GIF showcases a portion of the attraction where riders pass a tribe of Na’vi (a Reef Tribe according to the Avatar Wiki) on the beach and soar over a lagoon towards a rocky oceanfront. If riders look down, they will see creatures jumping from the water, splashing as they follow the group flying above.
These creatures are ilu, an aquatic pack animal that lives in the oceanic region of Pandora. They are used by the Reef Tribes much like direhorses are used for tribes on land.
This video, which when clicked will begin at 2:36, showcases details in Pandora. I had it begin at that point to showcase footprints seen in the land. While those are not of the direhorse, they are other other creatures native to Pandora. The large hoof prints of the six-legged direhorse can be seen around, as well.
Now, we look back to the published concept art. We knew that “Avatar 2” would feature a new group of Na’vi as we follow their adventures. We knew that the water of Pandora had more to discover, and now, we see that we’ve had a glimpse at this incredible new era of “Avatar” since the debut of Avatar Flight of Passage in 2017. The underwater world of Pandora seems to be just as incredible as above.
Avatar Flight of Passage takes you right into the action. Riders pass these ilu creatures and narrowly avoid a watery splash. Take flight on a mountain banshee and keep an eye out for even more details — you may see something that will give you a look into the Avatar franchise future.
You can take a full POV ride on Avatar Flight of Passage on our YouTube channel.
Had you noticed the ilus before? What other parts of the ride do you think give hints to future movies? Let us know in the comments below.
Great connections!
As a random semi educated guess, I would speculate that the scene in the cave when the banshee comes to stop for a rest might be an allusion to a future movie scene
As a ride homage to the 3 men responsible for the land and it’s attractions, are you aware of the 3 sets of red handprints that are on a rock formation at the exit of Flight of Passage
They are the handprints of Landau, Cameron and Rhode
Yes! I used to work at Avatar – Flight of Passage and loved to tell our guests about the three handprints. Rumors suggest we may see the “Avatar 2” trailer before the upcoming “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” movie. Hopefully it reveals new details.