Interview with Atticus Tsai-McCarthy, Avatar designer
Posted by CapnRex101,
Brickset had an opportunity to interview Atticus Tsai-McCarthy recently, from the Avatar design team.
Our discussion took place before the new range was announced, but is equally applicable to the Avatar: The Way of Water wave.
The Avatar sets are unusual because they appear to prioritise display, including supports for various animals and vehicles across the range. What prompted this focus on display?
That actually emerged fairly early in the concept phase. In certain themes, like Jurassic World as one example, we are designing primarily for young kids who love dinosaurs and vehicles, whereas Avatar is intended for a slightly older demographic. This was my first experience designing for older builders and focusing on displayability was really rewarding, without losing the play value. You can play with the models, but also display them easily on a shelf and even combine them if you have several sets.
With 75572 Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight specifically I wanted to give the two ikran a sense of movement when designing the set. I was aiming to create a frozen moment from the movie, without needing a full diorama base.
In relation to the ikran, did you choose to use plastic wings instead of brick-built wings because you wanted to include the patterns?
Yes, that was pretty much the reason! Recreating the artistry of these creatures onscreen was very important. We thought it would be really nice to translate the wing shape and patterning as accurately as possible, which meant using the decorated vinyl.
You mentioned the option to connect the sets together. How did that feature come about?
The design process was very collaborative across the team and we decided collectively which areas of Pandora we wanted to include. Once we determined that different sections should join together, we laid out how they could be combined in a cohesive way, while representing completely separate parts of Pandora.
The environment models also make consistent use of the new transparent column elements. Were those developed for Avatar and how were they designed for maximum versatility, if so?
I think this came about when we were constructing the Floating Mountains or the archway in 75574 Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls, where you can place the leonopteryx. Early on, we were using normal Technic beams in black and figuratively asking builders not to notice them, with the colour contrast.
However, we later discovered that the Super Mario team was producing something similar to the City scaffolding piece, with Technic pin holes. Given its transparent colours, that was just perfect for Avatar and supporting the floating sections.
How did you approach the more militaristic aspects of Avatar?
We chose to focus mainly on the environment of Pandora, but knew the AMP Suit had to be done because it is probably about equal with the ikran and leonopteryx as an icon of Avatar. From there, we had to find a balance between recreating the vehicle properly, without losing our way. That was why the AMP Suit includes a giant buzz saw rather than the weapon most associated with Quaritch. Otherwise though, we could stay pretty close to the original suit.
Find more information about the new Avatar sets, announced earlier today, here.
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14 comments on this article
I think that the sets are overall very well designed! Focusing on the wildlife and environments of Pandora was likely the best choice. It’s what immediately springs to mind when people think of the film, and I would argue it’s the reason to actually see the movie in the first place.
Though I still very much question this choice of license due to the military being prominently featured. I get that LEGO doesn’t like realistic firearms and such, but something about removing these elements feels weird to me.
Lego needs to make new flat pieces for better wings all these technic makes them look robotic
Sets look great though.
I expected a question on the choice of the "stretched" minifigures for the na'vi and some comment about their head.
I wish LEGO wasn’t so pearl-clutchy and would just let the AMP have its proper arsenal, and so we could see sets like the giant VTOL ship they use to destroy the home tree. I don’t think it’s going to rot kid’s brains or anything, and LEGO seems to be the only major company with this weird moralism. Mega Construx and Playmobil don’t care, I don’t see why LEGO should continue to.
@Calabar said:
"I expected a question on the choice of the "stretched" minifigures for the na'vi and some comment about their head. "
I figured it was to make them more alien compared to normal minifigures. It's a bit strange, but hey, points for trying something new! I wonder if people will warm up to them if they finally get their hands on em'.
@KingTyrannos said:
"I wish LEGO wasn’t so pearl-clutchy and would just let the AMP have its proper arsenal, and so we could see sets like the giant VTOL ship they use to destroy the home tree. I don’t think it’s going to rot kid’s brains or anything, and LEGO seems to be the only major company with this weird moralism. Mega Construx and Playmobil don’t care, I don’t see why LEGO should continue to. "
I think it's worth keeping LEGO's history in mind. They didn't want to make militaristic toys after WW2, and it took a long time just to get guns and grey bricks in sets. Personally, I don't really mind LEGO trying to keep things more in the realm of lighthearted fantasy.
Though if LEGO is going to keep that as their justification, I want to know why some stuff is okay while others aren't. Why did the Osprey get so far into production? Why can't the giant fantasy robot have a gun when DC sets carry them around like it's no big deal? Avatar is weird because the military is such an integral part of the film that you really can't just ignore it.
Agreed on above, really wish Lego would focus on the RDA a bit more, I get that they’re the bad guys but they have the coolest tech and we need a proper sized samson at some point, not some micro machines esq build. Really hope we get a second wave for the sequel movie in the summer to give us the new samson or maybe the seawasp aircraft as it wasn’t in the wave revealed today, although I’m very happy to see an RDA focused set with the mako sub.
Could have included questions regarding the sequels sets but, those were likely shown today to all. It is such a shame that house on Wave two is so elevated.
@Calabar said:
"I expected a question on the choice of the "stretched" minifigures for the na'vi and some comment about their head. "
This was just an extract from a roundtable, so a representative from another Fan Media outlet had already asked about the minifigures when my turn arrived to ask questions.
Great interview as always, thanks for sharing this!
Interesting to hear about the military considerations. I understand why Lego would choose to focus more on the non-military aspects, but when it gets that pedantic they can't even have a mech (which is a very sci fi fantasy make believe thing) with a gun and instead have to have a saw blade (which is still quite violent), then I would wonder why Lego is making Avatar sets at all??
As others have said, the whole plot of Avatar is good human Jake (and a couple of friends) helping the indigenious Na'vi fight back against the RDA. It's good guys versus bad guys and the bad guys have guns and military stuff. Take the military stuff out and its not Avatar. Now as I've said, I get why they would not focus on the military stuff as much but if they are that uncomfortable with it then why not choose another IP (or even better, an original theme) that has no military elements whatsoever and not having them won't impact the story?
There's been a lot written about Lego's frequent contradictions in its no war no military policy, all I will mention here is to consider the fact that both Avatar and Star Wars are sci fi fantasy themes set on other planets. Star Wars literally has 'war' in the name and is all about people fighting each other with big guns and armed spaceships. I would also point out that all of the 'blasters' in Star Wars are actually mildly modified Second World War era real life guns. Not to mention the various similarities between Star Wars and WW2, why the First Order scenes are almost a direct copy of the Nuremburg Rallies. Now Lego accepts all that (and that's fine) but they won't accept any guns for Avatar?? It doesn't make any
^"make any sense" that is supposed to end with.
I think brick build wings would look better from all angles, whereas the plastic wings only display well when looking from above. There are plenty of different coloured 2,3, and 4 long smooth slopes to provide the aerofoil shape and give more texture as well as making the build more interesting especially for the larger creature in 75574.
Why are there suddenly LEGO sets for a vintage so-so movie? Did Disney pay for this? There are other Cameron titles that are much more worth the effort.
@martiniman said:
"Why are there suddenly LEGO sets for a vintage so-so movie? Did Disney pay for this? There are other Cameron titles that are much more worth the effort."
The sequel to said "vintage so-so movie" is coming out in December. LEGO would want to utilise these new rights they've acquired and make as many cash grab moves as possible. With new Avatar franchise releases piled up to 2026, I would not be surprised to see more and more Avatar sets. Shame Avatar is getting more sets than DC at the moment.