John Carter director Andrew Stanton believes the Edgar Rice Burroughs books that his movie is based on, had as much influence on the Sci-Fi genre as the Fab Four had on the music industry.
Talking at the UK press conference for Disney’s Sc-Fi epic, the Finding Nemo director said:
‘To me it’s like the influence that The Beatles’ music had. It just made great artists do things that was of a similar inspiration but they gave it their own thumbprint, their own DNA.
‘And that’s what great art does – it inspires other artists to do great art, and that’s what it should do. There’s nothing that you like in this world that wasn’t influenced by a bunch of key things; nothing came completely clean out of a vacuum.’
Burroughs’ Barsoom series, from which the film is based, spanned eleven pulp fiction books.
Science fiction writers Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke both read, and were inspired by Burroughs’ series.
Avatar creator James Cameron has also said that Burroughs was one of the primary inspirations behind his 2009 space adventure.
Disney’s John Carter is based on Burroughs’ first novel, A Princess of Mars.
Carter, a former confederate cavalryman is transported to Mars (Barsoom to the natives) right in the middle of a civil war threatening the planet.
He soon finds that on Mars he has superhuman strength that could help him help the beautiful Princess Dejah and her people.
Friday Night Lights’ Taylor Kitsch stars as John Carter and Lynn Collins plays Martian Princess Dejah.
The film hits cinemas Friday 9th March 2012