James Cameron first feature film since 1997's "Titanic". It is composed almost entirely of computer-generated animation, using a more-advanced version of the "performance capture" technique used by director Robert Zemeckis in "The Polar Express". James Cameron had written an 80-page scriptment for "Avatar" in 1995 and announced in 1996 that he would make the film after completing "Titanic". In December 2006, Cameron explained that the delay in producing the film since the 1990s had been to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough, since at the time no studio would finance for the development of the visual
Titanic (1997 film) Gloria Stuart), The Directors Guild of America Award, and Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (Best Director for James Cameron), and The Producer Guild of America Award. It was also nominated for ten BAFTA awards, including Best Film and Best Director; it failed to win any. The film garnered fourteen Academy Award nominations, tying the record set in 1950 by Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "All About Eve" and won eleven: Best Picture (the second film about the "Titanic" to win that award, after 1933's "Cavalcade"), Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best