The American Film Institute named James Cameron's pioneering work on AVATAR and 2009's "extraordinary crop of animated releases" among eight of its annual Moments Of Significance, SCREEN DAILY reports.

Each selection had to include "accomplishments of considerable merit; influences with either a positive or negative impression; trends, either new or re-emerging; anniversaries or memorials of special note; and/or movements in new technologies, education, preservation, government or other areas that impact the art film, television and digital media."

AFI's other Moments Of Significance for 2009 include: Twitter, The Leno Experiment And The Loss Of Drama, Reality TV And The Loss Of Boundaries, The End Of Analogue And Other Signs Of Sea Change, This Is It - Death Of Michael Jackson, and Recession – The Movies Again Prove A Tonic For Economic Ails.