Finally, Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair discussed the significance of AVATAR winning the Oscar for art direction: "I felt that I've been on a journey and I think one of the reasons that this movie went to where it went is because of the collaboration and it's something that I've always valued," Carter told AWN/VFXWorld. "So when I look to the future, I'm looking for more collaboration with tremendous artists who have vision and that also are willing to understand what they don't know. None of us knew, and that's, I think, something that Jim understood about us and we were all willing to jump in there."

Stromberg elaborated on overcoming a life-threatening illness 13 years ago: …"I haven't even talked about it to these guys. But it's a personal experience and, yeah, it was a bout with something that was ready to kill me and it was really bad. And out of that, I told myself that I would spend whatever time I had here doing something or trying to do something profound, worthwhile, something else. So from that point to tonight is a journey that I can't explain to anybody. I'm the luckiest guy on the planet. This award to me is actually me understanding that I'm alive, and it's very special."

Stromberg, who also transitioned from visual effects to art direction (he went from AVATAR to ALICE IN WONDERLAND), added, "… We're creating new tools to allow the next generation of filmmakers to do anything they want. I think it's important for any production designer to understand the visual effects side of things: the new technology, the traditional elements. I think it's just another tool in the toolbox, but it's a tool that can open up the world to new creative ideas."