LONDON: Animal rights group PETA has honoured Avatar director James Cameron with a Proggy Award for Outstanding Feature Film.

PETA aims to acknowledge the portrayal of the aliens and “the inspiring message in his blockbuster”.

“Viewers will recognise how the plight of Avatar’s cat-like Na’vi people, who are faced with being driven off their land by a greedy corporation, closely echoes the real-life plight of animals on earth, many of whom continue to be torn away from their homes and families and locked up in cages in zoos, circuses, and laboratories,” the Daily Express quoted a PETA spokeswoman as saying.

The representative added, “PETA also applauds the movie’s stunning special effects, which beautifully illustrate how unnecessary it is to subject animals to the stress of a film production.”

Also, the group’s Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said, “We hope viewers will come away from Avatar with a new way of looking at the world around them and the way we treat our fellow earthlings. For helping animals with the positive message of this film, James Cameron is PETA’s ‘King of the World.’”