Avatar is not an original story

Rating: 1/10 (1 February 2010)

Yes, I totally agree with jerichocane-1, Avatar is a remake of Dances with Wolves, but with blue and very tall Indians.
Moreover, there is question in the IMDb FEQ section that says, and I quote:
"Is "Avatar" based on a book?
No. Avatar is based on an original screenplay penned by writer/director/producer James Cameron".
That is not exactly true. Many years ago, in a book of the "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame edited by Ben Bova, I read a story about a crippled man on a wheel chair, mentally connected to a super-being (a feline centaur in this case) who was intended to establish a colony in a very aggressive planet, unfit for human settlers. At the end, the man abandons his wasted human form to live a new, challenging life in the planet. Sounds familiar?
Unfortunately, I remember neither the title nor the name of the writer.
I concede that Avatar has a good creative work regarding the environment in Pandora, but the script is a bad mixture of good old stories.
By the way, wasn't there also a pirate called Cameron?
P.S. Well, I finally found the story. It is Poul Anderson's "Call me Joe", written in 1957.
Please check the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_Me_Joe
And I accept that some mediocre script writers find "inspiration" in other people writings, but at least they should have the decency of giving the credit.