Avatar Inspiration

I watched Avater yesterday. I forgot how beautiful that m0vie was. James Cameron sure is amazing. It has given me inspiration about my own scifi book, for example; my friend has a crippled dog that would make an excellent alien creature. (Don't worry, that isn't giving any important info away). I could make a creature based on a very winey beagle I know, lol. It's so obvious that earth's natural beauty was Avatar's inspiration, but here's a thought, what about our planets not so beautiful things? Say a war torn country could be a rogue planet filled with sludge and hideous creatures. What I am afraid of is creating creatures and planets in my story that resemble other books far too much. That's why we must read research and then relax :)