Current Events > Official Animorphs topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

Let's discuss this underrated series (books + tv show + whatever else)

Jake was my guy. I'd love to see a retelling of the books in a more series manner. I feel like this was rumored or planned a number of years ago but I don't think it ever went anywhere

Ah, Animorphs. Young adult sci fi about a bunch of teenagers fighting off an alien invasion, committing warcrimes and suffering from PTSD.

While others were reading Harry Potter, Animorphs were my jam. I remember being so disappointed by the show though.

And there is a graphic novel series of them that started a few years ago. But at the rate that new volumes come out, I really can't see them reaching the end in a reasonable timeframe without skipping a ton of them.

Golden_Key33 posted...

While others were reading Harry Potter, Animorphs were my jam. I remember being so disappointed by the show though.

And there is a graphic novel series of them that started a few years ago. But at the rate that new volumes come out, I really can't see them reaching the end in a reasonable timeframe without skipping a ton of them.

Fucking blew my mind when I found out about the graphic novels.

Finally, I no longer have to imagine the body horror.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

No.

love those books would like to reread them some time but not sure if they are on amazon kindle and could not afford even if they where

also would love a new tv series

and most important of all unlike a certain other author applegate supports transgender rights

AceMos posted...

love those books would like to reread them some time but not sure if they are on amazon kindle and could not afford even if they where

They're freely available nowadays, check your PMs.

Anyone else interested, just let me know.

I only read two of them. The one with Tobias, the kid who got stuck as a hawk because he stayed transformed too long, and the direct follow up, but I barely remember the follow up.

Golden_Key33 posted...

While others were reading Harry Potter, Animorphs were my jam. I remember being so disappointed by the show though.

And there is a graphic novel series of them that started a few years ago. But at the rate that new volumes come out, I really can't see them reaching the end in a reasonable timeframe without skipping a ton of them.

Damn! Are they any good?

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

I only read two of them. The one with Tobias, the kid who got stuck as a hawk because he stayed transformed too long, and the direct follow up, but I barely remember the follow up.

Later on Tobias is given the ability to morph again and acquire his human form, but his permanent form still remained a Hawk. I thought that was a cool compromise

I was I think a little older than the intended age when I discovered them. But I got into them for a while. I was like 15 I think and I found some of them in my school library. I don't remember how far I got but I know I never finished the series. Did it ever get a proper and satisfying conclusion to the story? I might try to read them again on kindle someday

AlCalavicci posted...

Later on Tobias is given the ability to morph again and acquire his human form, but his permanent form still remained a Hawk. I thought that was a cool compromise

Jeez, the other kids must have WTF'd hard af.

Hang on, why couldn't he just transform to a human and let the timer run out again?

Zikten posted...

I was I think a little older than the intended age when I discovered them. But I got into them for a while. I was like 15 I think and I found some of them in my school library. I don't remember how far I got but I know I never finished the series. Did it ever get a proper and satisfying conclusion to the story? I might try to read them again on kindle someday

The later half of the series got pretty dark. In the last several books there are some crazy things that happen including war crimes, major deaths, and the ending is kind of wild

AlCalavicci posted...

Damn! Are they any good?

I think they were faithful enough.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Hang on, why couldn't he just transform to a human and let the timer run out again?

IIRC he said stuck as a human he would be less useful. Plus he never had a happy human life anyway, so he was fine living predominantly as a hawk.

Love the animorphs. It was my favorite book series as a kid, and it holds up well on a reread even still. Tobias, Ax and Marco were my favorites, although i like all of them.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

I only read two of them. The one with Tobias, the kid who got stuck as a hawk because he stayed transformed too long, and the direct follow up, but I barely remember the follow up.

Tobias is one of the main characters, he has multiple books where he's the narrator. The books do rotating point of view characters, with Tobias and Ax alternating. When you say follow-up I'd guess you read either book 4 (cassie's first book as the narrator, where they find Ax) or book 13 (Tobias's second book where he's the narrator)

I just finished the series a couple of months ago. Good stuff. I had previously only made it through the David trilogy, which I still think is the peak, but the series mostly stays good until the end.

Golden_Key33 posted...

IIRC he said stuck as a human he would be less useful.

That.

The Space Wizard who gave him morphing powers again flat-out told him it's a one time deal. He can use those powers to morph himself as a human but he isn't getting them back a second time if he goes over the timer again.

Golden_Key33 posted...

I think they were faithful enough.

IIRC he said stuck as a human he would be less useful. Plus he never had a happy human life anyway, so he was fine living predominantly as a hawk.

yep. His parents are dead, and he was shuffled around between aunts and uncles who didn't want him.

Also his dad is Elfangor, the andalite prince who gave the animorphs their powers. He was stuck on earth in human morph for awhile.

PMarth2002 posted...

Tobias is one of the main characters, he has multiple books where he's the narrator. The books do rotating point of view characters, with Tobias and Ax alternating. When you say follow-up I'd guess you read either book 4 (cassie's first book as the narrator, where they find Ax) or book 13 (Tobias's second book where he's the narrator)

Ah. I remember a couple of key scenes. He actually hunts and (IIRC) eats a rat, and then later somebody has like thirty seconds before the time limit, and Tobias lies and tells them they have enough time to transform, and they get all effed up when time runs out while they're still transforming. Then in a third scene, the narrator turns into a snake and accidentally bites/eats somebody. It's also possible I get the order wrong and it wasn't actually the followup after all.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Ah. I remember a couple of key scenes. He actually hunts and (IIRC) eats a rat, and then later somebody has like thirty seconds before the time limit, and Tobias lies and tells them they have enough time to transform, and they get all effed up when time runs out while they're still transforming. Then in a third scene, the narrator turns into a snake and accidentally bites/eats somebody. It's also possible I get the order wrong and it wasn't actually the followup after all.

You sure about these? I read the whole series and I dont know what youre talking about.

The tv series had the chill early 2000s teen drama vibe. You know, filmed in Canada, warm colors, everyone was a 30 year old teen.

EndOfDiscOne posted...

You sure about these? I read the whole series and I dont know what youre talking about.

I think I remember one book where they were exactly at the 2 hour mark and just barely manage to force through transforming back after seemingly getting stuck mid-morph for a moment.

I don't remember the accidental snake bite scene though.

They used snakes a few times, once to try to assassinate Visser 3, and there have been a few cases where someone morphed something and attacked the others/some prey.

The former was shark, the latter I don't remember ever being a snake. I'm pretty sure it was a wolf spider.

Then David attacked a bird in his eagle morph and pretended it was instinct but nobody bought it.

Golden_Key33 posted...

I think I remember one book where they were exactly at the 2 hour mark and just barely manage to force through transforming back after seemingly getting stuck mid-morph for a moment.

I don't remember the accidental snake bite scene though.

Yeah that happened early on in the series, but I dont remember anything about Tobias lying to someone about how much time they had

I loved the covers with humans changing into animals but never actually read the books

EndOfDiscOne posted...

Yeah that happened early on in the series, but I dont remember anything about Tobias lying to someone about how much time they had

VERY early, it was his first narration book, I think. It's before they meet Ax so they still haven't gotten a good way to keep track of time while morphed.

The others are investigating this lake that a Yeerk ship is taking water from, they decide to morph trout and get in through the intake.

They're in wolf morph and some shit goes down (wanna say Tobias had to check something out, flew off, spotted someone's watch and realized the time, flew back), they get right up on the two-hour line, and Tobias is up in the sky freaking the fuck out as his friends are getting stuck as preteen Lycans.

They manage to willpower through it, everyone's very disturbed, and it's another bit for the therapist they all really need to talk to.

Double-checked:

Tobias then noticed Price-Cut Polly flying in the skies above, enjoying the updraft generated by the Truck ship. Tobias began flying up towards her, with his hawk mind and body desiring to be with her. However, he quickly came to his sense and was repulsed at the hawk feelings that had burgeoned inside of him.

He then returned to the forest, where he saw the others locked in a staredown with a rival wolf pack, with a dead rabbit in between them. As they could not walk away without seeming weak, which would then cause the other pack to attack, Tobias swooped down and snatched the dead rabbit, redirecting the rival pack's attention towards him and allowing his friends to escape. Tobias then dropped the rabbit before the rival male wolf could kill him.

Soaring above, he noticed the clock on the dashboard of a Park Service vehicle, which read that it was seven minutes over the two-hour morphing limit. Tobias then rushed back to the other Animorphs and screamed at them to demorph, watching in horror as they struggled. Cassie, who quickly demorphed without problems, coached the others in successfully regaining their human forms. As the team hugged and rejoiced over not being trapped in morph, Tobias despaired over the fact that he would forever be trapped in morph and flew away in agony while his friends yelled at him to come back.

So he got distracted by another hawk that he and Rachel had freed from a used car lot that had been using her as a mascot, because he's been struggling with remembering his humanity.

Then, since he wasn't on overwatch, the crew ran across a real wolf pack, which Tobias had to help defuse and used up more time than they expected.

Zikten posted...

Did it ever get a proper and satisfying conclusion to the story?

The story ended in a way that made sense, it wasn't very happy though.

Then there was an epilogue plotline thing that came out of nowhere, sucked, and ended on a pointless cliffhanger. I think we all try to pretend that part never happened.

Panthera posted...

The story ended in a way that made sense, it wasn't very happy though.

Then there was an epilogue plotline thing that came out of nowhere, sucked, and ended on a pointless cliffhanger. I think we all try to pretend that part never happened.

Sounds like the writer was going to start a whole new arc but then gave up.

It was pretty obvious that Applegate wasnt actual writing the stories towards the end. There had to be like a dozen different ghostwriters working off half-scribbled index cards with how disjointed it got.

Awesome topic. Loved this book series. The TV show I watched was pretty darn solid as well.

Very underrated.

Would make an entertaining Netflix show. Idk how many fans there are... But a cult following could make for a successful show.

<I liked how they communicated like this in thought speech.>

Rachel was the best. The David storyline was epic. When Jake called her in I knew it was about to go down. When I grew up I kind of related to Cassie a bit more, but also Rachel as well.

I just watched the Jontron video of him talking about the tv series. Its not good at all, but it reminded me of how. Dark this series was. Like not wow someone said die its so edgy Steven Universe kind of dark, but it depicted real stuff like death, loss, and paranoia like nothing else aimed at kids. Characters died, terrible things happened to teens, i think i remember one of the teens knowing that their parents were actually infected by the Yerk mind-slug things and couldnt do anything about it.

I have a feeling the series will come back one day. It could be the next big teen franchise if done right. It has some good lore, characters, and potential for movies, games, and everything else.

Is the author still alive?

I just watched the Jontron video of him talking about the tv series. Its not good at all, but it reminded me of how. Dark this series was. Like not wow someone said die its so edgy Steven Universe kind of dark, but it depicted real stuff like death, loss, and paranoia like nothing else aimed at kids. Characters died, terrible things happened to teens, i think i remember one of the teens knowing that their parents were actually infected by the Yerk mind-slug things and couldnt do anything about it.

I have a feeling the series will come back one day. It could be the next big teen franchise if done right. It has some good lore, characters, and potential for movies, games, and everything else.

They tried to make a TV series back then but the effects could not really pull it off...but these days it could be done a lot better as long as they were not lazy about it.

I think a new series on Netflix or Max would be hype. Especially if they redo the ending. Theres a lot that people would get into. Tobias being a nothlit, Rachels descent into madness, the David arc, Marcos mom being the Visser, Ax and his human escapades, Jake and his brother, Cassie and her love of animals etc. I would also love it if they completely revised that shitastic ending.

I also think it might scratch that 90s/00s nostalgia itch for millennials quite nicely.

I'll never forget what I think was one of the most bleak moments in the entire series.

Marco, the heart and soul of the team. The goofball. The one who wants to try and smile no matter the situation..

Deciding his infected mother has to die, or they are going to lose a lot more people. Even chooses to do it himself, and attempts to before physically stopped by Jake. The entire scene is so heart breaking.

I must be one of the few people to actually like the ending. I actually have an idea for a video game series that I would do as a follow up to the series based on the stuff from that ending.

Zikten posted...

Sounds like the writer was going to start a whole new arc but then gave up.

Nah, the writer said something along the lines of "in war things don't always end happy, people just can't understand what I was going for."

Thing is, fans understood that, what they didn't understand was the introduction of a new foe called The One, that ate and assimilated Ax off screen...or rather off page? And the fact that Tobias, Jake, Marco and two Andalite warriors flew their ship into The One's ship with no resolution on who lived, who died, or if they succeeded in taking out The One with their possible sacrifice, and The One, if it survived, may potentially have eaten them and assimilated them and may be heading to Earth leaving Cassie to be the only one to fight it.

Necronmon posted...

They tried to make a TV series back then but the effects could not really pull it off...but these days it could be done a lot better as long as they were not lazy about it.

https://youtu.be/gIrNIz1O7Jw?si=OAsP9wvwgsxMPEK6

Strider102 posted...

https://youtu.be/gIrNIz1O7Jw?si=OAsP9wvwgsxMPEK6

To be fair, this was better than most low budget kids shows. It doesnt look great, but it isnt horrible.

Senta posted...

I'll never forget what I think was one of the most bleak moments in the entire series.

Marco, the heart and soul of the team. The goofball. The one who wants to try and smile no matter the situation..

Deciding his infected mother has to die, or they are going to lose a lot more people. Even chooses to do it himself, and attempts to before physically stopped by Jake. The entire scene is so heart breaking.

Marco's got a secondary role in the group.

He's the one who knows what has to be done.

"People don't understand the word ruthless. They think it means 'mean.' It's not about being mean. It's about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It's about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it."

Senta posted...

I'll never forget what I think was one of the most bleak moments in the entire series.

Marco, the heart and soul of the team. The goofball. The one who wants to try and smile no matter the situation..

Deciding his infected mother has to die, or they are going to lose a lot more people. Even chooses to do it himself, and attempts to before physically stopped by Jake. The entire scene is so heart breaking.

That was a good book. The following book seemed promising with a similar setup between Jake and Tom, but it ended up with more of a cop out. And Jake was clearly not as cold as Marco at this point.

I love this topic, I know Animorphs was pretty popular back in the day but I feel like anytime I ask someone about them they either have no idea what I'm talking about or were vaguely aware. I fucking loved that series, read every single book multiple times.

I would love to see someone take another shot at the show. Live action would be great in an ideal world but with how costly that would be both in regards to resources and time I'd be down with an animated show. They could also do the Chronicles as movies which I think would be pretty sweet.

Rachel deserved better, that damn Ellimist.

MotaroRIP619 posted...

<I liked how they communicated like this in thought speech.>

Rachel was the best. The David storyline was epic. When Jake called her in I knew it was about to go down. When I grew up I kind of related to Cassie a bit more, but also Rachel as well.

Holy crap I still read this in thought speech, it's like muscle memory. Despite it being a whopping 25 years since I read the series. My god.

A few years ago they were planning a movie, but I think it's been cancelled. Last I remember reading about it was the authors (JK and her husband) dropped out of the project for whatever reason.

rachels entire character arc is depressing especially how it all ends

Strider102 posted...

Rachel deserved better, that damn Ellimist.

"Was I good? My life... did I... did I matter?"

"Yes. You were good. You mattered."

"Okay... ok"

V__V

VRX3000 posted...

It was pretty obvious that Applegate wasnt actual writing the stories towards the end. There had to be like a dozen different ghostwriters working off half-scribbled index cards with how disjointed it got.

She actually did write most of the final books.

She wrote the first chunk, the David arc, and most of the finale. Most everything in between was ghostwriters working off her notes. It's why so many of the middle books are very monster of the week.