Scholastic is launching an Animorphs film in association with Picturestart
I didn’t get into Star Trek as my first science-fiction property. Technically my firsts were Star Wars and the 1960’s Batman when the USA Network had both properties in syndication. Then the X-Men the animated series came out in the early 1990s. The golden age of kick-ass as I like to say. That said, while I loved all of those series, my first “fandom” was the Animorph books. So hearing that a new attempt to bring the stories to live-action has my heart aflutter.
The film will be made by Picturestart and Erik Feig. Feig has produced some pretty popular films like Step Up, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the Wrong Turn franchise.
When the books came out, right around the same time Star Trek: Voyager (my first taste of the Trek franchise), I was in heaven. Many nights I’d read the adventures of the noble Jake, his cousin Rachel, the funny man Marco, the compassionate Cassie, and the fearless Tobias. Eventually, they’d be joined by an alien ally named Ax. Which is short for Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Don’t ask.
The series features the six youngsters as they battle body-stealing alien parasites that can inhabit a host and control their minds. A wide array of aliens were introduced for these things to control; like the disgusting Taxxons who eat everything all the time, the noble yet dangerous Hork-Bajir, and of course the noble yet arrogant Andalites.
The series had one attempt at live-action back in the late ’90s when the book series was at its peak. The series featured future X-Man Shawn Ashmore in the feature role of Jake, while Brooke Nevin played his cousin, and Paulo Costanzo played the human form of the Andalite Ax. Rounding out the series was Boris Cabera, Nadia Nascimento, and Christopher Ralph as Marco, Cassie, and Tobias respectively.
The series was not well received by the fans, mostly due to its poor visual effects, and unfamiliar plot; which often times changed elements of the original book’s plot that the episode was based on.
If you’re unfamiliar with why special effects need to be so important, it’s because the series features the aforementioned six youngsters, and their ability to morph into animals. They can “acquire” the DNA of an animal by touching it, and once they acquire that animal (or person), they can turn into a carbon copy of them. The process is often graphically described and horrifying in nature.
In fact, it wasn’t just the morphing that had fans on edge while reading, often times the battles were hyper-detailed for a book aimed at teens. To the point where the kids in the story rarely ended a book on a good note, oftentimes carrying their nightmares over to the next story.
The near-hyper real portrayal of the kids and their struggles was a huge selling point. This wasn’t a story for the faint of heart. when people died, they stayed dead. When mistakes were made, there was no CW magic to unfix them. When they made the wrong choice, they paid for it.
Go read Animorphs No. 10 The Android for a taste of what happens when the heroes don’t think through the consequences of their actions.
Obviously any portrayal of the series has to hit all of these notes. It has to be graphic enough to linger, brutal enough to make you squirm and real enough to make it feel authentic.
With a new comic series that retells the books set to come out in the fall, fans can relive the adventures in a brand new way. It also gives an entirely new generation an opportunity to get into the series as well.
There’s no more information about Animorphs the movie and what to expect from it going forward but when there is you can come right back here for more information.