Author Topic: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series  (Read 6885 times)

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Offline Aquilai

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #30 on: April 12, 2011, 02:08:17 PM »
Hi GalagaGuru welcome to the forums! I think it's good to be open minded. Whilst the Ellimist might appear to have the power of a god it doesn't reflect that God is like the Ellimist but I get what you mean. Younger children probably won't think make this distinction until later and can find out more about religion from better sources. As with most sci-fi it's easy to fall into the Science vs Religion debate but I don't think Animorphs really goes into that. There are desperate situations in Animorphs but I think Applegate's Everworld has more influence than Animorphs on religion since it's about many Gods/Goddesses of the Ancient world.
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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #31 on: April 12, 2011, 02:12:11 PM »
One thing I always thought was a little jarring as a kid was the Ellimist. He's basically a God that fights what amounts to the Devil.

I tend to think of the Ellimist/Crayak dynamic as being similar to the Shadows and the Vorlons. They're basically two different aliens that exist on a higher plane and fight each other for entirely different reasons.

Offline GalagaGuru

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #32 on: April 12, 2011, 02:14:24 PM »
Hi GalagaGuru welcome to the forums! I think it's good to be open minded. Whilst the Ellimist might appear to have the power of a god it doesn't reflect that God is like the Ellimist but I get what you mean. Younger children probably won't think make this distinction until later and can find out more about religion from better sources.
Yeah, there's a lot of differences between Ellimist and God, but it's not about drawing similarities. It's about getting people to think.

Offline Aquilai

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #33 on: April 12, 2011, 02:24:08 PM »
Well...whilst I'm not religious I do think that if even a story book can question your faith then perhaps the foundations for having it to begin with weren't that strong. I'm not saying religion is bad but if getting people to think is considered a bad thing then free will might as well not exist.

There are a lot of themes in Animorphs and it's good that it doesn't try to press only a certain view onto children. Growing children need to be able to think openly!
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"People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That's how they define "reality". But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"? Merely vague concepts… their "reality" may all be a mirage. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs?"

Offline Zero_Messiah

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #34 on: April 12, 2011, 04:21:39 PM »
Unfortunately, the thing about a structured education means that often, children are often thought to think in a certain way; while it might efficiently allow learning, it restricts their creativity. But moving back on topic.

Another reason why this series should not be considered a children's series? Death.

People die. All the time. Civilians, bystanders, innocent hork bajor, innocent kids, tons of yeerks. In every book, at least one person dies. In the first book? Elfangor dies. Ellimist? Sooo many deaths.

Offline Aquilai

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #35 on: April 12, 2011, 05:10:56 PM »
Death isn't something that children really think much about. They understand the effects of "a bad guy" no longer being a problem or to feel sad/unhappy when a hero is no longer around but it isn't something that causes Animorphs to be not fit for children. I mean take Disney for example: Bambi's mother dies! Death is an inevitability of life.
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"People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That's how they define "reality". But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"? Merely vague concepts… their "reality" may all be a mirage. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs?"

Offline Blazing Angel

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #36 on: April 12, 2011, 05:15:25 PM »
Death always happens in childrens books i have a 200 page long book with huge font were the kids are scare for their kidnapped mother because shes a diabetic without any insolin. In the bible theirs death, in percy jackson, harry potter, hack i know some kids who watch a tv show called 1000 ways to die. Its a common part of liturature because kids are being exposed to dirtier things than they were 60 years ago.
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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #37 on: April 12, 2011, 06:09:13 PM »
   My point wasn't that Animorphs isn't for kids. I meant it's content is more for young adults.
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Offline alaois

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #38 on: April 12, 2011, 06:42:05 PM »
I suggest this is more like 1000 ways animorphs doesn't talk down to kids, and can also be appreciated by an older audience.

but the reading comprehension level definitely makes this a kids series.  arguably the chronicles books are on a higher level in that regard, but that makes them a challenge for the reading age, not outside of their reading age.

what animorphs proves is that you don't have to dumb down content to write a kid's series.  in fact, you shouldn't dumb down content to write a kid's series (though you should obviously leave sex out of it)

Offline Aquilai

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #39 on: April 12, 2011, 09:12:36 PM »
Saying that... this reminds me of implied sex/rape in The Mutation to other people that the underwater dwellers have met in the past and were planning on. I guess that's definitely not something that you would expect in a children's series.
Temporal Traveller Aquilai: "One small step back in time. One GIANT leap for mankind."
"People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That's how they define "reality". But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"? Merely vague concepts… their "reality" may all be a mirage. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs?"

Offline Lincoln

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #40 on: April 12, 2011, 09:58:01 PM »
Okay, I know it's been covered before, but...
The psychological aspect in the series is very adult. Especially the affects of war psychology. When I was younger, I didn't really appreciate it, but now that I've matured somewhat I just can't get enough of it. The psych, I mean.
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But, I've listed off some quotes from the series before without telling her that they're from Animorphs and she is impressed by them. The psychology is so deep and so accurate and real. But when I tell her where the quote originates from:
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Aldrea2011

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #41 on: April 12, 2011, 10:17:53 PM »
Animorphs is for all ages!! *sigh* Some people just can't appreciate good reading material...

Offline Blazing Angel

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #42 on: April 12, 2011, 11:48:16 PM »
It is mainly written twoard kids but I think KA got a little  passionate while writing.
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Offline SuperBlue

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #43 on: April 13, 2011, 05:52:04 AM »
There's no doubt about it initally being for kids but, just like with Harry Porter, the author realized broad her demagraphic had become and started writing books that appealed to the more grown up readers
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Offline Blazing Angel

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #44 on: April 13, 2011, 09:25:40 AM »
Really? because in the very first book a man is covered in blisters when harry touched him and ends up disintegrating
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