Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: Kagebutterfly on June 13, 2008, 04:37:54 AM
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Ok now I know that fans "loved" the show, and how much it was advertised on the bookcovers even AFTER the show went off the air, BUT were there any "Decent" episodes at all in the series...?
My two cent: The Capture 2-parter
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Personally, I find that the whole show can be decent if you separate it enough from the books, and if you go in KNOWING that they changed major elements.
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The episode where Cassie was allergic to the crocodile DNA was pretty good
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It was weird, cheaply done, and they changed around too many things. I believe they did Tobias' character wrong, and why did they make Rachel have claustrophobia? And while I'm on Rachel, why did they make her battle morph a lion instead of a bear? Correct me if I'm wrong.
The books had been out for a while, with enough info to make the show be basically an animated version of the books with possibly minor tweaks.
I watched some episodes, but became disinterested in it all. I did like watching Ax in Human morph, though. I think there was an episode that focused largely on him that I liked.
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Yeah, Applegate admitted to only watching 2 episodes. And what the hell was with the disk that they were all freaking out about? There are so many issues with that show. The Yeerk pool was pretty sad though. It was like a basement with disco lights. Also, the hawk that was Tobias had the handling straps on its talons. Nothing was done correctly. The Yeerks were cartoonish villains, though Visser 3 is kinda that way sometimes. Tail fighting was pretty sad too.
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Personally, I find that the whole show can be decent if you separate it enough from the books, and if you go in KNOWING that they changed major elements.
Hmm, I don't think so. I could cope with them changing some, or even a lot, of plot elements, but IMO it was really poorly done in acting (for the most part), technical work (as someone else has said, the hawk still had the handling straps on), and just kind of lost the spirit of the books. They needed a bigger budget, mainly. I mean, the special effects were so poor, especially the Andalites. Does anyone remember when v3 and Ax arm-wrestle instead of tail fight?
Although I thought the actor playing Ax as human did very well :)
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I never noticed the handling straps. I liked the show when I was younger and didn't read the books but then I started watching it on the internet about 2 years ago and I was like "....WTF I used to watch this?" They only had one real actor(The guy that plays Jake) The Andalites were scary looking and were made out of rubber, the Hork Bajir were....weird, and there were no Taxxons, Tobias wasn't....Tobias, Rachel only morphed into a grizzly one, Marco's battle morph was a wolf, Cassie's battle morph was a horse, it got canceled before David was introduced, Visser 3 and Ax were...fuzzy, and a bunch of other stuff I don't feel like getting into right now
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Personally, I find that the whole show can be decent if you separate it enough from the books, and if you go in KNOWING that they changed major elements.
I would have disagreed, but the fact that it did gain fans (including people I was at school with) who didn't read the books proves you're right.
Hmm, I don't think so. I could cope with them changing some, or even a lot, of plot elements, but IMO it was really poorly done in acting (for the most part), technical work (as someone else has said, the hawk still had the handling straps on), and just kind of lost the spirit of the books. They needed a bigger budget, mainly. I mean, the special effects were so poor, especially the Andalites. Does anyone remember when v3 and Ax arm-wrestle instead of tail fight?
Although I thought the actor playing Ax as human did very well :)
Oh yes, just watched that one today, one of the worst on screen battles ever. Not helped by the actor playing Visser 3 hamming it up like theres no tomorrow. You'd think the director would have asked him to bring his performance down a little.
Overall I think that good writing and good performances can triumph over bad effects over bad effects, however Animorphs fell short in every department.
One thing that annoyed me was the amount of stuff that they did that was in direct contradiction of the books. Rachael's claim that they always used to hang out before or Marco identifying Tom as a controller because he as playing with his ear (I'm pretty sure there was a line in the book that said “It's not as if controller go round playing with their ears). There must have been more, but that's all I can think of so far.
Another problem was the way in which the chose to accelerate the stories. I get that one book per episode can be difficult, but it was done in a way which made the Animorphs look incompetent, not inexperienced, flat out useless. The one that sticks in my mind was when they did The Visitor (episode 4?), they successfully catch and morph Chapman's cat, but fail to lock it up so that it can just wonder back in and blow their cover. It's a basic mistake and one they didn't make in the books.
Then there's the disk. What were they thinking? When it was first introduced I assumed it was going to be a plot device which would give them useful information when they needed it, but no. They had it for about an episode, then they lost it (the incompetence rant again). I mean Jake just dropped it in the Yeerk pool or something, they never even said when, it was just 'oops I lost it'. Interesting side fact though, something that passed my by when I first watched it (ten years ago now!), Ax says that they lost Elfangor's Hirac Delest.
The casting was also an issue. There have been occasions where good casting can carry a series above the poor effects and low production values (although not flawed writing). However the casting didn't totally work either. Briefly:
Jake: Best piece of casting of the series, Shawn Ashmore really captured the character and it seems appropriate that he's had the most successful post Animorphs career.
Ax: Paulo Costanzo did very well in the role, he was suitably awkward and was able bring out the alien nature of the charter.
Rachael: She might have been good, but the scripts and the direction didn't do the character justice, never really brought out here warrior nature.
Cassie: Same problem, she did a good job with what she had, but never really got the the heart of the character.
Marco: There was just something missing from the performance, he delivered the lines, but he just didn't have the wit to go with them.
Tobias: Wrong wrong wrong. He looked and acted nothing like the Tobias of the book.
The adult cast was generally not particularly well developed or used, but I would like to give a quick salute to the best adult performance, Richard Sali as Chapman. I thought he played the character really well, showing the classic villain, the mock humanity in the scenes with Mellisa and then actually getting some sympathy for what he had to do.
Sorry I've rambled a bit there, but hopefully I've made some valid points.
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I've always wondered what they were thinking when they made it. I mean, was Ed Wood directing? And why is the cast so freakin old? The show just had so many problems and it was as if they made one mistake and once they say they made a mistake they made even more mistakes trying to fix it. There is a whole rant about it that really gets to the point on Animorphs: The Radio Drama Uncensored, I think its in The Message, but I'm not sure.
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Marco identifying Tom as a controller because he as playing with his ear (I'm pretty sure there was a line in the book that said “It's not as if controller go round playing with their ears).
Actually, K.A. purposely wrote that in #31.
The one that sticks in my mind was when they did The Visitor (episode 4?), they successfully catch and morph Chapman's cat, but fail to lock it up so that it can just wonder back in and blow their cover. It's a basic mistake and one they didn't make in the books.
actually. it was rachel's plan in the tv series. the other animorphs didn't do anything in capturing chapman's cat in the tv series. not that it makes much of a difference.
I mean Jake just dropped it in the Yeerk pool or something, they never even said when, it was just 'oops I lost it'.
Yeah. that confused me too. I watched #3 and they still had it. Then I watch #6 and suddenly it's in the yeerks' hands(?). I go back and in #4...they just lose it right at the beginning.
Interesting side fact though, something that passed my by when I first watched it (ten years ago now!), Ax says that they lost Elfangor's Hirac Delest.
yep. in #8 the alien
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The whole disk plot annoyed the heck out of me.
That show had so many things wrong with it, everytime I watch it I find alot of reasons to laugh.
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K.A once said that, to make the Animorphs show as close to the book and realistic as possible, complete battle morphs, tail fights, and all the whatnot, it would require more than what a typical movie production costs. That's why she expected the show to be animated instead.
And yes, I agree with Mongoose, I only liked the Jake character, except for the physical appearance, he was what I expected Jake to be.
Marco character would have been fine, although something Marco is lacking that I just can't put my finger on....
The others were all a wreck, especially the Tobias character.
If it was remade.... animated.... or rather a movie instead.... I think it would look great.
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I enjoyed that episode where it was just Ax and Tobias talking.
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I enjoyed that episode where it was just Ax and Tobias talking.
I think you're talking about #16 Tobias.
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K.A once said that, to make the Animorphs show as close to the book and realistic as possible, complete battle morphs, tail fights, and all the whatnot, it would require more than what a typical movie production costs. That's why she expected the show to be animated instead.
And yes, I agree with Mongoose, I only liked the Jake character, except for the physical appearance, he was what I expected Jake to be.
Marco character would have been fine, although something Marco is lacking that I just can't put my finger on....
The others were all a wreck, especially the Tobias character.
If it was remade.... animated.... or rather a movie instead.... I think it would look great.
I agree. I posted this in the other RAF forum:
I've actually been trying to start an Animorph animated series, for quite some time now. No joke, although it does sound like one.
As insinuated by my screename, ive 'studied' film and this is something that I've always been very passionate about. Not only that but the books are a gold mine. The stories and characters are simply incredible, and I've tried tapping into that energy. I've also been trying to contact Scholastic to see if its possible to get the rights to the books. With the help of a production company we can get this show on the road.
I'm pretty sure ive gotten the scripts down really well. I'm still doing rewrites and always open to suggestions. 13 episodes for the first season, of course, which is common for cartoons. Working on a series bible as of now for the show.
After mapping out the books and the storylines it turns out it would take 4 seasons to tell the whole story, 56 episodes which includes 5 2 parter episodes (from five different books), possibly more epis if asked by the network (hopefully Cartoon Network!), and a Hork-Bajir Chronicles one hour tv special. Probably the most important story to tell.
Currently searching for artist to draw characters for a presentation. I could definitely use the help if offered. email is filmstu2005@Yahoo.com. Constructive criticism is always useful.
Wish me luck!!!
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K.A once said that, to make the Animorphs show as close to the book and realistic as possible, complete battle morphs, tail fights, and all the whatnot, it would require more than what a typical movie production costs. That's why she expected the show to be animated instead.
And yes, I agree with Mongoose, I only liked the Jake character, except for the physical appearance, he was what I expected Jake to be.
Marco character would have been fine, although something Marco is lacking that I just can't put my finger on....
The others were all a wreck, especially the Tobias character.
If it was remade.... animated.... or rather a movie instead.... I think it would look great.
I agree. I posted this in the other RAF forum:
I've actually been trying to start an Animorph animated series, for quite some time now. No joke, although it does sound like one.
As insinuated by my screename, ive 'studied' film and this is something that I've always been very passionate about. Not only that but the books are a gold mine. The stories and characters are simply incredible, and I've tried tapping into that energy. I've also been trying to contact Scholastic to see if its possible to get the rights to the books. With the help of a production company we can get this show on the road.
I'm pretty sure ive gotten the scripts down really well. I'm still doing rewrites and always open to suggestions. 13 episodes for the first season, of course, which is common for cartoons. Working on a series bible as of now for the show.
After mapping out the books and the storylines it turns out it would take 4 seasons to tell the whole story, 56 episodes which includes 5 2 parter episodes (from five different books), possibly more epis if asked by the network (hopefully Cartoon Network!), and a Hork-Bajir Chronicles one hour tv special. Probably the most important story to tell.
Currently searching for artist to draw characters for a presentation. I could definitely use the help if offered. email is filmstu2005@Yahoo.com. Constructive criticism is always useful.
Wish me luck!!!
It might be fun to help out with the animated series, but I don't know how I could be useful.
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I agree. I posted this in the other RAF forum:
I've actually been trying to start an Animorph animated series, for quite some time now. No joke, although it does sound like one.
As insinuated by my screename, ive 'studied' film and this is something that I've always been very passionate about. Not only that but the books are a gold mine. The stories and characters are simply incredible, and I've tried tapping into that energy. I've also been trying to contact Scholastic to see if its possible to get the rights to the books. With the help of a production company we can get this show on the road.
I'm pretty sure ive gotten the scripts down really well. I'm still doing rewrites and always open to suggestions. 13 episodes for the first season, of course, which is common for cartoons. Working on a series bible as of now for the show.
After mapping out the books and the storylines it turns out it would take 4 seasons to tell the whole story, 56 episodes which includes 5 2 parter episodes (from five different books), possibly more epis if asked by the network (hopefully Cartoon Network!), and a Hork-Bajir Chronicles one hour tv special. Probably the most important story to tell.
Currently searching for artist to draw characters for a presentation. I could definitely use the help if offered. email is filmstu2005@Yahoo.com. Constructive criticism is always useful.
Wish me luck!!!
It might be fun to help out with the animated series, but I don't know how I could be useful.
I was thinking the same thing. I have no worth as an artist, but I would be more than happy to take a look at the scripts or artwork and give some of feedback. I'd certainly be interested to see what you've done
Filmstu, let me know if interested, if this is the kind of help you're looking for.
Oh, and good luck, hope you can make it work.
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Thanks. really appreciate the positivity. I guess u could email me, filmstu2005@Yahoo.com, and I'll add u as contacts. wouldnt be a problem sending the first drafts over either for some critiquing
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I just sent an email out from chadnorris26@yahoo.com. Hopefully it worked.
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Yeah, Applegate admitted to only watching 2 episodes. And what the hell was with the disk that they were all freaking out about? There are so many issues with that show. The Yeerk pool was pretty sad though. It was like a basement with disco lights. Also, the hawk that was Tobias had the handling straps on its talons. Nothing was done correctly. The Yeerks were cartoonish villains, though Visser 3 is kinda that way sometimes. Tail fighting was pretty sad too.
yeah, the disc looked like a piece of cardboard wrapped in tinfoil with a hawk badge on it. personally i think tobias' human form resembles jake in his actual human form in the books. jake has dark hair. marco was acurately done, though.
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The TV show was a piece of trash. I watched 2.5 episodes, and deleted the rest of the season immediately. It pissed me off so much.
Even though Paul Costanzo is one of my favs, I could not stomach to watch my beloved Animorphs completely *** raped that way.
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paulo constanzo is great he's in royal paines and every time i watch that i think thats Ax
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The first thing I saw him in was Road Trip, the first thing i recognized him in was Joey.
He is perfect as Evan R. Lawson CFO of Hank Med.
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All I remember from watching the series as a kid was how wimpy Rachel's "Let's do it" sounded.
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True
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The first thing I saw him in was Road Trip, the first thing i recognized him in was Joey.
...Ax is in Joey?!?! Which character? now I'm going to go back and watch the whole Joey season again
plus, there are a couple of good Ani episodes, namely Tobias, Changes pt1 - 3, Face Off pt3. I think I like them because they weren't in the series, thus I have nothing to compare them against/ criticize them for :)
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The TV show was cursed with a low budget. I think if they had listened to the author it could have become a great success. The special effects were even behind those of the origional Star Trek. I think schoolastic was more concerned about using the show as a marketing tool rather than making a good series. To be honest I am not sure the publisher and the author are exactly on speaking terms. Probably applegate saw the first and second episodes and was so disgusted that she never watch it again. It is not easy to have your work boulderised.
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That was exactly my reaction. to the letter. I made it to the part where V3 cuts down the door to find the Animorphs fly away as butterflies, and I flipped out.
Ax was Joey's nephew, the smart kid. I can't remember his character's name, I think it's "Michael", I don't know. I have Evan R. Lawson stuck in my head for him.
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thx. and btw, I hate that about Face Off, how everyone is just like, "Hey look, Tobias is human again." then they NEVER ASK HOW THAT HAPPENED
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Was Face Off an episode?
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it was a three part episode. parts 1 and 2 were in season one, part 3 was in season 2
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I remember the butterfly thing. They aquire and morph a butterfly in less time that it takes V3 to hack down a door, which he's hacking in the worst area possible. Then he rushes out in Human morph.
It's best to view the TV show as a comedic parody of Animorphs. That's the only way someone who has read and loved the series can stomache the show.
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Yeah, I still refuse to.
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I don't blame you. I haven't watched the show in forever, and certainly not full episodes.
I remember the Yeerk in phone episode. For that to work, infestation would need to be instantaneous. If they tried that in the books, the first buyer would just pull the yeerk out and freak.
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I kind of enjoyed their version of The Capture actually, great acting from Jake and his twin brother Evil Jake, Rachel does something mildly brave, the Yeerks have the intellect to have security cameras (that . . . don't work?) I mean it was probably the high point of the series except it also contains one of my pet peeve moments in that when the controllers rush to the boiling Yeerk pool they say with the mildest of emotion "the yeerks are dying" I mean there's so much wrong with that line when it comes from a Controller. For starters they're supposed to be Controllers which means they are Yeerks, it'd be like someone pointing at a burning building, saying "The humans are dying" and shrugging, show more concern, maybe some rage, don't act like the things in the pool are just your pets, they're your brothers for crying out loud.
Which is a problem the series as a whole had, most of the time the Yeerks didn't act like they were controlling human hosts but rather like they are humans with a serious stick in their . . . ears? I mean they start genetically engineering a batch of Yeerks who don't need Kandrona rays? How does this help the other Yeerks who already do? Why would those Yeerks even allow such Yeerks to exist when the new batch would clearly outperform them and get all the host bodies they themselves want? And don't Yeerks reproduce by fusing three parents together? Why would they be grown in big sacks outside of the Yeerk pool? Even if those were grubs who were taken out of the pool specifically for the experiment why does cutting the sack and spilling them on the floor kill them? Yeerks get exposed to the world outside their hosts ear without dying, Visser Three escapes Alloran's body by crawling across the grass and into a stream after all.
On the whole the Yeerks just weren't very menacing, I mean one of them is stupid enough to argue with a parrot he thinks is an andalite, calling it Andalite in front of witnesses, acting strangely in front of witnesses, and hey, here's a thought, why didn't Visser Three just use Alloran's memory of Andalite culture to determine that the disk was Elfangor's Hirac Dellest if that is indeed what they claimed it was? Why would he keep having scientists experiment on it? And why did they only have one monster arm? I mean seriously, I could be wrong but I believer the same arm that grabs Elfangor is the same arm that goes for the scientist, and is the same Hork-Bajir arm that goes for Jake, and WHY are the Hork-Bajir like pets? Why aren't they controllers too? Why does Visser Three keep two of them in the open guarding his mansion? Why are they yellow? Why do they not have tails? Why does Chapman "release the Hork-Bajir" why were'nt they already on security detail for their Visser? Bah on the Yeerks of the series in general!
The morphs irriated me too, I won't lie, Visser Three spent way too much time in his human morph, Jake morphed Homer a bit too often considering that when he did do so in the books he was usually worried about Tom recognizing him.
Well as much as I hate to stop myself from ranting (oh how I do go on . . .) I don't remember much more right now . . . maybe I blocked the memory :P
Edit: Also the kids spent way too much time outside of morph considering that they were supposed to be afraid of their identities getting out . . . also Rachel utterly failed to sell me on the whole "warrior princess" thing, and yeah the hawk had its straps, and yeah Marco wasn't Marco-ish, but what really ticked me off was also how easily Ax gets captured and how the Animorphs don't bother to, y'know, morph to save him, just show up as humans which is the dumbest thing in the world if you don't want anyone to know who you are . . . BLARG!
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Actors probably get paid more for more screen time. That's why they spend so much time in Human form when they really shouldn't.
Which is another reason to do things the animated way.
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Agreed. As a kid though I remember thinking "Man, live action? This is going to be SO cool!" I knew I was wrong when I saw Elfangor but I was still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt back then, I don't actually remember when it was that the series lost me.
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I was like that too. I practically drooled over the TV show during the first episodes that I watched. But it just wasn't right. I remember being surprised that something like Animorphs was showing on Nick. sure it's geared towards kids, but you can't show Animorphs alongside shows like Spongebob.
Then I saw the andalites, and what little of the Horks they showed. I thought we had gotten better at animatronics than this. Take a look at Jurassic Park. The morphs were wrong, and they didn't even fight Horks at all.
I don't remember the exact point I left the show either, but there were just so many things wrong. Too many to overlook or justify.
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yeah, seriously, an andalite disk gives tobias the power to morph again? its retarded. and the yeerks kept saying it was tuned to someons DNA, so somehow, elfangor knew to key it to the DNA of that specific hawk? and ax said there was no way for tobias to morph again, youd think hed know about such a technology.
the yeerks that dont need kandrona also break a basic premise. once they exist, even if they were all killed, the animorphs can no longer rely on keeping someone prisoner for 3 days to make sure they arent a controller.
rachel being claustrophobic would have posed a problem if it ever got that far.
visser 3 saying "it was foolish of you to come in human morphs" while in human morph himself was pathetic.
marco being unable to complete a morph to a human because that person watch was too constricting pissed me off.
rachel was way too timid.
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It sucked totally someone here should make an animated version
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I just remembered watching an episode that had Marco's dad in it. Surprisingly, he seemed quite happy. Playing around, and imo kind of acting like Marco. this surprised me because I expected an emotional wreck of a man, sitting in a chair, watching TV with a five o' clock shadow.
Did they ever explain why he wasn't so depressed? Maybe he was hiding the sadness. Or maybe they thought that was just too serious for a kid's show. People might call him wangsty.
Or do they already call him wangsty in the books?
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I personally enjoyed the Face-Off episodes. I was a very small child when the show was on but I've watched several episodes on YouTube.
Complaint No. 1: It was a CONSTRUCTION SITE, not a power plant! Geez, how messed up can it get? And WTF was with that disc!?
Complaint No. 2: The Android. WHAT THE HELL!!?? So Erek's just some random android that fell out of space? What about the Pemalites? Chee Holographic Crystal? I mean, come on. I wanted to toss my monitor out the window when I watched that atrocity. And Erek's Chee form looked viscious for crying out loud! :mad: :mad: :mad:
Well, there's my thoughts. All in all, I have a pretty dim view of the TV series. The opening song was cool, though.
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I never saw any episode with the Chee. Where does erik come in?
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season 2 episode 2.
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Ok. I think I want to check that out, just to see.
Edit: Yeah, weird episode. Why would a Pamelite item be harmful to the Chee? Why did Rachel morph the monkey? Where was Tobias this whole time?
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he was off getting dinner
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I guess so. He would have been useful looking for Erik, but I guess Jake and Marco did a good enough job. I thought Ax was funny. He got obsessed with TV, then he probably watched that episode where they talked about how much TV you should let your kids watch, then decided to tone down the TV watching.
then he picked up something else in Cassie's barn, and said how much he missed it. So it's back to old obsessions? Gotta love Ax-Man.