Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: YeerkSalad on September 02, 2015, 09:03:10 PM
-
I've been thinking about an Animovie* or TV series. I mulled over the ramifications of making one, and I began to wonder if we really want an adaptation. Here are a few of the reasons I'm not so sure I want another adaptation.
1. Fandom Expansion - I think that most of us enjoy being part of a small, cult fandom. RAF is a small group of close-ish people. Should there be a successful movie/TV series, the fans will become a bit more faceless. RAF will become bigger and less personal. If thousands of fans come pouring in, the Animorphs fandom might feel... shallow.
2. The Age Gap - We're mostly in our 20's and 30's. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any fans younger than Dpsb5 or me. Having an older fandom (mostly) removes the potential for screeching 8-year-olds bashing the keyboard and instead has fairly mature, civilized conversations.
3. The Possibility of Sucking - Visser-on-a-stick and a crappy script. That's what happened before. Who's to say that it won't happen again?
4. Bowdlerization - Some people think that the market is now ready for something such as Animorphs to show up on screens. I disagree. Moral Guardians still rule, and thanks to the people who believe that video games cause violence, having a series like this one being viewed by young audiences can't happen without lots of editing.
5. The Potential for Cancellation - Whether it's a TV or movie series, Animorphs could sure as heck fall apart thanks to the huge budget needed even if it becomes animated. Ever heard of the British Sci-Fi show Primeval? It was well received and popular, but really darn expensive. It was cancelled on a cliffhanger.
There are a zillion ways this could go very right, but I'm too tired to write a few of those reasons. Additions? Comments? Death threats? Reply with all you've got!
*special thanks to Dpsb5 for coining the term
UPDATE: This has evolved into a general Animorphs adaptation discussion. Feel free to switch between the originally intended discussion and the general one.
-
There are some improvements that could have been made to the series, as with practically anything, but an adaptation might suffer from a low budget or go off in a weird direction. Probably not worth it.
-
It will never be as good as you dream it
-
Yeah, there's zero audience for it, they'd be going after new people, the teenage crowd now. And that'd demand changes, big-time.
They's sanitize the whole thing too, it'd have to be way more marketable to justify the budget it'd need.
Won't happen, probably shouldn't happen.
EDIT: Another thought, the industry is just saturated with all of these young-adult series turned into teen movies nowadays, it'd just get lost in the crowd and not make a dent. If it were to happen, it'd be best leaving it like 15 years until something else is popular, and come out from left field with a bang with something feeling different.
-
If they had a decent budget, good writers and competent actors, it's possible to make a potentially brilliant Animorphs TV show. It's highly unlikely, but possible. More likely they'll make a crappy movie instead that's only loosely based on the source material, in order to cash in on the popularity of YA books becoming successful films. Animorphs can't realistically work as a movie, or even a series of films, because there's just too much source material to cover even if you remove all the filler books.
-
1. Fandom Expansion - I think that most of us enjoy being part of a small, cult fandom. RAF is a small group of close-ish people. Should there be a successful movie/TV series, the fans will become a bit more faceless. RAF will become bigger and less personal. If thousands of fans come pouring in, the Animorphs fandom might feel... shallow.
Absolutely no a factor to me. I am here because of my affection for these books, and winning in the the Last Person to Post Wins thread. Honestly I'd love more people, because it potentially means more angles to talk about. I potential because we've been talking about a finished series for years, and most everything on this forum as been brought up multiple times.
2. The Age Gap - We're mostly in our 20's and 30's. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any fans younger than Dpsb5 or me. Having an older fandom (mostly) removes the potential for screeching 8-year-olds bashing the keyboard and instead has fairly mature, civilized conversations.
Probably should be a concern, but again, not. I'd like to think that any kid who gets into animorphs would be in it for the deeper aspects of it, they may not have as well developed thoughts, but it wouldn't just be saying "Radical" or whatever kids say today. I know there are exceptions to that, but I"m a dream
3. The Possibility of Sucking - Visser-on-a-stick and a crappy script. That's what happened before. Who's to say that it won't happen again?
Only real concern, and why it shouldn't happen.
-
1. Fandom Expansion - I think that most of us enjoy being part of a small, cult fandom. RAF is a small group of close-ish people. Should there be a successful movie/TV series, the fans will become a bit more faceless. RAF will become bigger and less personal. If thousands of fans come pouring in, the Animorphs fandom might feel... shallow.
2. The Age Gap - We're mostly in our 20's and 30's. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any fans younger than Dpsb5 or me. Having an older fandom (mostly) removes the potential for screeching 8-year-olds bashing the keyboard and instead has fairly mature, civilized conversations.
Let's face it, new fans are not likely going to flock to RAF. Fandom spaces like forums are a dying breed like mailing lists, chats, and now livejournal. Fandom in social media is a lot more popular and easier to tailor and personalize. And actually, I do find newer, younger fans to be very interesting and engaging.
Smaller, older fandoms often operate under outdated fandom ideals where everyone all seem to have similar opinions, it can make things boring and predictable.
It would be nice to have new opinions.
Yeah, there's zero audience for it, they'd be going after new people, the teenage crowd now. And that'd demand changes, big-time.
They's sanitize the whole thing too, it'd have to be way more marketable to justify the budget it'd need.
Won't happen, probably shouldn't happen.
EDIT: Another thought, the industry is just saturated with all of these young-adult series turned into teen movies nowadays, it'd just get lost in the crowd and not make a dent. If it were to happen, it'd be best leaving it like 15 years until something else is popular, and come out from left field with a bang with something feeling different.
Yep. I can't get myself to read teen novels anymore. Started Gone but barely got past 100 pages.
If they had a decent budget, good writers and competent actors, it's possible to make a potentially brilliant Animorphs TV show. It's highly unlikely, but possible. More likely they'll make a crappy movie instead that's only loosely based on the source material, in order to cash in on the popularity of YA books becoming successful films. Animorphs can't realistically work as a movie, or even a series of films, because there's just too much source material to cover even if you remove all the filler books.
If an adaptation were to happen, I would hope for a 3-season show with 10 episodes per season because it's so expensive. The story could be executed well with 30 episodes, I think.
1. Fandom Expansion - I think that most of us enjoy being part of a small, cult fandom. RAF is a small group of close-ish people. Should there be a successful movie/TV series, the fans will become a bit more faceless. RAF will become bigger and less personal. If thousands of fans come pouring in, the Animorphs fandom might feel... shallow.
Absolutely no a factor to me. I am here because of my affection for these books, and winning in the the Last Person to Post Wins thread. Honestly I'd love more people, because it potentially means more angles to talk about. I potential because we've been talking about a finished series for years, and most everything on this forum as been brought up multiple times.
2. The Age Gap - We're mostly in our 20's and 30's. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any fans younger than Dpsb5 or me. Having an older fandom (mostly) removes the potential for screeching 8-year-olds bashing the keyboard and instead has fairly mature, civilized conversations.
Probably should be a concern, but again, not. I'd like to think that any kid who gets into animorphs would be in it for the deeper aspects of it, they may not have as well developed thoughts, but it wouldn't just be saying "Radical" or whatever kids say today. I know there are exceptions to that, but I"m a dream
3. The Possibility of Sucking - Visser-on-a-stick and a crappy script. That's what happened before. Who's to say that it won't happen again?
Only real concern, and why it shouldn't happen.
The only thing you said with which I really disagree is the "deeper aspect" thing. I spend about 7.5 hours a day with these people, and I can tell you that most of them wouldn't be in it for the deeper stuff. There'd be plenty of people in it because it's popular or cool. They don't take a second to think about the themes.
Some of them would certainly be in it for the deeper aspects, but a large portion of the fans would not.
-
I'd personally want a movie or show.
1. Fandom Expansion - I think that most of us enjoy being part of a small, cult fandom. RAF is a small group of close-ish people. Should there be a successful movie/TV series, the fans will become a bit more faceless. RAF will become bigger and less personal. If thousands of fans come pouring in, the Animorphs fandom might feel... shallow.
I honestly don't think many new people wouldn't flock to RAF if a movie happened. Tumblr, Twitter, and Deviantart (and Rule 34, but we're not talking about that) are the biggest place where I've seen fandoms gather. Forum boards aren't really all that popular anymore.
2. The Age Gap - We're mostly in our 20's and 30's. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any fans younger than Dpsb5 or me. Having an older fandom (mostly) removes the potential for screeching 8-year-olds bashing the keyboard and instead has fairly mature, civilized conversations.
You saying this reminds me of this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBAQUXcnWy0). :XD: (THIS IS THE FUTURE OF ANIMORPHS)
But in all honesty, I like getting new opinions. Even if I think they are stupid, I'll listen to them.*special thanks to Dpsb5 for coining the term
Yessssssss +1
-
since the series does lend itself to an episodic style, but a full tv series has been done before and has far too high production costs, why not update the books to a modern day setting and release them as specific webcast episodes on some youtube channel. better yet, make it an animated series. no need to try make things look like they exist in real life (and do an awful job with poor CGI). descriptions of places and objects is generally decent in book and theres certainly plenty of stuff already out there on deviant art etc. and the majority of the art created could be reused time and again. would that work?
-
3-season animated TV series with 10 eps. per season. That's all I'm saying.
-
3-season animated TV series with 10 eps. per season. That's all I'm saying.
I vote yes. Now how would it be funded? Would RAF have to stage a crowdfunding campaign?
-
well im sure there are plenty of talented people around here who could come up with some idea of a pilot episode. how long would an episode be btw?
-
I would expect them to be an hour long. This shouldn't be a "Saturday morning cartoon" type show.
-
3-season animated TV series with 10 eps. per season. That's all I'm saying.
10 per season?
An animated series would be the best option IMO! The question is, what style would it be in? I like the idea of it looking something like the CW's Vixen or the Avatar/Legend of Korra series.
It'd still be really expensive to make an animated series, thus the small amount of episodes. Think of it as 3 miniseries. Not sure what the art style would be.
I would expect them to be an hour long. This shouldn't be a "Saturday morning cartoon" type show.
Yeah. 42-47 minutes + commercials.
-
The problem with an animated series is that, sure, theoretically you can get away with more, it'd be a more PG-13 thing when animated than a hard-PG-13/soft-R when in live-action, but there's such a small market for more "adult" cartoons, you wouldn't really be able to market the thing.
It'd certainly be cheaper than a live-action flick though.
I think what'd bug me the most about an Animorphs adaptation, is you just know some suit somewhere is going to make the decision to age up the kids. No way in hell are we ever getting 13 year olds fighting a war and dealing with combat trauma in anything mainstream.
I didn't mind it so much in Ender's Game for whatever reason, but it's the same basic principle. Animorphs'd just be changed pretty fundamentally, if you want to keep them the same ages you're going to get something really neutered & acceptable, none of the grit.
-
You'd get away with an adult cartoon more if it was Japanese anime. I think it would be cheaper if it was animated, but here in the states we believe animated=for kids for some reason.
Remember kiddies. If anyone brings up an animated classic called Fist of the North Star, don't go looking for it online expecting something geared towards 11 year olds.
-
Make it an independently-made webseries? It'd be hard to get the rights, though.
NFS: I'd expect a medium PG-13. Maybe an uncut version that's a little more violent.
-
You'd get away with an adult cartoon more if it was Japanese anime. I think it would be cheaper if it was animated, but here in the states we believe animated=for kids for some reason.
I think the general stereotype of "its animated so its for kids" is starting to dissipate thanks mainly to anime, especially if it would be online specific distribution.
if that was the case u also wouldn't need advert breaks (thats commercial breaks for the non UK) but you could embed ads for the extra cash. or do that hilarious product placement thing that some do where its just so blatently obvious. lol.
-
Freaking out about Animovie rumors released today. If the rumors are true, Deborah Forte is to produce.
The producer of the TV series.
God help us all.
-
Freaking out about Animovie rumors released today. If the rumors are true, Deborah Forte is to produce.
The producer of the TV series.
God help us all.
U SERIOUS???? SEND MEEEEE LINKS YEERKSALAD
And by Deborah Forte (who did the 90's show and goosebumps)????? I just pooped in horror after reading that.
-
You guys know it was never NOT going to be Deborah Forte as executive producer, right? She's the bigwig in charge of pretty much every single Scholastic film and television production. In any case, most of the TV show's failings fell on the writers side of things, about the only thing Forte could have done to improve show would have been to petition for a larger budget, which wasn't going to happen.
-
I guess you guys saw. Someone just posted it on Facebook and I couldn't believe how close this thread started to the announcement, or the rumors at least.
I'm now obligated to ask: are you a wizard?
-
Freaking out about Animovie rumors released today. If the rumors are true, Deborah Forte is to produce.
The producer of the TV series.
God help us all.
Whom would you nominate in her place?
-
Guys, "produce" is a broad term, doesn't necessarily mean she'll be too hands-on. For example people like Kathleen Kennedy running Lucasfilm, or Michael Bay at Platinum Dunes, are heavily involved in a direct sense, but a lot aren't. Especially executive producers, like Stan Lee on the Marvel films, who have nothing whatsoever to do with them creatively or financially, it's a formality credit due to their connection to the business side of things. I've never seen her name before so not familiar with her in the slightest, but it's a strong possibility she's just the one signing off on it to be explored, the suit/executive.
Her biggest movie on her resume, The Golden Compass, was actually pretty solid, liked that a lot for what it was. But she's listed on imdb as one of ten producers on that, so I sort of get the sense she'll be more of an "executive producer", more than Lee with the Marvel stuff, sounds like she's directly responsible for "pushing/greenlighting" this, but I wouldn't put too much stock on her previous children's TV stuff as tone, this could go any number of ways.
Interesting, though. And it's nothing new, Katherine & Michael announced a couple of years back that a number of studios were scouting and testing the waters with the idea.
I'm still skeptical about this though, both about it even happening (it's obviously still really really early stages, and a huge amount of movies get ditched early in the game before they actually get anywhere, go into pre-production), and whether if it does it's worth getting too excited about.
I didn't even know there was a Goosebumps movie coming out (or already came out?), so that might point toward this being a pretty low-budget under-the-radar affair. I'd guess if it does get some money behind it and actually becomes a major production, we're probably looking more at something like The Maze Runner or Percy Jackson or whatever here, that sort of 'level' of film, I'd really doubt we'll be getting some huge Harry Potter-esque investment here.
And yeah, while Universal is promising, the Scholastic involvement should be interesting to see. Katherine & Michael always sort of seemed like renegades of a sort at that company to me, their three late-90s series were pretty different in "feel' to all the other stuff Scholastic was publishing at the time for that age group. So, I don't know.
If Katherine & Michael have any significant input, and Forte's just the moneywoman, and they get a director with some guts to push things beyond the generic young-adult-movie-adaptation vibe we've seen so much of recently, this could be a winner. That's just a lot of "if"s, and seems a bit much to hope for.
-
This has un-heart-attacked me.
I'm interested to see if KA and Michael get involved. Hoping that they somehow shift to TV, but any adaptation would be interesting to see.
-
Yeah, it'd be nice. But just...don't get too hopeful, 90% of the time even when an author gets an "executive producer" or "story by" credit, they're not a actually involved in any manner of significance, it's more of a polite acknowledgement thing.
It'd be awesome to have them on-set, and meeting with the director in pre-production and stuff, but it so rarely happens. There's no real incentive for the studio to do it, they're providing all the cash, they want to have final say even if it headbutts with the author's opinions.
Best thing to hope for would be a director who was familiar with/a fan of the books before ever signing onto the movie, not coming at it fresh. Having an understanding of tone and "feel". If that's the case, and if they're at a stage in their career where they have final-cut, studio interference is downplayed a lot.
-
At least on Paper Towns, John Green (the author) was on set pretty much the entire time. I haven't actually seen the movie, though, so I'm not sure if it was a good adaptation.
-
I think what'd bug me the most about an Animorphs adaptation, is you just know some suit somewhere is going to make the decision to age up the kids. No way in hell are we ever getting 13 year olds fighting a war and dealing with combat trauma in anything mainstream.
I didn't mind it so much in Ender's Game for whatever reason, but it's the same basic principle. Animorphs'd just be changed pretty fundamentally, if you want to keep them the same ages you're going to get something really neutered & acceptable, none of the grit.
The whole point of the series is that they're child soldiers who are in way over their heads. If Ender's Game can do it, so can Animorphs....in fact Animorphs would be a hell of a lot less depressing. The only thing I could see them holding back on is the gore. KA could get pretty....graphic sometimes
-
I'd be okay with it being a tad less graphic, but I still would want gore. Totally bloodless violence doesn't make sense, but super bloody violence isn't necessary.
-
I'd be okay with it being a tad less graphic, but I still would want gore. Totally bloodless violence doesn't make sense, but super bloody violence isn't necessary.
I think the violence should be somewhat how Marvel does it.
Intense and Exciting, but not gory.
-
Geki, Ender's Game did age up the kids pretty significantly, and it's one of the fan's major problems with the movie adaptation. I actually liked it for the most part, they got the spirit more or less right, but it's admittedly seriously neutered from the book material.
Dpsb, I'd totally disagree with that. You don't want some horror-movie slash-fest for this, no, but it all goes to the tone, the suspension of disbelief. In a superhero movie, say Batman or Cap who're punching and kicking people around, you don't need to get graphic, that fits the tone. And people with actual superpowers, you don't need to get into the hard-hitting crunchy violent immediacy. They're fighting with laser bolts & freeze-vision and telekinesis and stuff.
With Animorphs though, the difference is that they're fighting as animals. By nature, that means teeth & claws & actual physical trauma. You could get away from that with a more breezy & upbeat tone, make it more of a superhero-y thing, but I'm sure none of us want that.
What I always loved about the books as an adolescent is that they didn't treat us with kids-gloves with the awful stuff. The battles are mostly all small-scale skirmishes, not some big "epic" heroic trumpety-music-plays victoryyyyy thing, and that each little bite & scratch & bruise hits home and feels real. There are consenquences to the stuff in Animorphs, it's not some invulnerability hero story.
Again, it doesn't have to be a hard-R bloodbath, but you absolutely have to make it more visceral & intense than say a The Dark Knight or The Winter Soldier. Not from a gratuitous point of view, but because it all seems ridiculous if that stuff isn't there, it actually effects the story and how seriously you can take it. People get hurt, people get injured, and the kids have to deal with all of that. For the story to even work, these kids have to go through absolute hell, and you're not likely to see that when there are big financial interests involved.
I'm not saying you actually show Erek walking into that building after reprogramming himself and starting to pull Hork-Bajir limb-from-limb and cave people's faces in. It's still gotta be PG-13. Just a harder PG-13 than the vast majority of the stuff we see with these adaptations, latter-movie Hunger Games or Harry Potter isn't going to cut it here.
The flick that always goes through my head as a reference point would be Terminator 2, for intensity. Obviously just without all the cussing. That thing would likely be PG-13 nowadays, if it weren't for the f-bombs, and it's both a step down from the brutality of the original but still feeling very immediate, visceral, impactful. Hits have consequences, there's real peril.
-
YES. Hard PG-13/Between medium and high TV-14.
-
Geki, Ender's Game did age up the kids pretty significantly, and it's one of the fan's major problems with the movie adaptation. I actually liked it for the most part, they got the spirit more or less right, but it's admittedly seriously neutered from the book material.
I wouldn't mind if they aged up the characters to around 15-17 in the first movie (I've always assumed they were 13 in the first book, and by the end of the series they were 16.) Using child actors is always a gamble, so it would be much easier to use 18 yr olds and say that they are 15. That's what most any movie ever has done. Also, I couldn't hope for hot animorphs if they were 12.
-
I'd go for more or less the ages they are in the books. Why not? It's not like it can't be done, the kids in Super 8 were wonderful, the early Harry Potter movies. The Goonies.
You've just gotta do it right, and have enough faith in the material to not dumb it down because the characters are middle-schoolers. It'd just feel so wrong having, you know, highschool juniors, at the start of the series. All of these characters should be homeless, grizzled, living-in-the-forest guerrilla warriors by the time they're old enough to drive. That's half the impact.
-
*high fives laptop screen, has to buy new laptop*
By the way, according to KA and Grant a movie isn't happening.
-
Yep. Did Michael make a separate post or something?
Katherine seemed pretty sure it was speculation though. Especially given her response says she checked with Scholastic, if the company knew anything they have no motivation to keep it from her, pretty sure they own the property overall, not like the authors can sue for not being involved with a potential movie. They were work-for-hire back then from what I understand, it might be different now with Gone and stuff, but technically Scholastic doesn't need to ask permission here. No motive for not just being open with them about it if it were happening.
-
Actually that may not be the case,
((checks Micheal Grant's twitter))
"ATTENTION: the story from @MyTrackingBoard regarding an ANIMORPHS movie is false. Reliable sources at Scholastic deny that there is a deal."
Or not....
(http://www.themusicvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/profound_sadness.gif)
-
Might not be the case? :huh: He's basically confirming what his wife said. Same thing.
-
Might not be the case? :huh: He's basically confirming what his wife said. Same thing.
Refer to the or not... and crying child I put at the end of the post
-
This suit is-a-BLECK-not, says Borat.
-
**** IT MAY NOT BE UNCONFIRMED https://twitter.com/MyTrackingBoard/status/642481489959976960 (https://twitter.com/MyTrackingBoard/status/642481489959976960)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/comments/3klx75/katherine_applegate_says_animorphs_movie_is_not/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/comments/3klx75/katherine_applegate_says_animorphs_movie_is_not/)
C'mon let's not totally dismiss the idea of a movie yet
-
I've seen that before. That's why I said "according to KA and Michael Grant."
Why do you want a movie so much? I think it'd be cool, but I'm fine with Animorphs as it is.
-
I've seen that before. That's why I said "according to KA and Michael Grant."
Why do you want a movie so much? I think it'd be cool, but I'm fine with Animorphs as it is.
A movie would provide new material for us to discuss, and raise the profile of Animorphs in our society.
What can we do to make a movie more likely?
-
Why do you want a movie so much? I think it'd be cool, but I'm fine with Animorphs as it is.
A movie would provide new material for us to discuss, and raise the profile of Animorphs in our society.
Exactly what he said. Nothing new has come from animorphs in along time. It's something new and exciting, it's gonna be something that brings new discussion. Animorphs won't seem like some weird obscure thing only forum going hipsters know, it will get the attention it's been deserving for the last 10 years!!!!!!!
-
Hmm. I like the hipster thing, but it would be nice for Animorphs to bounce back to the mainstream.
-
A movie would sure be a good way to celebrate Animorphs' 20th anniversary!
-
I s'pose so!
-
A movie would sure be a good way to celebrate Animorphs' 20th anniversary!
Damn.... RAF needs a holiday on June 6th 2016 for the Animorph's 20th
-
A movie would sure be a good way to celebrate Animorphs' 20th anniversary!
Damn.... RAF needs a holiday on June 6th 2016 for the Animorph's 20th
Wow! K.A. Applegate marked the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy by publishing a novel about an alien invasion of Earth! Did she request D Day as the publication date of "The Invasion"?
-
To Dsbp re-posting the article, it doesn't really matter if MyTrackingBoard is standing by their story. They have faith in their source, and that's fine, but this is all third-party information.
We've heard directly from both Katherine and Scholastic (though Katherine, but still, she's checked with her people there) that there aren't any plans.
News outlets stand by their reporters and sources all the time, doesn't mean their source is right. Just that their bosses don't doubt them. Happens with movie stuff all the time.
-
A movie would sure be a good way to celebrate Animorphs' 20th anniversary!
Damn.... RAF needs a holiday on June 6th 2016 for the Animorph's 20th
Wow! K.A. Applegate marked the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy by publishing a novel about an alien invasion of Earth! Did she request D Day as the publication date of "The Invasion"?
I didn't realize that anyone had recorded the exact date Animorphs went on sale!
To Dsbp re-posting the article, it doesn't really matter if MyTrackingBoard is standing by their story. They have faith in their source, and that's fine, but this is all third-party information.
We've heard directly from both Katherine and Scholastic (though Katherine, but still, she's checked with her people there) that there aren't any plans.
News outlets stand by their reporters and sources all the time, doesn't mean their source is right. Just that their bosses don't doubt them. Happens with movie stuff all the time.
^
|
This.
-
We've heard directly from both Katherine and Scholastic (though Katherine, but still, she's checked with her people there) that there aren't any plans.
I'd like to trust that my favorite author is right on this whole movie biz, but at the same time, AniTV happened without Applegate/Grant knowing. Multiple articles (I'll find the article and post them later) about AniTV, have said that Applegate/Grant weren't even told until halfway production of the first episode....
-
Hmm. Food for thought.
-
We've heard directly from both Katherine and Scholastic (though Katherine, but still, she's checked with her people there) that there aren't any plans.
I'd like to trust that my favorite author is right on this whole movie biz, but at the same time, AniTV happened without Applegate/Grant knowing. Multiple articles (I'll find the article and post them later) about AniTV, have said that Applegate/Grant weren't even told until halfway production of the first episode....
That'd be an interesting article to see if you've got it. :)
They definitely didn't have any say in the show, seems odd they wouldn't have been aware in a broad sense that it was happening though.
And yeah, we're not trusting Katherine alone on the movie denial, we're trusting Scholastic. Both the creative voice and the business element are saying it's not in the pipeline. My issue is, why would Scholastic deny it? Not even just to the public, but when Katherine approached them about it? There's no motivation in doing so.
-
I've been thinking about the way I'd do the TV series. Here's a little bit of what I'd want. Ideally it'd be a 2D-animated series with 12-episode seasons.
[spoiler]
Season 1: The first episode would be very similar to The Invasion. In the battle at the end, a Hork-Bajir would scream the name of a fellow warrior as its friend dies, giving a slight implication that the Yeerks could be deeper than Elfangor said. These little things would continue throughout season 1. In the penultimate episode, that would come to a climax with The Departure. Cassie's butterfly-ness is permanent, however. The finale would be AC... without that weird Time Matrix alternate universe and wheel monsters.
Season 2: The last third or so of the season would start with The Decision, but the characters would get into space differently. The characters would stay in space for more than just that episode, though. They'd be stuck out there, and be taken to the Andalite homeworld. Why weren't the Andalites on Earth? Well, it's because their last troops were at the Battle of Leera.
Most of the homeworld is controlled by Yeerks.
The Animorphs and Andalites put up a good fight, but not good enough. The Andalite homeworld is destroyed. Few Andalites survive. The only survivors (save for Ax) are turned into Controllers.
Too different? Maybe so.
Season 3: Episode 1 is a double-length episode. The first half would be similar to 45, minus the contact with the homeworld, of course. The second half is basically 49. We have the final arc, and everything's the same except that the losses for humanity are bigger and we have the V3 VS Ax thing I've mentioned before. Also...
Ax leads a group of humans on an mission to the Andalite homeworld using the ships they stole in the S2 finale. No one returns; the Animorphs investigate. They cross paths with the Blade Ship. It is holding the crew of Ax's ship. They have Ax hostage, still (relatively) free. They tell the Animorphs to retreat - we'll mind our own business, thank you very much. They're outgunned and all that, but the Animorphs stand their ground. The controllers threaten to kill Ax if they don't leave. No one moves. Ax is killed.
See, at this point, the Animorphs can't let the Yeerks skate by. With all that stuff left on the Andalite homeworld, they're free to take anything that works. They could rise to power again.
"Ram the Blade Ship!"
Both parties are killed.
The Yeerks are dead, but so are the Animorphs. Who won?[/spoiler]
Does this suck? Probably. Is it full of plot holes? Probably. Do I think about changes I would make way too often? Yes.
I'd love you to throw your opinions/suggestions/bricks at me!
-
I've been thinking about the way I'd do the TV series. Here's a little bit of what I'd want. Ideally it'd be a 2D-animated series with 12-episode seasons.
[spoiler]
Season 1: The first episode would be very similar to The Invasion. In the battle at the end, a Hork-Bajir would scream the name of a fellow warrior as its friend dies, giving a slight implication that the Yeerks could be deeper than Elfangor said. These little things would continue throughout season 1. In the penultimate episode, that would come to a climax with The Departure. Cassie's butterfly-ness is permanent, however. The finale would be AC... without that weird Time Matrix alternate universe and wheel monsters.
Season 2: The last third or so of the season would start with The Decision, but the characters would get into space differently. The characters would stay in space for more than just that episode, though. They'd be stuck out there, and be taken to the Andalite homeworld. Why weren't the Andalites on Earth? Well, it's because their last troops were at the Battle of Leera.
Most of the homeworld is controlled by Yeerks.
The Animorphs and Andalites put up a good fight, but not good enough. The Andalite homeworld is destroyed. Few Andalites survive. The only survivors (save for Ax) are turned into Controllers.
Too different? Maybe so.
Season 3: Episode 1 is a double-length episode. The first half would be similar to 45, minus the contact with the homeworld, of course. The second half is basically 49. We have the final arc, and everything's the same except that the losses for humanity are bigger and we have the V3 VS Ax thing I've mentioned before. Also...
Ax leads a group of humans on an mission to the Andalite homeworld using the ships they stole in the S2 finale. No one returns; the Animorphs investigate. They cross paths with the Blade Ship. It is holding the crew of Ax's ship. They have Ax hostage, still (relatively) free. They tell the Animorphs to retreat - we'll mind our own business, thank you very much. They're outgunned and all that, but the Animorphs stand their ground. The controllers threaten to kill Ax if they don't leave. No one moves. Ax is killed.
See, at this point, the Animorphs can't let the Yeerks skate by. With all that stuff left on the Andalite homeworld, they're free to take anything that works. They could rise to power again.
"Ram the Blade Ship!"
Both parties are killed.
The Yeerks are dead, but so are the Animorphs. Who won?[/spoiler]
Does this suck? Probably. Is it full of plot holes? Probably. Do I think about changes I would make way too often? Yes.
I'd love you to throw your opinions/suggestions/bricks at me!
Holy Blake's 7!
-
Some cool ideas in there, YS, it's plotted out nicely over a couple of seasons. Just strays way too far from the source for my liking, would really want to see something more of a direct adaptation.
-
The destruction of the homeworld was a way to avoid the whole 'The One' deal. I needed a motive that was as intense as the introduction of a new enemy, and I figured that the [spoiler]Andalites'[/spoiler] extinction fit. I also figured that it fit the series's theme involving the price of war and the negative impact it has. But yeah, my changes were too extreme. How would you remove 'The One?' Or would you keep it in?
-
The destruction of the homeworld was a way to avoid the whole 'The One' deal. I needed a motive that was as intense as the introduction of a new enemy, and I figured that the [spoiler]Andalites'[/spoiler] extinction fit. I also figured that it fit the series's theme involving the price of war and the negative impact it has. But yeah, my changes were too extreme. How would you remove 'The One?' Or would you keep it in?
After the TV series ends with [spoiler]"Ram The Blade Ship"[/spoiler], then film a movie featuring the efforts by our fearless heroes to [spoiler]rescue Ax from "The One". I am confident that Animorph fans would jam the theaters to find out who The One is![/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]Why do you want to keep The One in the series?
Also, I would want to go a few minutes after "Ram the Blade Ship" and have the actual destruction or lack thereof.[/spoiler]
-
Nothing wrong with The One or the "everyone-dies" ending.
-
I'm okay with everyone dying, but introducing a totally different antagonist was strange and stupid... to me. Why isn't it to you?
-
Because it wasn't intended to be a new villain of any substance, just a mechanic to say the fight will always go on for someone like Jake. Tobias coming along because of Ax, Marco because of Jake. It wasn't like they were abandoning the main plot thread and going off on some tangent in the final book, the main story with the Yeerk war was already over. The One was just a story device, a "there's always going to be something that comes along that they're going to have to fight" thing, it's a pretty common hero-story trope.
-
To me it just felt lazy, but I can see where you're coming from. Makes me hate the ending a lot less. Thanks!
-
[spoiler]Why do you want to keep The One in the series?
Also, I would want to go a few minutes after "Ram the Blade Ship" and have the actual destruction or lack thereof.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]I[spoiler]n order to find out who the heck "The One" is! K.A. Applegate didn't give herself any time to flesh out that character![/spoiler][/spoiler]
-
You're saying you want a postscript season?
-
A post script season would certainly be interesting. I'm not sure if I want one though, I (minority opinion) like the ending...
-
You're saying you want a postscript season?
Yes. Babylon 5 had a postscript season after the defeat of the Shadows and Vorlons.
-
BLOODY SPOILERS!!! I was thinking of watching that show!
Some shows can get by with postscript seasons, but I don't think Animorphs could do it well.
-
Having a postscript season for Animorphs would be very tricky. On one hand, it could tie up a lot of loose ends that the book series failed to by the time it reached its conclusion. On the other hand, the end of book 54 was, without giving any spoilers, fairly conclusive to the story, even if a lot of people (myself included) find that conclusion unsatisfactory.
-
Nailed it.
-
While we are probably not getting an animovie right now, I feel like an animovie will inevitably happen. The reboot machine is basically going through anything even mildly popular from the past 20 years. Animorphs was mildly popular. 90's nostalgia is extremely popular right now (based off of Buzzfeed and angry internet nerds) and goosebumps made $23.5 million in its opening weekend. I'd say maybe in about 4-6ish years, we might see something about an actual animovie.
-
An Animovie would fall to pieces. A decently-budgeted web series would be the way to go.
Or maybe we should just leave it as it is: a book series with wonderful strengths and terrible weaknesses. Maybe it should stand alone.
(http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/animorpharchives/images/anicast.jpg)
NO YOU DON'T COUNT
-
[whiny13yroldgirlvoice]Buttttt I want a movie!!! ****uuu decently-budgeted web series!!!! :explode: :'( :'( [/whiny13yroldgirlvoice]
(But seriously, why web animated? Why not real a TV show.)
And about the reboot thing; with success of Jurassic World/Goosebumps, they are gonna go through the rest of the 90's like a vacuum sucking up lint.
-
Not a good thing. You want a movie to be made because it merits making and someone has a coherent vision for it, not as simply part of some broader resurrection trend.
I really, really believe you need to wait until this YA-reader teen series adaptation thing dies out, too. It'd get lost in the stampede at this point, real risk of coming off as just another Maze Runner/Percy Jackson type of thing, down in the B leagues. If it's going to happen, give it a decade or so, see what the landscape looks like then.
-
[whiny13yroldgirlvoice]Buttttt I want a movie!!! ****uuu decently-budgeted web series!!!! :explode: :'( :'( [/whiny13yroldgirlvoice]
(But seriously, why web animated? Why not real TV show.)
A small fanbase would get it screwed by the network. The only way it could survive would be on the internet. Also, nobody would have to worry about censorship and executive meddling is a tad less likely.
Not a good thing. You want a movie to be made because it merits making and someone has a coherent vision for it, not as simply part of some broader resurrection trend.
I really, really believe you need to wait until this YA-reader teen series adaptation thing dies out, too. It'd get lost in the stampede at this point, real risk of coming off as just another Maze Runner/Percy Jackson type of thing, down in the B leagues. If it's going to happen, give it a decade or so, see what the landscape looks like then.
This.
-
Not a good thing. You want a movie to be made because it merits making and someone has a coherent vision for it, not as simply part of some broader resurrection trend.
I really, really believe you need to wait until this YA-reader teen series adaptation thing dies out, too. It'd get lost in the stampede at this point, real risk of coming off as just another Maze Runner/Percy Jackson type of thing, down in the B leagues. If it's going to happen, give it a decade or so, see what the landscape looks like then.
I'd actually say the YA book trend is becoming less popular. After the huge critical farts like The Host or Divergent, there are whole lot less kids I know (And it's kids in my generation who fueling the whole YA thing) going to see these things. (or comparatively, it's less popular since back in the days of Twilight and Harry Potter)
It's the 80's/90's superhero angry Megan-Fox-is-April-O'Neil internet nerds stuff that's getting popular in the movie world.
-
I reserved tickets for Mockingjay: Part 2. Gonna see it on Friday! :D
But yeah, considering that one of the big series is ending, it's dying out. But still, I really don't want an Animovie.
-
Dpsb, pretty much every other blockbuster coming out these days is a YA book adaptation, between that and superheroes it's the hot thing right now.
You need to separate Animorphs from that somehow if it's going to be more than a drop in the bucket, be remembered.
-
Dpsb, pretty much every other blockbuster coming out these days is a YA book adaptation, between that and superheroes it's the hot thing right now.
Meh. I still feel like those have already peaked in popularity (compared to 2009-2012, In which I'd say your right about that time period). We had like four real YA blockbusters this year (Mockingjay: part 2, Insurgent, Scorch Trials, and PaperTowns (which just did fine)). Compare this to the 90's/80's reboots (Mad Max: Fury Road, Poltergeist, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fantastic Four, Goosebumps, Jurassic World, Godzilla, The coming up all female Ghostbusters, the coming up Jumanji , RoboCop, Terminator: Genesis)(not saying these movies are bad, just pointing out all the reboots) from this year and last year. If Animorphs becomes a movie, it's gonna be for the I-love-the-90's reboot machine.
-
YOU PUT "PAPER TOWNS" IN CAMELCASE
YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGIVEN
-
WHAt iS cAMeLCasE? ToO LaZy tO loOk It uP. I'M noT quITe Sure WhY yOu wOULd GEt mAd THat i PuT tHe TiTLE AS PaperTowns
-
BECAUSE THERE SHOULD BE A SPACE BETWEEN THE WORDS, DAMMIT
-
Paper.Towns
==+PAPERTOWNS+==
\\PaperTowns\\
baber tomns
-
(http://images.sodahead.com/polls/002208609/2234648392_ffffuuuu_xlarge.jpeg)
Sorry about all the images lately.
-
I think I've figured out a way in which to put the main animorphs series into 5 movies. (I did not put any of the MMs or the Chronicles in)
[spoiler]
Movie 1
The Invasion
Important Characters: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Tom, Elfangor,Visser 3,
Secondary Characters: Chapman, Visser 1, Marco's Dad, Ax
Minor Characters: Jake's Parents, Rachel's Parents, Cassie's Parents, Melissa, Erek (He get's an early cameo :) )
Main Plot Points: Introducing The Animorphs (and their motivations to fight), Introducing The Conflict and Villians, Setting up the Universe, Finding Ax, Finding out about the whole Marco and Visser 1 thing, and Tobias geting stuck as a Hawk
Books Covered: 1-5
Stuff to cut out: Allot of stuff from 2 and 3. (Rachel and Tobias's reasons to fight will be given in a different way in the plot.)
Movie 2
The Stranger
Important Characters: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Ellimist, Erek
Secondary Characters: Jara, Ket, Visser 3, Marco's Dad , Rachel's Parents
Minor Characters: Jake's Parents, Cassie's Parents, Melissa, Chapman, Visser 1, Tom, Jordan, Sarah
Main Plot Points: Introducing the Ellimist, Introducing the Chee and Erek, Free hork-bajir, Tobias getting his power back, the Animorphs's first major victory with distroying the Kandrona
Books Covered: 7, 10, 13
Stuff to cut out: allot of the stuff from 10 (we just need the introduction of Erek and some of the dad drama from that book)
Movie 3
The Threat
Important Characters: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, David,
Secondary Characters: Visser 3, Visser 1, Erek,
Minor Characters: Ellimist, Chapman
Main Plot Points: The rise and fall of David, the beginning of the break down of the team, the fallout from them destroying the Kandrona in the last movie, The infest the world leaders plot, tensions between V1 and V3 as a subplot
Books Covered: 20-22
Stuff to cut out: Not much, The David trilogy is pretty cohesive
Movie 4
The Answer pt 1
Important Characters: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Visser 3, Visser 1, Eva, Marco's Dad,
Secondary Characters: Erek, Tom, Loren, James
Minor Characters: Ellimist, Jara, Ket Chapman, Melissa, Rachel's Parents, Cassie's Parents, Jordan, Sarah, Other Auxiliaries, Elfangor
Main Plot Points: Marco killing Visser 1 and getting his Mom back, Tobias finding out that Elfangor was his dad and about his family, the war going public, them telling their parents, the Auxiliaries,Jake's Parents getting captured,Cassie letting Tom get away with the morphing cube
Books Covered: 45-50
Stuff to cut out: Mainly 46, 47, 48
Movie 5
The Answer pt 2
Important Characters: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Visser 3, Tom
Secondary Characters: Erek, Ellimist, James, Eva, Jara, The Governor
Minor Characters: Ket, Marco's Dad, Chapman, Melissa, Rachel's Parents, Cassie's Parents, Jake's Parents, Jordan, Sarah, Other Auxiliaries, The One, Loren, David (he get's a cameo)
Main Plot Points: The war at it's highest stakes, the group crumbling apart, the subway train full of explosives, dumping yeerks into space, taxxons becoming jungle snakes, death of the auxiliaries, death of Tom, death of Jara, death of V3, death of Rachel, Aftermath of the war, The One.
Books Covered: 51-54
Stuff to cut out: 51 would be seriously condensed
[/spoiler]
-
You can't find Ax in a first movie, man. That's a whole thing.
-
You can't find Ax in a first movie, man. That's a whole thing.
soooooo, you would want 4 to have it's own movie?
-
It's a pretty big deal between Ax and the Marco/Eva revelation in the next book. I think you might combine those two. But The Invasion, book 1, I've noticed is really cinematic in itself. You could pretty much do close to a page-for-page adaptation of that, just as it is, and it'd work as a movie. Sets things up, ends making you want more.
It's going to get messy and really jumbled if you start mish-mashing books. Just omit the filler ones entirely, you're left with say 30-35 essential plots. Probably could get away with 5-6 movies for the bigger, broader arc stuff, and fill in the remaining 30 in-between movie releases with a high-quality animated series. Include the animated stuff free with the DVDs/Blu-Rays of the movies, so as to maximize the general audience having seen it.
-
Any movies seem packed and messy, with no real, single storyline. It's too episodic.
Also, Insurgent and ST didn't seem blockbuster-y to me. I barely heard about either.
-
It's going to get messy and really jumbled if you start mish-mashing books. Just omit the filler ones entirely
Exactly what I did, no filler in there
https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/comments/3utd52/how_an_animorphs_movie_franchise_would_work/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/comments/3utd52/how_an_animorphs_movie_franchise_would_work/)
-
Yanno...
Maybe it'd work best as a gigantic open sandbox game. I was playing GTA V a while ago and thinking that with some tweaks and mods, the game would work amazingly well. Even Los Santos, the way it is, is almost perfect as a location. You've got a smallish town near the ocean, big city, mountains and lakes, woods with a lumber yard, a military base, and so on. Main issue would be that the game is primarily designed as a shooter. Melee combat and stealth are just kind of in there so you can mess around with them if you want.
Man... If Rockstar did this, that'd just be the most perfect thing ever.
-
Moogrim's answer was perfect.