What if Scholastics handed you the rights to Animorphs?

[Chad32]

Yeah, that kind of talk might do better after the Yeerk is gone. Then it wouldn't be cliche. It would be perfectly reasonable.

[Starsword]

yeap

[JFalcon]

I would get rid of the whole Atlantis adventure for starters, and I wouldn't have let Aftran and David get killed off (while it's possible that neither of them "died" in the strictest sense, they were still killed off) but really I wouldn't want to change much other than to mask the pop culture refrencs a little better, I know they're there to make the books hip and relatable, some were fine but these days some are just plain archaic and they never made sense for kids who want to keep their identies secret but already give a ton of information about themselve away. Also I'd fix the continuity errors.

Dak: We Hork-Bajir don't know how to to be violent . . . but every few years we go to war . . . it's a confusing time for us. Then again you want confusing just ask Jake, he can "think speak" in human form.
Jake: I "think cry" myself to sleep at night.
Iniss 226: You're confused? Is two-two-six my rank or my birth order or both? We Yeerks dont seem to know for sure!

But while I wouldn't take out a whole lot of things I would expand more on some things, for example Rachel and Cassie are supposed to be best friends but to read the books they both seem to have a kind of very unfriendly disdain for one another, especially later on when honestly I don't consider them friends so much as comrades. I'd expand on their interactions together to show why, despite this disdain, they're best friends, for example. Maybe Schoolastic says "It's too long now!" I just say "We can cut out all the product placement and pop culture refrences, thereby shaving like ten pages!"

I would however keep going past book 54. Maybe I'd focus on Cassie and David (remember, I didn't let him get killed off) if everyone else is dead. I've long had it in my head how the series could have continued after 54, I think I mentioned it somewhere else so I won't mention it again (since detailing it again wouldn't be "on topic" in the least)

But in truth I think I'd much rather write a companion series told from the perspectives of the Yeerks, Visser Three of course because he's awesome, Aftran because there was a truck load of potential for that character that just got dumped out to sea, the Yeerk that gets into Tom's head (was he ever actually given a name?), Iniss because as far as we know he maintains a decent position for the entire war (Chapman may have been given to a different Yeerk though), maybe Taylor and Visser One could share the "off" slot (as Tobias and Ax did at first) so I don't have to deal with Taylor much and can bring Visser One in as the occasional treat (her books don't even have to take place on earth, if we can see the Andalites plant a hork-bajir rebellion we can certainly see the battle for Anati) or else those could be given to say a Hork-Bajir controller and a Taxxon controller just to see more of the Yeerks and have characters who would actually fight the Animorphs face to face without the benefit of morphin to erase all their wounds. I'd love to write a book (well I guess I'm stuck with fan fiction) about a Taxxon controler dealing with the hunger, being almost the bottom rung of the Yeerk military, facing the Animorphs and coming out of it alive, he'd be a fun character to write for.

[Chad32]

The Yeerk in Tom's head was never given a name, which sucks. I think KA did that on purpose for something. I don't remember. Part of the whole message about identity and stuff.

[JFalcon]

I say we name him, it wouldn't be official but it'd give us something to call him.

I want to call him Motni 235.

Motni as in "in Tom" backwards, 23.5 being the number you get when you add each number of each numbered book not including megamorphs, chronicles, or alternamorphs  (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 etc)then divide them by the number of books (46) that math may be wrong (its on the fly math, fun for all!) but yeah if I'd had control of the series that is one Yeerk I wouldn't have failed to name, even if it was just called "Sub-Visser Some-odd-number"

Then again I don't think there's any disguising the fact that I found the Yeerks extremely interesting in general, perhaps one of the reasons for that is that they're not focused on much. Perhaps, as the old saying goes, "if it isn't [completely] broken, don't fix it"

[Shock]

i change my opinion...

if i was handed the rights of Animorphs, i would hand them over the Neil Gaiman so he can work his magic on it.

[Chad32]

Who is Neil Gaiman?

[Shock]

Who is Neil Gaiman?

the author of Sandman, Constine, Co-creater of Spawn, Caroline, The Graveyard book, Good Omens, and American Gods.

a really great author..

[Chad32]

I'd probably use James Patterson. He seems to be really big on making a great book, where he kills off just one likable character at the last minute for no particular reason.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     What WOULDN'T you change should be the question.

     I love the Animorphs series; they mean a lot to me. But there was a lot about a great many books that bothered me; especially the way David was handled--or do I rant about that too much?

     Yea, yea; continuity, Kasu's blah blah blah!

     I would change a lot of the covers for the books; namely showing more battle morphs, alien morphs etc. I would provide more detail for some of the other aliens: Mak, Sstram, Anati, etc. etc. And maybe write a few more chronicles books, like Leeran, Pemalite, and Taxxon, especially.

     I would also give the secondaries more depth; namely the Auxiliaries, David, Melissa Chapman, etc. Speaking of David, I would have made him a recurring villain. Sure, I would have him trapped, but I would give him a proper return--ie. Crayak allowing David to morph-- and make him into a recurring villain. And, speaking of villains, I would introduce a FEW more Vissers. I'm not saying that we should moe AWAY from Visser Three. I'm just saying...let us get familiar with the generals of the Yeerk Empire. And more about the Council of Thirteen. I don't know. As good as the books were, I think there could have been more room for detail.

[NateSean]

I think Applegate missed a few opportunities in the internal culture of the Yeerks. It's like, five years of getting thwarted by "Andalite Bandits" and it's not until the last five or so books that Visser Three/One catches on that the Andalites are human.

In the entire five year invasion, we have two major groups of Yeerk trying to undercut Visser Three from within. Aftran's Yeerk Resistance who roots for the humans and organizes the other controllers to use subterfuge to slow V3 down and Tom's new Yeerk who has a religious experience after he gets the morphing power.

In five years, none of the other Yeerks get ambitious enough to try to thwart Visser Three? We know in The Messege that the controllers found pants in the ocean, after the Animorphs morphed trout to escape. We hear Chapman and the others suggesting the Animorphs might not be Andalites after all and nobody picks on this.

Visser Three was not picky about the underlings he commands. With the exception of his elite body guards there were dozens of Yeerks who wanted him dead all for the fact that they hated the way he ran things and were quite frankly terrified of his power.

I mean, aside a from an attempt to kill V3 by handing Ax the location of his feeding grounds and a drug problem involving an oatmeal addiction, I think there could have been a little more internal conflict with the Yeerk invasion. At the very least some backstabbing would have made Visser Three a little jumpier as he would have to worry about both the enemy outside of his safety zones and the one with in.

[TobiasMasonPark]

i'd start at the beginning. #1.
make it longer, better. quality AND quantity.
definitely get rid of most of the filler-books. (imp/rem)rove alternamorphs.

tobias and ax would each get the same amount of books as everybody else. and i'd add more david books, too.

i'd definitely make the characters more consistent. and the ending would change as well.
the plot would remain similar, with a little darker themes. (older audience in general)

      Longer than it was? The Invasion is a lot thicker than the other 53 books.

     Agreed on the giving Tobias and Ax the same number of books...Though, I wonder: wouldn't that mean Tobias gets a extra book before the Change? What would that be about? More wangst?

     Maybe make Cassie less annoying, or at least give her better books.

     Reveal EVERYONE's last names! That always bothered me.

     Give Tobias more narration in 54: the Beginning.

     Consistent cover models.

     In light of the recent relaunch (and their covers) I'm wondering if it would be better to just go a different route? Instead of lenticular, and instead of sticking with the stage by stage morphing, maybe just do something new? Yea, it was a trademark of the series, but if we're making them "more adult" would it be wise to make them look like children's books?

 

[theyoungphoenix]

I would defiantly have more Ax/Tobias books. Those were always some o my most favorite books, next to any of Jakes books. I would defiantly keep the series going. I was very depressed after reading the last book. I think i would have ha Cassie come as well, just because it wouldn't be right without her there. And I would have everyone's last names revealed. ^ It would always drive me insane when I read fan fiction and the last names of everyone except Jake and Rachel change every time. I would actually leave the rest o the books the way they were. I didn't mind any of the filler books. In fact, I think I enjoyed them just as must as the rest of the series. Oh, I lied. I would change some of the series, but only the KASUs in the series. Other than that I would leave it be.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     *Definitely :p Reading it as defiantly makes me think you're reading Abimorphs as a way to bug your parents.

[theyoungphoenix]

...stupid autocorrect....