Author Topic: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series  (Read 7804 times)

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Offline TobiasMasonPark

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     I don't know how many of you agree with me, but I just have to say that is sort of bothers me--if not completely pisses me off-- when someone sees me reading an Animorphs book, or talking about Animorphs and say, "Dude, you're eighteen. Why are you reading a kids series?"

     You could say, "TMP, don't listen to what they say. If you like the series, and you're a true fan, it shouldn't matter to you."

     Well, it's difficult to do so when everyone points out that the Animorphs are for kids.

     And I'm going to list the reasons why it is the complete opposite; with a little help from my Rafriends.

     But first, let's point out some of the things that DO make the Animorphs a "kids series"

     1) The very large font and length of an average Animorphs book (like, size 20, 150 pages and 26-30 chapters)

     2) The main characters are, in fact, children--somewhere around 12 or 13 during the events of the invasion.

     3) The Author intended the series to be for kids. Her target audience were kids--who are now nearing their late twenties, might I add.

     4) The lack of swearing. Characters will rarely curse; and, even when they do, they only ever say "crap" or "damn"

     5) The cover art gives the impression of being a children's book series.

     6) Very few instances of Adult situations; i.e sex, rape, pre-meditated murder (by a human). Mostly, it is speculated that an Animorph ever kills another human. For example: we can only assume David killed Saddler, though it was never openly stated.

     Well...six points for the children's series argument. Personally, that's all I could come up with at the time being--maybe I'll think of more later-- but anyone reading this is free to add more.
     
     Alright, now the reasons why the Animorphs is NOT a Children's series:

     1) The vocabulary and word choice alone is far more sophisticated than what is to be expected of a children's book. For example: the Chronicles books seem to be above the reading level of a nine year old. I myself was eleven or twelve when I attmpted to read the Ellimist Chronicles, but put it down after a few chapters because I didn't understand what was going on. Again, that's not to say that the Animorphs are "too smart" for kids; I'm just saying, there are certain books and instances where the author uses certain words, references or describes things in a way that will often go over a kid's head.

     2) The psycholigical horrors that the Animorphs experience over the course of this fifty-four book arc seems, to me at least, to be something a nine year old will really appreciate. I'll admit, that when I was twelve, I shuddered after reading the description of the ending of the solution. But I don't think kids will get the ethical and moral dilemma of the series. I think that's why everyone sees Cassie's books as being boring. Kids are drawn to Tobias' books because they want to see what flying is like; the read Rachel's because she's badass; and they read Marco's books because they want to hear a good joke. Personally, I read less books narrated by Jake, Ax and Cassie. Ax, because he was too smart for my twelve year old brain; Jake's because he was maoning about how tough it was to be a leader; Cassie's because...again, morals--things a kid might not get until they're older...Or maybe I'm not giving nine year olds enough credit.

     3) The decisions made by the Animorphs may not always be ethical, things that kids wouldn't have thought of. Real adult decisions.

     4) Understanding the Yeerks and why they do what they do. A kid would just see them as being "all evil", but we see the opposite in books 19 and 29. The fact is, K.A is telling her readers that the world is not always black and white; there are moments where things are in shades of grey. I doubt kids would really get that. Mostly, they'll see the Yeerks as bad, Animorphs as good; black and white.

     5) Megamorphs 3: Elfangor's Secret. Kids will simply discount this book because it's basically a "history lesson"--hell, I know I did. They won't know about Trafalgar, Agincourt (though, admitedly, neither did I) the crossing of the Dellaware, and the alliances of the second world war. A nine year old can't appreciate history.

     6) In book 37: the Weakness, Rachel mentions "Hamlet Complexes" and "Oedipus Rex"--kids will simply not know who Oedipus was, and why he was relevant for that book...But the fault is really the ghostwriter's.

     7) The scientific and mathematical theories Ax refers to is obviously going to go over a nine year old's head.

     8) Descriptions of the violence and battle scenes...Though, kids nowadays see a lot worse on COD, so I don't know if this counts

     9) The fate of David and why it was wrong.

      That's all I have at the moment. I'm sure some other people can get a few more.
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Offline Stephquiem

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2011, 03:34:31 PM »
I just feel the need to nitpick: the font's more like size 10 Arial. :P Not size 20.

*twiddles thumbs* I may have written in it a few times because it was in Animorphs.  :-\

Offline TobiasMasonPark

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2011, 03:44:37 PM »
     Well, we can agree that is a very large font, right? :P Large enough that you can tackle a single book in under two hours; with plenty of time left for you to demorph.
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Offline Stephquiem

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2011, 03:46:20 PM »
10 isn't large. :P And actually, I've never read a book in under 2 hours, so I'm of the opinion that that's bull-hockey fast readers keep saying. XD

Offline Morilore

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2011, 03:54:14 PM »
Sure, I'll bite.  But I should point out that in general, it's not a good idea to say "1000 reasons" unless you are sure there actually are 1000 independent reasons. :)  Also, this:
Quote
The scientific and mathematical theories Ax refers to is obviously going to go over a nine year old's head.
Ax refers to ~0 real life scientific and mathematical theories in Animorphs.

- Ellen Geroux's Tobias books (the ones with Taylor) should frankly come with a "reader discretion is advised" note.
- Yeerk infestation = rape metaphor that may go completely over kids' heads
- Graphic violence

Offline TobiasMasonPark

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2011, 03:57:08 PM »
     He explains Z-Space theory. Sure, it's fictional...Still counts. Maybe I should have said, "Kids no understand Ax smart talk" :P

     13) Tobias morphs a member of the opposite sex. Doesn't sound like something a kid should be reading. Not because there is something wrong with a cross-gender morph; I just don't think kids would understand.
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Offline Straken

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2011, 11:21:13 AM »
Definitely the graphic violence and the psychological stress each character experiences throughout the book. I think only Marco comes out at the end satisfied with his life. Everyone else was scarred by the war.

Offline Zero_Messiah

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2011, 12:01:47 PM »
The violence. All over the place.

The first book? Hero andalite gets eaten. Killed in battle? Nope. Glorious blaze of death? Nope. Died ramming the bladeship? Nope. He gets lifted up, and he gets eaten like a burger.

Tobias? Torture. Father's an alien, mother's amnesiac. Relatives don't give a flip about him. He gets stuck as a bird, and is forced to kill every day, eating raw animals. Occasionally, roadkill.

Jake? Murderer. Actually, they're all murderers, but Jake takes 17 000 sentient beings, 17 000 yeerks which could have included the Yeerk Peace Movement, and flushes them into space with a single command. Blackmails an android incapable of violence, sends his cousin, the only family he has which understands the things he has been through, to kill his brother. Both of them end up dead. Do things get better? No, he goes through PTSD.

Rachel; she was the one who was most warped by the war. The one most ready to sell out what made her human. Without the others, she would have been killed early on.

David, a kid who suffered horribly because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. His life is subsequently broken down into a chain of events where he loses his parents, loses his home, loses his way of life, loses the trust of the only people who could help him, tries to get it all back, go far away and just get away from it all; but he can't. He gets turned into a rat (because the alternative was... what? oh, right, killing him).

just some reasons why the series isn't... 'kiddy flavor'.


Offline Chad32

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2011, 12:40:22 PM »
Sometimes I wonder how this series was even marketed to kids in the first place, though in KA's defense she doesn't drag you along very far before showing you how the series will really go. There are some goofy books a little later on, but one of the darkest parts of the series is in the very first one.

I'd say the ending is a big reason. No ten year old is going to be happy with an ending like that. I doubt anyone in the actual target audience would like that kind of ending because they want a happy ending. Look at some Don Bluth films like Secret of Nimh or Land Before Time. Those were dark movies, but they had happy endings. I think Bluth, or someone else, once said that you can show just about anything to a child, as long as there's a happy ending. That happy ending will keep them from being traumatized. I think that's a big reason why I liked those movies. They scared the crap out of me as a kid, but in the end all was well.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2011, 12:44:38 PM by Chad29 »


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Offline Stephquiem

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2011, 12:44:06 PM »
Considering the vast majority of us first read the series as kids and apparently enjoyed it (otherwise, why are we here? :P)... I think it works fine as a children's series.

Quote
Jake? Murderer. Actually, they're all murderers, but Jake takes 17 000 sentient beings, 17 000 yeerks which could have included the Yeerk Peace Movement, and flushes them into space with a single command. Blackmails an android incapable of violence, sends his cousin, the only family he has which understands the things he has been through, to kill his brother. Both of them end up dead. Do things get better? No, he goes through PTSD.

Umm... okay, I see how you say that about Jake, but for the rest it doesn't really work. Unless you're going to sit there and tell me that what a soldier does in battle is the same as what a serial killer does. Because it isn't.

Offline Phoenix004

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2011, 02:46:16 PM »
There are things (which you already mentioned) that make the books more for younger readers, but they certainly have qualities and events that make them less than suitable for children. At the very least, a lot of the serious issues won't be understood by children and young teens. There are some references I didn't get until my 3rd or 4th re-read.

I was about 12 when I first read the ending to the series, and at the time I didn't appreciate it at all. It's one of the many events in the series that (while totally appropriate for kids) younger readers just won't understand.

I think one of the reasons I like the series is that it has depth and detail that appeals to my more mature side, while still retaining the qualities I enjoyed when I was younger (without being too childish to still read for fun).
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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2011, 03:09:41 PM »
I'm not going to bother with the number scheme. But I will throw my cents in here.

One: Visser Three routinely executes a number of Controllers, or mutilates them horribly. This isn't merely eluded too either, he actually hands the bloodied severe hand of a human back to him and says, "re-attach it".

Two: Chapman runs down another human being so they can get him infested.

Three: A number of human and Hork-Bajir controllers die horribly in the escape attempt in the Invasion.

Four: Tobias is savagely bullied in Megamorphs 4 which is why I can never read that book again.

Five: Ax threatens to nuke an entire city in order to get Visser Two's cooperation. Later on they nuke an entire Yeerk Pool full of men, women and children from all species.


Oh, sure there are more. But need I go one with the reasons why this is not a children's series?

Offline Blazing Angel

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2011, 06:30:45 PM »
The inclusion of voluntary controllers. Thats deliving into a slightly older outlook of how some people will believe anything, or betray their own people for personal gain.
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Offline Chad32

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2011, 06:34:08 PM »
I like that they included voluntary controllers, as I like things better when it's not black and white. Though honestly I was in my mid teens by the time the series even started, and it was over a year after that by the time I found the series. I just wish voluntaries weren't demonized.


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Offline Blazing Angel

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Re: 1000 Reasons Animorphs Should NOT Be Considered a Children's Series
« Reply #14 on: April 08, 2011, 06:40:25 PM »
Their is really no excuse for selling out ones race I mean the talk might draw some people in but they should get cold feet once they ralise they can't blink when they want to.
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