How an Animorphs TV show and Movie should be done-REDUX

[Yorick Brown]

PLEASE don't lock this thread or anything! I've added ALOT of things that people here should consider on a second go-around. Just read this post first and then decided to do what you will with it.

1) A 30-minute animated TV series for kids by Bruce W. Timm or Paul Dini or Dwayne McDuffie playing on Saturday mornings on the CW or Cartoon Network.

Amber Heard as the voice of Rachel, Aaron Ashmore as the voice of Jake, Jessica Szohr as the voice of Cassie, Victor Rasuk as the voice of Marco, Dustin Milligan as the voice of Tobias, Jacob Zachar as the voice of Ax, James Lafferty as the voice of Tom, Hugo Weaving as the voice of Visser Three and Tony Goldwyn as the voice of Principal Chapman.

2) A much darker and teen-oriented prime-time TV series for the CW. Here, the gang is 14 or 16 rather than 13.

It's 4 seasons long tops. 45 minutes long for each 18 episodes of each of the maximum 4 seasons. Very big budget for this limited series because of expensive f/x. Like around 50 mil+ a season. ((IF there's a season 5, it will be set 4 years after the events of the last season. Here in this spin-off in the vein of "Star Trek," Jake is captain of a ship called the Star Wolf as part of a starfleet from the new Andalite-Human alliance that patrols the galaxy stopping evil Yeerk factions and other terrors of the galaxy).

Each season is either freshman then sophomore year and so on with the Animorphs at age 14 or (like "One Tree Hill"), the seasons are the first and second halves of the Animorphs junior and senior year. The Animorphs are 16 at the beginning if that's the case. (I prefer the former).

Like "Lost," each 18-episode season plays straight with NO REPEATS beginning in January and ending in April/May.

Adapts all the regular books and the megamorphs books with original stories filling in the rest of the episodes in the four seasons. Brian Henson directs the two-part pilot which is an adaptation of "The Invasion." (Actually, I want the Jim Henson Company and their puppets to back this show after seeing their great work on the brilliant TV space opera "Farscape" and the film "Labyrinth.")

The Hork-Bajir are puppets/CGI, the animals are trained/CGI, the Taxxons are CGI, the Leerans are CGI, the Andalites are puppets/people in make-up and costume, the Chee are CGI/puppets, the Helmacrons are people in make-up and costume, the Nartecs are people in make-up and costume, the Drode is a puppet, the Nesk are CGI, the Mercora are puppets, the dinosaurs are puppets/CGI, the Veleek is CGI, the Venber are puppets/CGI, the Iskoort are puppets, the Yeerks are played by real-life leeches and slugs.

All the Chronicles EXCEPT "The Ellimist Chronicles" are adapted as straight-to-DVD live action movies by Brian Henson. There will also be a film called "The Pemalite Chronicles" where we see Erek King's as narrated to Marco from creation by the peaceful Pemalites to living among humans for thousands of years. Also on the film's DVD, there'll be a bonus animated 30-minute+ short called "The Taxxon Chronicles" where we learn what happened with Arbron in between "The Andalite Chronicles" and "The Answer." There will be plenty of references to the past of these characters in the TV series so know one HAS to see these films to understand what's going on in the show. (In the episode guide at the bottom of this post, I'll post after which season one of these movies should be released).

The theme song is "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" by Fuel. "What I've Done" by Linkin Park plays at the end of the pilot. "Breathe Me" by Sia plays at the end of the series finale. "You're all I have" by Snow Patrol plays at the beginning of the third episode while the gang is having fun flying. "It Ends Tonight" by All American Rejects and "Savin' Me" by Nickelback and "Don't Panic" by Coldplay and "From Yesterday" by 30 Seconds to Mars and "Fine Again" by Seether and "Have you passed through this Night" by Explosions in the Sky are featured on the soundtrack.

It's set in Seattle, Washington rather than Northern California but the location will only be alluded to rather than outright revealed until the final episode.

Marco is 100% Hispanic rather than only 50% Hispanic from his mother's side. Eva, his mother, dies in "The Revelation."

The Andalite homeworld is actually given a name rather than being unlikely referred to as 'the Andalite honeworld.' The planet is called 'Andal' now.

Hugo Weaving as the voice of Visser Three. Tony Goldwyn plays Principal Chapman.

Like the original TV series, you can morph clothes and shoes just fine. The rest of the rules still apply though ie. the two-hour time limit, can't morph from one to the next, etc.

Kind of pointless, but each episode is titled "The [something]" like the books-with the exception of the Megamorph adaptations of course.

An animorph narrates each episode but only a brief voice-over at the beginning (starting with 'My name is [insert name]') and ending of each episode ala "The Twilight Zone."

The Ellimist no longer has that covoluted origin story of before. "As I said above, "The Ellimist Chronicles" will NOT be adapted into a film and his origins won't exist in this TV universe at all. The Ellimist will simply be a benevolent member of a type 4 alien species called Ellmists (like the Q of "Star Trek"). Same for Crayak. The Ellimist wants to preserve life and promote peace and unity across the stars while Crayak seeks to punish and enslave and spread fear and misery and cruelty throughout. (Go here to learn more about type I, II, III, IV civilizations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_Scale).

Actually, I'm going to seriously downplay the two super aliens' effect influence on the Animorphs' lives. For example, in "Back to Before," there's not gonna be any of this 'stacking the deck' crap and 'subtemporarily grounded' nonsense and it'll just be a glimpse that the Ellimist shows a weary Jake, ready to quit, how important his role in the fight was.

While I wouldn't say get rid of the Tobias being Elfangor's father subplot, definitely clean up some of the messy time paradoxes that Applegate left with this matter.

Ax goes to school with the Animorphs. Tobias returns to school after getting his powers back.

Unsure at what point in the series (maybe as early "The Conspiracy" or as late as "The Diversion" or somewhere in between), but Tom is freed from Yeerk control and turns fugitive. He becomes a part, and later the leader, of the underground resistance made up of former controllers and people personally affected by controllers from "The Stand" that try to sabotage the Yeerks and free controllers forcefully. Tom and the other fighters won't be aware the Andalite bandits are really a bunch of human kids till "The Diversion."

In "The Diversion," the Animorphs are still discovered but don't rescue their parents except for Tobias' mother Loren and Rachel's sister Jordan. They hide out with the resistance. The auxiliary Animorphs are chosen in "The Ultimate" but are mostly made up of resistance members than just all handicapped members. They also have compeltely different backgrounds The auxiliary Animorphs are resistance members James, Collette, Liam and Elena and handicapped members Tim and Kelly.

The Yeerks never get the morphing cube.

Tobias is intially stuck as a hawk like in the books but the Ellimist later gives him his morphing power back but does NOT have to live as a hawk and only morph into a human for two hours. It's just like he was when he first got his powers in the pilot. (You're obviously gonna have to rewrite "The Illusion" here.)

At the series finale, Applegate's pessimistic ending is gone and Rachel (who was never sent on an assassination mission) and Tom (who has long since been freed) live. There's a final showdown between Ax and Visser Three where Ax wins, despite his size, because of his experience fighting as an Andalite in battle unlike Visser Three who always uses monstrous morphs. There's no cliffhanger ending. Many resistance members are dead but are still okay. We don't watch the Animorphs 3 years later but end the series with them on Earth, ready to reunite with their families. (Maybe there are some brief TV news reports of a Hork-Bajir colony preserve and the Taxxon nothlits sent to South America and the surviving Yeerk Peace Movement members given horse and dolphin morphs and a variety of other animal morphs to become nothlits of).

Here are all the episodes (the names in the parenthesis are who narrates each episode):

Season 1

01) The Invasion I (Jake)
02) The Invasion II (Jake)
03) The Visitor (Rachel)
04) The Encounter (Tobias)
05) The Message (Cassie)
06) The Predator (Marco)
07) The Capture (Jake)
08) The Stranger (Rachel)
09) The Alien (Ax)
10) The Survivor (Jake-based on an episode from the original TV series, the Animorphs try to protect their teacher and former controller from re-infestation)
11) The Lost (Tobias-based on an episode from the original TV series, Ax and Tobias reminisce about their experiences living among humans and life before the Animorphs respectively)
12) The Secret (Cassie)
13) The Android (Marco)
14) The Forgotten (Jake)
15) The Reaction (Rachel)
16) The Change (Tobias)
17) The Andalite's Gift I (None)
18) The Andalite's Gift II (None)

(Despite the fact that I want the two-part episode "The Andalite's Gift" the season 1 finale, it's set BEFORE the events of "The Change.")

-The Andalite Chronicles

Season 2

19) The Warning (Jake)
20) The Underground (Rachel)
21) The Missing (Tobias-based on an episode in the original TV series, the Animorphs try to stop an innocent civilian from sending a tape of Marco demorphing to a TV show)
22) The Unknown (Cassie)
23) The Escape (Marco)
24) The Decision (Ax)
25) The Departure (Cassie)
26) In the Time of Dinosaurs I (None)
27) In the Time of Dinosaurs II (None)
28) In the Time of Dinosaurs III (None)
29) The Discovery (Marco)
30) The Threat (Jake)
31) The Solution (Rachel)
32) The Pretender (Tobias)
33) The Suspicion (Cassie)
34) The Extreme (Marco)
35) The Front (Ax-based on an episode in the original TV series, Ax discovers that, at his new job, cell phones are being used to infest customers with Yeerks)
36) The Attack (Jake)

-The Hork-Bajir Chronicles

Season 3

37) Elfangor's Secret I (None)
38) Elfangor's Secret II (None)
39) Elfangor's Secret III (None)
40) The Exposed (Rachel)
41) The Experiment (Ax)
42) The Sickness (Cassie)
43) The Reunion (Marco)
44) The Conspiracy (Jake)
45) The Separation (Rachel)
46) The Illusion (Tobias)
47) The Prophecy (Cassie)
48) The Other (Marco)
49) The Mutation (Jake)
50) The Weakness (Rachel)
51) The Stand (Tobias-based on an episode in the original TV series, Tobias stumbles upon an underground resistance movement of former controllers led by the former teacher the Animorphs saved from re-infestation earlier)
52) The Hidden (Cassie)
53) The Proposal (Marco)
54) The Arrival (Ax)

-Visser

Season 4

55) The Familiar (Jake)
56) The Journey (Rachel)
57) The Test (Tobias)
58) The Unexpected (Cassie)
59) The Revelation (Marco)
60) The Deception (Ax)
61) The Resistance (Jake)
62) The Return (Rachel)
63) Back to Before I (None)
64) Back to Before II (None)
65) The Leader (Ax-comic story where the Animorphs are misplaced in Africa and then are mistaken for gods by a local tribe)
66) The Problem (Rachel-Rachel tries to prevent her younger and very rebellious sister Jordan from joining The Sharing)
67) The Diversion (Tobias)
68) The Ultimate (Cassie)
69) The Absolute (Marco)
70) The Sacrifice (Ax)
71) The Answer (Jake)
72) The Beginning (None)

-The Pemalite Chronicles (w/The Taxxon Chronicles animated short)

[wotw2112]

My thoughts:

Saturday cartoons seem to be shorter lived these days...it just doesn't seem like the right platform...

Are you shooting for teen drama?  The average teens doesn't like to think too much.  You should probably be shooting for the same basic audience that lost has (YES I THINK THIS CONCEPT COULD BE SOLD TO AN OLDER CROWD - if it's done right)

Chronicles could be confusing - may want to slip relevant bits into the series as it progresses rather than separate shows (or as extras on DVD)

LOVE the soundtrack choices.  Right on.

Have to make sure Seattle is comparable to the big landmarks in the books...(Gardens, nature preserve, etc) - could just take poetic license though

Freeing tom will anger some traditional fans (not me)

Same deal with many of the changes but I say go for it.  Tobias as a hawk though is kinda trademark of the series.

Yeerks never getting the morphing cube - awesome - hated the idea in the first place - would simplify things

Ax vs. Visser 3 seems cliched - "all is well" ending not good - if series is to be dark (which it probably should be to appeal to an older audience) you have to stay with it - also, don't destroy the idea that was has costs - an "all is well" ending will cheapen the entire series and make it forgettable

Otherwise it looks great.  Some of your ideas are awesome.  You'd need careful advertising though.

[morfowt]

Personally, I don't like some of the ideas.

What you use for the aliens, the songs you use, that stuff I don't care what you choose (and no it's not because I don't understand it)

The plot ideas however, I'd say major plots in the series (like Tobias and getting his morphing power back) should be the same. Tobias should remain a hawk with the power to morph. The Ellimist and Crayak should remain the same too. And Rachel and Tom die at the end.

the megamorphs, I think should be in the same order as the books, as in The Andalite's Gift should be after The stranger, but before The Alien

[Yorick Brown]

Chronicles could be confusing - may want to slip relevant bits into the series as it progresses rather than separate shows (or as extras on DVD)

I did write:

There will be plenty of references to the past of these characters in the TV series so know one HAS to see these films to understand what's going on in the show.

Information derived from "The Pretender" and "The Prophecy" and "The Revelation" and "The Android" is sufficient enough details in the series that you won't get lost.

The Chronicles are mostly there to fill in any gaps and be a treat to fans. Like the Star Wars prequels.

[wotw2112]

Ah ok.  I didn't get that for some reason.  Makes more sense then.

[XenomorphLV426]

You can't make a cartoon on network TV anywhere near as dark as it needs to be.

Moving on.

[Yorick Brown]

Animorphs wasn't THAT dark.

What do you think of the live action adaptation idea?

[morfowt]

I honestly don't care, as long as it can follow the story more or less.

[wotw2112]

Animorphs wasn't THAT dark.

Yeah, but I think you'd have to make it darker for it to have any real impact on the wider market.  Sure, we all love it as it is but the trend has been towards dark realism.

I honestly don't care, as long as it can follow the story more or less.

There would undoubtedly need to be some changes but i agree.  Most of the very basic underlying themes would need to be kept.

What do you think of the live action adaptation idea?

Better than a cartoon but undoubtedly expensive

[Yorick Brown]

PLEASE don't lock this thread or anything! I've added ALOT of things that people here should consider on a second go-around. Just read this post first and then decided to do what you will with it.

I just want to say first that while I'd still see it because I'm such a big fan, I'd hate a movie rather than a TV series (like the one I've mapped out in this thread: http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,940.0.html because there's just too many stories to tell with too many details and it'd be ridiculous making many, many sequels. Now I continue.

It's a film trilogy unlike "The Lord of the Rings" where each movie was really just a big piece of the same story without an individual premise. Think "Scream" and "Spider-Man" where each film has it's own separate story featuring the same characters in another adventure.

Changes:

-Tobias is not trapped in a morph
-Marco's mother is actually dead and not Visser One
-The Andalite Chronicles never happened; Tobias' father is not Elfangor and he was orphaned at a young age when his parents died in a car accident
-The Yeerk menace isn't the result of the Andalites' folly
-The Animorphs can morph clothes and shoes just fine
-No Erek King and the Chee
-No Crayak and his servant, the Drode
-No Leerans
-No Helmacrons
-No Aftran and the Yeerk Peace Movement
-No traitorous David
-No Hork-Bajir Colony

Todd Holland directs, Drew Goddard writes.

Blake Lively plays Rachel and Dustin Milligan plays Tobias. Hugo Weaving as the voice of Visser Three and Tony Goldwyn as Principal Chapman.

1) Animorphs: The Invasion Begins (or Animorphs)

Combines the events of The Invasion and The Visitor.

Plot: 5 ordinary teenagers on their way home from the mall take a shortcut through an abandoned construction site. They notice a light in the sky and realize it's a spaceship. The spaceship lands and a mortally wounded centaur-like alien walks out. He informs them that Earth is being secretly invaded by slugs from another planet that take over your body. The Andalites, members of his race, are too busy fighting the alien slugs, called Yeerks, elsewhere so Earth is doomed unless the Yeerk menace is somehow stopped or slowed down enough till the calvary arrives. He trusts the teens with the ultimate weapon: the power to morph. To change into any animal they touch by absorbing their DNA.

The teens are granted this power and manage to escape the construction site where the dying alien was finished off by the malevolent leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth and only Yeerk to infest an Andalite, Visser Three and his army of human slaves and terrifying bird-lizards.

The next day the Animorphs realize that last night was no dream and they're able to morph into animals. They dub themselves the Animorphs and decide to use this power to spy on high-ranking controllers and attack the underground Yeerk Pool complex under the guise of 'Andalite bandits.' They won't stop fighting till they stop the Yeerks.

(It may feel like an ambitious TV pilot (like this year's film "Jumper") more than anything else but this is the best bet.)

Scene Selections:

-At the Mall/The Players
-The Shortcut/The Light in the Sky
-The Dying Alien/The Invasion Warning
-The Power/The Blue Box
-Visser Three
-Jake's House/Jake morphs Homer
-Fun Flying
-Controller Tom
-The Sharing
-Distant Friend
-Rachel the Cat
-Spying on Chapman
-Sad Melissa
-Discovered Again
-The Construction Site
-Rachel Rescued
-Cassie's Barn
-Suspicious Policeman
-Tailing Principal Chapman
-The Gardens
-The Yeerk Pool
-Rachel's Letter
-'Until then, we fight'

2) Animorphs: Nowhere to Run (or Animorphs 2)

Combines the events of The Message and The Mutation.

Plot: Animorphs Cassie and Tobias are having strange dreams about the ocean and a voice crying for help. When they learn on the TV news about an artifact with Andalite writing that washed up on shore, the Animorphs decide to investigate their two members' dreams. They use dolphin morphs to explore the ocean for any clues that solves the mystery that links the strange dreams and the mysterious artifact.

After some death-defying adventures, they find Ax. Ax is a young Andalite and brother of the dying alien from the first film who was trapped for weeks in the remnants of a downed spaceship after a successful Yeerk sneak attack. Ax was the lone surviver and tried using his telepathic abilities to call for help from any fellow Andalites.

The Animorphs accept the alien youth into their group and try to reach the surface but not before battling the Yeerks who also heard Ax's message and brought a deadly submarine. They also have to deal with an ancient race of mutant fish people living on the ocean floor.

Scene Selections:

-The Dreams
-The News Reports
-To the Ocean
-The Shark Attack
-The Whale's Message
-Seagull Stowaways/Return to the Sea
-The Dome Ship
-Ax
-Yeerk Attack
-Whale Save the Day
-The Sea Blade
-The Cavern
-The Nartecs
-Queen Soco
-Operating Room
-Escape from Atlantis
-A New Animorph

3) Animorphs: The Legacy Survives (or Animorphs 3)

Combines the events of The Stranger and The Familiar.

Plot: After a deadly battle where they escape just by the skin of their teeth, the Animorphs are growing weary of this seemingly never-ending war.

Using ****roach morphs, the Animorphs sneak inside a the Yeerk Poll via an entrance at the local mall. There, a giant wormy alien attempts to eat the Animorphs but then time freezes.

The Ellimist appears. A highly evolved, near-omnipotent being that can manipulate time and space. He offers the Animorphs a choice: stay fighting this war where they will eventually lose or come away to a planet where their friends and family and select humans and animals will live in peace without fear. The Animorphs decline but the Ellimist promises he will return to make give his offer once again. The Animorphs escape being an alien meal by using a drop shaft that they noticed when time froze.

After their near escape, the Ellimist returns to give them his offer once again but now he shows them a terrifying future 20 years later where the Yeerks have successfully invaded Earth. Humans are slaves, bred like cattle. The Earth is devoid of animal life. Marco and Rachel are dead and Tobias and Cassie are leaders of a small resistance group. The Animorphs join Cassie and Tobias in destroying a Yeerk Pool but are confronted by Visser Three in Ax's body and his lieutenant controlling Jake's body. The Animorphs are then sent back to the present, horrified with what they've seen.

They realize that that wasn't a future where the Animorphs KEPT fighting but a future if they STOPPED fighting. They also realize that the Ellimist was giving them hints. Hints how to escape the Yeerk Pool and where the location of the Kandrona is.

The Animorphs destroy the Kandrona starving all the Yeerks to death and Ax finally gets his vengeance on Visser Three who he defeats in battle at the ESG building.

Scene Selections:

-Close Call
-Weary Jake/Suspicious Tom
-Pool Entrance at Mall
-The Taxxon's Tongue
-Time Freezes
-The Ellimist
-The Proposition
-The Escape
-The Future
-The Resistance
-Jake the Controller/Destroying the Pool
-The Present
-The Classroom/ The Butterfly Effect
-The Revelation
-The ESG Building
-Visser Three
-The Kandrona
-The End

[XenomorphLV426]

The special effects just aren't up to what would be needed yet.  Even if they were, the cost would be over the $300mil mark, which is virtually unheard of for non-established franchises.

Come back and ask the question after Avatar comes out.  We don't know how much of the game that film is going to change just yet.  But traditional CG isn't up to task.

It's just a lofty goal, to propose an Animorphs movie.  There's no precedent for it, and the cost would likely outweigh the return. 

It's just not a good idea.

[Nateosaurus]

It's just a lofty goal, to propose an Animorphs movie.  There's no precedent for it, and the cost would likely outweigh the return. 

It's just not a good idea.

So true.. so true..

Oh and maybe thats the way YOU want the movies to go, doesn't mean everyone else does.

Why The Mutation? It's not a plot thats really needed for the movies.

[Venom]

they should re-do the animorphs tv series or make a movie and make it based on the books how it is without leaving big stuff out. but to save money on CG and such MAKE IT A CARTOON!!!

[morfowt]

if there's no ellimist, why is the ellimist present in the third movie?

[esplin]

why cant you discuss the tv series here too