New Animorphs Television Series: Changes to Canon

[TobiasMasonPark]

     So, naturally there are going to be changes to this (ideally live action) Animorphs TV series. I mean, aside from replacing pop culture references and updating the technology, the personalities of the characters themselves will most likely change as well. Certain plots, books, etc, will be altered, changed, and, in some cases, dropped. Ideally, I'd like the series to go on for a long while--with good writing, we can stretch the series to ten seasons! Most likely, though, it will be 5 or 7 seasons, which is fine. However, in order to do so, things are going to need changing. My question is: what should we change?

     1) In terms of character personalities, looks, etc.
         
          For example: in the other, other thread about the TV series I asked if Rachel should be kept as a blonde or made a brunette. I just think the whole "beautiful blonde who isn't a dimwit" thing isn't very clever anymore. I think I could buy Rachel being a brunette...Of course, I'm not implying that blondes really are dummies. Er...it's just an example. Should Tobias be a brunette, or blonde like he was meant to be?

     2) In terms of plot, story lines, arcs, filler/non-filler books, etc.

         For example: do we REALLY need Australia, Atlantis, and a fair chunk of the Cassie books in the series? Sure, they may be nice breather episodes in a drama heavy season, but they aren't crucial. But what about the David trilogy? I'd like that to go on for a full season if I could manage it--maybe have him pull a Spike* and be a series regular in the later seasons. What about some great, one-time characters/minor recurring characters with potential: i.e Esplin 9466 lesser, Taylor, Melissa, etc.

     Discussion is very much appreciated.

*For those unfamiliar with Buffy, Spike appeared in season two, but was so popular he not only came back for a season 3 stand alone, but became a regular character from season 4 onward, and a main character in season five of Angel. David, however, would have to be written well enough for that to happen, of course.

[SuperBlue]

     1) In terms of character personalities, looks, etc.
         
          For example: in the other, other thread about the TV series I asked if Rachel should be kept as a blonde or made a brunette. I just think the whole "beautiful blonde who isn't a dimwit" thing isn't very clever anymore. I think I could buy Rachel being a brunette...Of course, I'm not implying that blondes really are dummies. Er...it's just an example. Should Tobias be a brunette, or blonde like he was meant to be?

IDK how anyone else feels about this but to me, Rachel and Tobias' hair color had nothing to do with their overall character. That being said, there's no reason to make them any other hair color than books already said they were (well...they weren't too clear on Tobias to begin with but you get the point) When it comes to the appearence of established characters, I get very annoyed when things about them are changed for no reason, regardless of how big the change is. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Narcissa Malfoy's hair, Beast Boy's skin going from Green to Red (that one REALLY pisses me off), and how the black dude from Chronicle might be playing the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four reboot. To me, making Tobias and Rachel (especially Rachel) anything other than blonde would be like switching Jake and Cassie's races, or making Andalites green, or giving the Yeerks wings. They're aesthetic changes and not actually relevant to the plot, but the fact that they'd make changes like that just for the hell of it is stupid.

     2) In terms of plot, story lines, arcs, filler/non-filler books, etc.

         For example: do we REALLY need Australia, Atlantis, and a fair chunk of the Cassie books in the series? Sure, they may be nice breather episodes in a drama heavy season, but they aren't crucial. But what about the David trilogy? I'd like that to go on for a full season if I could manage it--maybe have him pull a Spike* and be a series regular in the later seasons. What about some great, one-time characters/minor recurring characters with potential: i.e Esplin 9466 lesser, Taylor, Melissa, etc.

As much as I love Cassie, I agree that most of her books are annoying filler that could be used to flesh out other characters. Especially Mellisa. I hated how she's supposed to be Rachel's best friend and how they spent an entire book saving her from being infested, and then they just stop caring. I've mentioned this a million times but I remember reading a fanfic where (in addition to being Marco's love interest) she's a side character who, like the chee, used her connections to the Sharing to spy for the Animorphs (She was also given the morphing powers apparently but she was to only use them in emergency situations like if her cover was blown)

David's another character they could flesh out more. Make him an actual part of the team for a season (and don't make it so obvious that he's gonna turn traitor) give the people a chance to actually like his character before he becomes an irredeemable monster (I don't know about anyone else but, crappy situation aside, I hated David from the get go). The David trilogy was my favorite arc in the series but it could have been done soooo much better had he stuck around for more than three books. At least have him on the team long enough to get a book where HE narrates. Maybe even include him in a Megamorph.

[Chad32]

I don't see a point in changing hair colors, especially since fans of the books would want to be able to easily identify the characters. The blonde girl is Rachel. The Latino guy is Marco. I think ideally it would be animated, but that's another topic.

I'd like them to try really hard to not let V3 suffer villain decay, and make David and Mellisa recurring characters. David would make a good recurring villain, and it is odd that Mellisa is set up as one of Rachel's best friends, and is basically forgotten except in a couple of books. Even then, it's just a cameo.

Also make a better ending. It doesn't have to be happy springtime and flowers, but don't pull the kind of crap that they pulled in the last book. Don't make Cassie do something incredibly stupid (at least not without suffering more serious repercussions). About the only two excuses I hear is that killing a couple of people makes it more real, though I have no idea why, and some people believed it would have either been what we got, or all the way at the other extreme.

Those would be the main changes to canon I can think off. Not to mention that if you want me to believe that Rachel is some kind of blood lusting warrior that can't cope without the war, do a better job of it. As far as I can tell, she'd be one of the best at coping, and she wouldn't have to completely alienate everyone to do it like Cassie.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Yeah, I'm with Blue on the 'no need to make aesthetic changes for no reason' thing. What color Rachel's hair is, for example, is going to mean nothing to newcomers to the series, but making her a brunette is a quick and easy way to alienate a number of existing fans right from the get-go.

Honestly, I think a lot of benefit could come of knowing where things are going when we start. Like Chad's saying, if we decide we want Rachel to be an irredeemable monster who wouldn't be able to cope after the war, we can show that in the entirety of the series, rather than just kind of forcing it to happen at the end. The fact that we already have the entire series to work from is hugely to our advantage.

I kind of like the idea of the series being sort of like recent seasons of Doctor Who, in that each episode is self-contained, but also part of a larger arc. And, of course, this being Animorphs, we have the added advantage of there being one overall direction, and therefore one overarching plot, for the entire series. So yeah, Goose, like you're saying, drawing David through an entire season (or even two) would be a fantastic way to go.

Making Melissa a more central character would be a divergence from the original plot, so we have to decide what kinds of liberties we actually want to take. Overall, I think we could probably take a direction pretty similar to the series, and it might actually be kind of fun to mix in campy episodes like the Helmacrons with the more serious stuff. It's just a question of what tone we want this to take on.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     Man, I'm getting a lot of hate on the hair colour thing RAF, please don't set me on fire! I brought it up because reading the series, I just couldn't find myself believing the whole "Rachel is so beautiful, blonde, but intelligent, and can't ever seem to get dirt on her, even in battle" stuff. I don't know. Maybe I'm just being silly.

[RYTX]

....It's a series about teenagers turning into animals battling off aliens that take over peoples brains, and tough blonde is what you don't believe?

My principle desire with any Animorphs revamp would be to flesh out the secondary characters and rein in V3. Tom could have been an excellent antagonist throughout the series, but his more of an unwitting source of info until the final arch. Or hell, at least Taylor. No bad guy operates without a number 2 in the open.
Make Chapman less of a toady. He despises V3 in #2, but the rest of the series only kisses his ass.
You can cut a lot of the filler, which automatically redeems the visser a lot, but he still should be so quick with "grr, I'll get you next time inspector gadget, I mean, andalites"

And finish V1's story. She's in 1/2 of Marco's books, but the step from second chance to, screw it, lets kill her is disgustingly quick

[Chad32]

I think they decided to kill her instead of giving her a second chance was when she decided if her Human children didn't accept her, she'd have them infested and pretend they were voluntary or something. V1's story was ended pretty well.

Secondary factions could definitely be fleshed out more. The YPM, Hork-Bajir, even Chee a bit more. I know the series is called Animorphs, and they should always be the main characters, but coming up with interesting side groups and not really doing anything with them feels wrong. There's nothing wrong with a few "day in the limelight" episodes, or the Anis using them more often.

Everyone hates V3. It doesn't mean they can do much about it. Sucking up is mandatory to existence. Probably the stupidest thing Chapman's Yeerk does is during that book where he has Ax at his mercy. He doesn't infest him, or even do more than post a Hork-Bajir that wasn't even looking at him.