Animorphs II: How to Write a Book Series Like a TV Show

[@michaelreynolds5773]

My name is Michael Grant. I can't tell you my last name . . . oh, shit, I just did. Excellent as always, Lord R. Me to every Hollywood type who has ever talked to us about an Animorphs movie: It wants to be TV. We built it like TV. Sigh. The original inspiration was Combat! But X-Files works as well as a model. Andalite Chronicles was very much informed by the Vietnam war. But then Vietnam affected the whole series. As I occasionally say, Katherine and I believe in good and evil, we just don't believe in black and white.

[@LordRavenscraft]

Thank you so much, Michael! I appreciate you talking to me for this video. I think the TV aspect of the series really shows. When I wrote this video I still had some hope that it could be adapted to a movie series but...well, I guess we'll find out now!

[@lilithium3940]

It took me a while and a lot of looking back, but I've come to realize that this series truly helped me process death and tragedy, especially as a preteen when death and misery didn't seem like the daily update on channel 4. So thank you,very much

[@JMObyx]

Whoah, you're him. I have a question or two. How well do you think increased horror elements (not body) would've worked for Animorphs? Involving the plot, what do you think was the greatest short coming in hindsight? Aside from the Ghost Writers?

[@michaelreynolds5773]

@@JMObyx We always placed Animorphs in a 'secular' universe. IOW no magic, just science. (That's right, science: I have the equations for FTL around here somewhere. . .) But without magic, horror tends to go stalkery, and we weren't into that. In hindsight we wish we'd have been more overt/braver on gay rights. We sort of edged around it in one book, but we weren't up for a fight with school systems or potentially our publisher, so we soft-pedaled it. Not a good look for either of us. But in terms of the writing qua writing? We had three weeks to produce a 140 page manuscript. And because we were just six months ahead of pub date (the norm is a full year, minimum) we had zero room for rewrites. Also by the way, Animorphs was not all we were writing. If we'd had time we'd probably have worked more on the prose (you'll notice Katherine won a Newbury, the woman can write) but OTOH the sheer adrenalin-soaked deadline panic of the whole thing was probably part of what made it work - we didn't have a lot of time for chin-stroking, we wrote what was in our heads, so Animorphs is raw, unfiltered, unrefined and cask strength.

[@JMObyx]

@@michaelreynolds5773 "We sort of edged around it in one book, but we weren't up for a fight with school systems or potentially our publisher, so we soft-pedaled it. Not a good look for either of us." Actually I think soft pedalling it is a win in the realism category. If you look back at the 90s homosexuality was, while not institutionally persecuted (I think), it was still very much a cultural no-no. Marco's reputation already was questionable, if the dude had gay feelings I think it would be VERY in character for him to do more to hide it. Or, well, Marco had those feelings but never cared to express them, seeing fit to contend in that strange neutral area. Marco DOES seem the kind of character to try to avoid picking sides, wouldn't be that big of a stretch for him to do this on the inside too. As for the horror, it doesn't need much supernaturality in it, many non-horror scenes and scenarios in Animorphs could be easily tweaked to be scarier. Maybe if instead of the Animorphs just stumbling onto the Chee, Erek is the only Chee who's "alive" at the time because due to the combined stress inflicted by the Howler's wiping out his people, and being forced to hide in holograms for entire lfietimes, the Chee began going insane, even violating their programming and causing several disasters which cost many lives. The other Chee had to shut them off, this happened until only Erek was left, and his "father," who's almost completely unresponsive. And Erek ws on his way too, and becoming scarily close to losing it himself, this time with no other Chee to stop him. So the Pemalite crystal was the only hope to restore himself and the Chee. But when he got his hands on it, it would serve as a pretty terrifying "Oh shit" moment, until he saves the Animorphs. That aside one of my biggest problems with the series is that Cassie of all the Animorphs, despite being your wife's favorite, never really landed because the story didn't allow her to adequately take off. This isn't intentional on your end, it's just something I noticed with the benefit of hindsight.

[@shingshongshamalama]

I love that "a magical ascended goose who plays twitch" isn't even a dishonest explanation of this series' god figure.

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

Technically I'd say the more accurate description is; elvish gamer race attached to massive lightweight crystals with nothing better to do than play VR simulations all day

[@tituslafrombois1164]

@@andrewmalinowski6673 that's just a more detailed version of the same statement. The original is still accurate, you just added more details to it.

[@mechashadow]

This is what untitled goose game should have been

[@highcaliber350]

@@tituslafrombois1164 more details means it's more accurate... Not that the original is inaccurate

[@SeanBoyce-gp]

@@highcaliber350 channeling my best "Um, Actually" it makes the statement more precise, but not necessarily more accurate. I kinda hate having written this comment already. Sorry.

[@JetstreamGW]

"The emperor's dead too? Like, they're sending passive-aggressive notes to... no one?" Warhammer did it! Warhammer did it!

[@demono6708]

i would like this but... i cannot. edit: there were 69 likes when i wrote this.

[@Cesly-mo3uf]

Purge the giant Zeno filth! For the Emperor!

[@blue-pi2kt]

You can still talk to the Emperor psionically. Or at least Primarchs can.

[@teridactyl1250]

@@blue-pi2kt So could the Helmacrons, if they find they right person, I guess?

[@JetstreamGW]

@@blue-pi2kt OR SO THEY CLAIM!

[@snorlax42]

In huge defense of Starfish Rachel Book, it's very thematically important for that point in the series! Rachel is struggling with the fact that war has changed her as a person. She does essentially see herself as Nice Rachel and Mean Rachel, and the book is reconciling that. Also she beats a man to death with her own severed arm!

[@codyssmith73]

I’d also argue that the splitting & reforming changed Rachel slightly. She became a little more focused on being the best soldier she could be after that instead of letting her guard down.

[@commonviewer2488]

It was hilarious how Visser-Three hated Helmacrons so much, he formed a truce with the Animorphs just long enough to kill some of them

[@marvalice3455]

I mean, was wrong to?

[@chromaticblue3976]

To be fair, when you combine their size and the way that they can't actually be killed... They may be one of the few races the Yeerks can't really control?

[@marvalice3455]

@@chromaticblue3976 there are a decent number of races "unfit for infestation" A few of the ones specifically called out in the books are a race with no brains but numerous decentralized nural nodes, the Arn who installed a kill switch if they are ever infested, and visser 3's pet regeneraters from the andilite Chronicles. But yeah, helmarcans are definitely in that same category.

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

@@marvalice3455 I forget after all these years, weren't the Skrit Na classified as "unfit" because they go from a bug to "Roswell Gray" aliens?

[@marvalice3455]

@@andrewmalinowski6673 yes! They were unfit as well

[@shingshongshamalama]

Toomin flipping his sunglasses down dramatically except we can't actually see it from this angle because he's a fucking bird is possibly the funniest damn thing in this video.

[@callapratt7927]

You forgot to mention the most crucial part of the “house” formula. “It could be lupus.”

[@codofwar666]

Or the second most crucial part of the House formula. "It's not lupus."

[@TheEnoEtile]

@@codofwar666 it's never Lupos. Except I think there was one episode were it was lupos or House actually thought it was lupos.

[@DrPantsMD]

@@TheEnoEtile There was. The title of the episode was even just "It's Lupus"

[@apex2000]

IT'S NOT LUPUS!

[@apex2000]

Sadly actually know someone who has lupus.

[@seir6506]

Finally, someone who is doing video essays about things in the series that aren't just a summary of all the bad things that happened. Also great song.

[@LordRavenscraft]

I know what Animorphs fans have been waiting for: analysis of SEC filings. But seriously, thank you! And credit goes to Scott Moore for the music! The guy's a magician.

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

@@LordRavenscraft I think you forgot the weird Visser Three being Tobias' fake cousin from "The Pretender" because to me that was the weirdest WTF moment in the story

[@ReinConversi]

It’s a crime how underrated this channel is.

[@LordRavenscraft]

We'll get there some day

[@Ulaclarewrites]

Seriously I just found this cannel and even if the content isn’t for me I watch, so well constructed and spoken. I can’t wait for the blow up!

[@tehtonym]

For real. These videos are so well done, I can't believe he doesn't have at least 100k subs

[@ProjectileGrommet]

Thick quality

[@katevgrady]

God yes I just found this channel and I am HERE FOR IT. I've watched both Animorphs videos now and have realized that I'm getting emotional about a man I just "met" describing books I read like one of twenty years ago. A+

[@fist-of-doom487]

This is why I don’t trust that a movie will work out for Animorphs. They’re so episodic and there are so many that I don’t trust they can make a coherent story, especially if they plan on making a movie series.

[@Etticos.]

I would love to make a long form high budget Animorphs show. Set in the 90s for the nostalgia points, kind of like Stranger Things and the 80s. Also unafraid to balance the youthful tones with the more serious brutal stuff. I want that so badly.

[@fist-of-doom487]

@@Etticos. we have the technology to make a better Animorphs show now.

[@dustinbrandel59]

Needs to be an anime series.

[@tristan8940]

This show would have the sickest pilot since Game of Thrones. You’d start off thinking this was Saved by the Bell, but then the crash happens and it starts to feel like this might be Power Rangers... cut to the first big fight and blood splatters and limbs fly. Shock and trauma from the get-go, and a skeleton for a huge story with satisfying arcs for..... I want to say, everyone?

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

I mean, in a perfect world, the movies would be in-universe simulations run by The Ellemist or Crayak to troubleshoot plots, that run alongside the canon series of hour, hour and a half long episodes, that eventually differentiate themselves from the books by managing to invade a simulation, pair up with themselves, and find a new awkward cliff to hang off of, but, y'know, just watching the person they cast as Ax declare war on the abominable villain demanding sheets of wrinkly green cloth to access the cinnamon buns would be pretty good, too. Aximili's Kindness, the mortal sin recorded by the Andelites for negotiating with terrorists that deny access to cinnamon buns and/or cigarette butts.

[@derekkarofsky9694]

I really need a "This is goddamn Animorphs" t-shirt to be a thing. Saves me a lot of time when my friends ask why weird stuff happens in the series.

[@yaitz3313]

With respect to book 32, it's also a nice break before TOBIAS GETS VIVIDLY TORTURED FOR HALF A BOOK.

[@4ncientGu150]

I forgot about that book :( Poor Tobias

[@SibylWhisp]

EXACT one I was thinking of, that shit was dark.

[@Blackspidy619]

Book 33, actually. The Illusion. I have a funny story about that book. Long story short, it helped me cope in hard times. I used to live in the USA, and this series was one of my favorites. I couldn't afford the books, but my school had a big chunk of the collection and I was making my way through them, complementing with the library's books on the collection when applicable. I decided to start my collection where i was at the time, book 33. Then my parents decided to move back to their third world country because they were/are very misguided individuals. I hated it. Hated it! I still kinda do. The culture shock, the viciousness of the kids in my school, the loss of my first crush/love to a move, all because my parents were homesick about a large house in a horrible country. My only animorphs book was a token of what I had lost. The ruins of a would-be empire. So much potential, LOST. But I read it anyway. For old time's sake. Tobias' torture felt to almost embody how I felt inside, and the moment that girl decided "you can steel yourself against pain, so what if I alternate between pain and pleasure?" it was real. REAL in the sense that I had good times snuck here and there, but I still cried myself to sleep. I would have friends, but they never really understood. I was around family, but they judgmental douchebags. And so I would read the book and cry. Cry to commiserate. Cry to let out my feelings and my grievances to a bird being tortured by a blonde amputee... And I slowly made it through that rough time. And now, even after all these years, I'm still stuck in a shitty country, but I see the light. I see the way out and I'm just a few steps away from being back in a place where I can persue my interests, where I can live without fear of judgemental family members and maybe find love. And when I'm finally back, one of the first things I'll do is order the whole collection on ebay.

[@mangaanimefan3089]

It's been so long, there's so much of these books I don't remember. I don't remember how he got caught, who exactly Taylor was, that the torture took up half the book, but one of the parts I do remember(unfortunately)was Tobias finally breaking down and begging her to stop and that he'd tell her everything. I can't remember why she didn't hear that or react to it, but I remember how upsetting it was to see Tobias break like that. That he reached his limit and couldn't think about the consequences anymore. I don't remember if they killed Taylor or not. I think Rachel wanted to but I don't know if they did.

[@shakkeappeal]

@@Blackspidy619 I love your story..I’m wishing you hope & happiness for all you desire!

[@WolfHreda]

The repeated refrain of, "And a lesser story would. But this is God. Damn. Animorphs" is delightful.

[@ChesuMori]

Remember that time a book was set on a US Navy ship, and the ghost writer just decided that all the male characters loved military hardware, and Jake had an encyclopedic knowledge of the specific class of ship they were on? Good times...

[@tonoornottono]

wonder if the ghost writer was a man who liked military hardware

[@pauldecker4630]

Yeah thinking about that one again it is weird. But then it does kind of get overshadowed by threatening nuclear annihilation.

[@ChesuMori]

@@pauldecker4630 I don't know if I didn't notice as a kid or if that's just one of the books that I didn't read, but it really stood out when I reread the series a few years ago. My first thought was that it read like fanfiction with the author forcing their own interests into it. Also, I feel like they'd always treated morphing humans as kinda taboo, but in that book they all just kinda do it without a second thought.

[@justinhall7214]

@@ChesuMori Yeah, like throughout the rest of the series they make a big deal about not morphing sentient creatures, even being really uncomfortable about how close dolphins come.

[@TheFanoren]

Its been like 20 years, and i didn't read all the books. Which one was this because it sounds hilarious

[@woot12598]

You hooked me with Liars Dice and now here I am, watching two hour long videos about a book series I barely remember. Thanks KZbin, but unironically.

[@FaylunaRaRa]

Same thing happened to me today... He has a bit of a Billiam feel to his KZbin channel... Went from Pirates of the Caribbean music to cool antagonist scenes form the movies to his Liars Dice video and finally Animorphs oddly enough...

[@possums154]

same, watched the liars dice vid and saw the video before this, decided to watch during my online school, and now i'm here.

[@jennygarcia3769]

i was so convinced this video had a couple hundred thousand views because it’s on the same level of quality as all the other video essays i absolutely adore. you’re doing wonderful, thank you for scratching the animorph’s itch that has been plagued me since the fourth grade, you’re doing god’s work

[@wontonvylence]

Correction: The Ellemist's work

[@khanyoueven]

I found this series in my fourth year in school too lol

[@DecisiveZoom]

Everyone: Being a leader is difficult it is full of stressful decisions that could explode in your face Helmacrons: Cant fuck up if you're dead. Me: Yeah that tracks. How do I sign up

[@Delphineas]

Wait. Book FAIRS?! I just remember a monthly book order catalog. That my teacher ended up buying some books for me at my parent's...insistence? Because they didn't want me buying Animorphs... Edit:Holy shit, I forgot about the humor of Cassie becoming a nothit caterpiller, metamorphosing, and Ax's just casual . And the idea that the war hasn't gone on for millennia or even centuries, but mere DECADES.

[@larsnyman2455]

Man, y’all had monthly book fairs, Y’all had it lucky in the 90s

[@anthonynorman7545]

Now there's the internet...

[@qwinlyn]

@@anthonynorman7545 nothing beats that "oh my gods, new BOOKS!" feeling though.

[@anthonynorman7545]

@@qwinlyn and nothing feels bad like being too broke for them!

[@qwinlyn]

@@anthonynorman7545 Nah, my library always got a huge infusion of fresh books at the same time (usually the same ones) so even the poor kids got to read them.

[@anthonynorman7545]

@@qwinlyn what does that have to do with a child enjoying a book fair?

[@PeterNatale1]

I think what a lot of people miss in their critiques of the starfish Rachel book is that it forces Rachel, after regaining her full self, to really look at herself and come to terms with the fact that there are two warring personalities within her: one who would be happy to give up on the war and live as a normal person, and one who needs the war to survive, as a focus for their rage. It makes Rachel confront herself and helps to center her a little more before we get into that final arc where they all have to give up their pretense of normal life

[@koakoala2183]

I always wondered what the animorph books were about. Weird/cool book covers but I never actually got into the series. I love your coverage and I am way more interested in trying to read the series now!

[@LordRavenscraft]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@qmchale5130]

There was the time that Rachel was allergic to a crocodile And the time Jake maybe kinda was a grown-up for a while When Elfangor sired a son by going full-on exophile And Visser Three got sidetracked by technology most juvenile When Marco in the arctic morphed Nanook the friendly polar bear And Visser Three's twin brother was a cannibal tech billionaire When Cassie scared off racist losers in the time of polio And when she accidentally made a hybrid human buffalo When excess morphing mass caused them to rubber band through time and space And Jake and Cassie beat Howlers by finally getting to first base When Cassie became luggage and crash-landed in Australia And when she must assassinate termitidae regalia (Hahh, this is a lot of books...) Controllers started getting high on maple and ginger oatmeal And Rachel morphs a giant squid while Crayak tries to cut a deal Tobias gets familiar with Taylor and her brutality And Jake escapes the Amazon by fracturing causality Rachel has to take the lead, her methods are quite overkill Experiments with cows try to eliminate human free will Visser Three trapped Tobias with a fake mom and tax attorney (What...?) And fish folk from Atlantis dabble in some human taxidermy Rachel fought the Helmacrons in Marco's bod while microscopic Taxxons made peace by becoming anacondas in the tropic And so much more, it's arduous to chronicle, I must confide All the homicide and fratricide and matricide and genocide Don't know if everything was right, and the song got stuck in my head, so... here you go. EDIT: I originally got Marco's lyric mixed up. Went back and fixed it.

[@kaleidoslug7777]

This rhymes. It should have more likes. It. Rhymes.

[@MattMorency]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or modern major general. Well done good person.

[@MasonPayne]

Forgot to mention the androids in the song. But it was epic all the same!

[@Silas_MN]

I think the line actually goes " *Excess morphing mass* caused them to rubber band through time and space."

[@qmchale5130]

@@Silas_MN Thanks! I did have some trouble hearing most of it. 😁👍 Honestly had to look up the word "termitidae". 🤣

[@fingalfingal7417]

When I read the Ellimist Chronicles for the first time (as an adult, mind you), I was like “damn, this is for kids?” The “I Have No Mouth”... whole thing with the living gamer planet was so disturbing! In a series with so many disturbing things, that part really got me. (Honestly, the concept of the Ellimist was disturbing.) I loved your musical rundown of all the weird concepts in Animorphs!

[@Biittiriisi]

The ellimist animation, I can't 😂

[@IkariLoona]

That animation should be a standalone video, just the thing this channel needs to bring in the views it deserves, since a 50+ minute video may be too intimidating as an introduction to Animorphs shenanigans.

[@thunderball44]

Honestly, it's amazing 👏 Still laughing

[@d3j4v00]

Ellimist chronicles is one of the few things I didn't read in the series, I just assumed the answer was this universe is a simulation and the ellmist and kayak are playing spore multiplayer. After this rendition I realize there's slightly more to the story. Edit: autocorrect made me say kayak but I'm leaving it.

[@jamiebookclub2000]

No die hard starfish rachel fans are going to point out that that book fully demonstrates Rachel's battle with her humanity and how she is losing it through violence!! It is one of my favorites :D !!!! Loved the video!!!

[@takumirocks2041]

38:34 when he said Avatar it took me like 20 seconds to realize he meant the James Cameron movie.

[@d3j4v00]

It always does when someone mentions that movie.

[@stellamariaholeklyve2781]

ahah, i didn't even realise! (i'm in such an atla nostalgia phase rn)

[@roygoodhand1301]

...which ripped off so much from Animorphs, specifically Books 34 and 36 that for the past 12 years I've been saying that 34 + 36 = Avatar.

[@apex2000]

Earth, Water, Fire, Air ...Long ago everything changed when the Yerks attacked!

[@freelanceangel8962]

"Except Crayak has a JOKER AVATAR" might be the single most succinct explanation of Crayak I have literally ever seen and it now lives in my head rent-free

[@crazydave9938]

"It is a wonderful day in the universe, and you are a terrible gamer goose god."

[@DaleKamp]

My partner and I only realized we were both into Animorphs as children -- one year into our relationship. Thank you for these videos, it was a treat for us revisiting the series. Looking forward to any future ones.

[@chiplundsmark5936]

I always thought Animorphs would work best as a long multipart anime. One that wasn't afraid to be bloody and dark. But was still episodic. When you try to compress that much story into a movie, you get the live action Last Airbender movie... Loved the video, I still have most of the Animorph books in my garage. Unfortunately can't get my kids to read even one.

[@taqresu5865]

Animorphs is such a crazy beast to tackle. Due to its publishing nature, they are quick episodic texts that I could easily binge a handful in a single sitting (even as a young child), but so mature and nuanced that, I'm surprised they only sit in the Children's section at my local library (with absolutely no presence in the YA section). I actually binged them so much, I started to consistently dream about them. The very descriptive adjectives really sparked my subconscious, let me tell you. I had a visual basis for everything when my subconscious was free to interpret my daily dose of books (and I didn't watch the show to interrupt that process).

[@chessenthusiast]

Imagine a 65-part TV show, with no sugar-coating, no punches pulled, every book and chronicle in the main continuity made into its own episode. All the death, all the trauma, the war crimes, the tragedies, but also all the weird-ass side characters and species, like the Chee and the Helmacron and the Ellimist and Crayak. That would fucking slap.

[@storiesfromtheabyss9808]

Really wish that Adi Shankar would make an animated one similar to the Castlevania series.

[@starwarzchik112]

Imagine an Animorphs ANIME. アニモーフス？

[@thesaintlymarco]

Great to see another Animorphs video from you

[@LordRavenscraft]

I think I got at least one more in me lol

[@zareklordofthefries7858]

As I happened to just read The Stranger recently, I wanna point out that Rachel ALSO got her arm cut off by a Hork-Bajir while she was in grizzly morph in that book, although without then using the severed arm as a bludgeon.

[@joshuacollins385]

I found you because of the Liar's Dice video and I'm hooked. This might be my new favourite channel.

[@josephjarosch8739]

God *damn* part 1 brought me back to my youth. Anyone remember Warrior Cats? That one was *wild*

[@sandywolfr26]

Warrior cats is still going lol

[@EclipseDoesArt]

It’s still going and the latest arc has a leader possessed by the ghost of an incel There’s also a thriving animation community!

[@Danial_Duval]

This one of the few times I am glad the "Almighty Algorithm" recommended a video. Very well done. Also was very surprised by a lot of new Animorphs media. Like in 21:21, I was like, "Whoa! They published an Animorph GRAPHIC NOVEL!. Since when?" and also "Wha.. They're making an Animorphs Movie!?!?! ZOMG!!" So I'm going to finish this video then watch Part 1 and wait for Part 3. Yes, I'm one of those people that start the series in the middle.

[@apex2000]

Japan already had illustrated novel version of many of the books. A long while ago.

[@Griffnix]

I remember not being abel to read some of the later books and when I continued, boy was I lost. They were on the run, they could morph with their clothes on, they recruited disabled kids and there were some free Hork-Bajirs living in the woods. Now some of the books I missed, I got to read but others I didn't.

[@shelbypowell9919]

You know you can find PDFs online right?

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

I’m in the same boat. I was only able to ever find a handful of books in my elementary school classes, and I could only read some of them before I went up a grade, where I’d find a few more. Now, I only know the beginning and the end, but nothing in between.

[@Meganedere]

Oh wow, so Sweet Valley High isn't just a book series my mom made up to confuse The Babysitters Club with

[@deadinside8781]

Do you remember what either series were about?

[@Meganedere]

@@deadinside8781 I could talk day in and day out about The Babysitters' Club- it's about a gaggle of tween girls who create an agency for babysitting all over their small town and deal with the ups and downs of life including death, diabetes, love problems, and business rivalries. However, I have no idea what Sweet Valley High is about, though considering that my mom confused the two I have to assume there must be some overlap.

[@deadinside8781]

@@Meganedere Sounds kinda fun XD

[@verdancyhime]

Some of the side booms for sweet valley were weird as hell. My favorite was the one where Elizabeth has a vaguely Sapphic deep friendship with a ghost who is haunting a carnival and tries to kill her.

[@deadinside8781]

@@verdancyhime Ayyy, beggars can't be choosers. I'd befriend a ghost rn. A good one. Could do without the killing attempts.

[@OgreDLink]

Animorphs needs to come back as a late teens animation. So it can get away with a little blood and violence but still be somewhat broad

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Animorphs could live as an anime, probably. Get Gainax to do it. Tell 'em go nuts with the finale.

[@Nan-bara]

​@@aprinnyonbreak1290idk. Animorphs dont give anime vibes.

[@socialdeviant13]

The starfish book was actually one of my favorites, and Cassie and Tobias were my favorite characters. There are positive and negative traits in all of us, and they're integrated within us. Getting rid of all the "negative traits" would get rid of some "positive traits" we want to keep. So what we do is learn how to harness both traits to do the best we can.

[@CIoudStriker]

Please, I *NEED* The "Do not observe the Secret Cube" clip as a separate thing.

[@Nodim1er]

That song at the end killed me. You're awesome.

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

This makes me love animorphs even more than I already had. I barely remember reading the books as a kid, and I missed out on some. This was a great way of re-sparking what I had enjoyed so much before.

[@Plecopleco]

Very entertaining, well informed video on Animorphs! I was into the books as a kid, but I didn't read them all or know exactly happened in the conclusion of the series. Loved how crazy some of these stories can get.

[@NickyG_vz]

Same it was hard to keep track back then

[@qwinlyn]

For me it was the amount of them. There were just SO MANY.

[@trevorjrooney]

Maaaaan. The Hork-Bajir chronicles. I couldn't remember the name. I couldn't remember the name of the Hork-Bajir race. But I've randomly thought about this book for years. Definitely had a bigger impact on me than the Animorphs in general. I gotta go reread it. I read it probably ten times as a kid.

[@NovastarDoughnut]

Animorphs is a lot like the Jack kirby, stan lee FF run. Sometimes you get a simple episode of the week scifi stuff like FF fight the mole man, or dr doom swaps bodies with reed, going to the negative zone and then sometimes you get big epic sagas like the galactus trilogy or "this man, this monster".

[@deusteapot117]

"Debilitating, life long, reading addiction" I feel attacked

[@carmineknight9123]

Okay this whole video has been fantastic but i am LOSING my MIND at the Ellimist Chronicles segment xD

[@tristan8940]

I scrolled to your comment AS this was happening. Holy shit, I loved that book, and the animation is conceptually pretty close to what I imagined, haha.

[@AllenQuid]

I absolutely devoured every single one of these books as a kid and had forgotten some of the insanity. Also I never thought about it til you mentioned it but Animorphs totally radicalized me. Also My Teacher Is an Alien.

[@draggidoo]

My duck ng God dude well done. Take your time, this is good shit that needs to be explored. Those kids really went some places...

[@NachoCheeseDorito-Kun]

I grew up reading Animorphs in _Elementary_ school. It shaped my love for dark horror elements and scifi. I was the _only_ one who liked the series(or coukd read them at my level), so my third grade teacher gave me all the class copies left. They're way too beat up to read anymore. Even though it's been a decade and a half since I've read them and I haven' thought about this series since, I can still fill in the all the plot threads and crazy emotional beats as you mention them lol

[@ktgrnhig]

For my area, Scholastic mainly did book orders on a monthly basis, and would come to our schools physically only once a year. It’s how I first discovered Animorphs back in Fourth grade.

[@apex2000]

Was same here was yearly.

[@SAlam-bo3ww]

Happy I found your stuff! Can’t believe hearing an hour long video essay about a random pop culture icon from the 90s would be so gripping

[@Artemisio987]

man, animorphs was my jam as a preteen. I remember trying to learn english with the sole purpose to write to kate applegate and thank her for the books :') this really makes me want to get the audiobooks! wonderful analysis!

[@rychu6101]

27:02 there's *another* identical star trek episode (this time in voyager) where a half klingon half human is surgically separated into literally her klingon and human halves. klingon half is strong and violent and human half is weak and emotional and actually thinks things through and they have to work together to get out of a bad situation. only difference is instead of becoming one person again like kirk and rachel the klingon half straight up dies and the human half just gets her klingon dna restored i bring it up because im in the middle of a VOY rewatch and the whole episode i was thinking "damn this is just like animorphs"

[@khanyoueven]

"Who is this old guy, and more critically, does he f*ck?" And I died. XD

[@EmDub01]

I had to pause from laughter lol

[@PokePony64]

Thank god KZbin recommended these videos to me omg - Animorphs was on to those books that i had trouble keeping up with as a kid (and no one I knew wanted to read it from the covers. I had lame friends growing up omg) and knew I was missing out on something amazing everytime I saw these books in Thriftstores. Bless you man - you did an awesome job

[@alylyn3962]

You got the scholastic book fairs once a month?? We had to wait until the end of the school year to spend all of our money on weird cat posters and colour changing pens (along with the actual books for us nerds).

[@IZEASGT]

Note that the first log entry in that first Helmacron book is labeled “Posthumous Exhortation of the Emperor”, so yeah, she ded. Presumably such exhortations are (literally) ghostwritten, which is amusingly meta.

[@ledafrost]

You had me in tears with that song bit. Thank you for bringing such life back to a series I'd all but forgotten.

[@brandonjamal]

Technically Crayak shows up before Ellemist in book 6

[@derrickhaggard]

Oh right after Jake is freed from the Yeerk controlling him I remember that. Because in the book where the Howlers, and Crayak are the major antagonistic force it's revealed Jake occasionally had nightmares about Crayak after being freed from the Yeerk that was controlling him.

[@AndrewAce.]

19:05 - I'd say it's pretty damn active 🤣 25:30 - Reminds me of Marco's lobster shenanigans in the last book 29:20 - She beat that guy with her Bear Hands 45:50 - They basically no-clipped into a dev room 48:40 👏👏👏

[@lorvincent]

We never had that bookshelf. We got monthly flyers of books to choose from and purchase. Which, tbh, was also a huge deal and super exciting.

[@HenryZhoupokemon]

Thanks for the nearly 2 hours of discussion on the animorphs I honestly forgot how much I loved this series til I found these videos

[@Hatneas]

honestly the first animorphs book I ever read was literally the last one and I still somehow grasped the relationships between everyone

[@etazeta674]

“The Hork-Bajir are essentially giant deadly lizard Hobbits” is not a sentence I ever expected to exist 😂

[@mdwgx522]

My senior year of high school was 2001. A make your own t-shirt shop opened in town. My first one was black with red letters that said, "My other host is an Andalite." I had another one that on the front said, "Ellimist in training" and the back said, "Brilliant Loser." Still have both shirts and I'm still as proud of them now as I was then.

[@guard13007]

I didn't expect a song. I really appreciate it. I find myself constantly unable to summarize, so it was nice to hear.

[@wppb50]

31:50 "And that's why he's a nerd." And that is why I love him, also that he is so extra. Hey do we remember that the first Megamorphs book (one of the only ones that doesn't involve time bullshit or resets) has Rachel lose her memory when she gets hit on the head, and get it back from being hit on the head again? Just, like, some Flinstones shit.

[@frostmourne1986]

Animorphs is basically power rangers literature without targeting children under 12.

[@teamsteed1]

Yeah it is.

[@SuperSmashDolls]

...so, basically, the rest of the tokusatsu genre? (Or, hell, even some of the weirder Super Sentai spinoffs Saban never touched?)

[@randomsparrow333]

I want a full version of that Modern Major-General parody that covers every book.

[@TakiKimono]

I'm super 100% here for more Animorph content.

[@CrestofPotential]

I bought so many Animorphs and Goosebumps from my school's yearly book sale. That was an absolute highlight of my childhood

[@popcornhero]

Your animation of the Ellimist Chronicles is pure genius, well done. You should post that as a standalone video too

[@ItsAsparageese]

The Helmacrons ARE the best! They rule and are hilarious and profound! I'm so glad someone said it lol. And it's a Helmacrons book that alludes to Fantastic Voyage, which makes me overjoyed -- my grandpa was a coauthor of the original Fantastic Voyage so to see his work influencing my favorite book series absolutely made my life. (Edit: Also, he wrote a few Trek episodes including "Mirror, Mirror", so I had to add a thank you for alluding to that one! My mind gets blown every time I see how far-reaching his work still his!)

[@MystearicaClaws]

Thank you for reigniting my need to read these books. I never read all of them, only which ones I could get my hands on. (Like Marcos mom's reveal was the latest one I had read). And the Hork-Bajir chronicles is my personal favorite so far. I am currently trying to read them by timeline order, instead of publication order, so Reading the Andelite Chronicles was MIND-BOGGLING to me. And I think I have had the series end spoiled for me already (I mean, it's been 20 years, so the fact that I've avoided details is spectacular) I say as I continue watching these videos XD

[@RosheenQuynh]

I was too young to understand the nuances of The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, but I remember the romance in it. For whatever reason, that was the one thing that stuck.

[@kevintrueblood1057]

Making a comment to help with those sweet engagement algorithms. Always love hearing about animorphs from you.

[@EmberQuill]

This is the best explanation of the weird pacing of Animorphs, and now it makes sense that I was able to get into the series so much as a kid even though I read it out of order and skipped several books entirely. I managed to catch most of the important plot points, even if they weren't necessarily in the right order. 21:19 THERE'S A GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WHAT THE HECK I'M BUYING IT NOW

[@Deadlyish]

Worth watching just for the musical number at the end. The books are peak 90s and utterly nuts, but I loved them as a kid and have huge respect for the authors for not shying away from the difficult topics. Everything from the traumatising effects of warfare to the inhumane ways humans treat animals, the juxtaposition of nature's violence and beauty, and all wrapped in an expertly wielded first-person POV format that lets kids empathise with the experiences of other people going through some pretty terrible stuff. They somehow managed to balance the heartbreaking things with some zany adventures to stop it getting too overwhelming, and still touched on difficult matters and ethical dilemmas that today's pop culture seems to barely skirt around. Thanks for the trip down nostalgia avenue.

[@peaceofcrap]

I'm so glad you finally explained that Animorphs God is a gamer.

[@themoviebud1988]

I’m hyped for a third Animorphs video. You did a great job making these first two! It’s been a long time since I read this series and I had forgotten how much I loved it. Also, the Helmacrons are epic 😂

[@LordRavenscraft]

Thank you!!! Work on the third script is already underway!

[@themoviebud1988]

@@LordRavenscraft I’m very happy to hear that 😊 I know you said you didn’t wanna make this an animorphs channel, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea in terms of channel growth (I’m obviously biased, ignore that tho)

[@LordRavenscraft]

Let's be real. This was always going to be at least 40% an Animorphs channel.

[@themoviebud1988]

@@LordRavenscraft I’ll take it 😁

[@wastelanderone]

Dude, your Modern Major Animorphs song has GIVEN ME LIFE

[@amberrance4492]

Ok these videos have officially helped me make a goal to read every animorphs book again like I did when I was a kid

[@pterodactylpie8825]

It’s been so long since I read the books, it’s been nice to watch your videos and enjoy the memories coming back

[@Fireheartl]

The Hork-Bahir chronicles was my favourite story and book in the ENTIRE series.

[@Silas_MN]

This stuff is *GOLD*. Absolutely cannot wait for the next part, so I'm gonna check out the rest of your channel! Well written animorphs content that actually gets to the heart of the series in multiple aspects is sooooo hard to find. The books have been a major influence on my creative life for decades for both the weird stuff and the important stuff. Thank you so much for capturing that.

[@johnklepadlo5329]

Hearing how this was written, I'm just like, "oh, this is why Star Trek Deep Space 9 worked so well too!"

[@ChesuMori]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie ended with them receiving Ax’s message, and there being a post-credits scene with The Elemist contacting Tobias. Sequel baiting is all the rage with Hollywood adaptations. It’s possible they could find Ax right in the middle of the movie, though. The major plot points are definitely the crash, Chapman is a controller, Tom is a controller, the battle at the Yeerk Pool, and Tobias getting trapped in hawk morph... but I can easily see them trying to squeeze Ax in there somewhere. Unfortunately, I can also see screenwriters assuming they know better than the authors, and doing something like eliminating underground Yeerk Pools and just having them beam up to a ship in orbit every three days.

[@SprightlyValentino]

They could do the Yeerk pool two-thirds of the way through the movie, and then after they get beaten badly and barely escape with their lives, jump ahead a few weeks to the destruction of the truck ship from book 3 for the final act. That would show that Tobias is still capable despite being stuck as a hawk, and provide a more upbeat ending with the Animorphs managing to beat the Yeerks in a small way. The sequel could then lead right into The Message and Ax's introduction.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

I can see the through line. They want Ax on the cast ASAP. Ax is the merch character, and those are critical nowadays. He looks funny, makes weird sounds, and has memeable personality quirks. He's Animorph's Minion, its Chewbacca. Tobias can only fill it by half measure, he's too broody to be the merch character, even if a bird is easy to plaster on things. Maybe at best we're getting "worried hawk face" as a forced meme posted repeatedly by the official social media platforms. Ax is being added no later than 2/3 of the way through the first movie's runtime, even if they need time travel to do it, with just enough time for him to go ballistic over cinnamon buns before the credits, so they can put "Cinnuhmuhn Bunzuh" on shirts, sell the andelite eye stalk headbands, do the Cinnabon cross promotion, and put "Prince Jake" "Stop calling me prince" "Yes, Prince Jake" In the "lull" in the commercial, followed immediately by Ax eating cigarette butts. It's happening. It's unavoidable. The Marketing is the greatest enemy to the animorphs yet.

[@ChesuMori]

@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I honestly don't know how comedic the movie will be. I haven't seen the Power Rangers movie from a few years ago, but I expect it to be similar to whatever tone that had.

[@kelzling]

I love the first conclusion, looking forward to watching more of your videos! I only had vague memories of reading animorphs sporadically as a child in the 90s and early 2000s, now I want to go back and binge them all.

[@rebelcipher]

This channel is criminally underrated! Also nice modern major general reference.

[@wellitsureisntdale1860]

I was always too poor to buy any books so the Scholastic book fair was always depressing 👌 just walked around and looked at books I wanted 😐

[@66Roses]

You didn't even share the saddest part. Aldrea becomes a Hork-Bajir nothlit to spend her last days with Dak because she's fallen in love with him.

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Can't wait for Part 3.

[@AvgJane19]

Sigh

[@BenelB]

Dude, just wanna say thank you for making these two videos!! I was reminiscing about animorphs early this morning (couldn’t sleep) and I wound up finding your videos. Was good to see someone nerding out about the series. It was one of my favourites

[@tflo3482]

I really like your channel and this series especially. I was more of a shivers fan over goosebumps or animorphs when I was a kid. But then I found Artemis fowl...those books changed my attitude towards reading as a whole

[@ImAlsoMerobiba]

Thanks for this analysis and explanation! I think this was clear to me as a kid, buying and reading the books as the came out. Possibly only subconsciously then, but now it's something I consciously know and appreciate about the series. I've seen some new readers who had derided the series for the filler episodes, and parts of the 'formula' necessary for how it was released. They only care about the 1st version of Animorphs, the main story and they're binge reading the books all at once. I get it but I felt they are missed the larger, more beautiful story.

[@Mavakor]

This channel is so underrated. Also, I would happily listen to you talk about Animorphs forever

[@LordRavenscraft]

Thank you! I know I've got at least one more in me, but who knows beyond that?

[@lunarvisions7]

I read all these books when I was going through a bad time in middle school almost 10 years ago (late to the party but hey!), and while I pretty much remembered everything from the last video, I had forgotten about how wild the rest of the universe was. Thanks for the great videos!