Ranking Animorphs Book 4: The Message

[@ani_anonymuncle]

Also: Arguably the reason Cassie is the other one to hear Ax is answered in Megamorphs 4.

[@krscartwright4951]

Still a crime you haven't hit 1k yet. I blame the helmacrons..

[@marcellom]

I also blame the helmacrons. It seems like the videos have made their way into the algorithm somehow though, because the sporadic drip of new subscribers has turned into a slow trickle over the last month, for which I am grateful.

[@krscartwright4951]

@marcello all praise the ellimist. Must have yeeted your videos straight into the algorithm, huzzah 🙌🏽

[@meravl7615]

I mean... The whale could BE Ellimist?.... 🤷‍♀

[@SanguineQuest]

re: the idea of the whales coming to the rescue being "a stretch" and too deep into mysticism, you have to take into account the context of the time these books were written in. 1996 was still right in the middle of a wave of enormous romanticism regarding whales and dolphins in American society. The question of the ethics of acquiring and using these morphs is inexorably linked with the fact that Cassie is able to make a sort of psychic connection with one of them and communicate in something similar to but clearly different from Andalite thought-speech and the fact that they appear to fight an alien space-whale and/or answer a friendly dolphin's call for help. It's all from the same root, the idea that whales and dolphins are secretly sentient beings, or have the potential to be as or more intelligent than humans. Fiction at this time speculated constantly about Whale song and dolphin clicks being a fully-fledged language, and the stories in question did not have to be mystical in nature to include such elements. 8 years earlier STAR TREK made an entire movie on the premise that whales had some kind of connection to an alien race and were the only thing that could stop their space probe from destroying the earth, and shortly after that Gene Roddenberry included an entire system of water tubes on the blueprints for the Enterprise D because he imagined their crew included dolphins who assisted the ship in navigating three-dimensionally. 1993-1996 TV also included a scifi show called Seaquest DSV where one of the titular Future Submarine's crew members was a dolphin equipped with a thing that let it speak human language. Applegate including the whale and dolphin weirdness isn't her leaving the scifi adventure genre, it's just her making Painfully 90s Scifi Adventure. Ironic considering the part of the video when you commented on the Baywatch and VHS references, don't you think?

[@marcellom]

Wow that is a great point. I had buried all memories of that specific facet of nineties culture, but now that you mention it I do remember my mom going on and on about how magical whales were after this one Oprah episode or something

[@danielsc9102]

This explains so much! Thanks for sharing this. I didn't grow up in the US.

[@AcReviews.]

A fruit bat. They’re majestic, and super cute and love eating fruits. Just like me.

[@lilithlucifina]

I'd morph a fennec fox: quick, not to small, smart, able to defend itself, and cute.

[@ani_anonymuncle]

My vote for weirdest Animorphs mysticism is Ghost!Aldrea, but it is wild that we just canonically have sentient whales on our planet.

[@ReniseJ]

Omg I just started listening to each book!!!

[@froggy-tq6xk]

After 20 years, I finally just finished the series, and starting back at the beginning with this series has been such a catharsis.

[@danielsc9102]

Your vids are taking me back! 👍👍 LOVING your take on these nostalgic books, Marcello. Keep it up! 🙌😎 It's even inspiring me to get back to the drawing board and finish my old Ani-comic book fan project. 🙏🥰

[@marcellom]

More animorphs fan art please! It's like my favorite part of the fandom, definitely share when you feel ready

[@ixonia]

thank you so much for making these, i love these videos. after watching a few of your videos i tried to pick up animophs to re read them, but i could not keep my attention on them! you re telling the story is so much more interesting for my brain

[@drtaint]

Cassie's inner conflict about morphing dolphins made me think of the argument that pirating music, movies, whatever, is theft. Making a copy of someone else's property is different from removing their property away from them so they can no longer use it. In other words, Cassie wouldn't download a car.

[@marcellom]

I had the same exact thought while writing the script

[@loganbigmo]

I have most of the series, but book 4 is one of the very few I'm missing, that I haven't been able to acquire. I have the reprint version, but not the original 90s. So I'd like to enter this contest! If I could morph into one animal, I think it'd be the gorilla. Still very humanoid but also very strong. Also as for the references, I don't think they should be updated much. Animorphs isn't meant to be timeless, it's meant to be in the 90s. The whole "we can't trust people whereas everyone else can" "We can't expose this war, America doesn't have any enemies and can't fathom a war" places Animorphs after the Cold War but before 9/11. Also being able to morph without worries of HD camera technology or being caught by smartphones or CCTV makes this a pre-modern day story. (and as a last point, the Animorphs actually did not have the seagull morph at that point on the beach, hence why they morphed trout)

[@danielsc9102]

THIS! 💯 I highly concur with your points about 'updating the material'.

[@marcellom]

Heyhey 🎉🎉🎉 you win a copy of the message @loganbigmo, I just put contact info in a community post for you to send me an address

[@loganbigmo]

@@marcellom oh wow, thank you!

[@mishmash3927]

I was coming to comment the same thing. I SO agree with you. The animorphs can really only take place in the 90s in Pre-9/11, Post-“End of History”.

[@mishmash3927]

I don’t think it’s a stretch actually. I was just reading a book about marine life the other day, and some whales (I think humpback?) will rescue other animals from orcas and sharks and the like. It’s hypothesized that their drive to protect their young sometimes extends to other animals being preyed upon by shared predatora

[@braydenb1581]

Ugh and I'm stuck at work doing OT. Can't wait to craxk this one open. Thanks for uploading man! Keep up the good work. Once the film comes out this channel will pop

[@zaneriddle3923]

I binged your videos over the last couple days and love em. Might be time for a reread of the books myself.

[@themarvelanddcmarshlands]

They hold up rather well

[@gideondisu1295]

I have been waiting forever for a new Animorphs video! Can we expect more regular video updates now? Love your channel btw

[@marcellom]

Thank you! Yes, probably 😅

[@chrisschurke4151]

Initially I was a little miffed that the Animorphs are getting latter day edits, but now that I think about it, dated references do limit the audience, and modern kids should get into Animorphs too! And it kinda makes the copies that I have feel a bit more special.

[@chaseredmoon407]

Absolutely wonderful. I love Cassie. I love all the Animorphs. The characters are just so interesting to learn about and how it all ties together is so interesting. The following is a spoiler for The Attack: The fact that Cassie and Jake kissing caused Crayak to drop the howlers as his game playing assassins was pretty out there. It's furiously optimistic.12 year old me loved me. I still love it now. Can't wait for more!

[@marcellom]

Yeah The Attack has always been a favorite, what a great book in so many ways. I also loved how they solved the Howler problem, definitely optimistic though. Plus Cassie and Jake *spoiler* kiss

[@braydenb1581]

The visser 3 narrow mindedness is very interesting. He is very open minded and intelligent in the side books. But its sort of like he is obbessed with how superior the andalites are and then loses his interest in orher species once he has become / conquered what he seems to think are gods. And then just gets full of himself and looks down on anything else. Itd have been interesting to see more on this. For morphing. I would have asked for taxoon as when this contest was going on, there was no art for taxoon and i wanted to see how they look. Sorry for mass texting your videos haha i just really look forward to a good area to talk about my favourite YA books. Keep it up!

[@marcellom]

Mass commenting always welcome. That's super funny that you would have chosen taxxon for that reason, but it does make sense. I had a hard time picturing the hork bajir for the longest time

[@braydenb1581]

@marcello you know what I love about animorphs? They don't stop the action to describe everything. Love it. But this has some interesting outcomes. I forget what book my first was but the taxoons were just described as a large bug with a mouth full of teeth. My mental image of a taxoon is so far off from the official art. For me... in my mind... Horks are just raptors with blades glued to them

[@quiblydanger427]

So glad I found the channel!

[@matthewallred2166]

I would morph into the forbidden animal. A human.

[@shingshongshamalama]

I mean _technically_ a dolphin is a fish. So are all cetaceans. So are all mammals. So _technically_ it's correct.

[@Hollowmello1285]

I mean they had the morphing for like a week or so cassie and others don't know the limits yet

[@matthewterlaga3022]

It’s a shame these videos don’t have more views and your channel doesn’t have more subscribers, but as long as you keep talking about Animorphs, I will keep watching

[@marcellom]

Thanks dude! I'm not worried, just focusing on constantly making the videos better and hopefully uploading more consistently, the views will come. I'm also very happy with the viewers I have, yall are a great bunch

[@ktgrnhig]

I think Jake wanted to simplify it as Cassie’s decision because at this stage in the series, Tobias literally can’t participate in the mission.

[@naysayer8732]

maybe whale telepathy was actually the ellimist 👀

[@Grace-ix6oc]

On my opinion about revising/adapting books to fit our more current times, I think that both copies of revised copies and original copies can both be in circulation. Now with being able to read books online and e books, there is no longer an issue of being able to print a limited copy of books. You can easily have the original copy and revised copy both circulating. It would be great if the revised editions would explicitly say that they are revised editions on the covers and in the contents of the book. (Like for example, the new Harry Potter covers with new illustrations, as well as the contents of the books being changed for grammatical reasons.) Even though you make a good point on saying for authors to have a say if they want their books to be revised while they are alive or dead, there are other authors who we'd never be able to get their opinion on the matter. (e.g Lewis Caroll, Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, etc.) since they are long gone. I'm not referring to their works being in public domain and people basing their content and drawings on the authors' books, but the books themselves when being copied. Editions that may 'correct' the story by changing words to not make the book sound as dated, should explicitly state that they revised the book, rather than have the tiny statement hidden in the book. I feel that having more transparency about if they adapted the novels would help a lot and would result in a less people feeling cheated that they didn't get the 'real copy' as well as making it easier to compare the original to any revisions that are made. With the digital era we are living in, I think it's possible to have both at the same time if there is more clarity provided on the subject. People can figure out if they like revised copies since it might make it easier to read the story, or if they want to be drawn into the time period the authors were in even if it might be dated. I personally like to read books without revisions. When authors refer to places, dated references, and names that kind of faded into obscurity, i like to look it up and learn about it later, enriching my knowledge. That's just my personal opinion, I may not be taking other things into account or viewpoints. Also, hope your channel continues to grow and that you get more followers! There are 54 Animorph books (just counting the original series and not the branch of books like time travel and alternate timelines) so be sure to take your time and not feel rushed!

[@marcellom]

Yeah I agree with you. I tried to provide a pretty balanced view in the video, ironically because I want my videos to appeal to a broad audience, and because I didn't really want to make the video debate fodder for anyone. My personal preference would be that nothing be changed, ever. I don't trust anyone to assess whether something is appropriate, or worthy of changing, so it should be left alone. When it comes to authors and their own work, though, I have a pretty easy time letting it go because at the end of the day, it's their work. I don't know how KA actually feels about the edits, my assumption is that she approved them because that falls in line with a lot of how she presents herself online. At the end of the day, I can respect that, as well as the reasons for doing so. But there is a reason my collection is all first editions lol

[@Grace-ix6oc]

@@marcellom Yeah. Hope your channel grows! Also, with the whales, I did find it out of place in the books. The whales appear in the books a couple more times and they are shown to almost be cosmic beings of intelligence where they are able to talk back to Cassie and be extremely self-aware of themselves, even more so than in this book. I don't remember which books they were in, but I found that very odd in the series. It would've made sense if, maybe, K.A explained in a book the whales' superior intelligence. Maybe through the machinations of the Ellimist or some other reason for them to stand out. There are other mystic incidences in the books too. Some I can recollect is when Cassie went to Australia and when they met the Inuit person and his son. I found those books a little confusing and not my favorite in the series.

[@marcellom]

@@Grace-ix6oc Yeah the Cassie in Australia one was always a low point for me, although I'm curious how I'll feel about it this time around. Someone in another comment pointed out that the 90's were like, peak whale-obsession times, and I do remember there being a whole lot of speculation about just how intelligent whales and dolphins actually are during that period, so maybe it's just a product of the time.

[@Luke-ow9ku]

I disagree with the analogy of morphing being like Yeerks dominating hosts. On the few occasions they morph humans, they don't have to fight for control because they are the same old familiar instincts they've had their entire lives. There isn't another mind in their heads. When they lose control of a morph, its because they aren't used to the instincts of the animal. Also, I would morph a wombat because they are built different. No need to send me a book. My collection is complete.

[@marcellom]

One perusal of the Wikipedia page for wombats later, I am wealthy with knowledge. Thank you sir 😄

[@themarvelanddcmarshlands]

Please tell me you're bringing this series back 🙏

[@braydenb1581]

Spoiler for book 40: Did you notice that this kind of calling is the same sort of connection that the two andalites in book 40 have. How they can feel one another no matter where on the planet they are and communicate with emotion

[@marcellom]

I hadn't made that connection but it definitely tracks. It makes sense that a species who already communicates entirely via thought would have a greater infrastructure of communication styles that fit along those lines though

[@braydenb1581]

@marcello the tech Ax uses likely was a tech designed from whatever that connection is. Your comment on Ax becoming an asshole is so true. I'm not a very politically correct person. I'm like Marco in book 40. I may make jokes at others expenses in private but I would NEVER see them as less than any other human being for things about themselves they have no control over. I was cheering when Marco ripped into Ax when Ax was being hateful to the disabled andalite. I also love that they had Ax sort of grow but still remain as jerkish as he can be. His comment about remembering the andalite for the person he used to be was a good "middle ground" growth wise for a story that took place over a few days I do like seeing Ax evolve and sort of become more open and human but also he seems to become more jerkish too. He is a complicated blue deer

[@rakino4418]

I haven't read these books in over 20 years. Question - does Ax have any morphs of aliens he can use?

[@monicap8561]

Re: editing published works to update for modern sensibilities I'm 100% against it. As with Dahl's books being edited, I think Philip Pullman said "let them die, read better books" or smth like that with yes absolutely let's read better books by modern authors addressing modern problems instead of editing older books to match modern sensibilities BUT ALSO I think any attempt to divorce a text from it's context will harm the text. Dahl's books were written by a specific person with specific sensibilities and concerns in a specific point in a time and editing The Witches for instance to try and leave behind his anti-Semitism will make the text itself incoherent. I think the same of the animorphs. As much as Applegrant might like them to remain accessible, I think any attempt to edit out the 90s-ism of them would harm the text. Animorphs doesn't make sense without the mall as a location and how would the books be edited to fit a world where many malls stand empty? I think re-adaptions of the text to fit a new context like the graphic novels are a great way to have the best of both worlds.

[@gideondisu1295]

As cool as tiger or lion or any big predator morph might be, its simply not practical in the real world. Any animal that provides utility orn avigatory advantages might prove more useful.I will probably pick a bird morph(maybe an eagle cos I dont want to be prey for a predator) simply so I can visit different countries

[@marcellom]

Yeah polar bear was my child choice, I'd definitely go for a bird of prey now. Although goose would probably be best for traveling lol

[@gideondisu1295]

@@marcellom i thought of it as well but there are just so many things that can take them down so I stuck to the safer option

[@marcellom]

@@gideondisu1295 ah yes good point. plus people hunt geese

[@braydenb1581]

​@marcello geese have seasonal hunting so might not be a big deal but it bugged me they didn't do duck's or geese when trying to meet up as no one suspects a duck or geese moving around a city. They always travel in their V together together

[@billhutchinson6318]

​@Brayden B in the very late books they grab some duck morphs and someone mentions "why the hell haven't we been doing this the whole time‽" PS: I would want to aquire a spider monkey in terms of utility. It can travel easily in human or natural environments, it can use most human tech, doesn't have to worry too much about predators.

[@RosheenQuynh]

Snow leopard because favoritism lol

[@thegamefn]

What is the settings of this book? Fastttttt

[@braydenb1581]

My take on updating for modern audiences is AppgleGate goes out of her way to toss in slang and stuff going on at the time thats popular. Almost to an annoying degree but never really becoming annoying. Like if radio sack goes under, update the name to tech store or a real brand. Thats fine. Where i have issues with updating to modern audiences is when they add modern politics. Id hate to see "based" or "woke" type language added to speech for example. Even if the language added was what i agreed with