Sometimes, I like to play this game with friends: What if you had to make an adaptation of ___? And recently I've been playing such a little game with other friends of mine, and the topic: Envision an animated version of the cult favorite book series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.
Yes, yes, it already had that live-action TV version on Nickelodeon (and here nearly the entire fanbase groans of the thought of that) but what if it was an animated series? For one thing, think of how much that would save on the special effects budget alone...
Even after all this time, nearly 20 years after the books first appeared and nearly 15 years after the book series ended, there's still a small yet devoted fanbase which loves it and would like to see it continue or come back. Jump back into the saga where a group of youths with the power to transform into any animal they touch use that power to fight evil alien invaders...
And considering how, at least the last time I checked, someone owns quite a few online domain names with the word "Animorphs" in them, maybe we'll get a movie someday. Who knows...
1. Setting
The original book series ran from spring/summer of 1996 for five years until spring/summer of 2001, but the adventures of the Animorphs themselves fought for three Earth years, so let's assume that they started fighting in 1996 and stopped in 1999 or 2000 or so. Maybe it would be best if it took place during that era. (I know that Scholastic has been reprinting the series with "updated" cultural references, but in my honest opinion, maybe it would be best if it stayed in that era; for one thing, can you imagine how much harder it would be for them to keep their secret with the Internet and cameras everywhere?)
This would also mean that the song list could or should comprise of songs from no later than that time (and personally, I think Pat Benatar's hit "Invincible" would be fitting for the Animorphs series, despite it technically being a song from the 1980s and not "contemporary" to the kids themselves). Oh, and I remember how the song "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz came out around the same time as the books; wouldn't that be a perfect song for a character like Tobias, who likes being a hawk? But lately I've been listening to the extremely talented and awesome Gavin Dunne and his music project Miracle of Sound, and his song "Kickback" seems eerily fitting for Animorphs, especially with lines like "the prying eyes of the parasite" and "breaking through the cages" and "all the abuse you took buried in your head" and "won't be controlled!!" (And ironically, his song "Kickback" is one of his few songs so far not based on any other IP or meant as a tribute to such.)
Yes, folks, please follow Miracle of Sound on Bandcamp and Miracle of Sound on YouTube and enjoy it. And now that I've plugged an endorsement for my new favorite musical act, back to this blog post...
2. Atmosphere
I've been looking at some animated series, and when I see Death Note or Attack on Titan or even Naoki Urasawa's Monster, I think that such a mood would be perfect for an animated version of Animorphs, because even in broad daylight, it still looks grim, gloomy and oppressive, and that would suit the paranoid mood of the Animorphs perfectly. (That doesn't mean that it needs to be in the Japanese anime style, but I'm just comparing it to those series for the sake of the atmosphere and mood.)
3. The Cast
Alright, now we're getting to the fun part: Who to cast as which character? Assuming that you had an infinite budget and could hire whoever you wanted to make up your fantasy cast, who would you choose?
Now, as for the six Animorphs themselves (and I'm counting Aximili as one of them, even if he's the Andalite and not one of the humans)...
Jake: ???
Rachel: ???
Tobias: ???
Cassie: ???
Marco: ???
Ax: ???
Well, ain't that a shame? The six main characters, the heroes themselves, and I really can't think of who should voice them. Well, fine, I can imagine Cree Summer doing Cassie (she did the voices of Susie from Rugrats, Max from Batman Beyond, and one of those kids from Kids Next Door), but beyond that, I'm stumped.
But for some secondary characters, I can think of quite a few ideas...
Kevin Conroy as Elfangor
Seth Green as Erek the Chee
Bryan Cranston as Ellimist
Keith Szarabajka as Crayak
Mark Hamill as Vice Principal Chapman and/or Drode
Morena Baccarin as Edriss 562, a.k.a. Visser One (and her human host, Eva)
Jeremy Irons as Esplin 9466, a.k.a. Visser Three (and his Andalite host, Alloran)
(Oh, and by the way, now that I'm looking over that list again, and I realize a certain irony: The thought of the cosmic rival entities Ellimist and Crayak being voiced by Bryan Cranston and Keith Szarabajka respectively, considering how both actors were also in that movie Argo. Only I can make these mental connections with that strange little mind of mine...)
So, anyone have any thoughts about it?
And here I leave you with one last tidbit, something to help prove my case of how awesome something like that could be: The original inside cover to #26, The Attack...
Can't you just feel the awesome? Look at that and tell me it wouldn't be awesome. (DISCLAIMER: The above illustration was done by David B. Mattingly and belongs to Scholastic and any and all other properties who own Animorphs.)
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