Does Netflix + Nickelodeon = Animorphs Reboot?
Aaron Netsky
Disney+ was never that tempting for me. I took the precaution of assembling a collection of my favorite Disney movies on DVD as I found them at library sales, but since I wasn’t really a Disney kid, there were few that I felt I truly needed. I was a Nickelodeon kid, which is why the news that Netflix and Nickelodeon were teaming up really piqued my curiosity. I recently started watching episodes of “Doug,” “Rugrats,” and “Hey, Arnold!” on Hulu, and I suppose those will move to Netflix, now. There’s a lot that I’m hoping pops up on Netflix, movies and TV shows. My favorite kids’ movie of all time is “Harriet the Spy,” and a nice, clear version of “Space Cases” would be great (not that I’d ever give up my VHSes). And, there will be new creations, like recent Netflix movies featuring characters from the Nicktoons “Hey, Arnold!” and “Rocko’s Modern Life.”
I don’t want to get my hopes up, but there is one particular thing I would love to see happen as a result of this partnership: a new TV adaptation of “Animorphs.”
I am not alone in my desire for a new TV adaptation of Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant’s beloved creation; articles and videos calling for it have been popping up in recent years, since the 20th anniversary of the launch of the series in 1996. There has also been plenty written about how important a series it was, from its realistically dark and violent depiction of war to how it gave trans kids a little taste of representation long before being trans started to become widely accepted. And while we do have Nickelodeon’s first TV adaptation, which has been on Netflix before and will probably return as part of this joint venture, it was never completely satisfying. I’m not a detractor; it has a special place in my heart. From the giant Hork-Bajir puppet/costume thing to those Andalite masks, it was the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the “Star Trek” original series, the William Hartnell “Doctor Who” of “Animorphs” adaptations. But all those things got their shiny new 21st century reboots, and so should “Animorphs.” Heck, J. J. Abrams can do it if he wants.
Developments in special effects technology have all been leading up to an “Animorphs” TV series, if we’re being honest. Motion capture, in its infancy during “Animorphs’” initial run, is the perfect technology for a show in which just about every major character changes form frequently. And as cool as it was to see real lions and tigers and wolves used in the original show, being able to do photorealistic animals that, again, can take at least some of their movements and facial ticks directly from the actors playing them is a major bonus, to say nothing of how beautiful Andalites and Hork-Bajir will look, and how horrific Taxxons will be. Creating entirely CGI worlds may not be preferable to filming in our own, but for creating the bleak home world of the Yeerks, it is ideal.
An “Animorphs” TV show would be “Stranger Things,” “Game of Thrones,” “Avengers,” and “Star Wars” all rolled into one. Like all popular recent YA/science fiction things, “Animorphs” comes complete with categories for its fans to sort themselves into: are you a Marco, a Cassie, a Rachel, or an Ax? Are you an Andalite, a Chee, or a Leeran? It has flawed mentor characters, overly complicated mythology, and so much room for an expanded universe. Plus, it has the benefit of already having done the thing where it ended in such a way that it pissed off the fans, so we don’t have to deal with that again (Was it how I would have ended the series? No, but it wasn’t my series to end, so it ended the way it was supposed to end, which is how the authors wanted it to end. That’s how authorship works.). There must be a sense of a demand for the return of “Animorphs:” graphic novel adaptations and audio books are reportedly in the works. A TV show should be, too.
It would be a pity if the age of the geek, which surely cannot last forever, passed without “Animorphs” getting its second shot. It was just a bit too early for the internet to take it viral and the attempted reboot of the books, with those cool lenticular covers, was also just a bit too early for the rise of Skywal…I mean, the rise of geek culture. The diverse cast of characters should give every fan someone to project themselves into. Environmentalist themes hover just below the surface, except when it’s a Cassie-centered story, in which case they are front and center, and what it has to say about war always bears repeating. And there are so many beautiful stories, particularly in the “prequel” novels about how the threat of the Yeerks came to be.
In the past few years, I re-collected and read every “Animorphs” book, and in every single one I saw so much potential for the screen, which I mentioned in every one of my write-ups on my personal blog. I even did some fantasy casting. Since I finished the series, I’ve cooled it on the calling for a new adaptation, but this week’s news renews my hope. It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen, but it feels rather like the home worlds are aligning. And if it does, I’d love to be a fly on the wall during production…which I could be, if I were an Animorph.
Aaron Netsky (@AaronNetsky on Twitter, @aaron_netsky on Instagram) is a singer, writer, actor, and all-around theatre professional who has worked off and off-off Broadway and had writing published on AtlasObscura.com, TheHumanist.com, Slate.com, StageLightMagazine.com, and ThoughtCatalog.com, as well as his own blogs, Cantonaut (http://cantonaut.blogspot.com) and 366 Musicals (https://366days366musicals.tumblr.com), and his Medium account. His first play, "Museum of the Offensive," recently received a reading at the New Circle Theatre Company.