It looks like one of the hottest YA book series of the 1990s is about to get a major new life as a Disney+ TV show!
There's a new wave of YA projects coming to the small screen. Disney+ has Percy Jackson and the Olympians, while HBO is producing a new Harry Potter series. Even more are in various stages of development, like Disney's Eragon.
Now, Variety has broken the news that Disney+ is planning a new live-action series based on the popular 1990s Animorphs book series. Bayan Wolcott is attached to write and executive produce the project. Hot off his Oscar win for Sinners, Ryan Coogler will also executive produce alongside Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler for Coogler's production company Proximity Media, alongside Caitlin Friedman of Scholastic, who published the original books.
The official logline for the show is that it “follows a group of teenagers who uncover a hidden threat lurking beneath their everyday lives, all while juggling relationships, curfews, and the chaos of High School.”
This is big news for the novels’ millions of fans who have long awaited a new take on a story that has everything needed for a hot TV show!
Why is Animorphs so beloved that it needs a new show?
Begun by Katherine Applegate in 1996, Animorphs follows five teenagers (Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias) who discover a dying alien from the Andalite race who crashed on Earth. The Andalite tells them that Earth has been secretly invaded by the Yeerks, a parasitic race who take over human hosts and are paving the way for a full takeover.
The Andalite gives the teens the power to morph into any animal by absorbing their DNA, which they use to fight this secret war. They’re later joined by another young Andalite, Ax, as they keep their secret while unsure who they can trust.
The property ran from 1996 to 2001, with 54 books in the main series and several companion novels, selling over 35 million copies worldwide. Nickelodeon produced a live-action series from 1998 to 2000, featuring a young Shawn Ashmore.
The series more than deserves a new life for the 21st century. First of all, CGI has become far better today, which would make the morphing effects work much better, and so the scenes of the kids as animals will come off more dramatic. The overall idea of a pack of friends fighting evil invaders will appeal to fans of shows like Stranger Things and other YA shows.
However, book readers know that while the series seems like the standard YA fare, it gets much darker as it goes. One Animorph is trapped in the form of an eagle, the heroes will often lose as the Yeerks gain power, and the concluding novel includes several character deaths. It’s not a “kiddie” show by any means, with real stakes that a Disney+ series can capture vividly. That's not mentioning the addition of teen angst and issues that weren't addressed in the 1990s.
With the built-in fanbase, mixed with Disney’s budget and the growth of YA fandom, here’s hoping this new version of Animorphs transforms into another hit. We'll be on the lookout for more updates.