Animorphs: The Comedy

Tweet from the Co-Author of the Animorphs series

Update: I made a mistake. Rachel kills Tom as well as his Yeerk.

Animorphs is my favorite series of all time. It is one of those book series that you can read as a kid and then as an adult while getting something out of it both times. So it should be obvious that I really want a good movie/tv show adaptation. Something to show my husband that will perfectly explain why the series means so much to me.

But a potential upcoming movie might be worse than the Nickelodeon show. I know, I was surprised to ever write such a sentence myself. I also was never prepared to hear about a potential Animorphs movie that takes place after the war and is a comedy.

How the Books Ended (The Simplified Version)

Animorphs doesn't end with the heroes having no emotional scars. It hits hard even as an adult because, just like the rest of the series, no victory is easily won. Even when fighting a war that needs to be fought, things take a toll on our group of heroes. So just because the Yeerk Invasion of Earth has been stopped, it doesn't mean that time period is ripe for comedy gold.

Just like in real life, not everyone survives in war. In an attempt to stop Tom's Yeerk, Rachel sneaks into the Blade Ship. She dies before she is able to kill the Yeerk and her body is found in space a little time after the final battle. Due to Tom's assassination being ordered by Jake, Tobias blames him for his girlfriend's death.

Years after Earth has been freed of the Yeerk Invasion, Prince Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (aka Ax) is reported to be in need of rescue. For the first times in years Tobias talks with Jake and agrees to go on the mission. Marco, an Andalite, and some trainees also agree to go on the mission.

Animorphs ends on a cliffhanger, but it is heavily implied that all the Animorphs but Cassie are dead.

Making Animorphs a Comedy Post-War Doesn't Make Sense

Turning Animorphs into a comedy doesn't work on multiple levels. For starters most of the cast is dead by the end of the books. While Cassie is a great character, none of the Animorphs can hold a movie on their own. Especially the first movie adaptation of the series.

Now in the final book there are a few years between when the Yeerks have been defeated and all the remaining Animorphs but Cassie go off to try and rescue Ax. But even if the movie is set during that time period, it still wouldn't make sense to turn the series into a comedy.

During the series Jake and Cassie became romantically involved with each other. However, after the war the pair breaks up. This because Cassie is strong enough to realize that being with Jake isn't good for her. That the boy she fell in love with is metaphorically dead.

Tobias, the fan favorite of the series, has retreated into the mountains to live life as a hawk. Until he needs to rescue Ax, his uncle, he doesn't communicate with anyone. So he can't be used as a character for the movie.

The only characters who could hope to make the movie a comedy are Marco and Ax. The only problem is that the two are having serious issues of their own. Marco is at first glad he found fame and fortune, but he soon feels like there's a hole in his life. Ax has risen from the rank of an Aristh to a Prince. But due to his time with the Animorphs, he finds he no longer fits in with his own people.

The final nail in the coffin for this rumor not turning into reality, hopefully, is that it's just not a good financial investment. For this last bit I'll be looking at the pure black and white of this situation.

This Animorphs rumor feels like they want to attach the name to an unrelated script. This can be successful, notably with a good majority of the Die Hard movies. A lot of those movies began life as unrelated scripts and were only later turned into an entry in the Die Hard series.

Animorphs is, hands down, my favorite series. For some years I left the series behind and returned when I was an adult. The series is now tied to my very being. The journey through the series is one I'll never get tired of taking.

However, Animorphs isn't that popular. More people are talking about the series as of late, but not enough for a studio to turn a profit by attaching the name Animorphs to an unrelated product. Heck, even I, Robot (2004) still had robots, a murder mystery, and the three laws of robotics.

Those are my opinions on how idiotic it is to turn Animorphs into a comedy. Comment below with your opinions about the Animorphs movie adaptation drastically switching genres.

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