With all the Q&As that we’ve been having, I thought it was time to update on some of the information that we’ve gotten from K.A. & Michael so far.
RE-RELEASE DETAILS:
From AFF:
Well, we’ve been told that Scholastic will release some books from ANIMORPHS classic in Spring 2011. How many books? Don’t know.
We have briefly discussed the possibility of a 55th book. Or a second series, an ANI reboot. But nothing has been decided and as weird as it is, it’s not our call. It’s up to Scholastic. And bear in mind that thanks to the turnover in the industry there is no one at Scholastic who was around for the first run.
From RAF:
We’re happy about a re-release. With some caveats.
Our preference would be for a book re-release of a limited number of books — there’s no way they can redo all the books in paper — accompanied by an e-book re-release of all the books. In an ideal world we’d see e-books going out for $3.99 or so.
From RAF, about the editing changes:
We don’t know how much updating there will be. We hope there will be some but honestly Scholastic doesn’t talk to us much. The decision is entirely theirs. Yes, this sounds a little odd, but right now that’s where it stands. None of the people who were at Scholastic during ANIMORPHS are there now — our editor Tonya Martin is long gone, and the boss of bosses, the series queen herself, Jean Feiwel, (Goosebumps, Babysitters Club, Animorphs) now runs an imprint at Macmillan.
The editors there now are not very familiar with ANIMORPHS. Although we think they’re familiarizing themselves with the series.
The biggest updating problem by the way isn’t Offspring (which admittedly did not hold up over time) but the ubiquity of cell phones and especially smart phones. They’d screw up many a plot point.
ANIMORPHS 2.0, IF IT WERE TO HAPPEN.
From AFF:
The monthly series idea is kind of dead now because of the economics involved. So if there is an ANIMORPHS 2.0 it won’t be the killer grind of 14 books per year, it would probably be 2 per year, maybe a bit longer. So most likely we’d do the work ourselves. Of the original series we wrote the first 24, the last 2, and all the MEGAS and CHRONICLES. Plus probably 15% of the ghosted books. Plus of course the outlines for ghosted books. While we were writing ANI we became parents for the first time — the real-life Jake — and that kind of knocked us on our butts in terms of keeping up.
TV / MOVIE UPDATE:
The TV/movie situation looks fairly hopeless for Animorphs at the moment. GONE might have higher chances of this happening, however neither series has made much progress so far.
From RAF
We’d love to see a movie. We’d be working to that end but Scholastic has essentially shut us out of any discussion or consideration of such a thing. We are not updated, we are not consulted or involved.
Michael has a great deal more involvement in and control over movie prospects for GONE than we have over ANIMORPHS.
From AFF:
As for TV or movie again, we’re all for it. But Scholastic literally does not talk to us about this. If you get the idea we’re frustrated by this situation you’d be correct.
So there you have it. However, the one last thing I do want to add to this update is the question that was raised by K.A & Michael in the previous post, about the possible re-release of Animorphs in an e-book format. I have set up a discussion topic for this on our forum, so feel free to use it and discuss it there. I know that both authors are very much looking to hear the opinions of their fans on this.
That about covers it for now, I believe. Please let me know if I’ve missed anything, or provided an incorrect source. I’ll be sure to update on this as I hear more. Until next time! 
Interesting…thanks for the update.
Comment by Justin — March 4, 2010 @ 6:49 pm
What? Modernize Animorphs with edits? Unspeakable!
Comment by Asrialys — March 11, 2010 @ 9:18 am
I’d have a lot more confidence in all this if KA actually had some input…
Comment by EnrEEco — March 15, 2010 @ 5:55 pm
I personally hope that there will, in fact, be edits in the reprint. Don’t get me wrong – I want the option of having the complete original text for eBooks, so very badly, since I will not be able to take 64 books with me to college. I want to get a Nook and have Animorphs on there.
But I also want the next generation to get interested in Animorphs, and there’s just too much that kids today don’t really get in the cultural context, I think. I know many kids that are completely bonkers for Animorphs. But many get “bugged.” I had a kid ask me why the children on the cover were dressed like from the 50s, which made me laugh a lot. Right before they asked me if Rachel was a girl or a boy.
I sort of feel like if there was a reboot of the series, more in-depth but over a longer period of time would be good. But (as much as I love the old characters and would not mind some of them taking part) I think it should try to be a new story, like Star Trek does, instead of trying to remake the old story. But that’s just if making a new series was a long term goal
Sorry I posted it here – I don’t do well on forums!
Comment by Sarah — March 15, 2010 @ 9:35 pm
Also, if there are edits, a “collector’s eBook package” with the original and new text available for us big fans, I think we might go a bit over $3.99… But maybe that’s just me! Here’s to hoping Scholastic actually listens a bit….
Comment by Sarah — March 15, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
I’m very, very interested, regardless of the format. E-books, regular books, re-releases, whatever. Of course, if this “2.0″ idea goes through, with brand-new stories being written by Ms. Applegate, that would be even better!
As for appealing to current young adult readers, I don’t think that will be a problem. There are tons of far older books that are still immensely popular with kids. If the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are still going strong (even the original ones, from well over 50 years ago), I’m pretty sure Animorphs can still hold its own. Kids read old books. And kids are smart. As long as they know when it was written, they won’t be too confused or put off by the lack of cell phones and so on.
As far as new books are concerned, I’m trying to think of a way to continue the story/continuity without the reader needing to be familiar with all of the old stories. New characters would be okay, so long as there is some explanation of what happened before (maybe even occasional appearance of the original characters…).
Anyway, it’s been done before (a previous commenter mentioned the various incarnations of ’star trek’), and I have no doubt that Ms. Applegate could make a second series work very well if Scholastic gives her the opportunity. Here’s hoping!
Comment by Aaron — March 21, 2010 @ 12:42 am
[...] movie/tv updates regarding Animorphs, sadly. As Michael & K.A have previously stated in their Q&As, it’s a decision entirely in Scholastic’s hands, which apparently they aren’t [...]
Pingback by STATUS REPORT » Habbo.com – Michael Grant Interview (Re: Movie Update) — May 30, 2010 @ 10:12 pm
i have to agree with most that was said above. a ton has changed in the past decade, which makes it harder to actually go by the books on a few of the parts. the cell phones are obviously smaller here in 2010 than the dinos we had in the 90s, and another advancement that would obviously hinder would be the faster internet. it may not seem very important, but does anyone remember the episode on Nick where Marco morphs back from a dog, and someone films him do it? i mean, we have youtube now, which means that communication is better, and chances are, that piece of footage would have been much harder to make disappear. technological achievements in the near future we should make sure doesn’t throw a wrench into the works either.
As for the continuation of Animorphs after the originals, it would be going out on a limb if Applegate refused to assist in making other books or story lines, so im not in favor of that either….
i think it would be best if the whole thing just restarted. the 90s series version was essentially a flop, because it obviously ended abruptly. so, start over, and try to find new characters, as painfully time-consuming that would be…. but it is the logical course of action. the original characters, like the original Rachel could be used to play as the “future” Rachel, and such is the case for Jake as well.
overall, i think the Animorphs could become very popular. the idea and story line is fantastic, and its new to people now. all old things become new again, some time or another…… and the Animorphs are on that brink where they could seriously be made into a popular thing again, especially with the 21st century graphics and animation skills, it could turn out to be better than expected.
~i think thats all i want to say. sorry if i talked too much…..
Comment by Derek — July 21, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
I really hope there’s an Animorph movie. I found an Animorph book in the library and then I couldn’t stop reading.
Comment by Guy — July 27, 2010 @ 1:46 pm