The series combines complex sci-fi and body horror
Ryan Coogler seems to be living the dream of a nerdy ’90s kid by making new versions of the generation’s sci-fi touchstones. He’s working on rebooting The X-Files and Variety reports he’ll also serve as executive producer on a TV adaptation of K. A. Applegate’s YA series The Animorphs, which is in early development at Disney Plus.
For anyone who didn’t grow up running to the teen section of the book store to see what fresh body horror Scholastic had put on the cover, The Animorphs was a truly weird and wild series that included 54 main books and several spinoffs published between 1996 and 2001. It follows a group of teenagers who discover that the Earth is being quietly invaded by a species of mind-controlling alien slugs called Yeerks.
The shape-shifting Adalites are mortal enemies of the Yeerks, and a dying Andalite explains the dire situation to the teens and gives them the power to turn into any animal they can touch. They’re eventually joined by a young Andalite stranded on Earth. Turning into a gorilla or a tiger is super cool, but it’s not as useful as you’d think when the problem you’re facing is that your mom, brother, or school vice principal is a puppet for an alien parasite. Each book focused on the kids finding creative solutions to fight back against very bad odds.
While written for young readers, the series got extremely complex and dark over the course of its run. Applegate focused on the cost of war, whether it’s the death of a beloved character, the enslavement of an entire peaceful species, or the psychological toll of fighting. The Animorphs didn’t become a global phenomenon like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, but it deserves a place among the best series focused on youth resistance.
Nickelodeon made a TV series based on The Animorphs in 1998, which ran for two seasons but was seriously hampered by terrible special effects. CGI has come a long way since then, so hopefully the new show will do better at expressing the deeply weird transformations the kids go through when they take animal form. Bayan Wolcott, who wrote two episodes of Hulu’s upcoming dystopian series The Testaments, is attached to write and executive produce the Disney Plus version.