Animorphs fever is back with new graphic novels, audiobooks and a movie

Has anyone else noticed that Animorphs is everywhere these days? The 90’s young adult sci-fi books by KA Applegate about a group of teenagers who fight an alien invasion by transforming into various animals (a superpower bestowed on them by a friendly, non-invading alien been popping up all over social media lately, especially in a viral Twitter thread last week detailed “the wildest thing that happens in any animorph Book.” Maybe there’s something in the air — but whatever it is, I’m in because I’ve just started re-reading the series and I’ve found it’s easier than ever to do just that.

The original animorphs Novels published from 1996 to 2001 also had a timely television adaptation on Nickelodeon, which aired from 1998 to 2000. I’m not sure what the Animorphs fandom has been up to two decades later (apart from shoutouts on nostalgic roundup lists written by and for millennials), but I do know that Scholastic announced that in 2020 an animorph Movie was in the works. This film has had a somewhat tortured journey since that announcement; Originally KA Applegate was involved along with her husband and frequent co-writer Michael Grant, but soon after the announcement Applegate and Grant announced their departure from the project. There hasn’t been much news about the film since then – but the original Animorphs have Books are more accessible than ever.

For his part Scholastic has relaunched the series in various forms over the years, including digital versions. I think you should buy every single one of these masterpieces, but if you want to try before you buy, you have a good option. Members of the Animorphs subreddit lined up Copies of all books in various digital formats (PDF, epub, etc.). According to this subreddit, Applegate and Grant have agreed to the distribution of these digital files, and Scholastic has not interfered (and hopefully won’t interfere any time soon).

Picture: Scholastic/Amazon

I decided to buy the audio book version for re-reading after devouring the original paperbacks as a kid. Award-winning audiobook narrator MacLeod Andrews reads the first entry, The invasionwhich was released in 2020. The next book in the Animorphs series to receive an audiobook version – Animorphs #52, The victim – will be released on April 4th, 2023, which means it’s been three glorious years of recording by Animorphs. The last two books in the series are yet to be released, but hopefully Scholastic Audio will have the collection complete by the time I get there.

Last but not least, Scholastic a debuted Graphic novel adaptation by Animorphs, illustrated by Chris Grine. The art was divisive for some fans, particularly those who prefer the photorealistic CGI book covers of the old ’90s era, but personally I was struck by Grine’s ability to illustrate frightening situations and body horror transformations in a broader, cartoonish style . Some of the images would have still seriously terrified me as a kid – but I think that might be the point, because Animorphs is for older kids, and it’s not for the faint of heart either. In any case, like the audio books, the graphic novels are still a work in progress; On Monday, Grine tweeted a running drawing of Marco for the graphic novel adaptation of Animorphs #5.

Pop culture nostalgia tends to function in 20-year cycles and animorphs is far from the first piece of late 90’s or early 2000’s ephemera that has suddenly captured the hearts and imaginations of people who didn’t grow up during that time (or old minds like me). The Y2K revival has already happened in the fashion world, but with Hi-Fi Rush cause jet set radio (2000) and even Hogwarts legacy forcing us all to remember the first time we read the 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (a bittersweet memory these days), seems like the perfect time for animorphs is now to make a big comeback.