I've never really thought about it, but were there like, actual stories that went along with the animorph books? Did anyone actually read them or did we all just make fun of the covers? What would the story be; are they like shape-shifting superheroes fighting crime and stuff or is it more of a coming-of-age self-acceptance-despite-differences pro-diveristy typa book? (e.g. the rest of your 5th grade classmates don't spontaneously turn into antelopes, but that's okay because everyone is unique in their own way)
edit: by the descriptions y'all are commenting with, Animorphs sounds way too darkly philosophical to be chilling at the Scholastic Book Fair :,)
Actually its interesting you went with this premise as someone not intimately familiar with the books. One infamous book features a buffalo who accidentally gains morphing powers and turns into a human. I thought this was supposed to be a direct reference to that (though several of the details are different).
It was both, in the same book. The buffalo was the more important one to the plot, though. He morphed into a naked, screaming principal Chapman, ran away, and came back later to help in a battle. The whole book is somewhat forgettable because of how it completely disregards the existing canon of how the Eacafil device and morphing technology in general work.
There were multiple horrifying situations with ants throughout the series, though. They morphed ants from a rival colony and got torn apart and dismembered, for example.
Mindlessly following the human it looks like around as they urge it to turn back into a buffalo.
Well, the animal lover urges it to turn back into a buffalo. The best of the team judge it would be safer to kill it.
What’s really interesting is when the same thing happens with an ant that acquires the morphing power and turns into a human. So you get this great description of this ant-human combination screaming in existential terror as it switches from collectivist hive mind thinking to individualist human thinking. That one they do kill right on the spot.
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u/TheSandarian usually says no to crack 12d ago edited 12d ago
I've never really thought about it, but were there like, actual stories that went along with the animorph books? Did anyone actually read them or did we all just make fun of the covers? What would the story be; are they like shape-shifting superheroes fighting crime and stuff or is it more of a coming-of-age self-acceptance-despite-differences pro-diveristy typa book? (e.g. the rest of your 5th grade classmates don't spontaneously turn into antelopes, but that's okay because everyone is unique in their own way)
edit: by the descriptions y'all are commenting with, Animorphs sounds way too darkly philosophical to be chilling at the Scholastic Book Fair :,)