Children's Science Fiction Novels Codexery

Animorphs

Teens gain animal morphing powers to fight alien slugs.

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The Animorphs series follows five human teenagers and one alien who can transform into any animal they touch, using this ability to fight a secret alien invasion of Earth.[1] Each of the six main characters provides narration from their own perspective, with the story being delivered in the first person.[2] Between 1998 and 1999, a television version of the books was broadcast on Nickelodeon, YTV, and Global.[3]

Making and release

Katherine Applegate stated she wanted to get kids into the heads of various species using a science-fiction premise.[4] Applegate researched animals by visiting a raptor center to accurately depict how a hawk sees the world.[4] She developed characters by cutting out pictures from teenage magazines like YM and Seventeen.[5] Applegate said many alien names came from scrambled local street signs or companies she noticed.[5]

Scholastic told Applegate to be more creative with the Andalite designs, leading to their distinctive look.[6] David Mattingly created covers for 55 books in the series, starting with book #4, The Message.[7][8] The initial plan for the series was a three-book set titled The Changelings, where the character later known as Jake was originally named Matt.[9] To create the morphing effect on the covers, Mattingly employed the software Elastic Reality.[7]

Starting with a pencil sketch and ending with a finished digital render, each cover by Mattingly required a fortnight to complete.[10]

What the cited sources add

A Vice article notes that Mattingly is responsible for 50 of the 53 illustrations covering the Animorphs series.[8] The same article states the franchise launched in summer 1996 and continued until 2001.[8] Mattingly described working over a weekend to produce samples after getting the spec on the books.[8] An interview podcast notes Mattingly began his career as a matte artist on films such as Tron.[11]

The initial three book covers were created by a different artist, and Scholastic was displeased with the results.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Animorphs: "The Invasion" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Animorphs Reference Page" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Author: K. A. Applegate", Kidsreads.com; "Author: K. A. Applegate", Kidsreads.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "More highlights from an online event with K.A. Applegate", 1999-04-20 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Serrao, "Animorphs creator looks back on the beloved series 20 years later", December 28, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maloney, "Meet the Artist Behind the Animorphs Covers That Destroyed Your Mind as a Kid", Vice, December 7, 2015; "Anidorks: An Animorphs Podcast!! Interview: David Mattingly", Buzzsprout, March 27, 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Maloney, "Meet the Artist Behind the Animorphs Covers That Destroyed Your Mind as a Kid", Vice, December 7, 2015. facts only, no text reused. vice.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lodge, "PW: Scholastic's 'Animorphs' Series Has Legs", PublishersWeekly.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Animorphs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Animorphs RACHEL Cover Model AMA!!!", July 29, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Anidorks: An Animorphs Podcast!! Interview: David Mattingly", Buzzsprout, March 27, 2024. facts only, no text reused. buzzsprout.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Animorphs (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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