- "Hi, my name is Jake. I thought I knew who I was; a kid who liked to do normal things, you know, go to school, play video games, hang out with my friends. But the other night my whole world changed when my friends and I were given the power to morph. You know, change shapes, become animals. So, now Marco, Cassie, Tobias, my cousin Rachel, and I can become dogs, cats, tigers, hawks, anything! Pretty cool, right? Not when you're the only thing between a bunch of mind controlling alien Yeerks and the end of the world. You can't tell anybody because you never know who's a Yeerk and who's not. All I know is, now I'm an Animorph."
- ―Jake
Animorphs (sometimes referred to as AniTV) is a television series based produced by Protocol Entertainment on the book series of the same name by K. A. Applegate. It was broadcast from September 1998 to October 1999 on Nickelodeon in the United States, and from September 1998 to February 2000 on YTV (for season 1) and Global (for season 2) in Canada. It aired a total of 26 episodes over 2 seasons.
Cast[]
- Shawn Ashmore as Jake
- Boris Cabrera as Marco
- Nadia-Leigh Nascimento as Cassie
- Christopher Ralph as Tobias
- Brooke Nevin as Rachel
- Paulo Costanzo as Ax
- Eugene Lipinski as Visser Three / Victor Trent
- Richard Sali as Principal Chapman / Iniss 266
- Joshua Peace as Tom / Temrash 114 / Iniss 335
- Terra Vanessa Kowalyk as Melissa Chapman
Plot[]
The story revolves around five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (nicknamed "Ax"), who obtain the ability to transform into any animal they touch. Naming themselves "Animorphs" (a portmanteau of "animal morphers"), they use their ability to battle a secret alien infiltration of Earth by a parasitic race of aliens resembling large slugs, called Yeerks, that take humans as a host by entering and merging with their brain through the ear canal. The Animorphs fight as a guerrilla force against the Yeerks, led by Visser Three.
The Animorphs carefully protect their identities; the Yeerks assume that they're a strike force sent by the Andalites, the alien race that created the transformation technology. To protect themselves and their families from Yeerk reprisals, the Animorphs keep up the facade. Over the run of the series, the pretense becomes harder to maintain; the Yeerks grow more cautious and dedicate more time and resources to capturing the 'Andalite bandits'.
Though the Animorphs can assume the form of any animal they touch, there are several limitations to the ability: they can only stay in animal form for two hours, or they will be unable to return to human form. Also, the process requires some level of concentration to prevent the animal's natural instincts from overwhelming the human intellect.
Reception[]
'Watch TV' logo placed on book covers and merchandise to promote the show
Due to its low budget in addition to toned down violence, the TV series was not well-received among fans or even by the original authors K.A. Applegate and Michael Grant. The show was cancelled after two seasons, though it did air in syndication on Qubo in 2015.
On IMDb, the series has a rating of 6.5/10 out of 1.6K viewers.[1]
VHS Releases[]
(full article: Animorphs VHS Releases)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (when they were known as Columbia TriStar Home Video) had released twelve episodes in four VHS volumes known as The Invasion Series, collecting episodes from the series. The first 12 episodes are only released on VHS and not re-released on DVD.
- Part 1: The Invasion Begins ("My Name is Jake" parts 1 and 2, and "Underground")
- Part 2: Nowhere to Run ("Between Friends", "The Message" and "The Reaction")
- Part 3: The Enemy Among Us ("The Stranger", "The Leader" parts 1 and 2)
- Part 4: The Legacy Survives ("The Capture" parts 1 and 2, and "Not My Problem")
Seven volumes spanning the first 20 episodes (only the first of which was identical to its U.S. counterpart) were released in Australia. The episodes were placed in chronological order. Each volume had three episodes apart from Volume 7, which had two ("Face Off", parts 1 and 2). VHS tapes were also released in (at least) French and Swedish, and in the UK.
All 26 episodes are currently available on iTunes, Vudu and Amazon Video spread across three volumes.
Animorphs VHS Collection Promo
Promo for the Animorphs VHS collection, consisting of 4 tapes
Gallery[]
Promo Material[]
Screenshots[]
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
_Title_Card_001.jpg "My Name is Jake (Part 2) Title Card 001.jpg (28 KB)")
_001.png "Harris's Hawk from My Name Is Jake (Part 2) 001.png (218 KB)")
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
_001.png "Aisha from My Name Is Jake (Part 2) 001.png (458 KB)")
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
From My Name is Jake (Part 1)
From Underground
From Underground
From Underground
From Underground
From Underground
From On The Run
From On The Run
From On The Run
From Between Friends
From The Message
_Title_Card_001.jpg "The Alien (episode) Title Card 001.jpg (21 KB)")
_001.jpg "Ax from The Alien (episode) 001.jpg (30 KB)")
From The Alien
From Not My Problem
From Not My Problem
From The Reaction
From Tobias
From The Release
From The Release
From Not My Problem
From Face Off (Part 2)
From Face Off (Part 2)
From Face Off (Part 2)
From Face Off (Part 2)
From Face Off (Part 2)
From Face Off (Part 3)
From The Front
From The Front
_Title_Card_001.jpg "Changes (Part 1) Title Card 001.jpg (28 KB)")
_Title_Card_001.jpg "Changes (Part 2) Title Card 001.jpg (22 KB)")
_Title_Card_001.jpg "Changes (Part 3) Title Card 001.jpg (25 KB)")
From Changes (Part 3)
From Changes (Part 3)
Meet the Stars of Animorphs[]
The book Meet the Stars of Animorphs was released to promote the show. It included information about the actors and a sixteen-page picture insert.
Article Gallery[]
Advertising[]
Australian VHS Summary[]
Videos[]
Animorphs Theme Song
All In Your Hands the theme song to the series
Trivia[]
- Hork-Bajir only appear in five of the twenty-six episodes of the Animorphs TV series. These episodes include My Name is Jake (Part 1), Underground, Between Friends, The Escape, and The Stranger. They are also mentioned in two other episodes; My Name is Jake (Part 2) and The Capture (Part 2).
See Also[]
- List of Animorphs episodes
- Listen to the theme song - Ogg file.
External Links[]
- Episode Summaries on scholastic.com/animorphs
- Promo pics on Nick.com
- Episode Summaries on Nick.com (These are slightly different than the scholastic.com/animorphs episode summaries).
- Animorphs VHS Part 1 advertised on scholastic.com/animorphs
- Behind the Scenes videos on scholastic.com/animorphs
- Click on 'TV show Cast interviews' to see interviews with each of the six main actors
References[]
| TV Episodes | ||
| Season 1 | #1 My Name is Jake (Part 1) | #2 My Name is Jake (Part 2) | #3 Underground | #4 On the Run | #5 Between Friends | #6 The Message | #7 The Escape | #8 The Alien | #9 The Capture (Part 1) | #10 The Capture (Part 2) | #11 The Reaction | #12 The Stranger | #13 The Forgotten | #14 The Leader (Part 1) | #15 The Leader (Part 2) | #16 Tobias | #17 Not My Problem | #18 The Release | #19 Face Off (Part 1) | #20 Face Off (Part 2) | |
| Season 2 | #1 Face Off (Part 3) | #2 My Name is Erek | #3 The Front | #4 Changes (Part 1) | #5 Changes (Part 2) | #6 Changes (Part 3) | |
| Book Tie-Ins | Meet the Stars of Animorphs | |