Disney Developing Animorphs TV Series
- Disney+ has entered early development on a new television series based on the Animorphs book franchise.
- Bayan Wolcott is attached to write and executive produce the adaptation.
- The production team also includes Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman, who are executive producing via Scholastic, the original publisher of the book series.
Disney+ has entered early development on a new television series based on the Animorphs book franchise. The project is being developed by 20th Television and will be produced by Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media.
Bayan Wolcott is attached to write and executive produce the adaptation. Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Zinzi Coogler are serving as executive producers on behalf of Proximity Media.
The production team also includes Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman, who are executive producing via Scholastic, the original publisher of the book series. Simone Harris, vice president and head of TV at Proximity Media, and Dezi Gallegos, director of development of TV, will oversee the project.
Plot and Source Material
The series is based on the sci-fi book series created by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant. The original franchise consisted of 54 books released between 1996 and 2001, starting with The Invasion and ending with The Beginning, selling more than 35 million copies worldwide.
According to the official logline, the show follows a group of teenagers who uncover a hidden threat lurking beneath their everyday lives, all while juggling relationships, curfews, and the chaos of High School.
The narrative centers on teenagers Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias. After discovering a downed alien spaceship and its dying pilot, the group is granted the power to transform into any animal they touch. They use these abilities as Animorphs to fight a secret war against the Yeerks, a parasitic alien race attempting to take over Earth.
Production Context and Development
This adaptation is part of a broader deal between Disney and Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media. Coogler, known for Black Panther and Disney+ projects such as Eyes Of Wakanda and Ironheart, is also currently working on a pilot for a reboot of The X-Files featuring Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler.
The project has been met with cautious optimism from the original creators. Katherine Applegate shared her thoughts on social media regarding the development.
Michael Grant and I have concerns that the project is under-resourced. But one of the producers, Sev Ohanian, is a friend, as well as a genuine Animorphs fan. If anyone can make it work, he can. Fingers crossed.
Katherine Applegate
If the series reaches the air, it will be the second television adaptation of the property. A previous live-action series aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons from 1998 to 2000.
The move follows a trend of Disney adapting popular young adult literature, similar to the approach taken with Percy Jackson And The Olympians.