Scholastic updated the Official Animorphs Website today with the new Marco model they confirmed back in April. Here is a comparison between the two:
As you can see, based on the whitewashing concerns from fans, this new model (on right) now matches the half-Hispanic “dark complexion” (with dark skin and dark hair) that the character was often described by in the books. He does lack the long hair that Marco is known for in the earlier books, but that feature was changed according to the model type in the Classic books as well (e.g. Animorphs #10). The height/muscle is something I’m sure that the fans will debate over regardless, but the major issue about portraying the character’s correct ethnicity has been resolved. A big thanks to the Scholastic Animorphs Team on a job well done!
Aside from that, it seems as though we’ve caught the official site in the middle of their update. The individual character pages remain the same with the old Marco at the moment (thumbnail/full profile picture), but once that’s been updated on their official site, we’ll reflect the change onto our own relaunch pages as well.
That’s all for now!
Yes! Marco looks good to me! I like the change of clothes, too. I’d say they fit him better, as well. Thanks Scholastic!
Comment by SharaLin — July 8, 2011 @ 10:04 am
My first thought: ‘Wee! Marco changes! (Whatever that means) *clicks picture* ‘That don’t look like no 15 year old boy.’ *laughs*
Um…I applaud them for not white washing, but, uh,
I don’t know how I feel about the new model.
Good job…?
Comment by Tobias Fangirl — July 8, 2011 @ 12:21 pm
That’s a really good model! He’s strong, so this may actually be more like what Marco’s like later in the series.
Comment by Jordan — July 8, 2011 @ 2:23 pm
Lawl, this model is awesome, but there is one problem: MARCO WAS SHORT. And he had long hair in the beginning. Just sayin 🙂
Other than that, this model really is perfect. I’m very glad that Scholastic changed the white washing thing.
Comment by tiaradawn — July 10, 2011 @ 9:31 pm
Yeah but if you read Visser, Edriss describes him as small for his age, and rather weak in personality. Too soft. He develops that strongness–but we need a model that could pull both off. The only thing that Marco has in common with canon Marco is being Hispanic.
Comment by Rachel — July 11, 2011 @ 2:49 am
yeah, I agree that this model is worse then the previous one. The previous one fit the description PERFECTLY except that he wasn’t quite dark enough, which I was personally fine with anyway since you wouldn’t be able to tell that on these new covers anyway.
Comment by Slushie Man — July 12, 2011 @ 12:05 pm
I agree with Rachel… the only thing the model has in common with Marco is being Hispanic!
Big props to Scholastic for fixing the whole whitewashing thing, but I don’t see Marco when I look at the new model. :’c
Comment by Lily — July 12, 2011 @ 3:01 pm
[…] the Official Website and given us a look at the new Animorphs #5 cover with the new model we previously posted about: […]
Pingback by Hirac Delest » Animorphs #5: New Model Cover Update! — July 13, 2011 @ 11:33 am
Ok, I usually don’t post on forums, but I’m going to make an exception here due to how strongly I feel about this.
Yes, I think that there is definitely a phenomenon of “whitewashing” that is slowly becoming more commonplace, more accepted, and less noticeable.
In this case, there may have been some whitewashing with the “old” Marco model for the re-release books. However, other than the skin color, the “old” Marco model looks exactly like how I pictured him from the books. A “cute” (by cute, I mean in a small child way like “oh, my younger brother looks so cute in his 4th grade picture”) kid, who is short, a little pudgy, making a little “goofy-looking.” Coupled with his unique sense of humor, I can see how the girls at his school wouldn’t take him seriously. The “old” Marco model fit the bill: short, “goofy-looking,” but “cute” kid. Heck, the “old” Marco model even looks believably 13-14.
On the other hand, the “new” Marco is obviously Hispanic looking. Good job. But otherwise, he looks NOTHING like the Marco described in the books. The “new” Marco model looks like a spokesperson for Abercrombie and Fitch or Express. He is way too tall and good-looking. He also looks like he’s 18 to early 20’s, most definitely not 13-14. Really, this is just absurd. They get the race right but all of the other defining physical qualities of Marco go right out the window.
Comment by Jason — July 13, 2011 @ 3:49 pm
I think this new model was great, just taller than Marco in the books, we just hope that Rachel and Jake models taller than him. LOL.
Comment by vlairine — July 13, 2011 @ 9:20 pm
The new model looks a little….old,doesn’t he? 13 years old and on steroids, tsk tsk!
Comment by Billy — August 19, 2011 @ 5:20 am
Hah, the new Marco looks like he could beat up that guy on the left :))
Comment by April — August 20, 2011 @ 5:54 am
I think the older one was much better. Being hispanic doesnt mean someone should really look dark or something like that. My ancestors are somewhat hispanic but we’re not that dark, only dark hair so I guess they reconsider the old one and take out those misconceptions. The old model fits much better like:
– yeah, he looks virtually hispanic (not too dark like Cassie, not too pale like Jake and Rachel)
– he’s short, thats what the books say
– he looks funny (cause he really is a joker)
– he’s either cute or not, be the judge (when I tried to picture out Marco when reading the book, you cant really tell how he looks like – go for the cute as what he usually boasts or think of him lying, yeah not cute at all…BUT AGAIN it’s EITHER…the new model fits the latter one lol)
– he’s looks more a sidekick (to Jake of course)
i dont care about the dress, I care about what he looks like cause whenever I think of them I can always look them with their leotards so everyday clothing is not my concern (except Rachel, yeah make sense) :))
Comment by Kent Jan — August 20, 2011 @ 9:45 pm
I think that Marco on the right looks much better. Because Marco is so much shorter and looks much weirder on the left.
To check out the website differnces go to these:
http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs/index.htm – Marco on the left
http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/animorphs/ – Marco on the right
Comment by matthew awesome07 — June 26, 2012 @ 11:52 pm