Status Report

Amazon recently updated their product pages by posting covers for the new Animorphs books that are coming out May 2011. These covers have some slight new updates and alterations from what we have seen in the past, and I have gone ahead and posted the previous versions with these news ones in side to side comparisons. Go ahead and click them for a larger view:

From what I see so far: In #1, the border around the morphing box is gone to match the ‘glow’ that you see in #2. Also, both the cover model and the animal now seem to have a different pose. Whether this is still the same cover model from the previous version, still remains to be seen.

For #2, the most notable change is with the background. This is a good improvement, in my opinion, as everything blends a bit better with the DNA fingerprint/fur combo.

I have no idea which one is currently the final version of either book, and we likely won’t know this until we start seeing more advertisements from Scholastic promoting these books. The books are still 6 months away, so there is still plenty of wiggle room left if Scholastic wants to make any more future alterations. We’ll keep you posted if we find any more.

UPDATE: A quick look at the Scholastic Librarian Catalog for Animorphs #1 now proves that the Amazon cover was indeed the correct version. These new covers are definitely replacements for the previous versions we have seen.

Remember when we posted the new lenticular cover for Animorphs #1 a few weeks ago? Well, I went back to the Ute Körner Literary Agent (our original source) to perform a little google-fu on there server, and I ended up with a nice little surprise! I found a file which led me to the rights section on Scholastic, which then led me to a PDF, giving us an exclusive look at the lenticular cover for Animorphs #2! It was posted along in combination with the cover for Animorphs #1. And as you can see from the pictures below, I went ahead and cropped it out of that for you guys as well.

Based on what we’re seeing here, it looks like Animorphs #2 is following the same style as the first cover. Currently we are only seeing Rachel in mid-morph, but as previously mentioned with #1, you won’t see the full effects of these lenticular covers until you actually hold one in your hand. The animation is supposed to provide a transition from human to animal when you tilt them from side to side.

Also, it looks like the animal/tech skin layout is staying. Based on the covers for #1 & #2, it will likely change to whatever skin/fur/scales the featured animal on the cover has. This will hopefully be good news for those that weren’t fans of the first cover. It also looks like the animal choices for the covers are being taken directly from the first print of the series (ie. #1: Lizard, #2: Cat, etc, etc). So expect the same from the rest of the future reprints, with the exception of Megamorphs and Chronicles.

Animorphs #1 & #2 are set to be out together next year on May 1st, 2011, and the schedule for the following books are already planned for the next 2 years. Here they are:

Animorphs #03: The Encounter – July 2011
Animorphs #04: The Message – October 2011
Animorphs #05: The Predator – January 2012
Animorphs #06: The Capture – April 2012

Anyway, that’s all for now. The new cover has been updated in the pre-order page as well (on your right). Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Twitter to stay updated for future posts. We’ll let you know if anything else comes up. Until next time!

Thanks to an impressive effort by Eva, we now have fan-made English translations for the entire Animorphs #1 German audio book! This ‘book’ is actually done in a manner of a radio play, supporting a full cast, with sound effects and music.

I was really lucky to have been able to get a hold of this rare copy many years ago, and I’m so happy that I can finally understand it, and now (more importantly) share it with the rest of you!

To start listening, simply go here (or, for future reference, Database > Merchandise > Audiobooks). Simply click on one of the chapters to begin streaming and follow along with these awesome fan-made translations.

Again, a major thanks to Eva for putting in such an impressive amount of time and effort into this! We seriously appreciate it!

Following up from our previous post, you can now watch the entire webcast by going to the Scholastic Librarian Preview website and clicking “Watch Replay”. The entire thing is about an hour long, so if you want to skip directly to the Animorphs bit, scroll down to the 36:20 mark to see David Levithan talk about the series.

Update: Major thanks to Kyle Maloney (who commented below) for the quick overnight delivery of this video! You can now watch the entire Animorphs portion of the Scholastic webcast in the video above. Heck, go ahead and even watch it on his Youtube page so that he gets the views, and click ‘Like’!

More importantly, be sure to spread the word! New fans, old fans, and even readers who you think might be interested in Animorphs. Share the video, share HiracDelest.com. Animorphs is out next year!

At this point, we have no way of embedding or saving the video for our own site. However, I’ll do my best to see if I can collect it for our video section before Scholastic replaces it with their next webcast in April. (If anyone knows the best way to do this, then feel free to contact me. Either by email, Facebook, or Twitter). Also, if anyone wants to transcribe the video for me, then feel free to do so, and I’ll add it along with the video!

That’s all for now. More coming soon!

Wow, lots of news recently! For those that missed it, Animorphs got a dedicated time slot in the Scholastic Spring 2011 LIVE Preview Webcast today, and the Animorphs segment portion of it was presented by David Levithan (V.P. Editorial Director of Scholastic). The live webcast is now officially over, but will soon be available to watch on Scholastic again (No idea when exactly, but we’ll make a new post as soon as it does!)

Update: Just received word that it will be available 6pm ET on Wednesday, October 20. We’ll post the link once it’s available!

In the mean while though, here are a few pictures that I quickly snapped while it was being talked about:

I didn’t get a chance to listen to everything, but Mr. Levithan was talking about the relaunch of the series from the 90s, and how it would work for audiences today. The snapshots I took also officially confirms the Animorphs #1 book cover that we posted recently. (And in case anyone is wondering about the 3rd pic, it’s him trying to re-enact the morphing pose, from himself to a moose, lol. He was doing this because he mentioned that they couldn’t show the full animation effects for the lenticular morphing online.)

Going along with that, Scholastic is also planning a full on assault with marketing plans for the re-release. The first book is already in their Online Catalog, with a Summer Series Ad PDF that finally displays the full before-and-after of the first cover! Behold, our new Jake model for Animorphs!

Set within the catalog, there is also a 12-Copy Mixed Floor Display item available for retailers, which will hold both Animorphs #1 & 2, but no pictures are available for it yet.

Lastly, here are also some marketing plans of what Scholastic intends to do with upcoming relaunch of the series:

Marketing Plans

Over 35 million copies of the original series in print!

• 100,000-copy announced first print
• National media campaign
• Select author appearances
• Major advertising campaign, including:
• In-theater advertising in select markets
• Online advertising linking to special content on Animorphs website www.scholastic.com/animorphs update, including:
• Games & Video
• Summer camp sampling
• Outreach to Animorphs fan sites

Quotes / Reviews

Praise for Animorphs

“Engaging… impressive.” –School Library Journal

“There’s clearly something about Animorphs that has kept kids enthralled.” –Publisher’s Weekly

I think that’s everything for now. Expect more updates soon! Lots of things are coming up, and we’ll try to stay on top of it all to keep you fully updated!

Animorphs #1: The Invasion, and Animorphs #2: The Visitor are now both listed on Amazon.com and are available to pre-order! Both are priced at $6.99 (US) and will be available in paperback. Here is a brief product description provided by Amazon for Animorphs #1:

The wildly popular series by K.A. Applegate is back! The first six books of Animorphs return, with striking new lenticular covers that morph.

The Earth is being invaded, but no one knows about it. When Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco stumble upon a downed alien spaceship and its dying pilot, they’re given an incredible power — they can transform into any animal they touch. With it, they become Animorphs, the unlikely champions in a secret war for the planet. And the enemies they’re fighting could be anyone, even the people closest to them. So begins K.A. Applegate’s epic series about five normal kids with a limitless amount of forms and abilities.

Interesting thing to note about the wording from the description above: It says that only the first six books are returning with new covers. If we refer this back to our previous post, it seems as though that they really are the only ones confirmed to be re-released at this point (Not the entire series, as previously believed).

My guess is that more of the series will reprinted once Scholastic has taken a look at the sales figures behind these releases. We have no idea what their plans are after that, but we can assume that they are going to continue re-releasing them if enough people are still buying them.

Aside from that, nothing else is new. Pre-order links are posted below (please use them from here if you can). We’ll be sure to keep you updated if anything else comes up!

 

Pre-Order Animorphs #1: The Invasion (Lenticular Edition)
Release Date: May 1st, 2011

Pre-Order Animorphs #2: The Visitor (Lenticular Edition)
Release Date: May 1st, 2011

**You can help support Hirac Delest if you pre-order from the links above. You will NOT be charged anything extra for doing this! All it will do is add in Hirac Delest as a referral for your transaction(s). In return, Amazon will give us a tiny percentage of your sale, which will then go entirely towards paying for the hosting and domain fees for this fan site, keeping us online and running ad-free. Doing us this small favour would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

A big credit to RAF‘s Magdaleen, who posted a sneak peek at the upcoming cover of the 2011 Re-Release Edition of Animorphs #1: The Invasion! (see right).

As most of you know from our previous posts, the new covers are supposed to be lenticular, meaning that they will transform and change right before your very eyes. So the image that you currently see is only a still of what is to be an animated version. It’s also very possible that this isn’t the final version, as the release date for the book isn’t for another 7 months.

As for the source, the image itself was found on the Ute Körner Literary Agent site, which also included an entire page blurb about the relaunching of the franchise. Here it is:

Scholastic will re-launch the internationally bestselling Animorphs series in Summer 2011, starting with a six-book arc. In its heyday, the Animorphs series sold over 20 million copies worldwide and was translated in 26 languages and was turned into a popular Nickelodeon TV show.

For the re-launch, Scholastic has updated the covers to give them a fresh, modern look: in keeping with the eye-catching nature of the original covers, the new books will make use of morphing lenticulars: the characters transform right on the covers.

An updated look gives the series new vitality for a new generation of readers.

Animorphs is sci-fi at its best: fast-paced, thought-provoking, and a lot of fun.

The page also has a downloadable PDF which contains the above blurb, along with the release dates for the rest of the books! This is the schedule that we are currently looking at:

Animorphs #01: The Invasion – May 2011
Animorphs #02: The Visitor – May 2011
Animorphs #03: The Encounter – July 2011
Animorphs #04: The Message – October 2011
Animorphs #05: The Predator – January 2012
Animorphs #06: The Capture – April 2012

Out of all of this though, the biggest surprise about this page is the fact that you can currently also ORDER a reading copy of this re-release! (However, that seems to only be available to those who have the proper publishing credentials to do so).

Lastly, there is also a heavy emphasis on the fact that Animorphs has been published in 26 languages. At the moment, we have nothing confirmed regarding translations in other countries, but we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that info for our international fans!

That is everything new that we have learned at this point. However, there is one piece still missing, and that is the animated version of this cover. The PDF that contains the cover talks about an animated gif being attached, but it can’t be found anywhere! If anyone happens to stumble upon it, then please do email us ASAP! We’d love to take a look at this thing in action!

That’s all for now, we’ll be sure to post more info as we receive it. And again, another big big credit and thanks to Magdaleen for finding this!

About 2 days ago Michael Grant updated his Facebook with a new status regarding a promotional Animorphs video that he was making for the Scholastic sales people:

And not too long after, he sent a direct message to fans via Richard (owner of RAF). It seems that they are going the same route as they did for the Gone video submissions from a little while back. Here is the full letter from Michael and K.A to the fans:

Katherine and I have some information we’d like to share, and a favor we’d like to ask.

Not sure if you’ve heard this yet but ANIMORPHS will be re-issued in spring/summer 2011. That is definite and official.

An editor at Scholastic is combing the first two books for outdated references, sending suggested fixes, and asking us to approve. Which we’ve now done.

Scholastic will re-cover the books using something called a lenticular cover. So far as we know it’s just the first 2 books, then I guess they’ll wait and see how sales go before issuing more.

Scholastic has asked us to prepare a small video to show at the sales meeting in early August. We realized that the sales people probably don’t really know what ANIMORPHS has meant to so many people. So we wondered whether RAF participants might be interested in sending us some brief video clips just saying what ANIMORPHS has meant to them. They could be extemporaneous, or they could read from some of the lovely letters they’ve sent over the years. The only real guidance we have to offer is to make sure the audio is audible. Use as high definition as you have available, but don’t sweat it if it doesn’t quite look like Avatar. Sincerity is more important than technique.

If you’d post this letter that would be very helpful.

Please ask any who wish to participate to forward their video to jake-at-jakemates.com.

Thanks,

Michael and Katherine

So to sum up, here are the new things we now know:

Regarding the Re-Release:

• The first spring/summer 2011 re-release is now said to be covering only the first 2 books: #1 The Invasion, and #2 The Visitor. Not as volumes for multiple books, but as an individual release of those two books only, with the new covers.

• The books are now going to be updated with outdated references. An editor has gone through the first 2 books, and Michael & K.A have just recently approved the changes to them.

Regarding the Animorphs Video Submissions:

• The video is being submitted to sales people who apparently have no previous knowledge on the kind of impact the series had in its original run. According to Michael & K.A’s letter, the meeting is sometime early August, so time is crucial if fans want to get their videos in. The sooner fans can get their videos submitted, the more time Jake (their son) will have to edit and piece it together for Scholastic.

• Submissions should be sent to jake@jakemates.com. (Anything on Youtube might not be taken, so send the files directly to him!)

• RAF has already begun a discussion thread on how they should go about with their videos. To participate, please go here.

• Please remember that this is for all Animorphs fans. Michael & K.A sent this letter to RAF because they are, without a doubt, the largest Animorphs community online at the moment. However the message is openly directed to every Animorphs fan online as well. There are plenty of smaller Animorphs communities out there. Youtube, LiveJournal, DeviantArt, Facebook, etc, wherever they may be, please pass this message onto them (or individually onto your friends) if you’re in touch! It would be a great help to make sure that K.A & Michael have enough material to work with, and that they have a lasting impact on the sales force that is in charge of reviving the series for next year.

• UPDATE: Thanks to a poster named Kalamu at the Animorphs LiveJournal Community, I was reminded of how many Animorph fans we have in different countries. Kalamu said that she couldn’t make a video because she was not very fluent in English. This is not a problem at all! In fact, it’s a bit of a plus!

  If we have fans in foriegn countries telling Scholastic how much they love Animorphs (in their first language), then it’ll be the most direct way of letting Scholastic know of how much of a worldwide appeal the series still has! And who knows? It may even give your country a better chance at having the Animorphs be re-released in your own language! (The original run of Animorphs was published in over 20 different languages. So yes, it’s very possible to have that again!).

  However, please just remember to add in English subtitles to your video before submitting it in, so that the Scholastic staff can fully understand what you’re saying. (It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Any basic program like Windows Movie Maker can easily do this. OR, if you’re really not that good with computers, then simply film the entire thing using Flash Cards, as another LJ poster suggested!)

That about covers it for now. I will keep you guys updated as I hear more. NOW GO SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO!

Happy Anniversary everyone! Just wanted to thank you all for your support and kindness over the years. This has been an exciting year, and next year (with the re-release) seems to sound like an even more promising one as well. We’re very much looking forward to keeping you all updated and sharing the experience with you every step of the way.

Thank you 🙂

Michael Grant (co-author/co-creator) of Animorphs contacted me yesterday with a quick update regarding the Animorphs Classic re-release:

It’s official: Animorphs books will be re-released with the first 2 coming in summer of 2011. They will have lenticular covers. (Look it up: we had to.)

Lenticular covers basically means that they will be 3D and/or animated. You may have seen examples of this already on various products or DVD releases throughout the years. I’m guessing that Scholastic will most likely use the current covers we have and add a morphing animation to them (much similar to the morphing cards that we got with the Invasion Board Game). But this is entirely speculation on my part, so we’ll have to see where they go from here.

Anyways, that’s it for now! I’ll post more details regarding those 2 summer book releases as they come.