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The Longevity of Animorphs
Oct. 12th, 2010 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_rampionWhile combing through old posts for tagging, I came across this post, comparing the Animorphs fandom to the Harry Potter fandom, and arguing that with Harry Potter fans, "unlike Animorphs, this obsession can last beyond their teen years well into their adulthoods". At the time of this post, the Harry Potter series hadn't finished yet.
And I think this idea of the series's longevity is an interesting one to consider now, in with a re-release coming up and the decline of Harry Potter hype. Now, Harry Potter is a freakish event of a cultural phenomenon - I know it still has a fandom today (though I don't know the status of it), and I imagine it will continue for some time. I imagine it will continue to feature in pop cultural references everywhere. Animorphs, obviously, did not reach the same freakish levels of hype. It was not a cultural phenomenon.
But I'd argue that Animorphs has had an amazing longevity. The fact that all of us are still here in our twenties (and possibly above!), sitting around, having regular discussions about an out of print children's series speaks to the that. Harry Potter may have defined my teens, but Animorphs was my childhood Sure, it wasn't a freaking cultural phenomenon, but quite frankly Harry Potter was a bizarre and strange one in a million event. Compare Animorphs to any other children's book series, and I think the long-lasting impact it had on it's readers holds up pretty darn well!
And I think this idea of the series's longevity is an interesting one to consider now, in with a re-release coming up and the decline of Harry Potter hype. Now, Harry Potter is a freakish event of a cultural phenomenon - I know it still has a fandom today (though I don't know the status of it), and I imagine it will continue for some time. I imagine it will continue to feature in pop cultural references everywhere. Animorphs, obviously, did not reach the same freakish levels of hype. It was not a cultural phenomenon.
But I'd argue that Animorphs has had an amazing longevity. The fact that all of us are still here in our twenties (and possibly above!), sitting around, having regular discussions about an out of print children's series speaks to the that. Harry Potter may have defined my teens, but Animorphs was my childhood Sure, it wasn't a freaking cultural phenomenon, but quite frankly Harry Potter was a bizarre and strange one in a million event. Compare Animorphs to any other children's book series, and I think the long-lasting impact it had on it's readers holds up pretty darn well!
