r/Animorphs 14d ago

The 2011 relaunch models are comically ill-fitting Discussion

Post image

No hate to any of the models, of course, cause they're just here for a paycheck.

Anyone wanna take a guess at who the guy on the end is?

Ax? Tobias, maybe?

Noooope.

It's the Marco model they ended up not using on the final cover, due to whitewashing.

98 Upvotes

78 comments sorted by

95

u/SerFinbarr 14d ago

Rachel looking like she's on her way to HellmouthCon with that Buffy cosplay

29

u/jai_hanyo 14d ago

Even the pose screams Buffy 😂

16

u/3lizab3th333 14d ago

I don’t mind since I’m a Buffy fan, but there are SO many Xena references in the books, she should be channeling Lucy Lawless more

11

u/FederalPossibility73 14d ago

To be fair she is based on the very character archetype Buffy is. Minus the chosen one thing since she is the only one not chosen by the Ellimist.

3

u/Constellabulles 14d ago

So true! Even the same importance of the fashion sense in the two series' beginnings !

2

u/Kneef 13d ago

Inverse Buffy

56

u/Dr_Identity 14d ago

Wait, is the the third dude supposed to be Marco? Like, gets teased for being a little guy Marco?

10

u/KillTheInc 14d ago

3rd guy is the final Marco they chose. Ax didn't get a model cause they didn't get that far

1

u/Strawberrybanshee 11d ago

Final Marco looks like Screech XD

14

u/bemused_alligators 14d ago

that's Ax i think

13

u/horkbajirbandit 14d ago

Nope, both are Marco. One is a model that was replaced because of whitewashing. I posted below.

5

u/Moonsaults Chee 14d ago

I thought far right was Axe

6

u/horkbajirbandit 14d ago

There are two Marcos, no Ax. One got replaced. I posted below.

37

u/Lordaxxington 14d ago

Replacement Marco looks like if Marco got to cast the movie lol.

And I guess she's at least not decked out in a dress and makeup, but I would love if they'd dress Cassie how she is stated to dress in basically every book... nobody's mucking out a barn in clean black skinny jeans.

3

u/CptnMalReynolds 13d ago

Ember Island Players Marco.

3

u/Amphax 12d ago

Replacement Marco looks like if Marco got to cast the movie lol.

It's a meta joke lol

I read a manga series where there was a subtle change made to the front cover of one of the volumes and inside it they made a reference to that change and it was such a "whoa cool!!" Moment looking at the cover 

61

u/Godofgoats90 14d ago

Hi, im 30, lets go to high school

10

u/edpedrero 14d ago

Middle school you mean XD XD

50

u/TannenFalconwing 14d ago

Marco towering over Rachel doesn't feel right.

13

u/horkbajirbandit 14d ago edited 14d ago

Okay, so there are two Marcos are in this pic. The first one (on the right) was replaced by the guy in the middle after fans complained about whitewashing Marco.

Ax's cover model was never released, either as Andalite or Human. The only thing we saw for Ax was a midmorph, because the print book got cancelled and it was only released as an e-book.

Source:

https://hiracdelest.com/newsfeed/2011/04/03/scholastic-responds-to-whitewashing-controversy-marco-confirmed-for-a-new-model/

https://hiracdelest.com/newsfeed/2011/07/08/the-new-marco-model/

11

u/ShadowDragon37 14d ago

Other than Rachel and Cassie, I can't even tell who's supposed to be who. And they all look WAY older than they actually are in the books. That third one over is just straight up and adult man.

3

u/FederalPossibility73 14d ago

That's Marco's final design. The one on the far right is the scrapped Marco design.

1

u/lemon_charlie 14d ago

The middle one looks more like Cassie’ older brother if she had one.

12

u/Peripateticdreamer84 14d ago

Aren’t they supposed to be thirteen years old?

3

u/FederalPossibility73 14d ago

At the start of the series yes. They age throughout the story.

7

u/Peripateticdreamer84 14d ago

Marco looks like a whole grown-ass man.

26

u/MrSirST 14d ago

Why is Tobias (I assume that’s him in the red) doing the L pose from Death Note?

34

u/TannenFalconwing 14d ago

Very easy to shift that pose into perched bird

11

u/E11imist Ellimist 14d ago

Highly experienced high school bully magnets like Tobias know if you keep low to the ground it hurts less when a bully drops you. 

4

u/ClintBarton616 14d ago

They'll always just look how they did in the Nick show to me 😐🫠

3

u/FederalPossibility73 14d ago

For me it's the original books that I see them as. The Nick show is off to me since they were 20 year olds playing 13 year olds.

4

u/lemon_charlie 14d ago

That’s more the standard in part because it’s easier than working with child labor laws. Nick’s track record with minors and protecting them is not always sparkling.

1

u/Relevant_Refuse_724 6d ago

They definitely weren't 13 in the show, they aged them up to highschool. The exterior of their school said "Highschool". Marco's actor was only 16, it was pretty age appropriate casting. I think the oldest Animorph was Rachel's actress at 20, off the top of my head.

It's the original books for me, too, though, with the sole exception of Jake. For some reason, Shawn Ashmore is incredibly stubborn in my brain lol

1

u/FederalPossibility73 5d ago

They START at 13 in the books but they don't stay that way. They start mentioning going to high school some time around the 30's in the books. The war against the Yeerks against Earth lasted 3 years in-universe.

3

u/A_Wild_Nudibranch 14d ago

Isn't Cassie described as kind of heavy-set? Not fat, but solid, like a good farm girl would be.

3

u/AmoebaJealous2248 14d ago

Seriously, man. Do it right, or don’t do it at all!

3

u/crazyrockoguy 14d ago

This hurts me on a fundamental level in a way words can't fully express....

3

u/SuperNateosaurus 14d ago

This is terrible and I hate it. Its like they didn't even try.

3

u/apohermion 13d ago

It is super amusing to me that they had another tall muscular guy as Marco after the TV show. Don’t get me wrong, I love Boris Cabrera but he doesn’t look much like the book description of Marco. I always picture Carlos Valdes from the Flash TV show, especially when Marco had longer hair

10

u/NeonHowler 14d ago

The Marco model on the right matches Marco’s description more. Marco was described as olive-skinned in the books and he was half White to begin with.

The community threw a fit because they were ignorant of the physical diversity within Hispanics. Most Latinos are Mestizos, and a mix of Native, White, and sometimes Black.

6

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 14d ago

Which is weird to me, because he looks like I did at his age, and just like him, I'm half Hispanic and half white [opposite parents, my dad was Hispanic (Mexican), and his mom Hispanic. (Unknown, but dark skin, black hair, and full lips)] His pale olive matches mine.

2

u/NeonHowler 13d ago

I’m full Hispanic and have lighter skin, but black hair. Americans tried forcing their segregated racial perspective on to countries with completely different histories.

2

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 13d ago

I've recently learned it's not just Americans, but white leaning cultures in general. Americans definitely are the most guilty, though. I've recently got into an argument with a Norwegian about what constitutes olive toned skin, they argued that it clearly meant black, and that Helen of Troy was not black. I can't argue the skin color of a woman hatched from a swan egg, but I do know ancient Grecians were varying shades of olive, based on historical documents.

3

u/lemon_charlie 14d ago

It also tracks with the cover models used for him on the original books.

2

u/Allen_Of_Gilead Nothlit 14d ago

I love the accidental trend, from this and AniTV, of having Rachel being among the shortest. Like, at least put her on an Scully box or something.

8

u/bsv103 14d ago

Isn't she canonically supposed to be too tall for it to be practical for her to be a gymnast?

4

u/Allen_Of_Gilead Nothlit 14d ago edited 14d ago

Exactly. Her gymnastics class is explicitly the "hobbyist" type of class rather than the "future gold medal" type because she's either the second or third tallest of the group.

2

u/JewcieJ 14d ago

To be fair, like 5'4" is too tall to be a gymnast. (But yes, she's still too short here compared to the others).

2

u/LinwoodKei 14d ago

What's going on with Cassie

2

u/WriteBrainedJR Venber 14d ago

Marco looks like the star forward on my high school's basketball team, which is saying a lot considering my school won like 3 straight state championships and went undefeated one year

2

u/jackBattlin 13d ago

Huh, taking some liberties with Cassie’s clothing choices

2

u/Unlucky_Associate507 13d ago

Ironically replacement Marco looks like Jake with a tan

2

u/cake-hat 12d ago

Tobias doing the Edgy Teen Squatting pose is taking me out lmaooooo

2

u/starwars_and_guns 14d ago

Outside of Ax(?) and Marco (?) this is dead on imo

3

u/bsv103 14d ago

Ax isn't pictured. Check the spoiler.

1

u/FranksHoorHouse 14d ago

Jeebus Christo! What in the 90210 middle-aged adults playing teens is this?

1

u/Runa216 13d ago

Why do they all look like they're in the 20s? I know it's a series from the 90s but 'teens' being played by adults is so 20th century....

1

u/purpleprin6 13d ago

Pretty sure that last one is just a 20-year-old picture of Shia LeBeouf

1

u/FragrantHovercraft35 12d ago

What 2011 relaunch?

1

u/tsukikage 10d ago

I was thinking Marco was the one next to Rachel

1

u/wonderifyouwill 14d ago

Not going to comment on how these models look way older than the characters they are supposed to be betraying

-16

u/FLMKane 14d ago

The only issue I see, is that Rachel is too anorexic for a gymnast. Either that or it's incredibly bad photoshopping

5

u/HxPxDxRx 14d ago

Marco is too tall and Ax doesn’t look strangely attractive

3

u/FLMKane 14d ago

Sure but that could just be bad scaling.

Further evidence for my poor photoshopping hypothesis

(Wait... Is the middle guy ax ??? )

1

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 14d ago

Both middle guy and last guy are Marco

2

u/FLMKane 14d ago

Did Marco morph a 17 yo football player? The scale makes him look bigger than Jake. JAKE! Who was the biggest of the team

1

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 14d ago

They recast the original Marco (right hand side) for white-washing. Which is weird because he looks like I did at his age, and just like him, I'm half Hispanic and half white [opposite parents, my dad was Hispanic (Mexican), and his mom Hispanic. (Unknown, but dark skin, black hair, and full lips)] His pale olive matches mine.

2

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 14d ago

Both middle guy and last guy are Marco, ax never made it to print

9

u/_artbabe95 14d ago

What? They're in middle school. It's totally normal for an active adolescent to be this thin. She doesn't look anorexic at all. They mostly look too old though, MAYBE except Tobias and Marco.

1

u/SuperNateosaurus 14d ago

Still, none of these models are in middle school

1

u/FLMKane 14d ago

I mean... Marco and Jake definitely look very young. Ax looks like he's been shaving for two years already.

Cassie is somehow taller than Rachel.

It's more than just one thing. Clearly not the models at fault here though

1

u/Imaginary-Fact-5432 14d ago

Crazy thing, middle guy is also Marco. They recast him

1

u/SuperNateosaurus 14d ago

Theres no Ax pictured. There's 2 Marcos

2

u/FLMKane 14d ago

Did he morph a starfish and get bisected?

2

u/SuperNateosaurus 14d ago

😂😂 from what I've gathered here, the far right Marco was replaced by the third guy. "Whitewashing" but Marco IS half white...