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No, have no fear, hes on our side. Its Ron Oliver, the multi-talented writer/director of the "Changes" trilogy. He somehow found time in his busy schedule to talk with us about working on Animorphs TV. Hes so cool. Read on to see what he had to say.
If you could morph any animal what would it be?
A hawk, like Tobias, so that I would be able to fly. Or, I might want to be a bald eagle because A, Ive already got the bald thing going on and B, I would be protected by the government!
Do you believe in aliens?
Its probably silly to think that we are the only intelligent beings in
the universe, but do I think that they drop out of the sky and abduct
people? I dont know. Ive always wondered, if there are aliens
visiting us, why dont they go on CNN and announce themselves?
Theyre probably just like we are trying to communicate
and theyll keep trying as hard as we are until eventually we make
contact.
In one of the "Changes" episodes, the Animorphs go to their prom. Did you go to prom?
Well, its funny, the very first script I ever sold was a sequel to the movie Prom Night. I went to a really small school so our prom wasnt terribly impressive. I went and it was a bit
of a let down. I always wanted the prom to be a big event with jackets and ties and limos but our school was too small. So, I tried to make the Animorphs' prom exciting.
You are both a writer and a director - which do you like better?
Both really appeal to two different sides of me. The writing thing is
really insular - youre in your own little world sitting at your
computer and thats very one half of my brain. Whereas with the directing thing you have to be bigger than life, moving the troops around from place to place, and that appeals to the other side of me.
Katherine Applegates writing inspires many fans of Animorphs. Im sure some of the would-be directors and screenwriters out there are inspired by your skills. Are there any writers or directors that have been inspirational to you?
Oh very many, yes. One of the biggest inspirations for me ever when I was
younger was a director named John Carpenter, who did Halloween.
And Sam Rami, who I just love. And Hitchcock wrote the book on directing.
He was one of the reasons I wanted to become a director. And writers
Steven King. I was a big fan of his. I read a lot of books when I was young.
I loved Ray Bradbury and people who had sort of a fantasy element in their
work.