Teens Save the World!

Maybe all those TV teens who are sex-obsessed just don’t have enough to do. The young adults in Nickelodeon’s sci-fi series, “Animorphs,” by contrast, spend their time risking their lives in a heroic, clandestine struggle to save the world. Of course, thanks to a gift from a dying alien, they’re aided in their mission by the ability to “morph” themselves into the form of any living creature.

Based on K.A. Applegate’s best-selling Scholastic book series, “Animorphs” is about five teenagers--Jake, the thoughtful leader; fearless Rachel; wise-cracking Marco; animal activist Cassie; and sensitive Tobias. They use their “morphing” power against secret invaders called the Yeerks, gray slugs who crawl into their victims’ ears and take over their minds.

The well-received TV show, which debuted last year, is now available on home video, with three uncut episodes per release. The first part of “Animorphs: The Invasion Series” launched in February; the second comes out April 6.

The teen heroes “have a tremendous sense of optimism, and I’m very happy that we can communicate that,” said Deborah Forte, Scholastic’s executive vice president and the series’ executive producer. “So many kids on TV seem very jaded; they’re sarcastic and sort of so worldly. These kids are regular kids--with the ability to morph into wild animals, that is.”

While the aliens may not satisfy Applegate fans--her creations are tricky to depict; the good Andulites, for example, are half centaur, half scorpion, with four eyes on stalks--the morphing is computer-generated for maximum cool appeal.

It’s varied, too, with slow, fast and partial morphs as the teens transform into flies, hawks, horses, wolves and crocs. All the morphs, which Applegate describes in her books in juicy detail, are accompanied by gross, bone-popping, organ-crunching sound effects.

“We didn’t want [just] one signature morph,” Forte said. “If the imagery was predictable, it would no longer be intriguing.”

Among the ingredients in this recipe, the real-life animals are the most challenging. In order to morph, the characters (played by Shawn Ashmore as Jake, Nadia Nascimento as Cassie, Brooke Nevin as Rachel, Christopher Ralph as Tobias, and Boris Cabrera as Marco) have to touch an animal long enough to “acquire” its DNA. Their animal forms have a lot of screen time, especially Tobias, who is trapped in the body of a hawk.

Forte credits the Bowmanville Zoo and Wildlife Refuge, located outside of Toronto, with making that aspect work.

“They suggest to us what an animal can do that will be comfortable and natural for it,” she said.

That can mean last-minute rewrites if an animal isn’t in the mood to follow the script, like Bongo, the too-lovable lion, a veteran of countless films and TV shoots. “He was supposed to run down a ramp and jump on his trainer and look fierce,” Forte said. “Instead, he was practically hugging the trainer. You learn to improvise.”

Bowmanville director Mike Hackenburger’s ensures that both animal and human actors are safe.

Concerned about a volatile, 650-pound white tiger before a scene, Hackenburger said he “just fed him until he wouldn’t eat anymore.” The animals are “never, ever tranquilized. There’s enough you can do in terms of their natural behavior.”

Hackenburger applauds Scholastic for respecting the animals and for being willing to listen. When Cassie questions the way the Animorphs use animals, it came “out of some discussions we had about the bioethics of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” he said.

Forte, who has also opened a door to find a live crocodile on the floor in front of her”--they were testing how it moved”--said that while the TV shows use the general story lines of the books, they aren’t identical.

“There are elements in the books that we can do very well, and others we can’t,” Forte said. “We wanted to mix it up and give kids new things to think about. We didn’t want the shows to become formulaic, where there’s a challenge, the Yeerks surface, the kids make a plan and go after them.”

The heart of the show, she said, is its respect for its audience. “It’s fun to tell an exciting story, but to put it in context with a message that says in different ways, kids should care about things that they feel strongly about, and they should feel that they can make a difference.”

* “Animorphs: The Invasion Series,” Columbia TriStar Home Video. $9.95. The TV show can be seen on Nickelodeon, Sundays at 8 p.m.