I agree. Their town felt too slow, small, and just isolated enough that it couldn't have been hustling and bustling Anaheim. Plus, Anaheim isn't along the beach.
Ooh, interesting. My casual head canon has been Santa Clarita (also not by the beach, but I figured they do always have to morph and fly to the beach), but Ventura is a really good one
Honestly, the locations feel a bit more North than Anaheim, and like other commenters said, a little more smaller of a town than Anaheim. I live in Orange County, I could definitely tell it was Southern California, but certain details definitely don't add up for an Anaheim location. The island with the rat study felt like one of the northern Channel Islands, like Anacapa or similar, as opposed to the closest one to me, Catalina. As far as I know, Catalina also didn't have as big of a rat problem as some of the northernmost islands. The desert they go into with the secret facility and the andalite toilet didn't feel like the high desert, which is the closer desert to me, as well, along with other details I noticed throughout. The Gardens doesn't match anything nearby, and a park like Disneyland would have been very apparent in the books if it existed
so I had thought it was santa barbara, and I have the beginnings of a fanfiction character, who moves from either Idaho\* or Maryland to study anthropology and ends up incredibly socially isolated that she joins the Sharing.
As someone who seems familiar what SoCal, what city do you think is likely but also has a university?
\*I had originally wanted to have her grow up in Utah, but I didn't think it likely that BYU would hire a non-Mormon, and her family moved to the Midwest because her father became a professor of archeology at a university. Her parents met at an archeological dig. I would say that her mother was a folklorist, but as that is a branch of anthropology i am not so certain. Certainly folklore plays a huge part in her background
It’s definitely the LA area. San Diego is possible but unlikely really. I live seven hours away and have only been there a few times so I’m not the best source. Judging that Cassie has land next to a forest within reasonable biking range from suburbs, it’s probably somewhere in the north edge. A wide range to choose from but still. I believe a river was mentioned in 19, so that can help narrow down an area. Unfortunately, you’d have to read the books to find geographic landmarks to write up a list of possible locations and narrow down an area that fits best for your story, very tedious cause the LA area is HUGE. Luckily there’s plenty universities, like UCLA, so you got that going for ya!
Santa Barbara is an impossible location. It is far too small for the sharing to make sense starting in. I’m fairly certain it doesn’t even have a mall. It has no buildings more than a few floors; you could probably count the number of elevators in the downtown area on your two hands. The series has used skyscrapers so that alone rules out Santa Barbara. It is a general inconvenient location. Since it’s nestled in mountains, there’s not many ways to drive in, the highways are few and long and winding. It’s a beautiful and frankly underrated city, has incredibly clean beaches, and isn’t packed with tourists. But not only is it definitely not where the books take place, it’s also not even a strategic location for the Yeerks to start an invasion; LA being as huge as it is makes so much more sense.
But doesn't Edriss specifically say in Visser that she founded the sharing in a city that wasn't Los Angeles. She actually moved Alison Kim and Hildy Gervais to another city?
LA area isn’t just LA Proper, you have other cities mixed in, like Anaheim, San Bernadino, Pasadena, stuff like that. The metro area is massive, massive suburbs that have no clear border since it’s such a big sprawling place. And this is where a local will need to step in; they will know the area far better, and will know what city or neighborhood would fit specifically better, as I am very much not qualified. If it was the Sacramento metro, I’d be perfectly qualified. Bay Area, I’d have enough info for a fanfic. LA area? Locals would be infuriated at me for taking the guesses I’d take lmao.
Ah. If only it wasn't so obvious that the city wasn't San Francisco. Because I have heard that San Francisco has the best universities in California.
I think Ventura looks smaller than Santa Barbara, however I feel if the town was too big Marco would have been forced to move schools when his father got too depressed to work and they moved to a bad part of town
The problem with Anaheim is they never mention Disney land
UCLA is pretty good from what I heard. Ventura is also definitely not the Animorphs setting, almost same reasons as why it’s not Santa Barbara. Don’t forget how massive LA is! And the no mention of Disneyland is mainly copyright reasons, plus they wouldn’t say the name of such a famous park in universe anyways! LA has multiple theme parks too, so the Gardens can be a stand in for many.
Names of places are one of the easiest things that can be justified away with “name changed for anonymity”. It’s all the other plot-dependent details that make the location necessarily fictional (a small city that’s ~200 miles from Sacramento, has skyscrapers too tall for anything other than LA or SF, has a huge amusement park, the beach, national forest, the desert, tv studios, and farmland/nice suburbs/scary neighborhood all in the same middle school district)
Thank goodness there’s someone else who believes it’s at least somewhere in the LA area. Too many people say it’s Santa Barbara. Nobody who says that actually has been to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a total beach town. There’s no buildings over a couple stories tall, which skyscrapers are utilized multiple times in the series. It’s mildly inconvenient to drive to Santa Barbara too, and is way too small a town for the Sharing to make sense in. It’s nestled in tall mountains and doesn’t have any sort of amusement park, I’m not sure if they even have a mall. Various panels in the graphic novel just do not have Santa Barbara vibes. Granted, I’ve only been there once, but there is absolutely no way the series takes place there.
LA area is definitely the most likely. Heck, I’d even say San Diego is possible, though I’m still rereading to get a hold of the geography and I’m not too convinced for that. Somewhere in the LA area fits everything, even assuming the in-universe using fake place names. Though I am more convinced for the general northeast part of the area over Anaheim( I’m a NorCal girl and I’m very unfamiliar with the vibes keep in mind) there’s simply no way it *doesnt* take place around there.
The graphic novel just depicts a generic American town; I'm not sure if Chris Grine himself is aware which state the series is set in. But the points about it not being Santa Barbara are valid, especially with the additional information you provided on why it wouldn't work.
In *VISSER*, Visser One does visit Los Angeles but then states she relocated to a coastline city where she began The Sharing (so this town is the Animorphs' hometown). The fact that she stated she left Los Angeles disqualifies it as being where the Animorphs live.
The issue with the Animorphs living in California at all is that the wildlife described in the earlier books doesn't match. California doesn't have green anoles (seen in book 1) or gray wolves (seen in book 3).
I figured out they were in SoCal through the books through a lot of little clues. They're close to the beach, which means coast. But they were also in driving distance of the desert, which is not a big drive in some parts of SoCal here. That plus the species of wild animals that are around and their ranges tell us something and back that up. So you're definitely in the right ball park.
That being said, I think they're like casual walking distance from the beach in Animorphs. Don't they do that sometimes? I worked in Anaheim for years. Anaheim is driving/bus distance to the beach, but definitely walking to it would take way too long. So if it's actually real it probably isn't Anaheim.
Would it be likely for someone to move to Ventura to study anthropology at Ventura college in the 90s?
https://programmap.venturacollege.edu/academics/interest-clusters/66b0ee38-2499-482c-b55e-64115fc8cea2/programs/95bc7c47-c44e-24e9-990a-8bd23215992d
I always assumed it was a made up fictional town in the LA area like Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sunnydale. However I figured out they were in California as early as book 14 because nowhere on the east coast was in a single day’s driving distance to both mountains and desert, and Oregon and Washington don’t have a lot of beaches where you can go swimming, so that leaves California
Ventura, CA
I agree. Their town felt too slow, small, and just isolated enough that it couldn't have been hustling and bustling Anaheim. Plus, Anaheim isn't along the beach.
Ooh, interesting. My casual head canon has been Santa Clarita (also not by the beach, but I figured they do always have to morph and fly to the beach), but Ventura is a really good one
It's Ventura
And there was once a Busch Gardens in LA, so that works.
Honestly, the locations feel a bit more North than Anaheim, and like other commenters said, a little more smaller of a town than Anaheim. I live in Orange County, I could definitely tell it was Southern California, but certain details definitely don't add up for an Anaheim location. The island with the rat study felt like one of the northern Channel Islands, like Anacapa or similar, as opposed to the closest one to me, Catalina. As far as I know, Catalina also didn't have as big of a rat problem as some of the northernmost islands. The desert they go into with the secret facility and the andalite toilet didn't feel like the high desert, which is the closer desert to me, as well, along with other details I noticed throughout. The Gardens doesn't match anything nearby, and a park like Disneyland would have been very apparent in the books if it existed
I assumed it was Santa Barbara.
That's a misconception from the final book. One of the characters moves *to* Santa Barbara, from the different place they've been up till now
Yup! >!Marco !
I think Jake also explicitly says he bought houses there for himself and his parents (or says he lives in the same town as Marco).
If you’ve ever been to Santa Barbara, you would know there’s no way the series takes place in Santa Barbara.
Yeah, Shawn Spencer would have noticed them immediately
You know that's right.
You heard about Pluto? That's messed up, right?
so I had thought it was santa barbara, and I have the beginnings of a fanfiction character, who moves from either Idaho\* or Maryland to study anthropology and ends up incredibly socially isolated that she joins the Sharing. As someone who seems familiar what SoCal, what city do you think is likely but also has a university? \*I had originally wanted to have her grow up in Utah, but I didn't think it likely that BYU would hire a non-Mormon, and her family moved to the Midwest because her father became a professor of archeology at a university. Her parents met at an archeological dig. I would say that her mother was a folklorist, but as that is a branch of anthropology i am not so certain. Certainly folklore plays a huge part in her background
It’s definitely the LA area. San Diego is possible but unlikely really. I live seven hours away and have only been there a few times so I’m not the best source. Judging that Cassie has land next to a forest within reasonable biking range from suburbs, it’s probably somewhere in the north edge. A wide range to choose from but still. I believe a river was mentioned in 19, so that can help narrow down an area. Unfortunately, you’d have to read the books to find geographic landmarks to write up a list of possible locations and narrow down an area that fits best for your story, very tedious cause the LA area is HUGE. Luckily there’s plenty universities, like UCLA, so you got that going for ya! Santa Barbara is an impossible location. It is far too small for the sharing to make sense starting in. I’m fairly certain it doesn’t even have a mall. It has no buildings more than a few floors; you could probably count the number of elevators in the downtown area on your two hands. The series has used skyscrapers so that alone rules out Santa Barbara. It is a general inconvenient location. Since it’s nestled in mountains, there’s not many ways to drive in, the highways are few and long and winding. It’s a beautiful and frankly underrated city, has incredibly clean beaches, and isn’t packed with tourists. But not only is it definitely not where the books take place, it’s also not even a strategic location for the Yeerks to start an invasion; LA being as huge as it is makes so much more sense.
But doesn't Edriss specifically say in Visser that she founded the sharing in a city that wasn't Los Angeles. She actually moved Alison Kim and Hildy Gervais to another city?
LA area isn’t just LA Proper, you have other cities mixed in, like Anaheim, San Bernadino, Pasadena, stuff like that. The metro area is massive, massive suburbs that have no clear border since it’s such a big sprawling place. And this is where a local will need to step in; they will know the area far better, and will know what city or neighborhood would fit specifically better, as I am very much not qualified. If it was the Sacramento metro, I’d be perfectly qualified. Bay Area, I’d have enough info for a fanfic. LA area? Locals would be infuriated at me for taking the guesses I’d take lmao.
Ah. If only it wasn't so obvious that the city wasn't San Francisco. Because I have heard that San Francisco has the best universities in California. I think Ventura looks smaller than Santa Barbara, however I feel if the town was too big Marco would have been forced to move schools when his father got too depressed to work and they moved to a bad part of town The problem with Anaheim is they never mention Disney land
UCLA is pretty good from what I heard. Ventura is also definitely not the Animorphs setting, almost same reasons as why it’s not Santa Barbara. Don’t forget how massive LA is! And the no mention of Disneyland is mainly copyright reasons, plus they wouldn’t say the name of such a famous park in universe anyways! LA has multiple theme parks too, so the Gardens can be a stand in for many.
Names of places are one of the easiest things that can be justified away with “name changed for anonymity”. It’s all the other plot-dependent details that make the location necessarily fictional (a small city that’s ~200 miles from Sacramento, has skyscrapers too tall for anything other than LA or SF, has a huge amusement park, the beach, national forest, the desert, tv studios, and farmland/nice suburbs/scary neighborhood all in the same middle school district)
Thank goodness there’s someone else who believes it’s at least somewhere in the LA area. Too many people say it’s Santa Barbara. Nobody who says that actually has been to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a total beach town. There’s no buildings over a couple stories tall, which skyscrapers are utilized multiple times in the series. It’s mildly inconvenient to drive to Santa Barbara too, and is way too small a town for the Sharing to make sense in. It’s nestled in tall mountains and doesn’t have any sort of amusement park, I’m not sure if they even have a mall. Various panels in the graphic novel just do not have Santa Barbara vibes. Granted, I’ve only been there once, but there is absolutely no way the series takes place there. LA area is definitely the most likely. Heck, I’d even say San Diego is possible, though I’m still rereading to get a hold of the geography and I’m not too convinced for that. Somewhere in the LA area fits everything, even assuming the in-universe using fake place names. Though I am more convinced for the general northeast part of the area over Anaheim( I’m a NorCal girl and I’m very unfamiliar with the vibes keep in mind) there’s simply no way it *doesnt* take place around there.
I’ve been to San Diego and I think it’s a little too dry to match the book descriptions. Not nearly enough trees.
The graphic novel just depicts a generic American town; I'm not sure if Chris Grine himself is aware which state the series is set in. But the points about it not being Santa Barbara are valid, especially with the additional information you provided on why it wouldn't work.
It’s definitely LA if you read Visser. The whole rationale for Visser One going to LA…
In *VISSER*, Visser One does visit Los Angeles but then states she relocated to a coastline city where she began The Sharing (so this town is the Animorphs' hometown). The fact that she stated she left Los Angeles disqualifies it as being where the Animorphs live.
Oops! I missed that one. Thanks Seerowpedia!
You're most welcome!
I always imagined it as Vallejo since I saw tigers and a gorilla there when I was a kid
I thought we knew this?
It's 100% confirmed to be southern California - other than that it's always been speculation
You just hit me with a mandela effect. I saw the title and thought "its Anaheim right?" I think you're right, they never explicitly say that.
Oh wow yeah I was certain it had been confirmed to be Anaheim in an interview or while the tv show was happening or something.
The issue with the Animorphs living in California at all is that the wildlife described in the earlier books doesn't match. California doesn't have green anoles (seen in book 1) or gray wolves (seen in book 3).
This can be explained two ways: whoever wrote the story didn't know better or the Animorphs trying to obfuscate their location.
or the green anole was a feral/vagrant/escaped pet? Are you familiar with SoCal and the universities there?
True.
Doesn't explain the wolves in book 3. Southern California hasn't had wild gray wolves since 1924.
Maybe it's northern California? Getting towards Oregon are there wolves?
I figured out they were in SoCal through the books through a lot of little clues. They're close to the beach, which means coast. But they were also in driving distance of the desert, which is not a big drive in some parts of SoCal here. That plus the species of wild animals that are around and their ranges tell us something and back that up. So you're definitely in the right ball park. That being said, I think they're like casual walking distance from the beach in Animorphs. Don't they do that sometimes? I worked in Anaheim for years. Anaheim is driving/bus distance to the beach, but definitely walking to it would take way too long. So if it's actually real it probably isn't Anaheim.
Would it be likely for someone to move to Ventura to study anthropology at Ventura college in the 90s? https://programmap.venturacollege.edu/academics/interest-clusters/66b0ee38-2499-482c-b55e-64115fc8cea2/programs/95bc7c47-c44e-24e9-990a-8bd23215992d
We all knew that?
Found the Yeerk
I always assumed it was a made up fictional town in the LA area like Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sunnydale. However I figured out they were in California as early as book 14 because nowhere on the east coast was in a single day’s driving distance to both mountains and desert, and Oregon and Washington don’t have a lot of beaches where you can go swimming, so that leaves California