Full Monster High Movie
Ling Baus
Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010.[1][2] Aimed at children ages 7-14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, folklore, myths and popular culture, centering around the adventures of the teenage children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending a high school of the same name.
Though the fashion dolls were the main focus of the franchise, a 2D-animated web series and 15 animated TV specials/films were released to accompany them, as well as video games, a series of young adult novels written by Lisi Harrison and other forms of merchandise. The franchise quickly became very popular among children and was extremely successful in terms of earnings for Mattel; it was worth $1 billion in its 3rd year of existence with more than $500 million in sales annually, and was the second best-selling doll brand in North America. Two spin-off toy lines were launched as companions to Monster High: Ever After High in July 2013 based on fairy tales and fables and Enchantimals in 2017 featuring human-animal hybrids. However, sales declined in 2016, prompting Mattel to reboot the franchise with a revamped aesthetic and a new fictional universe. The reboot was a commercial failure, eventually leading to the discontinuation of the franchise in 2018.
Monster High relaunched a second time in 2020 with the release of new dolls representing horror/goth film cults, culminating with the 2021 announcement of an animated TV series and a live-action musical film, both produced by Mattel Television and premiered on Nickelodeon in October 2022.[3][4][5][6][7]
In the fictional American town of New Salem, the teenage children of famous monsters (and other mythical creatures) attend a high school called Monster High. The school is renowned for allowing all species of monsters to enroll in it: this is in contrast with other schools that exist in the franchise's fantasy world, which are reserved for one type of monster only (for example, a vampire-exclusive school). The characters' stories were told through the TV series, web series, films, the official website, as well as through diaries (booklets) included with the dolls. Since the franchise's beginnings in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Monster High has valued diversity among its characters and their visual appearance, personalities, abilities, and cultural backgrounds.[8]
Monster High features a variety of fictional characters, many of them being students at the titular high school. The female characters are called "ghouls", and the male characters are called "mansters". When the franchise was first introduced, the characters were generally the sons and daughters of monsters that have been popularized in fiction; in later years, it expanded to also feature characters inspired by other various types of mythical creatures, such as figures from folklore, mythology, and pop culture.
Over 750 different dolls have been released since its 2010 launch.[23] They vary in size, features, materials used, type of packaging, types of accessories they come with, country of manufacture, etc. Most of them are about 10.5 in (270 mm) tall. Some dolls, particularly the ones which were released a long time ago or in limited quantity, are rare, collectible, and therefore expensive.[20] Most Monster High dolls were marketed to children as toys to play with, but some "collector's edition" dolls, priced higher and aimed at an older audience, were also made.[24]
Various other Monster-High-branded products have been released: they include collectible vinyl figurines, Halloween costumes, plushies,[35] stationery, children's clothing, accessories, and makeup, perfume, and more. In February 2022, American fashion designer Maisie Wilen collaborated with Mattel to create a pair of earrings inspired by one of the main Monster High characters' style; they were available for $50 exclusively through the "Mattel Creations" section of the Mattel website.[36][37] In April 2022, Mattel collaborated with Hot Topic on a clothing collection inspired by the aesthetics of the franchise.[38]
In the 2015 film "Boo York, Boo York", a character known as Astranova makes contact with Apple White and Raven Queen from Ever After High suggesting a crossover in the future.[41] However, the first franchise reboot and the discontinuation of Ever After High derailed and cancelled those plans (which also included more based-on films than the 16 indicated); brief storyboard animatics were instead released on the official Monster High YouTube channel under the title The Lost Movie[42] and early designs for the EAH characters intended for the crossover have been released online.[43]
In 2021, it was announced that Mattel Television would produce a live-action musical film and an animated TV series for Nickelodeon, which premiered in October 2022. Both projects feature more gender diversity and LGBT characters.[44][45]
Monster High: Kowa Ike Girls (Japanese: モンスターハイ こわイケガールズ, romanized: Monsutā Hai Kowa Ike Gāruzu; Monsutā Hai and Gāruzu being transliteration of "Monster High" and "Girls", respectively) is an 8-episode series of 3-minute Japanese animated shorts produced by Shougakukan Music & Digital Entertainment [ja],[46] and animated at Picona Creative Studio.[46][47] The shorts were broadcast as a part of TXN's morning children's television programming block Oha Suta beginning on October 22, 2014.[48] Mattel Japan's official YouTube account later released the shorts online.
The theme song, simply titled "Monster High" (Japanese: モンスターハイ, romanized: Monsutā Hai), was sung by Japanese teen idol girl band Amorecarina, featuring Kaede (from another idol girl band, Chu-Z [ja]) as a rapper. It was included in Amorecarina's debut single of the same name, along with an instrumental version.[49]
The first game released was Monster High: Ghoul Spirit, available for the Nintendo DS and the Wii consoles on 25 October 2011. This release featured a special "Ghoulify" function for the Nintendo DSi. The game revolves around the player being the new 'ghoul' in school and must work their way through activities and social situations to finally be crowned 'Scream Queen'.
Another video game for Nintendo DS and Wii titled Monster High: Skultimate Roller Maze was released in November 2012. This game allowed players to experience the Monster High sport - Skultimate Roller Maze. Teams compete their way through a hazardous maze of obstacles.
The third video game for the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS named after Monster High: 13 Wishes was released in October 2013. In this game, players take on the role of Frankie Stein who must free her friends from a magical lantern by collecting thirteen shards of a magic mirror.
Mobile apps Ghoul Box and Sweet 1600 are available on iTunes for the iPad and iPhone devices. The Monster High website has also released a series of catacomb-themed web games: "trick or trance", "phantom roller" and "scary sweet memories". In November 2015, Monster High: New Ghoul in School was released for the Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS, and Wii U.[50] The PC version was de-listed on Steam in 2017.
Lisi Harrison, a Canadian author known for writing popular book series; The Clique and The Alphas, wrote some young adult novels based on the franchise using a different fictional universe than the web series and deal with the Regular-Attribute Dodgers (RADs) and their struggles with love, social life, school and not to be outed as monsters to humans.
Mattel released Harrison's first Monster High novel on 26 September 2010. The book revolves around Frankie Stein and Melody Carver. The second book in the series, The Ghoul Next Door, was released at the end of March 2011[51] and features chapters on Cleo de Nile.
The third book featuring Clawdeen Wolf is titled Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way and was released on 29 September 2011. The fourth novel titled Back And Deader Than Ever was released on May 1, 2012[52] and features Draculaura. Another Monster High book called Drop Dead Diary was released on January 19, 2011; it was written by a pseudonymous author Abaghoul Harris.[53]
Author Gitty Daneshvari has written a Ghoulfriends series focusing on Monster High characters Venus McFlytrap, Robecca Steam, and Rochelle Goyle. The four books include: Ghoulfriends Forever, Ghoulfriends Just Want To Have Fun, Who's That Ghoulfriend? and Ghoulfriends 'Til the End .
The second companion line was launched on 18 July 2017 as Enchantimals, featuring animal-inspired humanoid characters with a corresponding animal companion each as their pets. This was in response to the growth of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom.[citation needed] It was originally tied to Ever After High, but fully branched off with EAH's declining sales.
Monster High was a massive financial success for Mattel,[75][76][77][78] becoming a billion-dollar brand in just three years and surpassing executives' expectations.[79] During the first few years, the dolls' quickly rising popularity caused the sales of Mattel's own Barbie dolls to decline;[80] in 2013, while Barbie remained the best-selling doll brand, Monster High became the second best-selling doll brand, with more than $500 million in annual sales.[81] In 2010, shortly after the dolls launched for the first time, they were so popular it was sometimes hard to find them in stores due to scarcity, and they were selling out quickly.[82] The line's success was partially thanks to its appeal to younger children who were choosing to play with toys which were "a little bit edgier" than traditional fashion dolls like Barbie,[83][84] its "anti-bullying message" which encouraged children to be themselves and embrace their own flaws and differences,[85] and the "deep engagement" of fans with the franchise which was maintained through media and merchandise.[77] It was built on a "trans-media storytelling [business] model, since it did not start with a traditional entertainment property first", which also contributed to its success.[82] Even though the franchise experienced a lot of growth in its first few years, especially during 2012 and 2013, sales started declining in 2014.[86] In 2016, the sales were weak.[26] Ultimately, the line was discontinued in 2018,[27] then brought back 2 years later.[28] On 16 May 2022, when a new doll line featuring reproductions of the original 2010 dolls was made available online through the "Mattel Creations" section of the Mattel website.[33] demand was high: the dolls sold out in less than one day.[87]
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