Monster High

***Monster High*** is an American fashion doll franchise created by Mattel and launched in July 2010. The characters are inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, and various other creatures. Monster High was created by Garrett Sander, with illustrations by Kellee Riley and illustrator Glen Hanson. The franchise includes many consumer products such as stationery dolls, bags, key chains, various toys, and play sets. A book series has also been created.

In 2010, an animated web series was developed and released on YouTube. It has resulted in the production and release of a number of direct-to-videos, some of which have been broadcast as television specials and films on Nickelodeon. The web series and videos serve as a platform to launch new doll characters. In 2016, the series released a reboot and origin story called *Welcome to Monster High*, using new face molds, movie animation, a slogan ("How Do You Boo?"), and the song "This Is How We Boo", performed by Jordin Sparks.

In 2021, Mattel Television announced a new animated series and a live-action movie based on the franchise. Both projects will air on Nickelodeon in the United States in 2022.

# Premise

In the town of New Salem, the teenage children of famous monsters attend a school for monsters called Monster High. Their stories are told through the TV series/web series and films, as well as through diaries included with the dolls.

### Characters

*Monster High* features a variety of fictional characters, many of whom are students at the titular high school. The female characters are classified as 'ghouls' and the male characters are classified as 'mansters'. The characters are generally the sons and daughters, or related to monsters that have been popularized in fiction. The franchise's official website identifies six of the characters as Original Ghouls:

* **Frankie Stein** (voiced by Kate Higgins in 2010–16, Cassandra Lee Morris in 2016–present) is the daughter of Frankenstein's monster and his bride. She has white hair with black streaks, even though her mother has black hair with white streaks, and light, mint-green skin, the color of mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Frankie is a simulacrum, meaning her body is made of many different parts, similar to a hybrid, but she is more than three or four monsters. Also, she is clumsy, sweet, and always kind to others. She has a new crush on Neighthan Rot. In the series, she used to date Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde but this is different in the diaries where both characters have relationships with Draculaura instead.
* **Draculaura** (voiced by Debi Derryberry) is a vampire who is the daughter of Dracula. She is in a relationship with Clawdeen's older brother Clawd Wolf. She is a vegetarian who faints at the sight of blood. The diaries show she used to date Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde. She has fangs and typically dresses in pink, black and white.
* **Clawdeen Wolf** (voiced by Salli Saffioti) is the daughter of a Werewolf. She is described as furry, outgoing and sweet. Clawdeen is a bit, or more than a bit, of a fashionista, as she loves fashion with clothes and clothing-design. She has a bit of a temper at times when messed with, but can easily control it when coaxed properly. Her wolf ears are pierced in multiple places. hite In the 2016 reboot of Monster High she develops mutual feelings for Raythe.
* **Cleo de Nile** (voiced by Salli Saffioti) is the daughter of the Mummy Pharaoh Ramses de Nile and is 5842 years old at the start of the series. She is the captain of the fearleading squad. Cleo prefers to accessorize with light-gold bandages or mummy-wrappings. She is, or is based on, Cleopatra. She is also the queen of the social scene and has a boyfriend named Deuce Gorgon.
* **Lagoona Blue** (voiced by Laura Bailey in 2010-2015, Larissa Gallagher in 2016–present) is the daughter of a Sea Monster. Lagoona is from "Down Under" and speaks with an Australian accent. She can talk with water-animals. She is in a relationship with Gillington "Gil" Webber, though their relationship remains unknown in the reboot.
* **Ghoulia Yelps** (vocal effects provided by Audu Paden) is the daughter of a Zombie and is Cleo de Nile's personal assistant. She is very smart, but can only speak a zombie-language which consists of moans and groans. She wears white glasses. Ghoulia is absent from the 2016 reboot.

# Conception and development

The initial characters were created by Garrett Sander and his twin brother Darren. In researching the look, the Sander brothers went shopping with girls and noted they were buying Goth fashion items such as skulls, chains, and black. They remarked that because the characters are monsters, they had more freedom to do things that ordinary kids could not do. Other inspirations include children's interests in Tim Burton and Lady Gaga. Kiyomi Haverly, Mattel's design vice president, said "Honestly, it was very surprising to us. We just noticed girls were into darker Goth fashion." The dolls were created by Garrett Sander and illustrated by Kellee Riley.

# Production

The main Monster High products are playscale fashion dolls, approximately 10.5 inch (27 cm) tall. Over 700 million have been produced. Their bodies are made from ABS plastic and their heads are made from soft PVC. The dolls have many skin tones, including blue, green, orange and pink, in addition to human skin tones. Each character has a unique head mold, except for C. A. Cupid (Daughter of Eros), Ghoulia (Daughter of the Zombies), and Meowlody/Purrsephone (Werecat twins). All female dolls have rooted saran or[*clarification needed*] hair,[*better source needed*] but male dolls may have flocked or hard, colored plastic hair. Each doll has its own fashion style and personality and each has attributes of the monsters to which it is related (i.e., fangs, stitches, wolf ears, fins, bandages, snakes, etc.). While they are mainly marketed at children, collectors' edition dolls have also been produced. They are also particularly popular with 'OOAK' (one of a kind) doll artists - artists who repaint and modify commercially available dolls. In 2016, the doll series was 'rebooted' with cuter faces rather than the 'fierce' look of the original. They also changed their slogan from "Be Yourself, Be Unique, Be a Monster" to "How Do You Boo?"  The product line was discontinued in 2018, due to low sales. In 2020 the brand returns with the release of three dolls called "Skullector" with the *It* doll and *The Shining* twins. On the day of release on Mattel Creation, the dolls were sold out after a few seconds.

Other Monster High merchandise includes vinyl figurines, plushies, costumes, and Mega Bloks toys.

# Media

### Animation

There have been animated shorts, television specials and films related to Monster High.

Monster High has also had several TV specials: "New Ghoul @ School", "Fright On!", "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love", "Escape from Skull Shores", "Friday Night Frights" and "Scaris: City of Frights". In the United States, these specials were broadcast on Nickelodeon.

Starting in 2012, films were released as direct-to-video. The film have made Monster High #2 children's direct to video franchise. The films and specials have also appeared on home media as well as streaming services.

### Video games

Monster High has several video games based on the franchise. The first video game released was *Monster High: Ghoul Spirit* which was released on October 25, 2011. It is available for Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii with a special "Ghoulify" feature 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. The third video game for Wii, Wii U, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS titled *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. A couple of apps titled *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, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Wii.

### *Monster High* book series

The *Monster High* young adult novels are written by Lisi Harrison, who previously wrote the book series *The Clique* and *The Alphas*. The books take place in a different fictional universe than the webisodes 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 September 26, 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 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 September 29, 2011. The fourth novel titled *Back And Deader Than Ever* was released on May 1, 2012 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.

### *Ghoulfriends* book series

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*.

### *Monster High Diaries* book series

A book series by Nessi Monstrata was released covering five of the main characters.

### Discography

Two songs titled "Fright Song" and "We Are Monster High" have been released digitally along with live-action music videos on YouTube.

* *Monster High: Boo York, Boo York Soundtrack* (2015)

### Spin-offs

In July 2013, a new spin-off line launched as a companion line to Monster High, called *Ever After High*. Ever After High is based on the children of fairy tale characters. The show stars Apple White, daughter of Snow White, and Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen from the Snow White story. The two are representative of the main conflict in the show, Royals (students like Apple White who want to follow their predetermined fairytale story) versus Rebels (students like Raven Queen who wish to “rewrite” their tale). Monster High's C. A. Cupid is featured in the Ever After High webisodes where she is an exchange student there. In the 2015 Monster High movie "Boo York, Boo York", a character Astranova makes contact with Apple White and Raven Queen suggesting a crossover in the future. However, the 2016 reboot resulted in the cancellation of those plans; brief storyboard animatics were released during summer 2016 on the official Monster High YouTube channel under the title *The Lost Movie*, and early designs for the *EAH* characters intended for the crossover have been released online.

in 2017, Mattel released another spin-off, named Enchantimals.

# Reception

In response to the creation of these dolls, rival toy company MGA Entertainment released a witch-themed line of dolls known as Bratzillaz (House of Witchez) which were launched in 2012 and are a spin-off from MGA's Bratz toy line. Many other horror-themed fashion dolls, such as Playhut's Mystixx vampire dolls, WowWee's Once Upon a Zombie dolls and Jakks Pacific's Zombie Girls dolls have been released (all with varying degrees of success) as a result of Monster High's success, in attempts to cash in on the trend. Likewise, rival Hasbro announced in early 2013 the creation of the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line as a spin-off of the 2010 reboot of My Little Pony franchise.