(Nickelodeon, October 6, 2022-October 24, 2024)
Monster High is a fashion doll and media franchise produced by Mattel, who first trademarked the name in 2007. The line was developed by toy designer Garrett Sander and his twin brother, Darren, and featured the teenaged children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending the titular school in the fictional town of New Salem. While shopping with young girls, the Sander brothers noticed they were into goth fashion. That inspired the idea for a toy with a dark aesthetic, further influenced by monster movies, Tim Burton films, and Lady Gaga (who would go on to partner with the line in support of her Born This Way Foundation). The line officially launched in 2010, with the first dolls consisting of patchwork monster and central character Frankie Stein, vegetarian vampire Draculaura, werewolf Clawdeen Wolf, blue-skinned sea monster Lagoona Blue, mummy princess Cleo de Nile, and laid-back gorgon Deuce Gorgon. They were joined a few months later by brilliant and mute zombie Ghoulia Yelps, and Holt Hyde, a descendent of Mr. Hyde who had a human alter ego of Jackson Jekyll and some fire elemental traits. Other monsters would follow, resulting in over 750 different dolls being produced for the line. These were bolstered by a full multi-media campaign that included a web series on YouTube, a series of television films on Nickelodeon, video games, books and music releases.
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| The original dolls: Clawdeen Wolf, Lagoona Blue, Cleo de Nile, Deuce Gorgon, Frankie Stein, and Draculaura. |
The line proved a massive success, thanks to its edgier appeal and messaging of anti-bullying, personal acceptance and diversity. They racked up $500 million in annual sales and sold so quickly the dolls were often hard to find in stores. Monster High eventually diminished Mattel’s Barbie line sales, although not quite surpassing it. However, sales began to decline in 2014 as the brand aged and other companies tried to produce their own competing toys. When they reached their lowest point in 2016, the line underwent a reboot to appeal to a younger age group. The ploy ultimately failed and the line was discontinued in 2018. Special collector dolls were released in 2020 and 2021 and did well enough to warrant a second reboot in 2022; targeting general consumers and collectors that came up with the franchise. While still drawing on the familiar characters they created, changes were made to their designs and backgrounds to help spark new interest and further increase diversity. To bolster this reboot, a live-action musical film and a new computer-animated series entered production, both in partnership with and slated to air on Nickelodeon.
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| Meet the new class: Deuce Gorgon, Toralei Stripe, Heath Burns, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Frankie Stein, Lagoona Blue and Cleo de Nile. |
Monster High debuted on the network on October 6, 2022. It followed the lives and antics of the students of Monster High, a boarding school built over a wellspring of magical power and hidden from humans by a magical barrier. Clawdeen Wolf (Gabrielle Nevaeh Green), now the Afro-Latina daughter of a werewolf mother and human father who grew up in the human world, was sent to Monster High with a necklace that allowed her to access her wolf abilities. She was made the new central character and shown to be on a quest to embrace her monster side and discover what happened to her mother. She was the leader of the Boo Crew, which featured Frankie Stein (Iris Menas), now the non-binary kid of mad scientists Dr. Mary (Debra Wilson) and Dr. Victor Stein (Vishesh Chachra); Draculaura (Courtney Lin), now half-Taiwanese, vegan instead of vegetarian, and who fed off the energy from success and feeling good about herself along with a passion for the forbidden practice of witchcraft; Lagoona Blue (Valeria Rodriguez), originally a blue-skinned Australian sea monster now depicted as a pink-skinned Honduran who grew up in a sunken castle with little knowledge of the outside world and a love of telenovelas; and Cleo de Nile (Kausar Mohammed), depicted as a bit kinder than previous portrayals, but was still prideful and standoffish given her royal status and always desired to be #1. Other characters included Deuce Gorgon (Tony Revolori), son of Medusa and a barista in the local hangout, the Coffin Bean Café; Toralei Stripe (Alexa Kahn), who was initially antagonistic of Clawdeen and led a band called The Hissfits; Heath Burns (Alexander Polinsky), the son of fire elementals and passionate environmentalist; and Headless Headmistress Bloodgood (Wilson), daughter of the Headless Horseman who oversaw the school.
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| The 2022 relaunch dolls. |
The animated series ran for 2 seasons and 50 episodes. While developer and showrunner Shea Fontana shared fans’ hopes for a third season, the production has yet to receive an order for more episodes. After the series’ initial run, it continued to be aired on the network in reruns; even finding its way to their Saturday morning schedule.
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