The creation of the Monster High franchise was both a great risk and an experiment for toy producer Mattel: for the first time in the toy company’s history, they first launched a line featuring a series of characters and then a movie production introducing them. That risk paid off, as the Monster High dolls quickly became one of the best-selling toys worldwide, and were highly acclaimed for supporting diversity. This franchise, created by Garret Sander, stands out for featuring dolls that are inspired by major monsters from horror and science fiction films, as well as other elements of popular culture.
In order to support the release of the dolls, Mattel teamed up with Nickelodeon to premiere a TV movie called Monster High: New Ghoul at School, which follows the already popular characters as they attend Monster High, a school that accepts all kinds of monsters. This movie served as an opportunity to introduce more people to the franchise and, eventually, get them to buy the dolls.
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Over the years, the Monster High franchise grew increasingly larger, adding more dolls, movies, TV shows, video games, books and even novels for adult audiences. Moreover, thanks to the enormous popularity of these dolls, Mattel developed two other kids’ franchises: Ever After High and Enchantimals. Over time, the franchise was reworked many times and had a few reboots, which can be spotted in the dolls’ aesthetics and also in the movies. Here is a look back at all the Monster High movies produced by the franchise so far.
Kicking Off the Franchise
Mattel Television
Monster High’s initial release brought with it a slew of films that are commonly considered to be the franchise’s first generation. All of these productions feature Frankie Stein, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Lagoona Blue, and Cleo de Nile, the main characters of the franchise, as well as several supporting roles. This first era of Monster High comprises 13 films, kicking off with Monster High: New Ghoul at School in 2010 and concluding with Monster High: Great Scarrier Reef, in 2016.
Other relevant productions from this period include Monster High: Fright On!, Monster High: Scaris, City of Frights and Monster High: 13 Wishes. Each of these films feature different adventures of the main characters in their school days, from birthday celebrations to falling in love, passing through several trips and hikes to scary places. Because of the latest productions that were released in the franchise, it is possible to watch the Monster High movies in chronological order and trace the story from the beginning. However, all of the movies in this first period are stand-alone stories, so they can be watched in any order.
The 2016 Reboot
In 2016, Mattel decided to reboot the franchise for the first time, aiming to attract younger audiences and thus increase sales. This relaunch also introduced some changes in the dolls’ appearance, smoothing out their features and altering their clothing to brighter and less edgy styles. To complement the reboot, they released new movies featuring additional storylines of the already well-known characters as well as a few new roles.
This period comprised two films, Welcome to Monster High and Monster High: Electrified, released in 2016 and 2017. Chronologically, the 2016 film is the origin of the Monster High universe, as it follows Draculaura and her friends in the establishment of an inclusive school for all kinds of monsters, with the difficulties that this mission entails. Monster High: Electrified, on the other hand, is a stand-alone story that follows Clawdeen in her attempts to open a beauty salon for monsters and humans, a task that Moanica, a new character in the reboot, seeks to sabotage. Two other projects were announced during this period but ended up being scrapped: a live-action movie and an animated film entitled Monster High: Fairy Tale.
Re-Launching Once Again
In recent years, the Monster High doll line suffered a drop in sales, so Mattel decided to suspend it. This decision greatly disappointed the fans, who started calling for a new release from then on. Fortunately, in early-2021, they got their way: back in February, Mattel announced a second reboot of the franchise, introducing new dolls, a TV series and, for the first time, a live-action movie. This production, titled Monster High: The Movie, was set for release in October 2022. It was directed by Todd Holland and starred Miia Harris, Ceci Balagot, and Nayah Damasen. The movie follows Clawdeen, a young girl that is half werewolf, half human, in her first days at Monster High. As she tries to hide her human heritage, the student must team up with her friends to protect her new school from being destroyed.
What Does the Future Hold for This Franchise?
Along with Monster High: The Movie, the franchise also released the first season of the animated television series Monster High, created by Shea Fontana. This production became quite popular, so it was greenlit to produce a second season comprising 20 episodes. But that’s not all: following the success of the 2022 live-action film, just days after its premiere, they announced its upcoming sequel, Monster High: The Movie 2, with Todd Holland reprising his role as director. As yet, there is not much information about this new release, but it is expected to be released in 2023.
Considering the effectiveness of Monster High’s second reboot, there will surely be new dolls hitting the market in the near future, as well as other kind of content to further expand the franchise’s universe. As of now, the line-up of Monster High movies totals 16 productions.
