Monster High
| Monster High | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Fashion doll, Web series, Book series |
| Company | Mattel |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 2010–present |
| Slogan | 'Freaky just got Fabulous, Be Yourself, Be Unique, Be a Monster' |
| Official website | |
Monster High is an American Fashion Line doll created by Garrett Sander, with illustrations by Kellee Riley. They were officially released in July 2010.[1]
The characters are inspired by monster movies and horror fiction, distinguishing them from most fashion dolls. Although both are made by Mattel, Barbie and Monster High are said to be rivals.[2] The characters are depicted as being either related to or as offspring of famous monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, Medusa, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Phantom of the Opera, zombies, the Wolf Man, a werecat, ghosts, and the abominable snowman.
The Monster High franchise also includes other consumer products such as plush toys, stationery, bags, key chains, and various toys. A live-action, around-the-world, ten chapter Monster High musical movie is listed as in development with Universal Pictures.[3][4]
A video game titled Monster High: Ghoul Spirit was released on October 25, 2011. It is available for the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii.
An app titled "Ghoul Box" is available on iTunes for the iPad and iPhone.
Lisi Harrison (The Clique, Alphas) is the author of the Monster High novel series, the first of which was released in late 2010. The series thus far comprises three books.
Contents |
[edit] Description
The dolls are 24cm (11 inches for the male dolls) tall and have slightly oversized heads, doe eyes, small noses, and full lips. Their bodies are made from ABS plastic, while their heads are made from soft PVC. They have various skin tones (blue, green, pink, etc.) and each character has a unique head mold. Their hair is made of saran or Kanekalon fibers, though the male dolls occasionally have molded plastic hair. The doll bodies are fully articulated, with removable forearms and hands.
Aside from physical attributes, the dolls are quite different in the characterization of their clothes. All of them have various attributes of the monsters they are related to (i.e. fangs, stitches, wolf ears, fins, bandages, etc.).[5]
[edit] Website
The Monster High website went live on May 5, 2010.[6] Visitors can access games, character bios, several downloads and several more activities.[7] The site also makes available online webisodes for Monster High.[8] One new webisode was added each Friday from May 5 to July 30, 2010. After a nearly 6 month hiatus, the show returned with "Freakout Friday" uploaded on October 29. The webisodes can also be viewed on Monster High's YouTube channel.
The music video for the Monster High theme song, simply titled "Fright Song," is available for viewing on YouTube and can be purchased on iTunes. The behind-the-scenes video was also made available for viewing.
A commercial for the website aired on national television on August 5, 2010 in the U.S..[9]
[edit] Books
The Monster High books are written by Lisi Harrison, who is known for writing the popular book series The Clique. The books take place in a different fictional universe than the webisodes and deal with the Regular Attribute Dodgers (RADs) and their struggles to find dates and not be outed as monsters to humans.
Mattel released the first Monster High novel on September 26, 2010. The book revolves around Frankie Stein (aka Frankie) and Melody Carver. The second book in the series, "The Ghoul Next Door", was released at the end of March and features chapters on Cleo de Nile (aka Cleo). The third book features chapters involving Clawdeen Wolf titled, "Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way" Which was released on September 29, 2011. The fourth novel will be released in Spring 2012 featuring chapters on Draculaura (aka Lala) titled, "Back and Deader than Ever". A Monster High book called "Drop Dead Diary" was released on January 19th, 2011; true to its title, it is in diary format.
[edit] Characters
Frankie Stein - Frankie is the daughter of Frankenstein. Frankie is only 15 days old. She has black and white hair, stitches, and bolts, and is new to Monster High. Her pet is a puppy named Watzit. Frankie is very friendly and athletic, but has a clumsy streak, as her body parts tend to fly off. She is beginning a relationship with both Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde, but things aren’t looking so voltage in that relationship. She is voiced by Kate Higgins.
Draculaura - Draculaura is the daughter of Count Dracula. She is 1,600 years old as of Valentines Day, and her pet is a bat named Count Fabulous. Although a vampire, she is a vegan and does not drink blood. She has fangs and pink skin, and is very friendly. She likes to write stories about her friends and loves to take long walks under the sun (with an umbrella that is). She is dating Clawdeen's brother, Clawd. She is voiced by Debi Derryberry.
Clawdeen Wolf - Clawdeen is the daughter of the werewolf with an older brother named Clawd and a younger sister named Howleen. She is 15 years old and is covered with fur, with two piercings in each of her pointy wolf ears. She has a purple pet cat named Crescent, loves fashion and is confident, outgoing and very friendly to any monster. She speaks with a New Jersey accent. She is voiced by Salli Saffioti.
Lagoona Blue - Lagoona is the daughter of the sea monster. Lagoona comes from down under the sea and speaks with an Australian accent. She has a pink pet piranha Neptuna that she carries with her in a fishbowl purse. She is a sporty tomboy who loves to be in contact with water. She dates a river monster named Gillington "Gil" Webber. She is voiced by Laura Bailey.
Cleo De Nile - Cleo is the daughter of the Mummy and has an older sister named Nefera. She has a pet snake named Hissette that is somewhat poisonous. She is the fearleading squad captain and Deuce Gorgon's girlfriend. Cleo is the most popular monster in "Monster High". Cleo can be quite stuck-up, but is a good friend and has been softening to those around her. Her best friend is Ghoulia Yelps and loves to be fed grapes. Toralei Stripe is her rival. She is voiced by Salli Saffioti.
Deuce Gorgon - Deuce is the son of the gorgon, Medusa. He likes to skateboard, is interested in cooking and loves to play casketball with his team. He wears sunglasses to prevent him from turning other people to stone temporarily and has several green snakes on his head. He has a pet rat named Perseus and is dating Cleo De Nile. He was voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in Season 1. He is now voiced by Evan Smith.
Ghoulia Yelps - Ghoulia is the daughter of the Zombies. She is said to be the 'smartest ghoul in school', but she can only speak in moans and groans (or 'Zombie' language). She is also Cleo's closest friend. She is a huge fan of comics, especially Dead Fast and her trademark item is her cat-eye glasses. She has a pet owl named Sir Hoots-a-lot. She is voiced by Audu Paden
[edit] References
- ^ By Andie Tse (2010-06-04). "'Monster High': Mattel's Big, Bold Move". TheStreet. http://www.thestreet.com/story/10775022/1/monster-high-mattels-big-bold-move.html. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ Zimmerman, Ann (2010-12-21). "Mattel to Introduce 'Monster High' Toys—Followed by Movie, Books, TV - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704515704575282682475749528.html. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ DreadCentral.com - "Mattel Launches Monster High"
- ^ Monster High live-action film IMDB page
- ^ Chang, Andrea (2010-08-13). "Monster High - Watch out, Barbie: Mattel's edgy Monster High is in session - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/13/business/la-fi-monster-high-20100813. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ "Monster Games | Monster Videos | Monster Activities". Monster High. http://monsterhigh.com/. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ "Monster Games | Kids' Online Games | Online Activities". Monster High. http://www.monsterhigh.com/games. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ "Monster Videos | Free Kids' Videos | Webisodes". Monster High. http://www.monsterhigh.com/videos. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ “”. "Monster High - Fright Song Behind The Scene". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=077dqKyYAus. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
[edit] External links
- The Official Monster High Website
- Monster High Official YouTube Channel
- Monster High Wiki on Wikia.
- Monster High in French.
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