So many franchises shaped the childhood of young girls in the 2000s, like Winx Club, Lolirock, and Angel’s Friends, but one that continues to stand the test of time is Monster High.
The movies and short series, which can be found on YouTube, teach young girls to “Be yourself, freaky flaws and all,” a message that can be incredibly validating. Fairytale franchise Ever After High was made by the same company, and there is even a book that crosses the two universes. Nickelodeon tried to reboot the franchise years after it ended, but it didn’t receive the same acclaim the animated movies did in the mid 2010’s.
That said, all the films in the Monster High universe contain hidden messages for the younger generation, and five of them continue to stand out to me and others.
13 Wishes
This was the first Monster High movie I saw, and I have always appreciated the lore and story of the magic it created. Howleen Wolf, Clawdeen’s sister, finds a magic lamp after she returns for the new school year in the attic while cleaning and gains the power of 13 wishes from the genie, Gigi. Unbeknownst to her, Gigi has an evil shadow named Wisp who influences anyone who finds a lamp to make wishes in her favor. Howleen learns a lot about herself during the movie, most importantly that being popular isn’t always worth it and being yourself might just be the best thing you can do.
Boo York, Boo York
This movie follows Catty Noir, a pop star, as she tries to find her voice back at school, and Cleo as she unwittingly becomes stuck in her father’s bid for power as a giant magic comet is slated to fly over Boo York. Her relationship with her gorgon boyfriend Deuce is tested when her father reveals his plan to betroth her to Seth Tolomey, the heir to New York’s empire, who also happens to secretly be aspiring artist Pharaoh, who falls in love with Catty as she journeys across New York to find her sound. The lesson I glean from this movie whenever I watch it is that hurting others in search of power will come back to bite you and the original soundtrack on this movie still slaps and I am 22. Anyways…
Haunted
Spectra Vondergeist, a ghost writer, is searching for a story to keep her blog, The Ghostly Gossip, from falling into irrelevance when she finds out that Draculaura is being haunted. Knowing that it’s forbidden for ghosts to haunt the monster world, Spectra goes home in search of an answer, and her friends follow her.
When Spectra gets back to her old school, she discovers that the Principal has been giving out detention for, well, anything, and is spreading lies and fear among the ghosts about the monsters that live in the other world. She also meets Porter Geist, a painter who ends up helping her save the school and find the information she needs to out the Principal as the evil Red Lady who used to haunt the ghost world, now chained to her home, which became Haunted High, as punishment for her crimes. The lesson? Rumors can be particularly harmful in so many ways. Side note: the side characters were designed so well and they may be some of my favorite ever produced from the franchise.
Freaky fusion
Frankie wants to know more about her genealogy because it becomes an assignment for school, so she enlists the help of Robecca Steam to meet her grandfather, Sparky (who created Frankenstein), and unbeknownst to them, he comes back with them through the time machine and finds out about modern technology. The other ghouls who come with them end up getting fused, creating four hybrid monsters. The ghouls learn to work together with help from other hybrids, and Frankie finds out more about her heritage and lineage.
Great Scarrier Reef
This actually isn’t my favorite movie, and I would say it’s the last good one made by Mattel before the animated movies died out. Lagoona Blue, who has been dealing with stage fright since she was young, is inadvertently forced to go home and deal with her demons and her old best friend, Calla. Her traumatic childhood has impacted her in more ways than viewers knew up until that point, but she comes out the other side. It’s pretty safe to say that even with heavy childhood trauma, it is possible to move past your fears.
While I love Monster High and everything that it stands for, I mourn all of the movies that are no longer created under the old animation style, and I wish that people would stop trying to reboot it. The movies are great, and all of them contain hidden gems that can be seen as life lessons. Hopefully, soon people will realize that the movies from this era are some of the best movies created for children during this time, even with the protagonists being monsters.
You can find the Monster High movies and shorts on YouTube! Happy watching, ghouls, and happy Halloween!