Monster High: The Movie

Plot

Clawdeen Wolf is a hybrid half-werewolf girl, born from human father Apollo and werewolf mother Selena. On her 15th birthday, she receives an acceptance letter to study at Monster High. Although reluctant, Apollo lets her attend only if she hides her human side as officially humans aren't allowed.

Upon arriving at Monster High, Clawdeen befriends Frankie Stein, a non-binary, brilliant Franken-monster and falls in love with Deuce Gorgon, son of Medusa. She also meets Draculaura, daughter of Count Dracula; Cleo de Nile, Deuce's ex-girlfriend and daughter of the Mummy; Lagoona Blue, a Colombian sea monster; and zombie Ghoulia Yelps. The school's Headmistress Bloodgood invites Clawdeen, as daughter of an alum, to represent the students at a Monster High Council on the upcoming Founder's Day.

Clawdeen discovers that she temporarily transforms into a human when feeling strong emotions, particularly around Deuce. During class, her professor Mr. Komos recounts the story of Edward "Eddy" Hyde, a former student and half-monster who was expelled when his human side was discovered, allowing him to be killed by hunters. He says Hyde's secret lab is in the school and that he created a formula to transform himself into a full-blooded monster, but wasn't able to test it as he was killed beforehand. Clawdeen decides to find and drink the formula.

Frankie discovers Clawdeen's secret, but instead of shunning her, they help her look for Hyde's lab in the school graveyard. There, they find Draculaura practicing the forbidden witchcraft which they promise to keep secret in exchange for help. They find the lab, but it has a lock that only a certain hand can open.

Draculaura finds a spell that might unlock the lab with ogre's bone as one of the ingredients. Clawdeen collects some from Bloodgood's mug and is nearly caught by Cleo, but Draculaura casts a spell to change Clawdeen's likeness. The next ingredient is snake's venom, which Clawdeen obtains from Deuce's hair; they develop feelings for each other after gaining each other's trust.

Later, Clawdeen, Frankie and Draculaura complete the spell, but can't unlock the lab and are caught by Bloodgood, Komos, and Cleo, the latter of whom told Bloodgood about Draculaura's practicing witchcraft. As the school starts to quake, Bloodgood realizes that there is an "untrue monster heart" among them.

Cast

The cast were announced as follows:

Miia Harris as Clawdeen Wolf, daughter of Apollo and Selena, and best friend to Frankie and Draculaura, and Deuce's girlfriend. She is half-werewolf and half-human, and a bit sheltered since she was raised in the human world, but is very caring and cares deeply for her friends. At the end of the movie after Monster High is saved, it is implied she begins a romance with Deuce.

Ceci Balagot as Frankie Stein, child of Frankenstein's monster, creation of Dr. and Dr. Stein, and best friend to Clawdeen and Draculaura. Born just 15 days ago and assembled from some of the greatest geniuses in history, Frankie is Clawdeen's roommate. Unlike previous incarnations of the character, Frankie is made of different male and female body parts. Their brain was made from parts of the brains of Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Plato, and "a woman named Liz" who was not given credit for apparently creating the Internet, while their cerebral part is made a part of Alan Turing's brain, the heart is from a fisherman, and the thigh of her late uncle Phil.

Nayah Damasen as Draculaura, daughter of Count Dracula and friend of Frankie Stein and Clawdeen Wolf. A bit of a rebel, she's obsessed with magic, specifically witchcraft, even though it's strictly forbidden.

Case Walker as Deuce Gorgon, son of Medusa and Lyra, Heath's best friend, Cleo's ex-boyfriend, and Clawdeen's love interest. Due to his gorgon powers, he is forced to wear glasses so he doesn't transform anyone into stone and hides his snakes under a hat so they don't bite anyone. He does get his powers taken by Mr. Komos/Hyde and is turned to stone, much to Clawdeen's horror, but is soon brought back to life after Hyde is defeated, and runs for student council at the end of the movie, and begins dating Clawdeen.

Jy Prishkulnik as Cleo de Nile, daughter of the Mummy, Deuce's ex-girlfriend, Lagoona's best friend, and Monster High's resident Queen Bee.

Kyle Selig as Mr. Komos / Edward "Eddy" Hyde Jr., a human-monster hybrid with horns and Monster High's resident "cool teacher". Mr. Komos is incredibly trustworthy and offers Clawdeen guidance and advice for how to fit in at Monster High. But he is revealed to be the son of half-human half-monster Edward "Eddy" Hyde who got killed by humans after being expelled from Monster High.

Voices

Brian Dobson as voice of the Eye in Headless Headmistress Bloodgood's giant clock.

Natasha Leggero as the voice of Skullette, a skull who serves as Monster High's PA system.

Production

Background and context

Monster High is an American fashion doll franchise created by Garrett Sander for Mattel, with illustrations by Kellee Riley and Glen Hanson, and was launched on June 11, 2010. Initially consisting only of dolls and a web series, it soon expanded to also include other various consumer products mainly marketed towards children, such as other types of toys, clothing, accessories, books, comics, stationery and other forms of merchandise. Featuring characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, folklore, mythology and popular culture, this franchise involves teenage children of famous monsters and creatures of which the principal list are Draculaura, Frankie Stein, Clawdeen Wolf, Cleo de Nile and Lagoona Blue attending a high school with the same name as the franchise itself. The first two film specials were animated in Flash by WildBrain Entertainment which later switched to CGI animation by Nerd Corps Entertainment in 2012 starting with Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love? and ending in 2016 with Great Scarrier Reef. The franchise was rebooted in 2016 with a reboot and origin story film special called Welcome to Monster High, using revamped face molds, upgraded animation technologies and techniques, which was not well received by critics and fans and led to its initial cancellation on February 9, 2018.

Before the announcement of the film, there was a previous attempt at making a live-action Monster High film in the brand's launch year of 2010. Universal Pictures (then Universal Studios) announced that a live-action, around-the-world musical adventure film would be directed by Ari Sandel, written by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, with the latter two handling the screenplay and given a scheduled release date of October 7, 2016. Nothing was said since the announcement.

Development

On February 23, 2021, Mattel, through its television division, announced the second return of the Monster High brand, promising new content and products for the following year, including a new animated series and a live-action film based on the franchise, both of which will air on Nickelodeon in the United States. On November 9, 2021, the film's cast and director were revealed with the latter being Todd Holland (who directed 50 episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, 26 episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and the 1989 film The Wizard) and the former at time of announcement being Miia Harris as Clawdeen Wolf, Ceci Balagot as Frankie Stein and Nayah Damasen as Draculaura.

Promotion

On June 30, 2022, a trailer of Monster High: The Movie was uploaded to Nickelodeon's official YouTube channel.

Release

The film was simultaneously released on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon on October 6, 2022. It was released on DVD on August 15, 2023, by Paramount Home Entertainment.

Reception

The film has an 83% approval rating based on six reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Sequel

On October 25, 2022, a sequel titled Monster High 2 was announced. Production began on February 7, 2023. It premiered on October 5, 2023, on Nickelodeon and Paramount+.