Honestly, the Monster high franchise did for me what the X-men franchise did for a lot of kids. It taught me the importance of accepting other people for who they are regardless of their freaky flaws.
Right. That’s why I don’t understand exactly why they had to re-boot and change everything up for “inclusion” monster high ALWAYS addressed real life issues but, with the monsters. Like lagoona and Gil when it came to his parents not accepting this can easily represent Discrimination, stereotyping and etc. the new monster high just forces children to learn about lgbtq+ rather than actually teaching.
@sewer~rat Did you read the part where I said they’re FORCING kids to learn INSTEAD of actually teaching?? You allies or lgbtq+ people are always so quick to get offended about something. Monster High has ALWAYS discretely addressed real life issues, I mean, Clawdeen has always been a lesbian yet this reboot made her straight just to force Frankie and Cleo to date,this shit is trash😂
Love how they went to make a movie about toys and ended up accurately depicting the politics of being a minority and how it's the people in power who can get away with anything
What you mean how minorities don’t get treated like they’re capable so everything is handed to them by racial admission and employment quotas? There are multiple instances where I was told I was hired because I’m a woman. It’s insulting. Hire me because I’m best for the job.
Remember when they made an entire movie about police brutality and discrimination??? And how the monsters were being harassed and framed, even when they knew they were innocent? Not to mention the plot of a “mixed” character feeling like they don’t belong anywhere and having to find acceptance from themselves and others. That’s a wild ride for a kids movie meant to sell dolls
Boo York Boo York is widely agreed to be on the best side of Monster High movies, so if you want a real feel for the characters personalities and dynamics, then I'd recommend that one!
The reason there's so many characters in the movie and you're kinda supposed to know them is because you learn about them throughout the web series. The movies released in between some of the seasons ^^
Bro skipped multiple movies and was confused that he didn't know all the characters. Every character is unique and we learn about them over the course of the franchise, as the get introduced.
Yes and the outfits.. the shoes and clothes were pretty! I loved the fashion! “9 inch stripper heels” there are too many comments on the girls clothing for my liking so im not going to be watching the rest of this video, sadly i didnt realize that purity culture and modesty extended to cartoons of monster women as well
That is an interesting fact about her diary. When I was a little kid, I couldn’t read the diary fonts very well so I disregarded the diaries but now I wish I kept them lol. I feel like I relate to Clawdeen a lot partially because I love art and fashion but also because, even though I like boys, I am not boy crazy and didn’t date in high school. Instead, I just wanted to focus on other things. I also admire her fierce personality, too.
@@Toxic.Mangaka yet everyone says she's lesbian like you can't be straight and goal-driven🤦🏾♀️ Edit: yo stay off my 🍆 y'all only call her gay cos she didn't have a bf but she had a male love interest on multiple occasions and never showed interests for girls. The creator said it himself he didn't make her gay y'all weirdos call any girl uninterested by romance a lesbian stfu
@@ShaiLai Garret Sander, one of the co-creators of Monster High, said Clawdeen was supposed to be lesbian, but Mattel nixed that along with other lgbtq representation. Mattel said "they werent ready" at the time. Clawdeen has always been my fave so as a bi woman i kinda felt validated in a way that Clawdeen was originally supposed to be a lesbian. but i agree with you. your orintation should have nothing to do with how driven you are to succed in life.
As a marketing person, the reason they zoom in on the shoes and feature sooooo many named characters is so they subconsciously sell more dolls and accessories to their young female viewers. I remember learning Bratz had removable feet/shoes cus that accessory piece was so much bigger/popular in that franchise than Barbie’s. That strategy of offering endless mix n match accessory pieces means a lot of future repeat revenue for the IP. 🧠 🌈
Okay but what Clawdeen told Draculaura is completely valid. People have this misconception that if your friend is in a relationship and you aren't then for some reason you're sad and need to change? Some people just prefer to be alone and that's okay, because they aren't lonely, they are just alone❤
13 Wishes is the only MH movie I remember (okay maybe WDGFIL) since it is the only movie that I kept replaying while on road trips, I have a fade memory on the others such as Boo York, Fright On!, Skull Shores, and Friday Night Frights.
For anyone that didn't know, Jackson and Holt (who are two characters that share a body, the nerd guy who listens to music and becomes a monster), are based on Jekyll and Hyde, and their full names are Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde
Monster high was actually marketed to tweens and teenagers with the alternative fashion that was becoming popular at that time. Kinda to represent those groups more
These movies DO require character knowledge to fully understand what’s happening. Like specifically knowing Venus is a pretty devoted environmental activist 😂 and Heath is considered a fire elemental Also 13 Wishes was my person favorite so you should do that one 😂
13 wishes is my favorite because it’s the only one I can truly remember the plot of 😂 I was like 5 instead of 10 when these movies came out but I still loved them
I always liked the shadow counterparts of the girls If the original walked between the line of goth and Barbie, this one’s were 100% goth with some punk and I loved them for it
I’m a 31 year old woman and the animated Monster High and Barbie movies are my junk food: I know they’re not nutritious, but they’re delicious! Plus the monster puns are fangtastic XD Loved watching your take on it, Alex!
they way I remembered EVERY character and EVERY movie and what it was about when I was a kid is crazy. I just recently looked the movies up the other day and was like "oh yeah I remember that"
A lot of monster high movies tell stories with very serious subjects. This one is pretty obviously about racial discrimination (monsters being the oppressed minority) and police brutality. Friday Night Frights is about misoginy (and femicide a bit too). Haunted is pretty much about facism and historical revisionism. So on and so forth. Once you start thinking about them, you start seeing what the writers were trying to teach kids in the most corporate approved way they could. P.s. Jackson Jekyll/ Holt Hyde are the son of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the music gimmick is just the excuse to switch between them.
whats really interesting about ghouls rule is deuce is one of the only characters not to subscribe to the whole normies are horrible and evil mob mentality right its because hes half normie, just like jackson/holt. he just passes as a monster meaning not only is a major character an analogy for the experience of mixed race people, but another major character is an analogy for a mixed race person who passes for one specific race and how that impacts their perspective
@@notroxa irnically you also see this for cleo when the normies go after everyone else except her because they can'tt ell that she actually needs the bandages to like.. not turn to dust. also could work as a racial ambiguity thing! i also wannt to add to this more by pointing out how holt totally was gonna get lynched with the trick or treat thing. this movie went above and beyond for all of the racial parallels considering it was for kids.
@@emma_luce_0623and you lack depth and understanding about analogies,contexts clues,and nuance. Not unexpected from a person who would use liberal as a insult.
I think my favorite part of this franchise was the fact that it was connected to Ever After High. And it is so sad that we never got an actual crossover because of the reboot of MH and the cancelation of EAH (caused by Disney's descendents). You need to take a look at Ever After High. The mayority of content is just a bunch of shorts that you can find on youtube, but there are actual books! And they expand on the world building so much! And sometimes it gets dark, like that time a bunch of villagers want to drown Raven for being a witch.
@@Tulipia5 yeah but this was more Mattel fault bc eah Dolls werent as well promoted as mh, like eah movies and specials were only avaliable online, while mh was aired on tv so thats what one became popular enough to Mattel try to do reboots and the other not and consequently just getting cancelled forever. Descendents was aired on Disney Chanel so obviously became popular
You should do “13 wishes” next. That movie gets pretty dark, especially when you find out that Lagoona’s boyfriend’s parents don’t like her because they’re ✨R@CIST✨ also, you should review the animated Bratz movies too. They’re a GOLDMINE for content.
13:13 as a monster high enthusiast, Holt and Jackson are based off of Jekyll and Hyde (as you can tell from their last names, since the franchise justifies it as the students being their children) but made family friendly, like every monster in the school. For example Operetta is the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera and Drakulaura is the daughter of Dracula (and he even appears in one of the movies)
Monster High was my everything as a kid and kinda my first introduction to fandom. The proportions were unrealistic but that didn't really affect me. The fashion and all the different characters were the main appeal.
6:45 That's Venus McFlytrap. She's a plant-monster (based on Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors") and an eco-punk. So it makes sense for her character to be angry about the destruction on nature and the environment.
Thank you! Every version of Monster High that came after this one has done my boy Deuce so dirty! He was actually my favorite character from these movies and the webisodes. Even though he was criminally underused, he was a guy who didn't fall into the very easy stereotypes his character could have. He could have been 1) the popular jerk, 2) the "surprisingly nice" guy who just was with the popular girl for the public eye, or 3) a dumb jock/surfer dude. He's really a laidback, resourceful, caring, reasonable guy who looks out for those he cares about and just happens to also be considered the most popular and hottest guy in school. Heck, that's probably why Boo York was my favorite. It was cool getting to see more of his personality and even some of the insecurities hidden behind that chill exterior. That's really cool to me and I wish he got highlighted more. Please do keep watching! I am definitely putting in a bid for Boo York and/or 16 Wishes Also, it really is insane how they just were going to have a public execution 🤣Dang. Vandalize one school. Seems a skosh extreme to me.
I was OBSESSED with these movies as a tween, to the point where probably my biggest heartbreak was seeing them readapt the franchise and take it in a completely different (& stupid) direction after 2017 :')
@@bloomeraklyon5842 ppl when a kids sho is targeted at kids these days: NOOOO THIS IS SO STUPID HOW DARE THEY MAKE A NEW GENERATION FOR NEWER KIDS. obviously if u grew up with the original monster high ur not the target demographic for the new series? just be glad there's new kids being raised on MH like we did. plus there's TONS of representation in the new generation that they never even touched on in the original show. like openly gay and non-binary characters and they even have a austistic character. do yk how much it means for kids to see themselves in a tv show? hell if I saw openly gay and an autistic character as a kid it might of helped me understand myself more back then instead of being confused.
@@emarie5875 ngl it didn't really matter back then did it? like we didn't see half the stuff you mentioned in the old movies, and defo not as much "representation", but guess what, no one gave a shit because kids don't even pay attention to that stuff normally because they are too young to understand or even think about it too much if at all. all this representation stuff is bullshit honestly all they're doing is making EVERYTHING political and shoving all of that stuff down the throats of impressionable kids. like have you seen the new cartoon? they're bringing in drag queens now?? and you call that a kids show???? hell nah, no thank you. Also, I wanna add that I don't completely disagree that SOME representation is good, like people with mental or physical disabilities, that's obviously informative, the main problem is when they bring sexualities and lgbt topics into the mix, then it starts to get weird and confusing, ESPECIALLY for the kids.
"This movie was weirdly realistic for a story about mythical monsters fighting for the right to enjoy Halloween because of long-term systemic racism, 10/10!"
I LOVE Monster High with a burning passion. I felt like Holt's character was so cool and different! Music unleashes a different side to him, I feel the same. And their outfits? KILLER. They made me want to dress like a badass girlie too! Monster High helped me embrace my femininity during puberty. Their stories were actually interesting and Frankie is a legit noble and virtuous character. You should watch why do "ghouls fall in love?", "13 wishes", or "boo york" next!
Jackson/Holt were my fav love interest for Frankie and their arc in the show ended in a very mature way with Frankie saying work on yourselves and come find me when your stable. However it is never brought up again and Frankie gets a new love interest every other movie. The closest reference we get is in the movie when Holt calls her Frankie Fine his nickname for her but then the hardly interact for the rest of the movie.
They were my favorite love interests for her too and I always loved that plot line! I do like her better with Jackson because I find holt kinda annoying lol
Yeah Monster High did surprisingly well at the angle of allegorical oppression because it's covered in several movies as well as a major plot for Lagoona & her boyfriend in the original cartoon. This is one of the better ones and it made me wish Holt & Jackson had a role of any kind in the Freaky Fusion movie.
monster high 13 wishes and draculaura's sweet 16000 my entire childhood- I was obsessed with these dolls, the tv show, and the movies, so it's cool years later to hear someone talk about them and look at it from a fresh modern perspective. all that to say love your videos Alex can't wait for the next one
My daughters used to watch this. And they got me hooked. 🤦🏾♀️We watched all the movie, internet shows. Even had birthday parties themed around this. I spent a fortune on books, dolls, costumes... and it was worth it. Lol They thought I was the greatest.
@@kannahvivien7525 we're still close, but they're teenagers now. So it's a different feeling than the excitement we had watching these movies together.
The original monster high demographic was actually between 13 to 15-year-old tweens, that might explain some of the fashion looking a little bit more mature. Still a little weird though, but since Monster High was my childhood, and I actually love the outfits, I don’t mind lol
I don't want to put this out there as an objective fact because people are different, but im also confident in expressing this opinion as me and all of my friends and acquaintances who were monster high fans as kids, were not influenced in any way by this show negatively, we never saw the girls as sexualized becuase we were kids and didnt have the thinking of the vulgar adults yet, all of us loved how different these characters are, the distinctive the dolls were, we loved the dark alternative fashion and SHOES ofc they are gonna show the feet, look how amazing they are! It was bold and it went all out, but also even though we were kids, no one ever made the connection between these cartoon monster characters and real life? We knew it was exaggerated animation, no one looks like this irl with skinny bodies and giant heads, we didnt wanna wear mini skirts like them or date the boys they did, kids are not morons. Sadly that's something most adults dont realise and many parents complained about the dolls being too ''sexual'' or with ''heavy makeup'' so they rebooted the dolls and made them cute with pastel colors like every other doll ever. And then the show and movies followed as well. Which is truly dissapointing because they were one of a kind, and now they're not.
Yeah. I was kinda upset about the reboot. But at least it was better than the new, new reboot. All the characters were changed too much in G3! It's so sad to see a beloved series get twisted and formed into something completely different. It's like the writers at Nickelodeon didn't even watch the original. 😔❤
@@animegirl76155i personally think the new reboot is better than the second gen. We can make assumptions about how it looks, and how they destroyed clawdeen because I will not defend that character assassination, but in all actuality it’s not for us anymore, it’s for the kids now. The dolls are still cute even though they toned the clothes down.
So true. As a kid we didn't even know what sexualization was lmao I just remember loving the fashion, the shoes and how each character had their own abilities and themes!
Thank you!!! It makes me so mad how many people think these dolls created unrealistic body standards like Barbies and Bratz have been accused of when NONE of us ever saw them that way. And no I didn’t think I was going to grow up to have a bobble head and legs 3X longer than my torso. I just loved the dolls for how cool and unique they were and the whole premise of them being based on classic monsters spoke to my fantasy loving, over imaginative brain!
@@VampyBlood17 I think it’s a reasonable thing with Barbie, because the dolls do look like they’re supposed to be realistic, but with monster high and bratz, the dolls looked too inhuman to give anybody any unrealistic body standards. I find myself now at 18 wishing I could have a flat stomach and look just a little more like a Barbie doll, and I look at monster high dolls and smile when they have a body type that looks like mine, but I think ultimately the cause of womanly self hatred is social standards put on us by other society members, and the models we always see. Barbie is, in a way, one of those models.
So monster high actually started as a mini web series before they started releasing movies and that’s why they have so many different characters even tho they’re kind of irrelevant to the plot cuz you’ve already been introduced to them and you’re just happy to see them here. It was kind of like endgame for monster high fans as you said.
Just letting Alex know, as someone who did follow monsters high _religiously_ You're 100% expected to know all those the characters because of the "webisodes" and the TV specials except for Robecca (the robot girl with blue hair) who had her introduction in *Friday Night Frights* ) That being said, please do *Why do Ghouls fall in love?* that movie is just... amazing OR *Freaky Fusion* because the line _"I'm your grandfather"_ lives in my head rent free
@@monaalona4744 oh sht, you're right. I swear, in my mind Rochelle was introduced in Scaris: City of Frights. Which is dumb cuz that movie came way after
Thank you! I was waiting for this comment. I feel bad that NONE of this makes sense to him because he didn't know he had to watch the series first. I kind of want to see his reaction to the webisodes, honestly. At least some on screen so he's not so confused. And, I agree with you, I was obsessed with "Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love?". I had Draculaura's car and her birthday doll. She was one of my favourite female characters.
I loved the fashion and proportions in Gen 1. It was so non believable and freaky that I actually think it was a way “healthier influence” than ex. Barbie which seems almost possible but isn’t (if you want to make the whole “unrealistic beauty standards” argument). And the fashion was just so out there and fun in comparison to all these other boring girly dolls at the time (Nothing wrong with “girly” the point is that MH had a variety of styles including girly rather than just girly and as a child I was just not into girly stuff)
Idk I never had issues bc of Barbie. I really dont know what people are on about. My main concearn is that she has a whole fucking VILLA and is rich as hell. Anyway Barbie, Monster High and Winx Club SLAYED
I still find it crazy that people don't know Jackson/Holt is the way he is because he's the kid of Jekyll/Hyde, that's why the initials are J/H and why he has the wildly different personalities. Quite a few characters are like that, Draculaura is the daughter of Dracula, Frankie(stein) is the daughter of Frankenstein, Deuce is the son of Medusa and so on. Some of the characters names tho are based just on what type of monsters they are (Clawdeen/Clawd are werewolves hence CLAW, Spectra is a ghost, Robecca Steam is a robot etc.) but it's still really cool
The reasons _why_ (some) people don't know that are 2 reasons. (1) His name doesn't spell it out like most other characters' names do. DracuLaura is just one example of the name alone flat out _telling_ you that she's a vampire. (2) He doesn't _act_ like a Jekyll-Hyde type. He acts like what he _really_ is, a fire elemental. (He _looks_ like that too, half the time.)
They're not all that iconic lol. Used to work for a department store and we used to have a _plethora_ of them and they never sold well to the point we'd just have to discount them for 50-75% of the original price. For shows designed to sell kids toys the only people that bought them were edgy adults -- in my experience.
@@bloomeraklyon5842 It’s really not. To me there problem is taking away already there representation instead of just adding in the characters that fit the description. Like Frankie being nonbinary is good but making Clawdeen afro-latino instead of keeping her African American just wasn't it. Calling it "woke garbage isn't an excuse to hate the show. It seems like you forgot what the original show is about.
Fun fact they didn't really touch on in the animated Media: Jackson has three different types of transformation over time. His first is transforming at Sunrise/Sunset. In the books, he transforms from heat and sweat. Snd With music, je actually only turns to Holt when music is played at higher than 100? 90? Decibels and in a 4/4 tome signature
Yeah, there were other movies before this one. The characters you show and mention don't show up often were introduced in the movies before this one. That's kind of how Monster High movies work. Operetta, Robecca and Rochelle all had bigger parts in the movie "Friday Night Frights." What the people making the movies do is show those characters from the previous movie in small cameos in the next one to say, "Hey, remember that character? They're fine, they're here. They're just not as important right now. Maybe next time." As a girl who grew up with the originals, I enjoy your analysis on these characters. It makes me laugh. I will say that, as far as Jackson and Holt go, like Mr. Hyde, Holt is just supposed to be obnoxious. Granted, Mr. Hyde was also a murderer. Holt is just loud but also the opposite of Jackson, which is also part of the point. The "monster" part is that he's biologically two people living in the same space because his ancestor, Dr. Jekyll, had unspecified base-urges and needed a chemical second identity to do that without bringing shame to his name and business.
Minor correction because I love Jekyll & Hyde: Jekyll was a murderer but disguised as Hyde. The characters are no different, but Jekyll can't expose his urges because he's a reputable member of society. I don't think the same could be applied to Jackson and Holt, though they both love Frankie but Holt is more open about his affection.
All of the characters were introduced in the webseries - each about 3 - 5 minutes, usually focusing exclusively on one or two characters. They can all be found on TH-cam on Monster High's official channel.
You know, it only just now dawned on me the absolute utter hilarity of a kid's cartoon, made almost entirely for the purpose of promoting a toy line of dolls and doll's attire, to get Cleopatra's skin color right. Also, watching the Monster High movies without the web series, is like skipping a meal to go straight for the dessert. They're all on Monster High's official TH-cam channel for free, btw.
We actually don't know what her skin colour was like, considering she was royalty and the fact she was mostly of greek ancestry she would most likely be very pale or just tan enough (like Cleo) so that it wouldn't be too peasently (according to those times ofc)
@@Pollicina_db I meant specifically in contrast to the controversies of certain live action depictions of Cleopatra, being either too white or too black.
@@Pollicina_db Cleopatra was Macedonian. Macedonia being a European country bordering the sea pretty much suggests that the majority of the population was ethnically white but had a olive/tan complexion similar to that of Greek or Southern Italians. Compared to other “historically accurate” adaptations of Cleopatra, Monster High was comically on point.
Part of the reason Clawdeen doesn't want a boyfriend... Well the original reason was the creators didn't want every single girl to be obsessed with romance, but it later morphed into being a lesbian as a fan theory that got popular and the creators agreed with.
I feel like it all makes sense that I had a crush on Clawdeen as a 10 year old and I shoved my bisexuality down in the deep corners of my brain. I was a confused little kid and was always confused why Clawdeen never had a boyfriend
I think it's so weird that one of the creators (I don't recall which one) said they intended for there to be more queer representation, including Clawdeen being lesbian, but she's not canonically gay in the reboot now that it's more acceptable to have overtly queer characters in shows. Yeah, you have Frankie (who's enby, femme presenting) with Cleo but like... that's it? Also find is suspicious that the previous MC, the literal new kid, who make sense to be the audience insert, was changed to be nonbinary and is suddenly not the MC anymore. Also the fact that they changed Clawdeen to be less sassy when they could've leaned into her personality, maybe even making her a reprsentative for modern AAVE. Like her dolls and cartoon design appear white-washed, and they white-washed her personality, too. Not to mention taking away Howleen's textured hair and Clawdeen's hair is still the typical loose, beachy curls because it's "easier" to produce and style dolls without coily hair.
It's so dumb that they went along. It _completely_ ruined the significance of a character not being romance obsessed. If you're striving to please the masses with pitchforks, make her a-romantic not lesbian.
So Jackson/Holt is meant to be Jekyll and Hyde! I think they're separate people as well, like they just happen to share a body, and Holt is triggered to come out whenever music is played!
Alex have opened a rabbit hole of monster high movies and needs to do more. Also did anyone remember the characters having their own diaries you can read.
Jackson and Holt (personal favorite characters btw) are decedents of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. Instead of being split between good and evil like their great grandfather, they are more split between being calm and introverted (Jackson) and Being wild and outgoing (Holt). Holt has also been described as having a bit of a wild temper. He is cousins with Heath so he's also part fire elemental as well. Originally his transformation was linked to a day night cycle where he was jackson in the day and Holt at night but his trigger changed to being music related due to the fact that he's still growing and changing and his trigger could potentially change another time (in the books it was a temperature related change where when he was cool he was jackson and when he was hot he was holt or DJ in the books). Since they never say his last name in the Ghouls Rule movie it could be hard to figure out what monster he's based on but since most people who watched this movie are already familiar with the series through the dolls and webisodes they already understood who Jackson/Holt were and how they work. In the webisodes there was a multi episode arc about them figuring out who they actually were and them both dating Frankie since Jackson and Holt originally were frankies love interest.
Monster High was my absolute favorite thing in elementary and early middle school. I liked Barbie but I loved how diverse MH was with the characters. You could tell Mattel had a fun time playing with puns and I always appreciated how creative (some are obvious) a lot of it was. I’m glad Alex is reviewing it and to be fair, it was a wacky experience but that’s what made it great
@@_Cotton I know its tempting to respond or roast them, etc. But bots are very dumb and responding to them will make them think that you're interested and will spam this more so instead report and ignore
When I was younger (like elemantary school age) I was so obsessed with Monster High. I would sit in front of the TV all day. Looking back I started to realize, the franchise as a whole was kinda insane.
Monster High wasn't really a kid franchise tho, it was specifically dedicated to the teen demographic who were growing up from their Barbie phase. The creator of these dolls realized that 90% of teens prefer more edgy, goth, hot topic stuff rather than cute girly girl stuff, that's why the dresses and heels are so over the top and stylized. And yeah, Clawdeen is the reason why I'm a lesbian, how did u know?
As someone who has been collecting MH since the beginning in 2010 and I’m now 25; I always find it interesting to see ppl who have no sentimental attachments to this franchise react to it lol Anyways, I find the way Mattel approached topics like racism and police brutality in 2013 quite interesting with this film. Oh! And btw! You dodged a copyright bullet with New Ghoul At School. because if Mattel didn’t get you P!nk’s record label deffo would of got you. P!nk has music featured in that movie. Definitely a product of 2010 lol
Definitely do more of Monster High. These movies were my comfort food for so many years in middle school and I absolutely love them. Side Note: Their names are Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde. They are literally the son of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.
YES PLEASE DO MORE MONSTER HIGH MOVIES! I think you should do Freaky Fusion, 13 Wishes or Haunted next. They have more "depth" than some of the others. Either way I think you should cover the movies chronologically so you don't get confused about new characters, they usually get introduced with their first appearence.
They were actually aimed at the older demographic of girls 13-17 since Barbie was too girlish, albeit it still has some flaws with what they showcased BUT it still holds up beautifully
14:05 no because my ten year old thought process was that he should be upside down because otherwise he would die too quickly😭😭😭 these movies made me grow up QUICK
I really loved these movies they were unique, had amazing fashion, taught good lesson like self love, being yourself, it's ok to be unique, even some deeper topics mixed in which is really interesting for a kids show, it was also very cultural diverse, despite all the characters being monster they still all came from different cultures like black, Hispanic, asian, and a whole lot of other cultures that each monsters folklore is set in...It was just ahead of it's time
I LOVED Monster High! My favorite was Draculara. I feel like monster high was outside what I usually watched. I was very girly girl, Barbie, Disney princesses and Disney channel.
YES!! These movies were my childhood, and my sister and I had so many dolls. I liked Draculaura because she wore pink and my child brain was like “my name is Lauren and her name has part of my name in it” and that was that, it was decided 😂
as someone who wasn't girly at all ('tomboy' then, trans man now lol) monster high was ALSO way outside what i watched then. i feel like monster high was that perfect balance of high-femme and _weird_ and gothy that just had a huge market no matter what you were usually into.
I'm sure other people have said it, but Jackson / Holt stands for Jekyll and Hyde. The music is just a way for them to easily do the transition between the two characters. I would really love if you did Boo York, Boo York and Electrified (even if it isn't as liked as the other movies since it's from the reboot)
I screamed when I heard the popular boy band song “shut up you’re not my real dad” so glad to see Alex putting real media us teenage girls listen to in his videos!
back then i wasn't allowed to anything to do with monster high dolls. One day i convinced my mom to redbox this movie and my sisters and I watched it on repeat. It was the first time I was able to "own" monster high media, so this film will always have a special place in my heart. I regret not being able to buy more of the dolls and other merchandise 😭 They're so pretty!! DO ALL THE MOVIES ALEX!!! specifically boo york, escape skull shores, and 13 wishes! Those are my favorites!
As someone who loved Jackson and Holt with a passion (and still do) them getting dunked on so much is extremely funny.😂 My boys, destined to be swept away along with Frankie’s boyfriends of the week.
My childhood was full of watching these movies, playing with some of the dolls, playing those weird knock off dress up games, not realizing I had a crush on Draculaura, and just loving every bit of it. I'm so happy about this combo 😭
From ages 5-11 Monster High was my one and only obsession. I watched these movies religiously, and only wanted the dolls and other merchandise for my birthday and Christmas. I just graduated high school and I've been going back to these movies to cope with all the feelings lol. Alex I am begging you to please review more Monster High movies. This video made my day.
So all of the characters are supposed to be sons and daughters of famous monsters throughout history. So Ex: Draculara is the daughter of Dracula. The Jackson/Holt kid is supposed to be related Dr.Jeckyl and Mr.Hyde some how, Operetta: daughter of the Phantom of the Opera and so on. Love this video! There should be more information on the characters somewhere and their background. They may have deleted old lore off the OG site tho sadly.
I was right in the age group when these movies/ webisodes came out and I was absolutely OBSESSED with monster high. I highly recommend watching the webisodes and the 45 min specials because they actually help to understand where all the characters came from lol. Also some of the are pretty good/ hilarious 😂
This movie is definitely the highest stakes of the franchise (you know, given they were literally about to kill a kid) but I would say the best ones after it are Boo York (that’s the musical) Haunted 13 wishes Freaky Fusion Friday Night Frights The others focus mostly on individual characters, but they’re still very good
When i was younger i watched the one where they went to new york and the valentiones day special so many times, recently I went back and watched the Valentines day one and Oh boy was it special...
I don’t know if someone already commented this, but Jackson and holt are Jekyll and Hyde, and then, all these characters that are being showed for short periods of times were introduced in the Webisodes before this movie came out
Hey Alex, just so you know, the reason they think you know all of these characters is because this isn't actually the first "movie" the first movie is 2-d and it introduces all of the characters. It's called, Monster High: New Ghoul in School. Now keep in mind it's only 25 minutes long, but if you want the rundown of, everything then you should watch it.
Oml I remember 13 wishes and that one about the hair salon being my favorite movies. Going back to watch it made me realise just how disturbing the animation was
Surprisingly, Venus was one of my favorite characters, not because of the movies though but it was the book that I read about her that made her my favorite. She was always a quick thinker and she had good style to me. I can’t really remember the rest of the book though 😅
13 wishes and frights camera action were my favourites 😂 and yeah, it helps if you've already seen the show. A lot of the earlier episodes introduce the individual characters more
Honestly, the Monster high franchise did for me what the X-men franchise did for a lot of kids. It taught me the importance of accepting other people for who they are regardless of their freaky flaws.
freaky flaws is crazy
Yes exactly !! And I hate how they tired to change that and add other things to the new gen. When it was already about everyone being different.
I grew up on monster high but because I watched the movies on Netflix and they’re not on there anymore I can’t watch them 😔
Right. That’s why I don’t understand exactly why they had to re-boot and change everything up for “inclusion” monster high ALWAYS addressed real life issues but, with the monsters. Like lagoona and Gil when it came to his parents not accepting this can easily represent Discrimination, stereotyping and etc. the new monster high just forces children to learn about lgbtq+ rather than actually teaching.
@sewer~rat Did you read the part where I said they’re FORCING kids to learn INSTEAD of actually teaching?? You allies or lgbtq+ people are always so quick to get offended about something. Monster High has ALWAYS discretely addressed real life issues, I mean, Clawdeen has always been a lesbian yet this reboot made her straight just to force Frankie and Cleo to date,this shit is trash😂
You just had to be a 10 year old girl when this series came out, it was everything!! They were giving Bratz and Barbie a run for their money
it was so good! watched these on repeat aha
@@jessicasawyers4232 same lol
I was like an 8 year opd boy tbh
He’s jackal and Hyde
I was 6
😂 "this movie has like 35 characters and were just supposed to know who they are???" That's a big part of monster high. Every characters got a story.
I think that’s why I loved it so much as a kid, like, there was almost no character left unintroduced
Also he did mention at start that he skipped two specials, did he never stop to wonder if maybe these people showed up in the specials?
Could name every single character and what their parents were and who was friends with who but for the life of me couldn’t remember 7 x 9 😭🤣
(〃＾▽＾〃)ʸᵉˢ
He skipped like 2 or 3 movies so lik
Love how they went to make a movie about toys and ended up accurately depicting the politics of being a minority and how it's the people in power who can get away with anything
The fact that a movie commercial with a race metaphor has aged like wine, scares me alot.
and then disneys Zombies messed it up for 3 movies trying to copy that
@coffeebux they're both messed up people have actual reason to fear monsters
What you mean how minorities don’t get treated like they’re capable so everything is handed to them by racial admission and employment quotas? There are multiple instances where I was told I was hired because I’m a woman. It’s insulting. Hire me because I’m best for the job.
@@MK-he3qq monsters actually hurt people? To an extent?
Remember when they made an entire movie about police brutality and discrimination??? And how the monsters were being harassed and framed, even when they knew they were innocent? Not to mention the plot of a “mixed” character feeling like they don’t belong anywhere and having to find acceptance from themselves and others. That’s a wild ride for a kids movie meant to sell dolls
Yes.
Yes.
@Don't Read My Profile Picture okay
Yeah that is a really strong allegory
Also one about femicide (Robecca getting dismantled by the Gargoyles because a girl beat them at "their" sport)
The entire point of monster high is about the fashion and feminism. Yes, they are wearing skirts and heels, thats the appeal.
I think he was just commenting how funny it is that they’re high school girls wearing 9 inch heels to school
How is it feminism? XD
@@emma_luce_0623because they’re wearing whatever they want and not caring about others have to say
No, it's about selling toys
That last part rhymed
Boo York Boo York is widely agreed to be on the best side of Monster High movies, so if you want a real feel for the characters personalities and dynamics, then I'd recommend that one!
yup
plus the songs are great
True dat
The music 💅
Welp got reminded of it so i gotta go listen to those song for the mil. Time
The reason there's so many characters in the movie and you're kinda supposed to know them is because you learn about them throughout the web series. The movies released in between some of the seasons ^^
And also the doll diaries if you already had some lol
also because New Ghoul at School is like the intro movie
That was the best design ever ughh 🫶🫶
Bro skipped multiple movies and was confused that he didn't know all the characters. Every character is unique and we learn about them over the course of the franchise, as the get introduced.
Yes and the outfits.. the shoes and clothes were pretty! I loved the fashion! “9 inch stripper heels” there are too many comments on the girls clothing for my liking so im not going to be watching the rest of this video, sadly i didnt realize that purity culture and modesty extended to cartoons of monster women as well
Clawdeen isn't an introvert but she is written as the only one who is not boy-crazy like most of the other characters are.
Which has always been interesting to me because her diary is the only one out of the main bunch that just straight up says “I’m boy crazy” 😭
That is an interesting fact about her diary. When I was a little kid, I couldn’t read the diary fonts very well so I disregarded the diaries but now I wish I kept them lol. I feel like I relate to Clawdeen a lot partially because I love art and fashion but also because, even though I like boys, I am not boy crazy and didn’t date in high school. Instead, I just wanted to focus on other things. I also admire her fierce personality, too.
That's cuz she's a lesbian.
@@Toxic.Mangaka yet everyone says she's lesbian like you can't be straight and goal-driven🤦🏾♀️
Edit: yo stay off my 🍆 y'all only call her gay cos she didn't have a bf but she had a male love interest on multiple occasions and never showed interests for girls. The creator said it himself he didn't make her gay y'all weirdos call any girl uninterested by romance a lesbian stfu
@@ShaiLai Garret Sander, one of the co-creators of Monster High, said Clawdeen was supposed to be lesbian, but Mattel nixed that along with other lgbtq representation. Mattel said "they werent ready" at the time. Clawdeen has always been my fave so as a bi woman i kinda felt validated in a way that Clawdeen was originally supposed to be a lesbian.
but i agree with you. your orintation should have nothing to do with how driven you are to succed in life.
As a marketing person, the reason they zoom in on the shoes and feature sooooo many named characters is so they subconsciously sell more dolls and accessories to their young female viewers. I remember learning Bratz had removable feet/shoes cus that accessory piece was so much bigger/popular in that franchise than Barbie’s. That strategy of offering endless mix n match accessory pieces means a lot of future repeat revenue for the IP. 🧠 🌈
It worked. I wanted the shoes to dress them up so bad
Tbf Monster High shoes are rad
Okay but what Clawdeen told Draculaura is completely valid. People have this misconception that if your friend is in a relationship and you aren't then for some reason you're sad and need to change? Some people just prefer to be alone and that's okay, because they aren't lonely, they are just alone❤
also a play on words bc she IS a wolf and the term "lone wolf" syncs w that.
Holt and Jackson are meant to be Jekyll and Hyde.
Definitely think you should review 13 Wishes.
Yeah their full names are literally "Holt Hyde" and "Jackson Jekyll"
I love this franchise oml
And he's Heath's cousin, hence the firey transformation
Omg 😭😭😭 I loved 13 wishes. It's definitely my most watched MH movie
@@jayebird1138 WAIT REALLY????
13 Wishes is the only MH movie I remember (okay maybe WDGFIL) since it is the only movie that I kept replaying while on road trips, I have a fade memory on the others such as Boo York, Fright On!, Skull Shores, and Friday Night Frights.
For anyone that didn't know, Jackson and Holt (who are two characters that share a body, the nerd guy who listens to music and becomes a monster), are based on Jekyll and Hyde, and their full names are Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde
That explains why he looks so much like Hyde jr. from the life action remake 😅 thanks for clarifying!
Alex needs to see this lmao
Yeah this is a good idea but is executed so poorly like
@@hannaosterlund5974 I'm pretty sure he's also supposed to be a fire elememtal, he's a very strange character 😭
@@vodkamutini3979 Yeah, he's half fire elemental because he's Heath Burns' cousin. Half Jekyll-normie half Fire elemental
Monster high was actually marketed to tweens and teenagers with the alternative fashion that was becoming popular at that time. Kinda to represent those groups more
Lol that makes me feel better because I watched these as a junior and senior as well as read the original book series.
These movies DO require character knowledge to fully understand what’s happening. Like specifically knowing Venus is a pretty devoted environmental activist 😂 and Heath is considered a fire elemental
Also 13 Wishes was my person favorite so you should do that one 😂
Omg 13 wishes is my fav too
13 wishes is my favorite because it’s the only one I can truly remember the plot of 😂 I was like 5 instead of 10 when these movies came out but I still loved them
Hell yeah 13 Wishes was the best one and my Gigi doll was my favorite :)
I always liked the shadow counterparts of the girls
If the original walked between the line of goth and Barbie, this one’s were 100% goth with some punk and I loved them for it
Don’t forget ab the whole Holt thing. He’s the son of dr.jekyll/Mr.hyde or something like that if that clears up any confusion
I’m a 31 year old woman and the animated Monster High and Barbie movies are my junk food: I know they’re not nutritious, but they’re delicious! Plus the monster puns are fangtastic XD
Loved watching your take on it, Alex!
Same with me but I was also a fan of Ever after high, it would be cool if Alex looked at that 💖💖
Same, I really love MH, I was so sad they stopped making them, and the reboot was a nono
I'm a Puss in Boots person
Same, 21, and I love watching Monster High
Everyone needs their comfort slop, I totally get it!
they way I remembered EVERY character and EVERY movie and what it was about when I was a kid is crazy. I just recently looked the movies up the other day and was like "oh yeah I remember that"
Alex is DEFINITELY at his peak with the Barbie and Monster High movies
I'm proud to be witnessing this era first hand.
That's exactly what I was thinking 🤣🤣
He should do the sonic the hedgehog movie 🤩🤣
Lmao fr😭
He needs to watch Bratz next! If he thinks the fashion and shows are ridiculous here he needs to see the original fashionistas lol
A lot of monster high movies tell stories with very serious subjects. This one is pretty obviously about racial discrimination (monsters being the oppressed minority) and police brutality. Friday Night Frights is about misoginy (and femicide a bit too). Haunted is pretty much about facism and historical revisionism. So on and so forth. Once you start thinking about them, you start seeing what the writers were trying to teach kids in the most corporate approved way they could.
P.s. Jackson Jekyll/ Holt Hyde are the son of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the music gimmick is just the excuse to switch between them.
whats really interesting about ghouls rule is deuce is one of the only characters not to subscribe to the whole normies are horrible and evil mob mentality right
its because hes half normie, just like jackson/holt. he just passes as a monster
meaning not only is a major character an analogy for the experience of mixed race people, but another major character is an analogy for a mixed race person who passes for one specific race and how that impacts their perspective
@@notroxa irnically you also see this for cleo when the normies go after everyone else except her because they can'tt ell that she actually needs the bandages to like.. not turn to dust. also could work as a racial ambiguity thing! i also wannt to add to this more by pointing out how holt totally was gonna get lynched with the trick or treat thing. this movie went above and beyond for all of the racial parallels considering it was for kids.
Nah
I see you only see it through the eyes of a lib. XD
@@emma_luce_0623and you lack depth and understanding about analogies,contexts clues,and nuance. Not unexpected from a person who would use liberal as a insult.
I think my favorite part of this franchise was the fact that it was connected to Ever After High. And it is so sad that we never got an actual crossover because of the reboot of MH and the cancelation of EAH (caused by Disney's descendents).
You need to take a look at Ever After High. The mayority of content is just a bunch of shorts that you can find on youtube, but there are actual books! And they expand on the world building so much! And sometimes it gets dark, like that time a bunch of villagers want to drown Raven for being a witch.
There was a whole Netflix TV show too, wasn't there?
@@makeitupvariety Well yes but no. The show was mostly shorts uploaded into TH-cam and nick. But on Netflix you have the movies/specials.
Ever after high wasnt cancelled bc of Descendents, but bc low doll sales compared too mh, Barbie and enchantimals só thats what It ended
@@blank68503 While that is true, it seems that Descendents was so popular that kids were just attracted more to their dolls and merchandise.
@@Tulipia5 yeah but this was more Mattel fault bc eah Dolls werent as well promoted as mh, like eah movies and specials were only avaliable online, while mh was aired on tv so thats what one became popular enough to Mattel try to do reboots and the other not and consequently just getting cancelled forever. Descendents was aired on Disney Chanel so obviously became popular
You should do “13 wishes” next. That movie gets pretty dark, especially when you find out that Lagoona’s boyfriend’s parents don’t like her because they’re ✨R@CIST✨ also, you should review the animated Bratz movies too. They’re a GOLDMINE for content.
YESS
Yesss bratz is my childhood I would love that
I hope gill and his family drown in salt water while my girlie lagoona watches
Boo York Boo York and Freaky Fusion were also good.
Also bratz babies super babies was my jam
13:13 as a monster high enthusiast, Holt and Jackson are based off of Jekyll and Hyde (as you can tell from their last names, since the franchise justifies it as the students being their children) but made family friendly, like every monster in the school. For example Operetta is the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera and Drakulaura is the daughter of Dracula (and he even appears in one of the movies)
Yeah it's like he didn't do a better research on the movies and is just plain laughing at them
Monster High was my everything as a kid and kinda my first introduction to fandom. The proportions were unrealistic but that didn't really affect me. The fashion and all the different characters were the main appeal.
Watching Monster High movies without watching the web series is like watching the new marvel movies without the TV shows for context lol
You can pick up any marvel movie and tell the story instantly lol the shows really don’t do shit
Yeah that ain't a good example considering how inconsequential all the shows are.
@@oVoxxy
That's a load.
@@its_dey_mate
Bullcrap.
@@dylansharp8471 Fantastic input 😃
6:45 That's Venus McFlytrap. She's a plant-monster (based on Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors") and an eco-punk. So it makes sense for her character to be angry about the destruction on nature and the environment.
yea but her comments are just jarring in the context to whats happening
@@georgia2156 Agree. The comments were pretty akward.
@@georgia2156she’s so messy for bringing up other bad things that the humans are doing and we love that 🤩💅🏻✨
Thank you! Every version of Monster High that came after this one has done my boy Deuce so dirty! He was actually my favorite character from these movies and the webisodes. Even though he was criminally underused, he was a guy who didn't fall into the very easy stereotypes his character could have. He could have been 1) the popular jerk, 2) the "surprisingly nice" guy who just was with the popular girl for the public eye, or 3) a dumb jock/surfer dude. He's really a laidback, resourceful, caring, reasonable guy who looks out for those he cares about and just happens to also be considered the most popular and hottest guy in school. Heck, that's probably why Boo York was my favorite. It was cool getting to see more of his personality and even some of the insecurities hidden behind that chill exterior. That's really cool to me and I wish he got highlighted more. Please do keep watching! I am definitely putting in a bid for Boo York and/or 16 Wishes
Also, it really is insane how they just were going to have a public execution 🤣Dang. Vandalize one school. Seems a skosh extreme to me.
I was OBSESSED with these movies as a tween, to the point where probably my biggest heartbreak was seeing them readapt the franchise and take it in a completely different (& stupid) direction after 2017 :')
I like the live action monster high movies but the series is just a pandering shit show
I agree!!! :((
@@bloomeraklyon5842 like the 3d ish one or the irl one
@@bloomeraklyon5842 ppl when a kids sho is targeted at kids these days: NOOOO THIS IS SO STUPID HOW DARE THEY MAKE A NEW GENERATION FOR NEWER KIDS. obviously if u grew up with the original monster high ur not the target demographic for the new series? just be glad there's new kids being raised on MH like we did. plus there's TONS of representation in the new generation that they never even touched on in the original show. like openly gay and non-binary characters and they even have a austistic character. do yk how much it means for kids to see themselves in a tv show? hell if I saw openly gay and an autistic character as a kid it might of helped me understand myself more back then instead of being confused.
@@emarie5875 ngl it didn't really matter back then did it? like we didn't see half the stuff you mentioned in the old movies, and defo not as much "representation", but guess what, no one gave a shit because kids don't even pay attention to that stuff normally because they are too young to understand or even think about it too much if at all. all this representation stuff is bullshit honestly all they're doing is making EVERYTHING political and shoving all of that stuff down the throats of impressionable kids. like have you seen the new cartoon? they're bringing in drag queens now?? and you call that a kids show???? hell nah, no thank you.
Also, I wanna add that I don't completely disagree that SOME representation is good, like people with mental or physical disabilities, that's obviously informative, the main problem is when they bring sexualities and lgbt topics into the mix, then it starts to get weird and confusing, ESPECIALLY for the kids.
Got to love how the corrupt police officer never gets punished for trying to execute a child.
Great life lesson. 👍
Reality
@@aspensastrology7964 fr
"This movie was weirdly realistic for a story about mythical monsters fighting for the right to enjoy Halloween because of long-term systemic racism, 10/10!"
this kids movies too realistic
aged too scarily well
I LOVE Monster High with a burning passion. I felt like Holt's character was so cool and different! Music unleashes a different side to him, I feel the same. And their outfits? KILLER. They made me want to dress like a badass girlie too! Monster High helped me embrace my femininity during puberty. Their stories were actually interesting and Frankie is a legit noble and virtuous character. You should watch why do "ghouls fall in love?", "13 wishes", or "boo york" next!
Jackson/Holt were my fav love interest for Frankie and their arc in the show ended in a very mature way with Frankie saying work on yourselves and come find me when your stable. However it is never brought up again and Frankie gets a new love interest every other movie. The closest reference we get is in the movie when Holt calls her Frankie Fine his nickname for her but then the hardly interact for the rest of the movie.
They were my favorite love interests for her too and I always loved that plot line! I do like her better with Jackson because I find holt kinda annoying lol
@@emmeoliver5007 Agreed on that. I love Holt now but I found him so annoying at first. But Jackson is still better
@@obliviousfantasy633 Yeah Holt can be a bit annoying but his and Frankie's relationship had a certain charm
Jackson/Holt was one of my first childhood crushes, I loved them so f-ing much!
I only remember Holt/Jackson and that one guy zombie-unicorn in freaky fusion
Yeah Monster High did surprisingly well at the angle of allegorical oppression because it's covered in several movies as well as a major plot for Lagoona & her boyfriend in the original cartoon. This is one of the better ones and it made me wish Holt & Jackson had a role of any kind in the Freaky Fusion movie.
so true, it was such a missed opportunity to make him one of the mcs. even when im watching im like "wait isn't jackson sort of a hybrid too??"
monster high 13 wishes and draculaura's sweet 16000 my entire childhood- I was obsessed with these dolls, the tv show, and the movies, so it's cool years later to hear someone talk about them and look at it from a fresh modern perspective. all that to say love your videos Alex can't wait for the next one
My daughters used to watch this. And they got me hooked. 🤦🏾♀️We watched all the movie, internet shows. Even had birthday parties themed around this. I spent a fortune on books, dolls, costumes... and it was worth it. Lol They thought I was the greatest.
because that’s the best kind of mom
It means a lot to kids for a parent to not only pay attention to what they're interested in, but also encourage said interests.
Your the best mom
@@zaryamoon4906 I try to be.
@@kannahvivien7525 we're still close, but they're teenagers now. So it's a different feeling than the excitement we had watching these movies together.
The original monster high demographic was actually between 13 to 15-year-old tweens, that might explain some of the fashion looking a little bit more mature. Still a little weird though, but since Monster High was my childhood, and I actually love the outfits, I don’t mind lol
Hate to be that person but 13-15 isn't a tween, that's a teenager
Yes, me and my friends were playing with monster high dolls when we are 12-13 years old!
I don't want to put this out there as an objective fact because people are different, but im also confident in expressing this opinion as me and all of my friends and acquaintances who were monster high fans as kids, were not influenced in any way by this show negatively, we never saw the girls as sexualized becuase we were kids and didnt have the thinking of the vulgar adults yet, all of us loved how different these characters are, the distinctive the dolls were, we loved the dark alternative fashion and SHOES ofc they are gonna show the feet, look how amazing they are! It was bold and it went all out, but also even though we were kids, no one ever made the connection between these cartoon monster characters and real life? We knew it was exaggerated animation, no one looks like this irl with skinny bodies and giant heads, we didnt wanna wear mini skirts like them or date the boys they did, kids are not morons. Sadly that's something most adults dont realise and many parents complained about the dolls being too ''sexual'' or with ''heavy makeup'' so they rebooted the dolls and made them cute with pastel colors like every other doll ever. And then the show and movies followed as well. Which is truly dissapointing because they were one of a kind, and now they're not.
Yeah. I was kinda upset about the reboot. But at least it was better than the new, new reboot. All the characters were changed too much in G3! It's so sad to see a beloved series get twisted and formed into something completely different. It's like the writers at Nickelodeon didn't even watch the original. 😔❤
@@animegirl76155i personally think the new reboot is better than the second gen. We can make assumptions about how it looks, and how they destroyed clawdeen because I will not defend that character assassination, but in all actuality it’s not for us anymore, it’s for the kids now. The dolls are still cute even though they toned the clothes down.
So true. As a kid we didn't even know what sexualization was lmao I just remember loving the fashion, the shoes and how each character had their own abilities and themes!
Thank you!!! It makes me so mad how many people think these dolls created unrealistic body standards like Barbies and Bratz have been accused of when NONE of us ever saw them that way. And no I didn’t think I was going to grow up to have a bobble head and legs 3X longer than my torso. I just loved the dolls for how cool and unique they were and the whole premise of them being based on classic monsters spoke to my fantasy loving, over imaginative brain!
@@VampyBlood17 I think it’s a reasonable thing with Barbie, because the dolls do look like they’re supposed to be realistic, but with monster high and bratz, the dolls looked too inhuman to give anybody any unrealistic body standards. I find myself now at 18 wishing I could have a flat stomach and look just a little more like a Barbie doll, and I look at monster high dolls and smile when they have a body type that looks like mine, but I think ultimately the cause of womanly self hatred is social standards put on us by other society members, and the models we always see. Barbie is, in a way, one of those models.
So monster high actually started as a mini web series before they started releasing movies and that’s why they have so many different characters even tho they’re kind of irrelevant to the plot cuz you’ve already been introduced to them and you’re just happy to see them here. It was kind of like endgame for monster high fans as you said.
The reason there’s 45 characters is because these movies were always more toy commercials than actual movies
they show their feet so many times bc have you seen their shoes???THEY ARE STUNNING. the fashion was everything. they looked spectacular.
Monster High and Alex Meyers? A match made in heaven ❤️
As in they both make my brain explode and question my sanity???
He should do the sonic movie!😂
Is that a Jojo’s refernce?😂
@@peytonarredondo Or he could watch EAH that would be so cool
YESSSA
Just letting Alex know, as someone who did follow monsters high _religiously_
You're 100% expected to know all those the characters because of the "webisodes" and the TV specials except for Robecca (the robot girl with blue hair) who had her introduction in *Friday Night Frights* )
That being said, please do *Why do Ghouls fall in love?* that movie is just... amazing OR *Freaky Fusion* because the line _"I'm your grandfather"_ lives in my head rent free
Rochelle was also introduced in Friday Night Frights
@@monaalona4744 oh sht, you're right. I swear, in my mind Rochelle was introduced in Scaris: City of Frights. Which is dumb cuz that movie came way after
@@midnightrant7487 No your not dumb some people probably think that too especially since she was fully introduced at the end of the movie.
Thank you! I was waiting for this comment. I feel bad that NONE of this makes sense to him because he didn't know he had to watch the series first. I kind of want to see his reaction to the webisodes, honestly. At least some on screen so he's not so confused.
And, I agree with you, I was obsessed with "Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love?". I had Draculaura's car and her birthday doll. She was one of my favourite female characters.
15:08 Bro deserves a Oscar, quality performance right there.
“ThE sAmE eXaCt ThiNG iS HaPpEniNg To mE”
I loved the fashion and proportions in Gen 1. It was so non believable and freaky that I actually think it was a way “healthier influence” than ex. Barbie which seems almost possible but isn’t (if you want to make the whole “unrealistic beauty standards” argument). And the fashion was just so out there and fun in comparison to all these other boring girly dolls at the time
(Nothing wrong with “girly” the point is that MH had a variety of styles including girly rather than just girly and as a child I was just not into girly stuff)
Idk I never had issues bc of Barbie.
I really dont know what people are on about. My main concearn is that she has a whole fucking VILLA and is rich as hell.
Anyway Barbie, Monster High and Winx Club SLAYED
@@Picking.a.name.is.hard1 remember Ever After High? That one was also good…
@@Picking.a.name.is.hard1those are the things you pretend to not like as a kid
@@ythegamerita what are? Just curious bc I dont understand if this refers to money and villas or Barbies and Winx and stuff
@@Picking.a.name.is.hard1 winxs and Barbie, you pretend not to like it as a kid cuz it's a "girl's show" even tho it were good
You legit got like 6-7 solid movies that'll be fun to watch and review. They also got a whole ass musical movie called Boo York
Βοο York is amazing
I still find it crazy that people don't know Jackson/Holt is the way he is because he's the kid of Jekyll/Hyde, that's why the initials are J/H and why he has the wildly different personalities. Quite a few characters are like that, Draculaura is the daughter of Dracula, Frankie(stein) is the daughter of Frankenstein, Deuce is the son of Medusa and so on. Some of the characters names tho are based just on what type of monsters they are (Clawdeen/Clawd are werewolves hence CLAW, Spectra is a ghost, Robecca Steam is a robot etc.) but it's still really cool
The reasons _why_ (some) people don't know that are 2 reasons.
(1) His name doesn't spell it out like most other characters' names do. DracuLaura is just one example of the name alone flat out _telling_ you that she's a vampire.
(2) He doesn't _act_ like a Jekyll-Hyde type. He acts like what he _really_ is, a fire elemental. (He _looks_ like that too, half the time.)
I had so many MH dolls as an adult collector. You can see companies trying to recreate MH success to this day. They're iconic!
Yess collected them aswell when they released,
i really love their og designs and details
They're not all that iconic lol. Used to work for a department store and we used to have a _plethora_ of them and they never sold well to the point we'd just have to discount them for 50-75% of the original price. For shows designed to sell kids toys the only people that bought them were edgy adults -- in my experience.
@@oduinn7948 Every location is different. Also they started getting lazy when working on G2.
@@aspensastrology7964 and G3 is woke garbage 🤣🤣
@@bloomeraklyon5842 It’s really not. To me there problem is taking away already there representation instead of just adding in the characters that fit the description. Like Frankie being nonbinary is good but making Clawdeen afro-latino instead of keeping her African American just wasn't it. Calling it "woke garbage isn't an excuse to hate the show. It seems like you forgot what the original show is about.
I almost did a backflip seeing Alex finally react to a good monster high movie that's NOT the live action reboot
Fun fact they didn't really touch on in the animated Media: Jackson has three different types of transformation over time. His first is transforming at Sunrise/Sunset. In the books, he transforms from heat and sweat. Snd With music, je actually only turns to Holt when music is played at higher than 100? 90? Decibels and in a 4/4 tome signature
Yeah, there were other movies before this one. The characters you show and mention don't show up often were introduced in the movies before this one. That's kind of how Monster High movies work. Operetta, Robecca and Rochelle all had bigger parts in the movie "Friday Night Frights." What the people making the movies do is show those characters from the previous movie in small cameos in the next one to say, "Hey, remember that character? They're fine, they're here. They're just not as important right now. Maybe next time." As a girl who grew up with the originals, I enjoy your analysis on these characters. It makes me laugh.
I will say that, as far as Jackson and Holt go, like Mr. Hyde, Holt is just supposed to be obnoxious. Granted, Mr. Hyde was also a murderer. Holt is just loud but also the opposite of Jackson, which is also part of the point. The "monster" part is that he's biologically two people living in the same space because his ancestor, Dr. Jekyll, had unspecified base-urges and needed a chemical second identity to do that without bringing shame to his name and business.
Minor correction because I love Jekyll & Hyde: Jekyll was a murderer but disguised as Hyde. The characters are no different, but Jekyll can't expose his urges because he's a reputable member of society. I don't think the same could be applied to Jackson and Holt, though they both love Frankie but Holt is more open about his affection.
All of the characters were introduced in the webseries - each about 3 - 5 minutes, usually focusing exclusively on one or two characters.
They can all be found on TH-cam on Monster High's official channel.
That "shut up you're not my real dad" cameo has sent me on a TH-cam wormhole. Thanks Alex
7:00
The first guy : “Hey, Peter” (joe swanson)
Second guy : “Hi, my name is charmander”
Third guy : “zoinks scoob”
You know, it only just now dawned on me the absolute utter hilarity of a kid's cartoon, made almost entirely for the purpose of promoting a toy line of dolls and doll's attire, to get Cleopatra's skin color right.
Also, watching the Monster High movies without the web series, is like skipping a meal to go straight for the dessert. They're all on Monster High's official TH-cam channel for free, btw.
She’s a lot less inbred in this one lol
We actually don't know what her skin colour was like, considering she was royalty and the fact she was mostly of greek ancestry she would most likely be very pale or just tan enough (like Cleo) so that it wouldn't be too peasently (according to those times ofc)
@@Pollicina_db I meant specifically in contrast to the controversies of certain live action depictions of Cleopatra, being either too white or too black.
@@Pollicina_db Cleopatra was Macedonian. Macedonia being a European country bordering the sea pretty much suggests that the majority of the population was ethnically white but had a olive/tan complexion similar to that of Greek or Southern Italians. Compared to other “historically accurate” adaptations of Cleopatra, Monster High was comically on point.
I know a lot of Greek people and there darker technically most of them, with curly dark hair
Part of the reason Clawdeen doesn't want a boyfriend... Well the original reason was the creators didn't want every single girl to be obsessed with romance, but it later morphed into being a lesbian as a fan theory that got popular and the creators agreed with.
I feel like it all makes sense that I had a crush on Clawdeen as a 10 year old and I shoved my bisexuality down in the deep corners of my brain. I was a confused little kid and was always confused why Clawdeen never had a boyfriend
I think it's so weird that one of the creators (I don't recall which one) said they intended for there to be more queer representation, including Clawdeen being lesbian, but she's not canonically gay in the reboot now that it's more acceptable to have overtly queer characters in shows. Yeah, you have Frankie (who's enby, femme presenting) with Cleo but like... that's it? Also find is suspicious that the previous MC, the literal new kid, who make sense to be the audience insert, was changed to be nonbinary and is suddenly not the MC anymore. Also the fact that they changed Clawdeen to be less sassy when they could've leaned into her personality, maybe even making her a reprsentative for modern AAVE. Like her dolls and cartoon design appear white-washed, and they white-washed her personality, too. Not to mention taking away Howleen's textured hair and Clawdeen's hair is still the typical loose, beachy curls because it's "easier" to produce and style dolls without coily hair.
L moment
It's so dumb that they went along. It _completely_ ruined the significance of a character not being romance obsessed. If you're striving to please the masses with pitchforks, make her a-romantic not lesbian.
@@inacatt they changed the MC every gen, the previous one has Draculaura as the MC.
15:55 the shade 😅
So Jackson/Holt is meant to be Jekyll and Hyde! I think they're separate people as well, like they just happen to share a body, and Holt is triggered to come out whenever music is played!
Alex have opened a rabbit hole of monster high movies and needs to do more. Also did anyone remember the characters having their own diaries you can read.
Jackson and Holt (personal favorite characters btw) are decedents of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. Instead of being split between good and evil like their great grandfather, they are more split between being calm and introverted (Jackson) and Being wild and outgoing (Holt). Holt has also been described as having a bit of a wild temper. He is cousins with Heath so he's also part fire elemental as well. Originally his transformation was linked to a day night cycle where he was jackson in the day and Holt at night but his trigger changed to being music related due to the fact that he's still growing and changing and his trigger could potentially change another time (in the books it was a temperature related change where when he was cool he was jackson and when he was hot he was holt or DJ in the books). Since they never say his last name in the Ghouls Rule movie it could be hard to figure out what monster he's based on but since most people who watched this movie are already familiar with the series through the dolls and webisodes they already understood who Jackson/Holt were and how they work. In the webisodes there was a multi episode arc about them figuring out who they actually were and them both dating Frankie since Jackson and Holt originally were frankies love interest.
I did not know he was related to Heath lol
Monster High was my absolute favorite thing in elementary and early middle school. I liked Barbie but I loved how diverse MH was with the characters. You could tell Mattel had a fun time playing with puns and I always appreciated how creative (some are obvious) a lot of it was. I’m glad Alex is reviewing it and to be fair, it was a wacky experience but that’s what made it great
These movies truly make me feel like I'm monster high
@DontReadMyProfilePicture.18 wasn't planning on it
@@_Cotton I know its tempting to respond or roast them, etc. But bots are very dumb and responding to them will make them think that you're interested and will spam this more so instead report and ignore
What does it feel to be a highschool?
Yes please go through all of the OG monster high movies, would be amusing to hear your take!
When I was younger (like elemantary school age) I was so obsessed with Monster High. I would sit in front of the TV all day. Looking back I started to realize, the franchise as a whole was kinda insane.
Monster High wasn't really a kid franchise tho, it was specifically dedicated to the teen demographic who were growing up from their Barbie phase. The creator of these dolls realized that 90% of teens prefer more edgy, goth, hot topic stuff rather than cute girly girl stuff, that's why the dresses and heels are so over the top and stylized.
And yeah, Clawdeen is the reason why I'm a lesbian, how did u know?
The original monster high movies transed my gender
@@marthadumptruck5102 lmaooooo slayyyy
This and the Parallel Dimension Ever After High😭😭😭
7:32 she's a ghost, so she was human (unless she's a dead monster, doesn't look like it) wouldn't she know what halloween is? Or did she just forget?
Maybe she was a sheltered kid or smth but she most likely forgot
Phantom of the Opera
As someone who has been collecting MH since the beginning in 2010 and I’m now 25; I always find it interesting to see ppl who have no sentimental attachments to this franchise react to it lol
Anyways, I find the way Mattel approached topics like racism and police brutality in 2013 quite interesting with this film.
Oh! And btw! You dodged a copyright bullet with New Ghoul At School. because if Mattel didn’t get you P!nk’s record label deffo would of got you. P!nk has music featured in that movie. Definitely a product of 2010 lol
Definitely do more of Monster High. These movies were my comfort food for so many years in middle school and I absolutely love them.
Side Note: Their names are Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde. They are literally the son of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.
7:11 Is this the voice actor of Shaggy in the Scooby Doo series?
YES PLEASE DO MORE MONSTER HIGH MOVIES! I think you should do Freaky Fusion, 13 Wishes or Haunted next. They have more "depth" than some of the others. Either way I think you should cover the movies chronologically so you don't get confused about new characters, they usually get introduced with their first appearence.
The fashion, movements, hair and visuals have always been aesthetically pleasing to watch
They were actually aimed at the older demographic of girls 13-17 since Barbie was too girlish, albeit it still has some flaws with what they showcased BUT it still holds up beautifully
14:05 no because my ten year old thought process was that he should be upside down because otherwise he would die too quickly😭😭😭 these movies made me grow up QUICK
Petition for Alex to do more Monster High Movies!
Signed
Signed ×2
Sighedx3
in chronological order so he knows the backstories of the ghouls. starting w the webseries first !
Signed ×10000
13:24 He’s meant to be based off of Jekyll hyde.
I really loved these movies they were unique, had amazing fashion, taught good lesson like self love, being yourself, it's ok to be unique, even some deeper topics mixed in which is really interesting for a kids show, it was also very cultural diverse, despite all the characters being monster they still all came from different cultures like black, Hispanic, asian, and a whole lot of other cultures that each monsters folklore is set in...It was just ahead of it's time
I LOVED Monster High! My favorite was Draculara. I feel like monster high was outside what I usually watched. I was very girly girl, Barbie, Disney princesses and Disney channel.
Ayyy mine were Lagoona and Rochelle
YES!! These movies were my childhood, and my sister and I had so many dolls. I liked Draculaura because she wore pink and my child brain was like “my name is Lauren and her name has part of my name in it” and that was that, it was decided 😂
as someone who wasn't girly at all ('tomboy' then, trans man now lol) monster high was ALSO way outside what i watched then. i feel like monster high was that perfect balance of high-femme and _weird_ and gothy that just had a huge market no matter what you were usually into.
I was OBSESSED with Draculara. But then again, who wouldn’t be? Also Abbey Bominable!
I'm sure other people have said it, but Jackson / Holt stands for Jekyll and Hyde. The music is just a way for them to easily do the transition between the two characters. I would really love if you did Boo York, Boo York and Electrified (even if it isn't as liked as the other movies since it's from the reboot)
I screamed when I heard the popular boy band song “shut up you’re not my real dad” so glad to see Alex putting real media us teenage girls listen to in his videos!
back then i wasn't allowed to anything to do with monster high dolls. One day i convinced my mom to redbox this movie and my sisters and I watched it on repeat. It was the first time I was able to "own" monster high media, so this film will always have a special place in my heart. I regret not being able to buy more of the dolls and other merchandise 😭 They're so pretty!! DO ALL THE MOVIES ALEX!!! specifically boo york, escape skull shores, and 13 wishes! Those are my favorites!
As someone who loved Jackson and Holt with a passion (and still do) them getting dunked on so much is extremely funny.😂 My boys, destined to be swept away along with Frankie’s boyfriends of the week.
I always loved (still do) Heath burns because he's such a dork
@@shadywolf6042 Oh yeah, MASSIVE dork.😂
beutiful profile
@@PaolaPonce-ec7tm Why thank you fellow fabulous person.
it feels good to see people discovering this high art for the first time
10:44 believe it or not this music is actually like 100x better than the actual music playing 😭😭
It fits so well omg
10:42 I love how he used the song he made to replace the copyright music here 😭✨
My childhood was full of watching these movies, playing with some of the dolls, playing those weird knock off dress up games, not realizing I had a crush on Draculaura, and just loving every bit of it. I'm so happy about this combo 😭
From ages 5-11 Monster High was my one and only obsession. I watched these movies religiously, and only wanted the dolls and other merchandise for my birthday and Christmas. I just graduated high school and I've been going back to these movies to cope with all the feelings lol. Alex I am begging you to please review more Monster High movies. This video made my day.
Omg😂! "Dad never came back from buying cigarettes" 😂❤ 6:35
So all of the characters are supposed to be sons and daughters of famous monsters throughout history. So Ex: Draculara is the daughter of Dracula. The Jackson/Holt kid is supposed to be related Dr.Jeckyl and Mr.Hyde some how, Operetta: daughter of the Phantom of the Opera and so on. Love this video! There should be more information on the characters somewhere and their background. They may have deleted old lore off the OG site tho sadly.
I love how draculara is adopted
I love monster high, the diversity in characters and the storylines were so fun
I was right in the age group when these movies/ webisodes came out and I was absolutely OBSESSED with monster high. I highly recommend watching the webisodes and the 45 min specials because they actually help to understand where all the characters came from lol. Also some of the are pretty good/ hilarious 😂
This movie is definitely the highest stakes of the franchise (you know, given they were literally about to kill a kid) but I would say the best ones after it are
Boo York (that’s the musical)
Haunted
13 wishes
Freaky Fusion
Friday Night Frights
The others focus mostly on individual characters, but they’re still very good
When i was younger i watched the one where they went to new york and the valentiones day special so many times, recently I went back and watched the Valentines day one and Oh boy was it special...
I don’t know if someone already commented this, but Jackson and holt are Jekyll and Hyde, and then, all these characters that are being showed for short periods of times were introduced in the Webisodes before this movie came out
15:15 "I'm radio rebel" 😂😂😂
You don't get it, Freaky just got Fabulous, Alex! Also, DO IT! Watch all the other movies!
16:48 Oh boy they did the same thing with Mattel's Ever After High line and Descendants
You should DEFINITELY do more Monster High movies! They are an ERA!
Hey Alex, just so you know, the reason they think you know all of these characters is because this isn't actually the first "movie" the first movie is 2-d and it introduces all of the characters. It's called, Monster High: New Ghoul in School. Now keep in mind it's only 25 minutes long, but if you want the rundown of, everything then you should watch it.
You can’t get into Monster High without learning about Ever After High. These used to be my favs and the books weren’t too bad either
I loved Monster High before Ever After High. I couldn’t get into it
Monster high was soooo diverse and I loved it ❤️ 😍
It's very entertaining and the characters were great.
Oml I remember 13 wishes and that one about the hair salon being my favorite movies. Going back to watch it made me realise just how disturbing the animation was
Surprisingly, Venus was one of my favorite characters, not because of the movies though but it was the book that I read about her that made her my favorite. She was always a quick thinker and she had good style to me. I can’t really remember the rest of the book though 😅
13 wishes and frights camera action were my favourites 😂 and yeah, it helps if you've already seen the show. A lot of the earlier episodes introduce the individual characters more
Uhhh boo-York was mine. I still listed to Deuce and Cleo’s song