Review: How Was Monster High Ever Approved to be a Kids’ Show? (Spoilers)

I feel like I could ask this question about a lot of kids’ shows, but Monster High was just one of those shows where it goes from being a joke to becoming a serious question. Like my experience watching Twilight (which, if you read my review of that series, you know that I hate it), my experience first watching Monster High was inspired by my cool, older cousin that I badly wanted to emulate at the time. Other than being obsessed with Twilight, she loved the Monster High franchise and had all the dolls. I remember going to her birthday party one year and the entire thing was Monster High themed. I begged my parents to let me watch it and while they were hesitant to for many years, at the ripe age of 9 or 10, I finally was allowed to watch it for the first time. While I liked the movies and T.V. show at the time, looking back on it now, I can understand why my parents didn’t let me watch it for a while.

#1: What the HELL are those outfits?

Like many of the movies and T.V. shows doll brands were coming out with in the early 2000’s and 2010’s (Bratz being a notable example), Monster High characters were incredibly slutty in how they dressed. While some of the female characters in the show would wear things that were somewhat acceptable, most of their outfits consisted of the smallest mini-skirts I’ve ever seen, fishnet tights, crop-tops, and the infamous, gravity-defying, 9-inch stripper heels. While some of the characters’ outfits have been updated in recent years to look slightly better, I still don’t see how these character designs were approved, especially seeing as they are supposed to be teenagers (hence the name of the show) and the show was supposed to be for 6-10 year old girls. I realize that fashion when the show came out was similarly bad, but you still don’t need to be glorifying it for kids in elementary school.

#2: The animation

The animation in the original show was okay for a cartoon from the early 2000’s, though I definitely liked the look of the later movies and 2016 reboots much better. However, nowadays, some of the characters look almost unrecognizable from the original designs and seem more like they were drawn for a show for babies. They’re less spooky, goth, and cool and now look more like they should be in the next Cocomelon episode.

#3: The message

In the original series, the main message (if you ignore the normalization of teen girls dressed like hookers) was one of acceptance of yourself and others and how our differences make us stronger. While that was a good message for the target audience, in recent years, the reboots have taken that message to apply to the LGBTQIA+ crowd with their live-action movies making the character Frankiestein non-binary. Anything to sell dolls, I guess.

Until next time,

M.J.