Monster High (franchise)

Monster High is a franchise owned, developed and promoted by Mattel Corporate. The franchise is a milestone in the company's history, being one of the relative few franchises Mattel owns and the first created to be a media franchise from the get-go.

Preparational development of the franchise began in 2007, based on the ideas of Garrett Sander, and came to an end in the months of May, June and July of 2010, when the world was introduced to Monster High. Monster High immediately garnered the hoped-for interest and has been growing steadily ever since.

History
Monster High was created and proposed for production in 2007 by Garrett Sander, back then a member of the packaging department. For three years, a team of 20 employees worked on what Monster High had to be, both immediately and in the long-run. The earliest trademarks were filed on 23 October, 2007, comprising "Monster High", "Frankie Stein", "Ula D", "Operetta", and "Howleen Wolf" - suggesting an initial cast setup that has changed drastically over three years.

Monster High was created for two purposes. The first was to acquire a franchise that manages to appeal to a demographic Mattel historically has had trouble getting hold on: tween girls, roughly defined as girls aged 8 to 12. This demographic is of an age that Barbie loses its appeal, but not of an age that toys are no longer interesting, provided they're in line with the girls' teenage needs. Monster High was created to fill the gap. The second purpose behind Monster High was to test the boundaries in setting up a new franchise that Mattel has previously believed in. For decennia, but more relevantly since the '80s, Mattel's modus operandi has been to either create toys for other companies, such as DC Comics and Disney, or to create a toyline first and see if it catches on enough to justify expensive promotion.

As other toy companies, such as Hasbro, embraced the relation between a solid fictional universe and the success of a toyline, Mattel played it safe and found itself generating less profit than proven to be possible. Monster High was to be the evidence the company needed to be more determined in its introduction of new franchises. As such, after the cast of Monster High was decided on by the end of 2008, development and production of not only the dolls started, but also a web-based cartoon, a book series, a website, plushies, a costume line, an assortment of merchandise, and a stand at San Diego Comic-Con. All of this was to be released over just a few months time, starting in May 2010, to garner maximum attention.

As bet on, when the dolls finally hit stores, they were a huge success. Encouraged, Mattel set up a new team of executives only a few months after teh May launch, whose sole job is to concoct future franchises to be marketed after the Monster High model.

Controversy
Monster High was released with very little criticism and would stay clean of it until March 16, 2011, when Fox News noticed the dolls and spent an article on them. The article's ire was largely directed at what most modern and successful doll lines are accused of: presentation of impossible bodily shapes leads to girls developing eating disorders, mutilating themselves in order to get a figure more akin to the dolls', and/or feeling dissatisfied with their own bodies for not looking like the dolls'. Moreso, the dolls' skimpy clothing ostensibly would lead girls to want to dress the same way.

What set Monster High apart was the criticism specifically leveled at Clawdeen Wolf. Aside from being dressed the most questionable, eyebrows were raised at the Freaky Flaw of her profile, which explained she needed to shave her legs often. It was argued that this would encourage girls to "feel ashamed of their bodies, to focus on being sexually appealing and sexually attractive from a pre-pubescent age". The article spread fast, even among people and groups not quick to associate with Fox News.

Partners
TBA

Fiction
Mattel has placed its stakes with Monster High on creating an immersive universe to generate immediate and lasting interest in the dolls, accessories and merchandise. This course has resulted in several different media through which the universe of Monster High is exposed, and with that an almost equal amount of different continuities that make up the whole of the Monster High universe.

Products
TBA