Welcome to Monster High (TV special)

Welcome to Monster High: The Origin Story
Release Date:	August 27, 2016 (Theatrical) September 27th (DVD) September 20th (Streaming)
Release Chronology
Previous:	The Lost Movie
Next:	Electrified

"Welcome to Monster High", alternatively titled "Welcome to Monster High: The Origin Story" is the fourteenth TV special, and the first to take place in Generation 2 of Monster High. The story is a reimagining of the origins of Monster High and how the main characters first met, and is very different from the story presented in earlier webisodes such as New Ghoul @ School.

Story

As a group of strange monsters head toward a spooky looking school on a hill, Draculaura narrates that monsters going to school is just as normal for them as anyone else. But how did a school for monsters come about? Draculaura takes us back to the beginning, when Monster High was just her father's mansion...

Draculaura is listening to her favorite popstar Tash in her room, when her father summons her to the mansion's roof to teach her how to transform into a bat and fly. After a few failed attempts, Draculaura gets the hang of it, and the two take a flight over the nearby town. Draculaura spots a billboard for Tash's upcoming concert and asks her father if she can go, Dracula tells her no, explaining that it's too dangerous for her to be among humans. Draculaura complains that she never gets to leave her home and experience the outside world, and flies off in a sulk, passing by an old power station. As she passes, a figure watches her from a window...

Draculaura returns and records a video to her blog (which has no followers) about how she wants to have friends, when someone knocks on the front door for the first time in years. She opens the door to meet the daughter of Frankenstein's creature, Frankie Stein, who saw her passing by the old power station. Draculaura offers to let her stay at the mansion, and though Dracula is reluctant, she and Frankie convince him with their best cute expressions.

They spend the night chatting about their lives, and both agree that they want to have normal lives like the humans do, and wish they could have more friends and go to school like ordinary people. They hit on the idea of opening a school for monsters, and decide to find more monsters to help with their plan.

After searching around the town, they search the nearby moors, and come across a pack of wolf puppies... and a very angry wolf. They see the wolf wears a necklace, and realize it must be a werewolf. Inviting her to join their school, the wolf transforms into Clawdeen Wolf, and asks if her mother and brothers can join them. After some convincing, Dracula lets the Wolf family move in, and soon comes to enjoy their presence.

Now on board with Draculaura's plan, the group work together to convert the mansion into a school. But they still need students. Frankie teaches Draculaura how to put her blog on the secret Monster Internet, and soon it has thousands of followers, and several monsters requesting to join Monster High. In order to bring them to the school, Dracula gives the ghouls a Monster Mapalogue, a magical amulet which can teleport them to any monster in the world, provided they know their name. They decide to use it to find the first name on their list, and teleport to a pyramid in Egypt, where they meet the glamourous mummy Cleo de Nile. Then, they head to Australia to meet sporty sea creature Lagoona Blue. The five of them then ravel around the world and pick up various monsters, including Deuce Gorgon, Venus McFlytrap, a shy woolly creature named Woolee, and a gluttonous slime creature named Gob. Other monsters arrive from afar, and soon Monster High is full of new students, attending classes taught by Dracula and Clawdeen's mother.

Draculaura worries that her father might need help looking after the school, and Frankie suggests they both run as Student Council Presidents. They make a campaign video, promising that they will work to make a world where humans and monsters can live together, and that they will put on a huge dance party if they become presidents. Draculaura becomes a little too eager and adds that if they win, they'll arrange for Tash to perform at the dance, something which does not go over well with her father. Just then, they receive a message from a monster named Moanica D'kay, and decide to pick her up.

The Ghoulfriends teleport to a graveyard, which is overrun with zombies. They meet Moanica, the one controlling the zombie army, and invite her to join Monster High. Moanica declares she's more interested in taking over the human world, and sends her minions to capture the ghouls. The ghouls fight off the zombies using their powers, and make a quick escape.

The next day, life continues as normal at Monster High, as the ghouls anticipate the dance once Draculaura and Frankie win the election. Suddenly, Moanica and her zombies appear, claiming to accept Draculaura's invitation to join the school. She mocks the ghouls, claiming their efforts haven't brought monsters out of hiding, just made them hide in one place. She decides to run for Student President, and is soon charming the other students, even though she makes no secret about how she would love to eliminate humans.

Just before the candidates make their first speech, Moanica spots Gob the slime creature crying about being unable to get into the vending machines, and convinces him to go to the nearby human town and take food from there. At the election, Frankie and Draculaura promise to continue to make a world where humans and monsters can get along, while Moanica claims their dream is impossible, and that humans should be running in fear from the monsters. She then makes a bet with Draculaura to drop out of the race if Draculaura can convince Tash to appear at the dance.

The ghouls set out to find Tash's tour bus and cause it to stop, giving Draculaura a chance to talk to Tash herself and ask her to appear at the school. But when Tash see's Draculaura's fangs, she panics and tells her to go away so that the normies don't see her. The ghouls return to a gloating Moanica. Things become worse when they see a news report on the TV about how a slimy creature, which fits the description of Gob, has stolen all the food from a local store, and left a trail which could lead to Monster High/ Draculaura wonders if she made a terrible mistake in creating Monster High.

The next morning, Draculaura awakes to good news. Despite Moanica's efforts, she and Frankie have been voted Student Presidents. What's more, Gob reveals he returned the food he stole to the store, meaning Monster High is still safe. The ghouls start setting up for the dance, while an angry Moanica comes up with another idea. She and her minions set out to find Tash's tour bus...

As night falls, the dance is in full swing. Suddenly, the tour bus crashes onto the dance floor. Moanica and her zombies appear, holding Tash hostage, and declares that she's going to turn Tash into a zombie so she can truly understand what being a monster is like. Draculaura and her friends remember the Monster Mapalogue, and use it to teleport on top of Moanica and separate her from Tash. Moanica sends her minions to attack them, but the students fend them off with their powers, while Draculaura takes on Moanica by screeching at her in bat form, and manages to knock her off the stage. But at the last moment, Moanica leaps at Tash to attack her... only to pass right through her body.

Tash admits that she is actually a ghost named Ari Hauntington, and she is able to take on a solid human form so she can fit in with other humans. Draculaura tells her that she shouldn't be ashamed of who she really is, and that she can be herself at Monster High. Ari apologizes for her earlier behavior, and offers to perform at the dance for everyone. As the monsters party into the night, Moanica sneaks away, vowing to return and take revenge...

The next day, Draculaura reports on her blog that Ari has become Monster High's official ambassador, and hopes that it's the first step toward monsters and humans accepting one another.

In a post-credits scene, a cat dressed in a burrito costume is dreaming on a sofa, going on a boat, and going places. This appears after the Flaunt logo, the Mattel logo and the end credits.

Characters

Gob Skelly Bonesy Woolee Crystal Draculaura Frankie Stein Webby Dracula Clawdeen Wolf Clawdeen's brothers Harriet Wolf Cleo de Nile Lagoona Blue Venus McFlytrap Deuce Gorgon Twyla Toralei Stripe Raythe Moanica D'Kay Aquatic lunch lady Ari Hauntington Dracula's secretary

Notes

References

• Draculaura sings and hums part of "Feeling So Amazing" at the beginning of the film.

Continuity

• In "Calling All Ghouls", Clawdeen refers to the events of this movie, if not entirely correctly.

Milestones

• Ari Hauntington, Gob, Bonesy, Skelly, Woolee, Crystal, Dracula and Harriet Wolf make their cartoon debuts.
• Ari Hauntington, Gob, Bonesy, Skelly, Woolee, Crystal, Dracula and Harriet Wolf make their 3D cartoon debuts.

Errors

• The opening sequence of Draculaura learning how to turn into a bat raises some questions in regards to Fangelica VanBat. The general implication of the Monster Family line is that monsters are born more monstrous and grow up to be more human-like. Fangelica herself is a lot more bat-like, wings and all, than the older Draculaura. So how come transforming into a bat is something vampires have to learn?
• Why exactly would the mapalogue fall out of use if monsters have to go into hiding? Wouldn't it be the safest way to keep in contact with each other?
• When the Ghoul Squad zaps into the Moanica's graveyard, they are wearing their helmets. As they stand up from the fall, they are without helmets.
• So if no one was going to vote for Moanica, then why were they all acting like they were? She wasn't threatening anyone; her campaign was solid arguments and goodwill only.
• Both Draculaura and Frankie put their hands on Ari's shoulder towards the end of the movie, which should not be possible when she is in ghost form.

Other

• This is the first movie made for Monster High by Flaunt Productions and Mattel Creations.
• The score was composed by Daniel James (HybridTwo) and produced by Klaus Badelt, who was also responsible for composing the score of Pirates of the Caribbean and co-created "He's A Pirate" with Hans Zimmer.
• This is the second Monster High movie to get a release in movie theaters instead of direct-to-DVD, also known as direct-to-video. The first was 13 Wishes.