Monster High 2.0?

The Doctor may not be regenerating in 2016, but it looks like Monster High is. The ghouls we’ve grown to love will be losing their edgy look, starting (most likely) in the fall. The dark, gothic look is being replaced with“a fresh new look with new contemporary colors and graphics whilst still incorporating the iconic signatures that make the brand unique and relatable to the core audience of 6-10 year olds.”

Last night, there was a sizzle video posted with the blog entry from an official Mattel News page, Mattel EMEA, that made it seem like the major reason for the change was that people thought Monster High looked “too dark”. (Who are these people calling Monster High too dark? Clearly, they’ve never seen the Living Dead Dolls… And also, why is Mattel posting this info meant for partners on a site anyone can access? If you’re a Mattel rep and would like me to rework this post- ie: remove image or quote, e-mail me at the address on the sidebar.)

The sizzle video is now locked down.  I was surprised to see it posted on the internet, to be honest– it was kind of rough and very much created to be an internal video, not something for us to see. Essentially, though, it was a short announcement about the upcoming changes. Here’s a mirror of the video sizzle.  The mirror was deleted.

It seems these new looks will correspond with new video content featuring monster origin stories and a new campaign, How Do You Boo, which will encourage “consumers to embrace what makes them unique and share how they Boo.”  Read the whole press release here.

Ever After High is getting tweaked here and there, too, though not as much as Monster High, so far as I can tell. According to the Mattel newsletter, “the dolls will feature new face sculpts with a softer more open approach and the content will bring to life the exciting adventures of these powerful princesses!” The 2016 push seems to be around “Ever After High: Where Princesses Are Powerful”. (I don’t think Mattel is over losing the Disney Princesses to Hasbro yet…)

I’m still working through my initial thoughts on this, so I’ll post my opinions on this later. Until then, what do you think of the upcoming changes to Monster High and Ever After High? Let me know in the comment area.