''Monster High'' is an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

based on the eponymous then-freshman American fashion doll line created by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, the first adaptation since its launch, which originally aired on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

from May 5, 2010, to February 9, 2018. The series follows a group of teenage children of famous monsters in media and film who attend high school. Along with its feature-length direct-to-video films, this series serves as a platform to launch new doll characters. The web series finished its first run in 2015 with Volume 6, and got rebooted with a long-form 11-minute, 12-episode series order titled the ''Adventures of the Ghoul Squad''. As of July 12, 2018, 189 web series episodes were produced and released – including the reboot series.

Development

The original Monster High dolls were created by Garrett Sander, with illustrations by Kellee Riley and illustrator Glen Hanson. The characters are inspired by

monster movie A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally megafauna, large ones. The film may also ...

s, sci-fi horror,

thriller fiction Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of susp ...

and various other creatures. The 2D animation was produced by

Wildbrain Entertainment Wildbrain Entertainment, Inc. (commonly known as Wildbrain, stylized as W!LDBRAIN, formerly known as Wild Brain, and later known as DHX Media Los Angeles) was an American entertainment company and animation studio that developed and produced te ...

during since the mini-series launch until 2013 and 6 Point Harness thereafter, though Top Drawn Animation has been continuously hired by both companies for supportive work after it took over from Caboom. Audio dialogue recordings and music for the web series was done by Salami Studios.

Release

The mini-series premiered on

on 5 May 2010 and ended in 2015 to make way for the release of the origin story film special, "''Welcome to Monster High''". The mini-series got rebooted in 2016 with a 12-episode order called the ''Adventures of the Ghoul Squad'' and aired on YouTube and its sibling outlet,

YouTube Kids YouTube Kids is an American video app and website developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. The app provides a version of the service oriented solely towards children, with curated selections of content, parental control features, and filte ...

between 11 August 2017 and 9 February 2018. Episodes were added weekly on Fridays.

Series overview

Episodes

Volume 1 (2010–11)

Volume 2 (2011)

Volume 3 (2011–13)

DVD Bonus Episodes

Volume 4 (2013–15)

Volume 4 went on hiatus after the fifth episode, "Scream Spirit", due to episodes of Volume 3 & 4 airing in the wrong order. The series restarted on February 20, 2014, with new episodes, closer the release of the movie ''Frights, Camera, Action''.

Volume 5 (2014–15)

On October 2, a Volume 5 webisode was uploaded onto YouTube. Much like Volume 4, Volume 5 seems to have started before the previous volume has come to its end. Notable changes in Volume 5 so far are an increased running time, and a slight improvement in the animation itself, such as more varied facial expressions, and the exterior of Monster High's main building changing to look more like the school as seen in the movie specials.

Volume 6 (2015)

On June 19, 2015, Volume 6 webisodes started to be uploaded onto YouTube. Volume 6 seems to carry on the new changes made in Volume 5, including multiple-part webisodes. Volume 6 is also the final season volume for the Monster High web series.

Promotional webisodes

''Adventures of the Ghoul Squad'' (2017–2018)

On August 11, 2017,

Mattel Creations Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded on March 31, 2016 as the successor to Mattel's earlier entertainment division, ''Mattel Playground Productions'', under t ...

released an 11-minute 12-episode series on YouTube and YouTube Kids titled ''Monster High: Adventures of the Ghoul Squad'' which followed the second-generation reboot films. The series also debuted on

KidsClick KidsClick was a daily children's programming block distributed by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which premiered on July 1, 2017. The block, which primarily consisted of long-form animated series as well as some short-form content, was carried in ...

in the United States along with '' Barbie: Dreamtopia'', on September 24, 2018.

References

External links

* {{Monster High Monster High 2010 web series debuts 2018 web series endings 2010s American animated television series 2010s American high school television series 2010 American animated television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American horror comedy television series YouTube original programming Television series by WildBrain Television series by Mattel Television Television series by Universal Television American animated web series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated horror television series Animated science fiction web series American children's web series Animated television series about monsters