First of all, might I wish you all a very warm and happy holidays. Even though you are probably reading this long after the shimmering lights have been turned-off and dreams of gingerbread men have become a thing of the past, I myself am penning this on Christmas night.
Anyways, as I have said more times than I want to think let alone bother to count. 2015 has been a massive year for returns and reboots of series from as far back as decades ago to a matter of years. From DuckTales, Hey Arnold and everything in between old faces we have not seen in a while are now before us.
Faces that have been out of our sight is the critical thing to note.
As we have seen this year most of the returns we are awaiting have been prolonged. So the news that Monster High, a massive successful brand that has dolls and other goods lining the shelves now, getting a reboot is odd in the very meaning of the word.
For a while now I have heard some chatter of potential reboot happening for Monster High. With it not only being non-confirmed chatter, the dolls selling well, a live-action movie in the works and a devoted fan-base it just sounded crazy. Why ‘fix’ something when it is doing well?
Needless to say I shook it off and counted it as talk. Yet it appears I was wrong and too quick to write off the chatter. Monster High is, in fact, being rebooted as of next year.
The following statement has been issued and posted on MattelNew.com.
A bona fide pop culture phenomenon and a massive global franchise in over 60 countries Monster High is ranked as the third biggest fashion doll brand a $1 billion franchise annually and a top 5 global property for girls! Monster High empowers girls to express their individuality and form friendships that last beyond a lifetime.
Now entering its 6th year in the market, in 2016 the brand will embark on an exciting new chapter to maintain its relevance to the ever changing consumer. As an exciting disruptive everygreen brand Monster High will continue to represent via the monster metaphor what it means to be different, unique and empowering girls to be themselves as Mattel leads the way in creating, maintaining and driving strong girl empowerment brands.
The key elements that make the brand disruptive will remain but now infused with more play in the product whilst adding renewed focus on the core characters and stories as well as marketing what the brand stands for. The brand will have a fresh new look with new contemporary colours and graphics whilst still incorporating the iconic signatures that make the brand unique and relatable to the core audience of 6-10 year olds. The fresh new feel will also incorporate new photo real brand imagery creating the emotional connection with the core audience whilst maintaining the brands humour and relatability and sense of community. The brand will also launch an exciting new multiyear brand campaign and new consumer rallying cry “How Do You Boo” encouraging consumers to embrace what makes them unique and share how they Boo. Working with celebrities and brands spokespeople the campaign will communicate what it means to boo, to be yourself and start a movement encourage girls to do the same. This will also be brought to life through an empowering new Monster High Anthem launched through a music video that will be amplified through social media and PR. This will be supported with an extensive marketing campaign across multiply touch points and will be localised in key countries across the EuRoMEA region.
Entertainment will still be a key focus with the successful tentpoles as Monster High is ranked #2 children’s direct to video franchise. In Spring, join favourite ghoulfriends of Monster High in an all-new aquatic adventure, Great Scarrier Reef (70 minutes). In Fall fans will be treated to the untold origins story of Monster High and the Monsters that live among us (70 minutes).
As one can expect there is a lot of talk happening on various social media outlets. Some are pleased with the new direction and others who have followed the brand since the very start are up in arms over the sudden change.
Naturally I see both sides of the argument, and I myself feel very strange about it all. I have been with the brand since the first year. Granted I primarily followed the fiction. This seems very drastic.
Over the past few years the toy section has changed and altered. Next year is going to be very interesting as not only do we have long-standing properties ranging from the likes of Ever After High, Barbie, My Little Pony and the like moving forward. There is also the new transition of the Disney Princess dolls now hemmed by Hasbro, DC SuperHero Girls, Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (coming towards the fall season) and Star Darlings, that will hit all major retailers. There is going to be a lot more completion.
If this well be a great move or it will just destroy Monster High is un-known at this point. There is no use trying to make speculation. We can only wait and see.
Join the conversation: Needed or a waste? Sound-off about your thoughts on Monster High’s reboot.
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