Okay so to start, I am very biased to G1, but that does not mean I will not acknowledge that I think there were some good decisions with this show. Some of the character designs I do like (Clawdeen, Abbey, and Frankie is okay). However, some of them are terrible (Ghoulia (bad hair, eyebrow and skin combo), Cleo (I thought she was Nefera), Draculaura (very boring)). I understand that this is a reboot, so not everything will be the same, but it really is a struggle with these designs. Lagoona's design is good for her doll, but in the show I do not like it. One thing that bothers me is changing Lagoona from blue and Australian (and implied aboriginal) to pink and Latina, i'm all for representation, but I liked it before when she was implied to be native and I wish they could have continued that here with full confirmation. I do enjoy the expanded representation with LGBTQ characters and disability representation! Very good addition, in concept, to the series. I think the choice to make Frankie non-binary makes a lot of sense: she is a frankenstein-like monster with an amalgamation of male and female body parts; I also like that she has a fake leg because that also checks out with her character. I like that they made Catty Noir and Draculaura plus-sized, but I dislike that it's really only Drac's legs that are thicker while her stomach is no different than the other dolls. I understand this series is to make dolls, but it would not have been hard to come up with a way to make her bigger and still be able to make her into a doll (literally like Catty). As it is a reboot, I'm not against the characters or characters personalities changing, something that still bothers me is how Ghoulia now speaks English instead of Zombie; and even at points could be considered non-verbal-it was very special to me and a lot of fans. Cleo's change is very drastic, and im not a huge fan of Clankie, I think a better ship more people would have been on board with (since its been popular since g1) is Draculaura and Clawdeen. I absolutely despise Clawdeen and Deuce dating, it makes absolutely zero sense. In g1, I think the pairings made sense because of not only the way the characters acted but because Werewolf/Vampire pairing made sense because in stories werewolves and vampires are natural enemies, and Gorgon(Snakes)/Mummy(Egyptian) pairing made sense because snakes are a symbol of royalty and divinity in Egyptian mythology.
I think adding music would have been a good idea, if the music was good. I liked that this series was going for avoiding stereotypes like g1 had such a problem with, but then these songs are not only cringe--it being a kids show should not be an excuse, because they definitely know adults and older teens that grew up with g1 would naturally be interested AND you should be able to enjoy music from shows you grow up with without going back and realising it's cringe--but these songs also have stereotypical musical elements (egyptian character has "egyptian sounding song", latina character has "latina sounding song"). Basically, it sounds like the background beats would fit into a "Stereotypical music from around the world" compilation.
Also why the HELL does Draculaura do magic??
The show itself, at its core, is not good. It's not bad, I wouldn't go as far as to say it's bad because it did have the potential to be something great. Something new for the younger generation to fall in love with Monster High like I did so long ago now (I'm 17, for clarity). I liked some of the ideas, I really hope if Monster High gets rebooted again for a new generation of dolls, they can keep some of the ideas I do think were good (Frankie being non-binary, queer characters being in the series, disability rep, and having plus-sized characters). Overall it was just a lot of bad decisions with good ideas, and then maybe im just being petty for some things. I know this show is already cancelled, but I still wanted to share my grievances with this series. Kids should be able to have a GOOD show to go with the dolls you are selling them, instead of something very mediocre and full of cringe. Some cringey stuff is fine, that's the nature of kids show, and even g1 has cringey moments--but it's not the core of the show or make it difficult to enjoy. Kids shows should be something that someone can look back on when they're older and still enjoy without being embarrassed to admit they ever liked it (like me with Girl Meets World), and something an adult can watch with their child and enjoy (not something they would watch on their own persay, but something they can watch with their child without it being insufferable).
Enjoy my essay.
