Ever After High

Some of you may have noticed that one thing I've never mentioned on this blog is Monster High.  That has been a deliberate choice on my part.  For one thing, I'm not really into monsters myself, and while I think most of the Monster High stuff is actually well-written and clever (aside from a bit too much focus on typical high school romance), I don't appreciate the fact that it is something else focusing on the creepy and macabre.  I know that the show itself isn't really scary, but it will naturally pique little girls' interest in monsters and not everything out there is so innocent.  It seems like you can't go anywhere without running into vampires, zombies, or some other monster-themed book or movie.  I've never really been a fan of the spooky and scary...or falling in love with someone who wants to suck my blood, but he's sparkly and he's dreamy, so it's all okay.  Ahem.  But I digress.

Once again, I realize I'm probably in the minority here.  I don't think you're a bad person if you're into Monster High.  And honestly, if I didn't have kids of my own, it's probably something I'd enjoy a little more (I personally think Lagoona Blue is pretty cute).  But because I didn't want my girls getting interested in monsters, I've just avoided the whole line.  I've often thought, "I wish it was Fairy Tale High instead of Monster High.  Now that would be cool." :}

So the other day I was browsing the web and came across this post on the "Confessions of a Doll Collector's Daughter" blog.  And I have to admit, my interest was piqued...which led me to check out Ever After High's YouTube page and Official website.

Yes, it's pretty much the same thing as Monster High with Fairy Tale characters.  Yes, some of the "good" characters are annoying, and they all still wear little mini skirts and clunky high heels.  No, this is not something I will let my girls watch yet.  But there is a possibility that I might watch...with caution.

One thing I appreciate is that the "rebel" in the story is basically the daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White and doesn't want to follow in her mother's evil footsteps.  I prefer this story line to "Once Upon a Time's", where the Evil Queen herself keeps going from baddie to goodie.  I realize they're trying to show that everyone has the potential for good or evil, and I think it's an interesting idea, but there are times when I feel that in trying to get this across, the show makes things a little too morally ambiguous.  That, and it's just so dark.  Yes, I know many of the fairy tales were originally dark.  I get that.  I just don't think it's something they needed to add to a "family show".

I thought it was interesting that Ever After High is using the same idea for their Red Riding Hood character that Once Upon a Time did.  Is every Red now going to secretly be a werewolf?  That could get old.

Overall, I have mixed thoughts about this upcoming series.  The Disneyish, fairytale-loving fangirl in me is rather excited about the show and the possibilities it has.  And if they come up with a cute Beauty doll from Beauty and the Beast (or rather, their daughter), it will be sooo tempting to add her to my shelves.

However, I've seen enough of this stuff to know to proceed with caution.  I'm already a bit turned off by the fact that Apple White is a bit of an annoying ditz (and side note here, why on earth would you name your daughter after the thing that poisoned you?), the one Prince Character is just Gaston in Prince's clothing, and Briar Beauty is a little too eager to "live things up" before she goes to sleep for 100 years.  There's obviously going to be a lot of teen romance in this (which is why I won't be showing it to the girls...they don't need that in their heads right now), and the short skirts and other immodest styles are not what I would choose.  I'm sure that magic will also come into play quite a bit (it kind of has to with fairy tale stories, after all), which I may or may not be comfortable with depending on the direction they take it.

On the plus side, there are some characters who look interesting, like Raven Queen, Madeline Hatter and Dexter Charming.  There will probably be a lot of clever references to well-known fairy tales, too, which would be enjoyable.

So I guess my main thought at this time is that I'm interested to see where they go with this series, but I'm not ready to embrace it with open arms until I've seen more.  It has the potential to be really fun and another "guilty pleasure" for me (I figure if my worst guilty pleasures are My Little Pony and possibly Ever After High, I'm doing okay), ;) or it could go south pretty quickly.  I'll be keeping up with it for now, though.  I'd like to see what Mattel's plans are for the series and the inevitable doll line to go with it.

How about you guys?  Any thoughts?  Are you looking forward to this new line?  For you Monster High fans out there, does it feel like too much of a copycat line, or are you excited to have another set of characters to enjoy?