Higher Deaducation

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I don't have much to say on these ads, besides that they were a good hook for the franchise. Seriously, this brand was great at sinking its fangs into you and dragging you in. They show just enough of each character to set the tone (which is slightly dark, slightly dramatic, quirky, and stylish... or freaky, chic, and fly ;) ) and give you a sense of their personalities.

The animations are gorgeously fluid. Seriously, these look like they could have been done by Disney. That's probably because members of Pepper Films Inc., the studio behind the animation, have actually done work for Disney! Jean Perramon, cofounder of the studio, was the animation director for the opening scene of The Tigger Movie. While that might not sound encouraging since, after all, Disney's direct-to-video sequels are remembered for their drastic dips in animation quality, The Tigger Movie is one of the better looking one (think more Lion King 2 than the Aladdin sequels). Pepper Films also worked on several cereal commercials including the Froot Loops ones where Toucan Sam and his nephews are on a treasure hunt and commercials for two Disney cereals (specifically Magix, a Mickey Mouse themed cereal, and the Winnie the Poo themed Hunny B's).

The voice actors for this commercial are completely different from the ones who would be featured later on. Sadly, we don't have a complete cast list. Draculaura has been confirmed to be voiced by Tara Strong, but I could have told you that from my Friendship is Magic obsession in the early 2010s. Frankie's voice reminds me of Jodi Benson, but I'm not confident that it's actually her. It would be fitting, though, since she and Frankie's normal G1 voice actress - Kate Higgins - both voiced Barbie. I have no idea who could have voiced Lagoona or Clawdeen, but I KNOW I've heard Cleo's voice before. Since I'm pretty sure that Tara Strong is LA based, it would probably be easiest for me to compile a list of LA based voice actresses who were active in 2009 - 2010 and try to figure it out that way, but it's not driving me quite that crazy... yet.

This short also includes some exclusive lore. I'm not sure how canon it is, but we learn that Clawdeen is head of the Moonlight Dance Committee. This is also the first mention of there being piranhas in the Monster High pool, something that wouldn't show up until the second volume of webisodes.

The ads end by encouraging curious viewers to go to Monster High's website. Which is why the next article in our deep dive is going to be taking us back to the Monster High website where we'll be taking a look at the earliest Monster High games.

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