It is the 4th television/film special based on the Monster High doll line by Mattel and it is tied to its dedicated Skull Shores line, which was released separately from the production. Universal Pictures released it alongside Monster High: Fright On on July 1, 2014 as part of a branded Monster High: Clawesome Double FeatureBlu-ray release.[2]
For spring break, Lagoona Blue invites her friends to come with her to the Great Scarrier Reef. On the way, the ship is attacked by a kraken and sinks, leaving them on a small raft made from their luggage. They are soon rescued by Bartleby Farnum, an eccentric show-and salesman and his assistant Kipling, who wears a sack over his head. Farnum takes the monsters to Skull Shores, claiming that he has to pick up supplies before going to the Great Scarrier Reef. Once docked, the group is welcomed by the Tiki, the local tribe whom Farnum has entertain the monsters.
Suspicious, Lagoona and Gil sneak aboard Farnum's boat and find a recording of a creature that Farnum is obsessed with capturing: the Beast of Skull Shores, and the explorer who befriended him and resembles Frankie. They surmise that Farnum plans to use Frankie as bait to capture the beast. Farnum reveals the existence of the beast to the students and how an explorer was able to soothe it. Frankie's chair suddenly rises in the air and Farnum elaborates that the Tiki gave the explorer to the beast to keep him from attacking them. Clawdeen Wolf demands that performance ends, but the beast soon appears, lured by the drums of the Tiki. The students are shocked and Frankie is frightened when the beast grabs her, until she realizes that he means her no harm. Farnum and the Tiki launch their attack, but the beast marches off with Frankie. The Tiki force Ghoulia Yelps and Abbey Bominable into a pitfall trap, while Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Cleo De Nile escape. Farnum splits up the Tiki in two groups: one that will remain in the village and keep guard, and one that will follow the beast's trail as well as the tracking device in Frankie's necklace with Farnum. Lagoona and Gil return shortly afterwards and set off to save Frankie on their own.
The next morning, Frankie meets a light purple monster named Andy, who explains that he and the beast are the same creature, and that he turns into the beast when experiencing negative emotions from himself and others. Due to this, his family had to move often. Eventually, he reached Skull Shores in search of a place to live in peace. Meanwhile, Clawdeen, Cleo, and Draculaura follow the trail of the beast. Meanwhile, after tricking the remaining Tiki into releasing them, Ghoulia and Abbey accept their apologies and the Tiki join forces with the students to stop Farnum. In the jungle, Lagoona and Gil spy on Farnum and realize he has a tracking device planted on Frankie when Farnum and Kipling capture Lagoona and Gil flees. As Farnum mocks Lagoona and Gil, Lagoona sympathizes with Kipling, seeing that he isn't anything like his cruel master, and tries to encourage him to not be ashamed of whatever facial flaws he's hiding under the sack despite what people like Farnum tell him time and time again, since it's the only way he can break free from Farnum's influence. Kipling declines, certain he can rely on his master.
Frankie asks Andy about the statues on the island. Andy tells that an explorer made the statues after she left, so as to be reminded of her whenever he felt upset. Suddenly, the duo notices movement in the bushes and Andy, thinking it's Farnum or his minions, charges in to attack, only to find the surprised trio of Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Cleo. Any joy about the reunion is squashed mere moments later, when Farnum is spotted. Andy runs away but doesn't make it far before he has to hide and subsequently overhears the entire exchange between the students and Farnum. Though Farnum initially has the upper hand, Abbey and Ghoulia make their entrance. The Tiki who sided with Abbey and Ghoulia convince the Tiki with Farnum to turn on him. Only mildly bothered, Farnum takes his special cane and makes a magnet appear, which pulls Frankie to him. Threatening to suck the electricity from her with the magnet, Farnum shouts for the beast to appear. Andy, outraged that Farnum would go to great lengths just to get to him, changes into his giant form, only to find that he can't do anything but comply with Farnum's orders, lest he risks Frankie's very life as well as everyone else's safety. He changes back and turns himself in. Farnum is delighted about the beast's dual nature and how that makes him much more manageable than he had thought the beast would be.
Back at Farnum's boat, Farnum forces Andy to get in the boat as the ghouls helplessly watch. However, Gil appears, backed up by a school of dolphins and the kraken that destroyed the students' boat. This time, the kraken destroys Farnum's boat, then picks up Farnum and flings him into the jungle. Kipling runs after his master, despite Lagoona's plea for him to stay. With the threat gone, Gil explains that he ran and swam off to the Great Scarrier Reef to ask Lagoona's parents for help. They talked to the kraken, who felt sorry for what it had done and not only agreed to save the students, but also to fix the boat it had destroyed. Lagoona is overjoyed about the courage and reliability Gil showed her and also happy that he finally stopped being scared of her parents and her home. The students resume their journey and take Andy with them, while Farnum and Kipling watch from a distance.
With Spring Break over, the students try to make Andy feel at home at Monster High, which turns out to be more work than initially thought. Due to Andy's long-time isolation, he is unfamiliar with 21st-century technology, but he soon starts feeling welcomed, despite remaining doubtful that the school would accept him.
A few days later, Bloodgood orders everyone to the auditorium for a speech about tolerance by a human guest speaker. While the man appears merely eccentric at first, he starts calling the students "specimens" and "oddities" and appears intent on tormenting Andy. Bloodgood demands him to leave, but the man joyously explains that he did not mean to lecture about tolerance, but about intolerance, and reveals himself to be Farnum, who overwhelms some of the students. Aggravated by the chaos, Andy transforms and takes Frankie before climbing one of the school’s towers to escape. Farnum then shows up on the bridge and tells Andy that, just as with Kipling, a freak like him has nowhere else to turn to than to a man like Farnum. Though Andy agrees with Farnum's reasoning and turns himself back in, Frankie convinces him that while he has his issues, he belongs at Monster High. Kipling, finally having had enough with Farnum's abuse and realizing that Frankie is right, takes off his hood, revealing his elephant-like ears, and stands up to Farnum before he picks him up and throws him into a tar pit. During his fall, Farnum crosses paths with a flock of birds, whose feathers stick to the tar, and is afterwards taken into custody by the humans.
Despite having finally broken ties with Farnum, Kipling is still unsure if he will be accepted, until he spots two monster girls who have elephant ears like him. Bloodgood then announces that due to the damages done to the school, Spring Break is extended with a week to get reparations done, much to the students’ delight. On recommendation by Abbey, the entire student body decides to enjoy the extra vacation on Skull Shores with the Tikis.
Voice cast
Laura Bailey as Lagoona Blue and Headmistress Bloodgood
Evan Smith as Deuce Gorgon, Gil Webber, Mike and Ted
Reception
Grace Montgomery from Common Sense Media offered a parental advisory that the film depicted teens as ghouls, goblins, and ghosts, [but] they are "more silly than sinister," and while the film offers a "strong message about tolerance," the message is "partially undermined by the over-the-top sexy outfits and makeup sported by the female characters, who are otherwise pretty decent role models." They also appraised by it having only "mild references to adult relationships and a little cartoon violence, this short tale should be OK for grade-schoolers and up." Conclusions included "It's campy and a little cheesy and full of every cringe-worthy joke and pop-culture reference about monsters they could fit in, but there's something endearing about the classmates of Monster High," and summarized "Although it's not to be expected that the ghoulish girls of Monster High would be dressed like your average teen, it's a shame they have to be decked out to the nines. With a little more clothing and a lot less makeup, many of the female characters would be stellar role models, without detracting from the plot."[3] Enios M. Duarte at Hi-Def Digest gave a review of the TV/film special, claiming that it had him "surprisingly engaged" during its runtime."[4]
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