Back in the day, Ever After High, one of Mattel’s more recent well-received franchises with an equally popular webisode series first aired in 2013, had its dolls selling amazingly, and thriving to the point where the internet show was even building up to a possible collaboration with another famous Mattel property, Monster High, which created a lot of hype for both, though this unfortunately never came into fruition. You may be wondering though… what happened for this seemingly groundbreaking show and doll line to disappear from one day to the next? I’m referring to the abrupt cancellation of the webisode show in 2015, and the doll line following suit in 2016. Taking into consideration the series’ popularity and success, many rumors emerged as to why it was suddenly dropped, most of which blamed Disney’s Descendants having come out in mid-2015.
To better understand the correlation between these two and why it’s assumed one is at fault for the demise of the other, we have to dive deeper into the allegations, hoping to further explain them, while also analyzing if the outcome of the situation was fair for its audience.
The year 2015 marks the start of this discourse. That year, the successful Disney movie Descendants was released, captivating its audience with a well-known cast of Disney alumni and catchy songs. Descendants was EVERYWHERE, skyrocketing in popularity to the point where it overshadowed Ever After High and its story, and releasing an equally as popular doll line alongside its story. About a year and a half later, Mattel released the final episode of the web series and ceased work on making new Ever After High content, causing fans to become confused and alarmed. It was impossible not to notice the similarities between both pieces of media which made one seem like a copy of the other.
Ever After High presents the story of Raven Queen and Apple White, daughters of the Evil Queen and Snow White respectively. These two study at the titular Ever After High, a high school for the children of fairytale characters learning to follow in their parent’s footsteps. In a compelling story about choosing to be a Royal and follow one’s written destiny or be a Rebel and follow your heart, this series puts its characters and their friendship to the test.
Meanwhile, Descendants is about a group of friends: Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos, all children of popular Disney villains, integrating themselves into a school for good or heroic fairytale characters. There, they learn about the good within themselves and how they don’t need to be like their parents.
The resemblance between the two, within this small summary of each, is uncanny. On top of it all, one being dropped almost immediately after the release of the other doesn’t help fans feel any more at ease. Considering Disney’s popularity and influence, it’s no surprise Ever After High felt overshadowed and like it couldn’t compete. This is where the rumors arose of Descendants allegedly being at fault for its cancellation.
There are a lot of factors to consider regarding the corporate business aspect, though. It is known that Mattel and Disney have worked together on and off for many years and continue to do so; Mattel currently owns the license for the Disney Princess and Disney Frozen franchises. Although, coincidentally, in 2014 Mattel lost this license due to manufacturing poor-quality dolls, and it was given instead to Hasbro. This caused Mattel to lose a lot of money and it strained its relationship with Disney. Another rumor came out of it all, which insinuated that Ever After High was dropped so that Mattel could get back on Disney’s good side. Perhaps they thought canceling the show would provide less competition toward Descendants, and knowing they couldn’t compete with the cultural giant that is Disney, cut their losses, and knew this would help them regain their license and keep the mega company happy.
The third reason to consider and the one mostly unrelated to Descendants, is that perhaps Mattel didn’t provide enough effort towards the Ever After High franchise like they did with their other franchises like Barbie and Monster High, which inevitably led to its demise. Compared to the others, Ever After High wasn’t well advertised and this caused it to not be as popular or selling as much in comparison to the others. Eventually, this led to its presence slowly dying down until its cancellation.
I don’t blame fans for being mad, because whether any of this is true or not, I feel that the sudden stop in making content and leaving it on a cliffhanger after so much character development and build-up was unfair to them. If anything, I stand by both franchises being able to coexist without the downfall of the other. Countless media share similar plots yet find a way to make them their own by adding elements of uniqueness. Although Descendants is quite identical to Ever After High in various ways, in my opinion, it still felt like a separate thing; they had a decent level of difference that didn’t make me feel like I was just watching the same thing in a different font. Besides, it’s fun to watch a concept be adapted in two distinct ways.Â
At the end of the day, yes, Ever After High and their fans deserved better and maybe Descendants had a part in its cancellation, but there are a lot of other things to consider besides this. There is also a lot we don’t know, most, if not all of it, is made up of allegations and rumors. It saddens me as a fan of the show to know that I’ll never get a proper ending to Mattel’s story, but it’s all in celebrating what we do have and perhaps hoping for a renewal as low as the possibilities may seem.