Figures, small collectable toys of Moshi Monsters characters, were manufactured by Vivid Imaginations and sold across many global territories, fastly becoming one of Moshi Monsters' notable merchandise items. Thirteen series of figures have been released in the United Kingdom. Many other figure variations and finishes have been released such as Winter Wonderland themed, glitter, gold.

Moshi Monsters: The Movie is a 2013 British-Koreananimatedmusicalcomedy film directed by Wip Vernooji and Morgan Francis and based on the virtual world of Moshi Monsters, which existed from 2007 until 2019. The film stars Katsuma, Poppet, Diavlo, Luvli, Furi, Zommer, Dr. Strangeglove, Sweet Tooth, Bobbi Singsong, Mr and Mrs Snoodle, Buster Bumplechops, and more monsters along with a load of Moshlings. The film was released to UK and Irish cinemas on 20 December 2013.

The film was later released to China and Korea cinemas on 1 February 2018. Earning $2.9 million worldwide, it was a box office flop.

Despite not seeing a release in North America, it has been broadcast on Starz in May 2019, and is also available on Hulu and Sling TV.^[5][6][7]

Plot[edit]

The film takes place in Monstro City, a peaceful island in the ocean. Monsters Poppet, Katsuma, and Mr. Snoodle are at home. Katsuma starts talking about starring in Roary Scrawl's documentary about Monstro City. The trio goes into town to meet him. In Monstro City, a strange-looking Flumpy escapes with Fifi through the sewers. Poppet, Katsuma, and Mr. Snoodle enter the diner. Roary Scrawl introduces them to Zommer, Furi, Luvli, and Diavlo. He says he wants them all to star in his movie, which angers fame-hungry Katsuma. The news reports the missing Moshling epidemic and says that arch-criminals Dr. Strangeglove and Sweet Tooth are still on the loose. The news cuts to Buster Bumblechops (who broke his leg during his adventures) talking about a mysterious Great Moshling Egg, which is now on display at his museum. Poppet thinks the egg is an addition to the movie, so they go to visit Buster. Dr. Strangeglove is seen spying in the sewers with the strange Flumpy, who turns out to be his sidekick Fishlips. Fifi is put in the Glumping machine. Dr. Strangeglove and Fishlips steal the egg. Later, the six Moshi Monsters, Blinki, and Roary arrive at the museum. Buster wants to show them the egg only to find it's not there. They find out that the egg was replaced by a Glump. In its place is a holographic kit left by Dr. Strangeglove, ordering them to find three items by midnight - fried Oobla Doobla, a Blue Jeeper's tears, and Frosted Rainbow Rox, which together will make the component to hatch the egg.

The monsters decide to go on a quest to retrieve the three artifacts, get the egg and defeat Dr. Strangeglove. The first stop they went to is Gombulagombula Jungle. The Oobla Doobla is in the Wooly Blue Hoodoo Village [that can communicate whistles]. Poppet and Zommer went separate ways, but Katsuma and the others got captured. Poppet and Zommer soon found them. The Wooly Blue Hoodoos challenge them to a game of limbo. Poppet fails but Zommer wins by using his body parts. The monsters end up getting the first artifact.

During the path, the monsters fall into a trap and an underground candy cave and get stuck in hard candy. Sweet Tooth is revealed to be the one who tricked them. While she was distracted Diavlo melts the candy and gets everyone into the carts and they all flee from Sweet Tooth. Diavlo and Luvli escape but they get captured by Dr. Strangeglove, who then kidnaps Zommer. Later, Katsuma, Poppet, Mr. Snoodle, and Furi get to Jollywood. They soon meet Bobby SingSong. Poppet spies a Blue Jeeper, who likes music and are rare, and tries to catch it. Katsuma falls in an accident, causing the keeper to laugh cry, and Poppet catches the tears by using the bottle. Now that Poppet and Katsuma have two artifacts, they try to get help searching for the last piece, but Furi wanders off (as he is captured) and Katsuma, Poppet and Mr. Snoodle are teleported to the cold mountains after being distracted during Bobbi Singsong's kerfuffle.

Poppet and Katsuma begin to climb up the mountain, but Katsuma and Poppet have an argument and Katsuma shouts, causing an avalanche to begin. Before the three monsters can get buried in snow, Katsuma pulls Poppet and Mr. Snoodle into a cave. The snow covers the entrance up. Katsuma says it was all his fault because he ruined everything and caused awful things to happen. Poppet cheers him up by singing the song We Can Do It and they manage to find the Frosted Rainbow Rox. Katsuma, Poppet and Mr. Snoodle go to a wooden hut where Dr. Strangeglove stands in front of them. Soon, they fight over the egg, and Strangeglove escapes but Mr. Snoodle attacks him. Dr. Strangeglove asks Mr. Snoodle if he remembered when deep down he was a good guy. But before Mr. Snoodle can reply, Dr. Strangeglove says that he lied and pushes Mr. Snoodle out of the hut and he falls to his death. Poppet mourns over him and now Katsuma and Poppet are captured.

In Strangeglove's ship, the monsters are now in a cage ready to be killed while Dr. Strangeglove and Fishlips take the ingredients to the egg. Suddenly, Poppet hears a noise and it is revealed that Mr. Snoodle survived the fall. He explains through his trumpeting that he survived by whistling. He landed safely in a balloon and flew back down to the Moshis. Katsuma doesn't know how to open the lock, because he can't whistle but only blows raspberries, but Mr. Snoodle can. They all free the Moshlings and attack the Glumps, defeating Dr. Strangeglove.

When they return to Monstro City, the Moshi Monsters bring the Great Moshling Egg back to the museum, just before it hatches. The creature is revealed to be a Mrs. Snoodle, and Katsuma whistles for the first time. Deep in the jungle, there are more rare eggs waiting to be hatched in the temple at the beginning of the movie. During the first part of the credits, Mr. Snoodle and Mrs. Snoodle do the Snoodle Doodle, and then pictures showing the aftermath of the film are shown on the left side of the screen while an instrumental of We Can Do It plays.

UK Voices[edit]

• Emma Tate as Katsuma and Luvli
• Phillipa Alexander as Poppet
• Ashley Slater as Dr. Strangeglove and Zommer
• Boris Hiestand as Fishlips and Newsreader
• Tom Clarke Hill as Furi and Roary
• Keith Wickham as Buster Bumblechops and Diavlo
• Rajesh David as Bobbi SingSong
• Steve Cleverley as Sweet Tooth

Korean Voices[edit]

• Jeon Tae-Yeol as Katsuma
• So-Young Hong as Poppet
• Hwan Chin Kim as Diavlo
• Ham Soo-Jeong as Luvli
• In-guk Seo as Zommer
• Kang Dong Ho as Furi
• Young Sam On as Dr. Strangeglove
• Sang-Hyun Yoon as Sweet Tooth
• Mi Ja Lee as Mr. Snoodle
• Won Ju as Glumps
• Goo Ja-Hyeong as Roary
• Kim Il as Bobbi SingSong
• Sin Yong-woo as Fishlips
• Jeong-ho Choi as Newsreader
• Won-jang Lee as Buster Bumblechops

DVD release[edit]

Moshi Monsters: The Movie was released on DVD on Monday 14 April 2014 in the UK. It comes with either a Jackson or Mrs Snoodle trading card and a Mrs Snoodle code for online and the Moshi Village app.

Reception[edit]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 9 reviews, the film has a 67% rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 5.1/10.^[2] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian claimed that 'fans of the online game Moshi Monsters may find the film version an incredibly annoying and baffling bore.' English critic Mark Kermode gave the film 1 star, believing it may entertain very young children, but 'will leave adults bored, stupefied, revolted and appalled'.^[8] Despite the disparate reception from critics, the film has been disliked by audiences, garnering a 3.2 rating on IMDb.^[3]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abWolfe, Jennifer (20 August 2013). 'Mind Candy Confirms First Ever Moshi Monsters Movie'. Animation World Network. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
2. ^ ^abhttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moshi_monsters_the_movie/
3. ^ ^ab'Moshi Monsters: The Movie (2013)'. IMDb. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
4. ^'Moshi Monsters: The Movie'. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
5. ^'STARZ - Exclusive Originals, Hit Movies'. Starz.com. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
6. ^'Watch Moshi Monsters: The Movie Streaming Online | Hulu (Free Trial)'. www.hulu.com. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
7. ^watch.sling.comhttps://watch.sling.com/browse/my-tv/details/program/fa39f45d6bd149bc94fe954f1e38daef. Retrieved 29 February 2020.Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. ^https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/22/moshi-monsters-the-movie-review

External links[edit]

• Moshi Monsters: The Movie on IMDb

Moshi Monsters was a British website aimed at children aged 6–12,^[1] with over 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide.^[2] Users could choose from one of six virtual pet monsters (Diavlo, Luvli, Katsuma, Poppet, Furi and Zommer) they could create, name and nurture. Once their pet had been customized, players could navigate their way around Monstro City, take daily puzzle challenges to earn 'Rox' (a virtual currency), play games, personalize their room and communicate with other users in a safe environment, although this has been disputed.^[3] Moshi Monsters officially closed on 13 December 2019.

History[edit]

The game was created in late 2007 by Michael Acton Smith, and developed in 2008 by entertainment company Mind Candy and officially launched in April 2008.^[4] As of December 2009, there were at least 10 million players registered.^[5] In March 2010, Mind Candy announced that there were 15 million users and by September 2010, that number had surpassed 25 million.^[6] In June 2011, it was announced that there were 50 million users.^[7] On 13 December 2019, Moshi Monsters shut down permanently.

Gameplay[edit]

Monsters[edit]

The monsters are the characters that the user plays as. They are given a name by the user when they register at the website. There are six types of monsters. Poppet, Katsuma, Furi, Diavlo, Luvli, and Zommer.

Moshlings[edit]

The monsters (in-game pets) keep their own pets, called 'Moshlings'. They come in a variety of themed sets, including Arties, Beasties, Kitties, and Spookies. Those who aren't paying members can keep two 'Moshlings' in their room whilst paying members can keep up to six and visit other pets in the zoo.

Other[edit]

Merchandise[edit]

Since its digital popularity, Moshi Monsters has grown commercially to include physical products, including games, the Moshi Monsters Magazine (number one selling children's magazine in the UK in 2011),^[8] a best-selling DS video game,^[9] a number 4 music album, books, membership cards, bath soap, chocolate calendars, trading cards, figures of many Moshlings, mobile games, and a Moshi Monsters feature film. Eight Moshi Monster toys were included in McDonald's Happy Meals in the United States and Canada in December 2013.^[10]

DS game[edit]

In 2011 Mind Candy released a Moshi Monsters based Nintendo DS game. the game is themed around moshlings and collecting and caring for them.

Mobile games[edit]

In July 2013, Mind Candy released Moshi Monsters Village on Google Play,^[11] a 3D city-builder published by GREE and developed by Tag Games. After GREE UK shut down,^[12] Mind Candy decided to take over the game as publisher, leaving the development to Tag Games. The game was relaunched on Apple devices on 18 December 2013 immediately ahead of the release of the movie.

In December 2013, Mind Candy published the companion app Talking Poppet, also developed by Tag Games.

In February 2014, Moshi Karts was released on iOS by Mind Candy.

In June 2014, Moshling Rescue a 'match three' game based on the Moshling characters was released on iOS and Android.

In early 2015 Mind Candy released an app called World of Warriors which was shut down in October 2018.

In November 2016, they released the Moshi MonstersEgg Hunt app, alongside a companion storybook of the same name.

Music[edit]

In March 2012, Mind Candy confirmed a major partnership deal with Sony Music.^[13] The deal followed the recent launch of Mind Candy's own music label, Moshi Monsters Music. The deal will see Sony Music handle the distribution aspects of Moshi Monsters' music releases, starting with the debut album Moshi Monsters, Music Rox!Jason Perry, formerly with the UK rock band A and head of Moshi Music, is driving the new album. The Moshi Monsters series features music from Sonic Boom, Beatie Wolfe, The Blackout, Portia Conn, and songs such as 'Moptop Tweenybop' and 'Merry Twistmas'. Two albums are available on iTunes and Google Play, as well as on disc. One album contains the songs from Moshi Monsters: The Movie, and another album has some of Moshi Monster's first songs. Not all songs are available to buy on various platforms.

Movie[edit]

In 2013, Mind Candy announced a Moshi Monsters film. In September 2013, Issue 34 of the Moshi Monsters Magazine included a Moshi Music DVD with a short trailer. On 10 October 2013 a short preview of the trailer was broadcast on ITV Daybreak. Later that day, the trailer was released on MSN. The film was released on 20 December 2013 in the UK and 20 February 2014 in Australia. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on 14 April 2014 in the UK and 3 April 2014 in Australia.^[14]

Lady Goo Goo injunction[edit]

In October 2011, Ate My Heart Inc, representing the musician Lady Gaga, were granted an interim injunction by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to stop Mind Candy, parent company of Moshi Monsters, from releasing music on iTunes by a Moshi Monster character known as Lady Goo Goo. The songs intended for release included the parody 'Peppy-razzi', similar to the Lady Gaga hit 'Paparazzi'.^[15] Justice Vos of the High Court ruled that Lady Goo Goo could appear in the Moshi Monsters game, but that Mind Candy could not release, promote, advertise, sell, distribute, or otherwise make available 'any musical work or video that purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or that otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon'.^[16] Lady Goo Goo was later replaced with a new Moshling named Baby Rox, who is not a parody of any particular celebrity.

Decline in popularity and relaunch[edit]

The creator of Moshi Monsters, Mind Candy, suffered a loss of £2.2m in 2013 due to a drop in sales from Moshi Monsters. The company's financial reports have shown that the profit declined by 34.8% from £46.9 million in 2012 to £30.6 million in 2013.

In 2015, Mind Candy revealed that they were preparing to relaunch Moshi Monsters for a younger audience of four- to seven-year-olds, initially as animation with apps and toys to follow. However, no changes have been made to the Moshi Monsters site since then, apart from the removal of the forums section.

Since 2015, the decline of Moshi Monsters and the site's creator Mind Candy has continued. The peak of Moshi Monsters' popularity was in 2012 at £46.9m, and it has continued to decline. In 2018, total revenues were £5.2m, compared with £13.2m in 2014.^[17]

The Moshi Monsters website was shut down on 13 December 2019.^[18]

Criticism[edit]

In 2015, both Bin Weevils and Moshi Monsters were told to change the wording of their in-app advertisements by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said that the adverts and phrases such as 'The Super Moshis need YOU' pressured users to buy certain items inside the game. Mind Candy said that it took its responsibilities 'very seriously with regards to how we communicate with all of our fans, especially children.' It went on to say that Mind Candy had 'been working with the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) to ensure that we adhere to best practice and have made changes to the Moshi Monsters game accordingly. We will continue to work with the ASA in any way possible.'^[19]

References[edit]

1. ^Mike Butcher (2 May 2013). 'As Moshi Monsters hits 5 years, can it pull off three new games?'. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014. Moshi Monsters started out as an online world of adoptable pet monsters for boys and girls aged 6-12 back in 2008.
2. ^Moshi Monsters founder: 'I was Mr Stress, now I'm Mr Calm'Archived 3 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider
3. ^'Moshi Monsters - Welcome to Moshi Monsters, Parents!'. www.moshimonsters.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
4. ^Online World Atlas: Moshi Monsters – Pt. 1, Overview', Worlds in Motion. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Archived 7 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^(4 December 2009). 'Millions and millions of big monstersArchived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine', The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
6. ^Yiannopoulos, Milo (8 September 2010). 'Moshi Monsters is leading the way on child safetyArchived 2017-11-14 at the Wayback Machine', The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
7. ^Barnett, Emma (7 June 2011). 'Moshi Monsters hits 50 million membersArchived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine', The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
8. ^ABC Figures Reveal Moshi Monsters Magazine is the Best Selling Children's Magazine in the UKArchived 28 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Bloomberg
9. ^Moshi Monsters video game breaks chart recordArchived 4 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ToyNews
10. ^'Moshi Monsters gets QSR promo at McDonald's'. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
11. ^'Moshi Monsters Village - Apps on Google Play'. play.google.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
12. ^Ingrid Lunden (8 July 2013) https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/08/japans-gaming-giant-gree-retrenches-in-europe-shuts-down-uk-office-to-focus-on-development-in-the-u-s-for-western-market/Archived 9 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^'Sony Music partners with Moshi Monsters - News - Music Week'. www.musicweek.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
14. ^'Moshi Monsters (2013)'. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
15. ^Neither Mind Candy nor the Goo Goo Dolls can lay claim to being the first to whose given name has been appended the epithet 'Goo Goo'. For that honor one might turn at the very least to Lt. Gen. Leslie Richard ('Dick' or 'Goo Goo') Groves, Jr., a World War II-era US Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw not only the construction of the Pentagon for the US Department of Defense but also the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bombs that won World War II for the Allies and literally saved the world from autocracy. Chances are, too, there were other 'goo goos' in the US Army before Groves.
16. ^Sweney, Mark (13 October 2011). 'Lady Goo Goo injunction'. TheGuardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
17. ^'MIND CANDY LIMITED - Filing history (free information from Companies House)'. beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
18. ^''Moshi Monsters' is shutting down because it runs on Flash'. engadget.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
19. ^Rawlinson, Kevin (26 August 2015). 'Ad watchdog rebukes Moshi Monsters'. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.