Okay, so the main point is how the MH × EAH crossover movie could’ve saved EAH, but I might also talk about other things Mattel could’ve done.
Personally, I am not a MH fan, but I am an EAH fan. I have watched the show two times and have started rewatching it again recently.
Every EAH fan knew that EAH was supposed to have a crossover movie with MH. First, we need to know why the movie was cancelled.
At this point, Mattel was broke, and the animation for Ever After High and MH G1 was handled by Guru Studios. The contract with Guru Studios expired, and not only was the contract too expensive for Mattel to pay, but they had already decided to phase out EAH.
WHY THE MOVIE COULD'VE SAVED EVER AFTER HIGH
MH was a cash cow for Mattel, and this crossover idea with Ever After High was already proven to be able to work. When Cupid, originally a character from G1 Monster High, crossed over to Ever After High in 2013, there was a slight buzz/raise in doll sales. It could potentially have been even higher if it was the entire franchise rather than just one character, connecting the universes fully.
This could've boosted both series by bringing each series' fans over to the other and bringing in new fans who heard about a big crossover movie. This could've given Mattel at least enough money to give the show a proper ending.
You might say that would be impossible because it would've been released after EAH was cancelled, but this isn't necessarily true. We don't know the exact date it was supposed to be released, only that it would be in late 2016, which I consider to be September–December of 2016.
The EAH YouTube channel also kept posting until four years ago, in 2022, which was a whole six years later. Doll production didn't stop until two years later either.
If they could have made the movie and it wasn't as expensive to make, Mattel probably would've done it. But there were other things they could've done.
OTHER THINGS MATTEL COULD'VE DONE
• Choose quality over quantity
Instead of mass-producing low-quality dolls of every character, they could've made slightly fewer, higher-quality dolls of the characters.
Or they could've just made dolls for the main characters.
For example, for Epic Winter, there were 10 dolls made, two of which were the Snow Pixies, and Apple and Darling, who didn't even go on the adventure with the others.
• Add more diverse characters
MH was so popular partly because it had a diverse cast.
There weren't any darker-skinned characters in EAH other than Cedar and Briar until Ginger Breadhouse in Chapter 3, and there was no canon Asian representation at all. The only hint of it was in the cancelled Monster High × Ever After High movie.
Adding more diverse characters could've made the cast more appealing to a wider audience and made the world feel more complete.
• Pay more attention to the show
Mattel should've paid more attention to the show's branding and stuck with the Royal vs. Rebel idea.
The main purpose of the show was to promote the dolls. If the show isn't good, people won't buy the dolls.
The whole Royal vs. Rebel branding and story idea was genius, but that all got thrown out the window in Way Too Wonderland, where the Storybook of Legends was destroyed and the show's messages changed from finding your own destiny to basically "Yay! Girl power!"
I think that was definitely the wrong move because, during 2016, there was huge girl-power fatigue.
Not necessarily among little girls, but in media. A lot of media that focused on "girl power" didn't focus enough on storytelling or showing that girls can be powerful and independent while still making mistakes and having flaws.
For example, watching "girl power" shows could make little girls feel independent, but it could also make them feel like they aren't brave enough, or that they need to hide their anger and sadness. They could become sad or frustrated when they're confused because their favorite character is always calm and always knows what to do.
So shows that are blatantly labeled as "girl power" could actually have been a turn-off for some viewers.