She's Alive--And It's Not a Costume!

Alright. We've done DIFFUSION, where we turned fused ghouls into one monster type...but I don't know what the heck to call the process of turning a fusion costume into a real take on that monster type!  

[That up there may be one of the strongest cover photos I've created yet for this blog!]

The Freaky Fusion doll line was pretty large, having the hybrid students, the fusion ghouls, the "Save Frankie" line of students rallying to...I don't need to tell you, do I, and finally, the "Fusion-Inspired" line, where four characters dressed up in costumes based on someone else to resemble a fusion. The four characters were Ghoulia dressed like Draculaura...

I think this would make a great actual vampire.
(stock photo by Mattel)

...Scarah dressed like Toralei...

This really doesn't fit together and also looks bland to me.
(stock photo by Mattel)

...Frankie Stein dressed like Clawdeen Wolf...

Yellow and green work pretty well for Frankie.
(Stock photo by Mattel)

...and Operetta dressed like Frankie Stein.

The subject of this post.
(stock photo by Mattel)

Frankie is the only character being imitated in this doll line who wasn't subject to a genuine fusion in the movie (Toralei, Draculaura, and Clawdeen were all part of real fusions), and is also the only character in the doll line who is both wearing a costume of someone and features as the costume for someone else! Seeing as she's the linchpin of the chaos in the film without getting fused, it makes some sense that Mattel would endeavor to make her represented as strongly as she could be in the toyline!

All four Fusion-Inspired Ghouls had headband accessories, although only the two ghouls dressed as werefolk actually needed them (to replicate the ears). I think the headbands look goofy and unnecessary on the other two. Anyway, I'd always been intrigued by this Operetta, and I thought about trying to turn her into a standalone Frankenmonster doll. Part of it was me remembering there was one Frankenmonster I had that I forgot to include in my collection photos from the Skullector review:

The Jada Toys Franken Berry action figure! I love this guy!

Then again, it kind of works out that he wasn't in the previous review, because there was nowhere he'd fit in that monster color spectrum:

If I had another red-toned Frankenmonster through the Operetta doll, then I could have a full collection display of Frankenmonsters with a more organized rainbow.

The copy of Operetta I received was mostly complete--she had the pieces I cared more about, but didn't have her bracelet or belt. 

Operetta's goofy headband takes the form of a silver piece with two lightning bolts that look like riveted metal.

It's a silly thing and I don't know if anybody would really look good with it.

Operetta's hair is her usual mix of primary red and black, with the black here being rooted in the front middle to evoke Frankie's bumped-up hairstyle. My Operetta's hair was unfortunately a little gluey and doesn't want to fall in a natural shape.

This was the shape after combing:

I also think this hair is rooted too thinly, and the black chunk in front isn't dense enough for the intended effect, since, even tied up, the black stripe likes to split and show the red underneath. It's not the greatest head of hair, but I think I'll find something that works.

Operetta's face has always been very pretty, with a narrow shape and eyes and a beauty mark. Her character is rooted in the fifties as a more modern take on her scaritage as a Phantom of the Opera. Rather than old France, Operetta instead hails from the French Quarter, and is a more recently old-fashioned rockabilly musician. She's a really tough and assertive no-nonsense gal, and I've always loved how confident and strong her personality is. I don't think she ever had that perfect doll design to make her a super precious toy in my collection, but she was absolutely one of my favorite characters for concept and personality.

Operetta's skin is a very light pinkish purple, and I think some artwork that makes her look more genuinely purple might have been the better look for the doll, but it's fine. Operetta's eyeshadow is pretty commonly neutral and smoky rather than blocky and colorful, but her lips are often red. Here, they're pink. I never liked the addition of pink and lavender to Operetta's palettes, since they really broke the unique tough tones her red, black, and purple had at the start.  My Operetta's beauty mark was printed too close to her lips.

The signature feature of Operetta, as her birthright in the Phantom family, is her large scar, which is on the left side of her face and upper torso. This vertical half-face scarring as the Phantom's disfigurement is most associated with the depiction of the Phantom from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. Operetta's scar follows suit, but is is on the opposite side.

Photo of performers in the musical, showcasing the vertical half-mask made iconic by this
version of the story.

In the 1925 Universal film, the Phantom's face was deformed at birth rather than scarred after injury, and the famous unmasking scene involved a full-face mask being taken off. The 1943 Universal remake of the film used more of a top-face mask than a side-face one...but the scarring was still only on the right side of his face, likely inspiring the depiction in the musical.

Image from the 1943 Phantom of the Opera film.

Operetta's scars take the shape of a huge treble clef made of musical staffs that flourishes out in multiple directions. This detail is all indented into her skin.

Her head has yellowed a bit, but discoloration won't
be an issue for a Frankenmakeover.

As you can see, the scarring isn't just on her head. It continues down her neck, and terminates in a cobweb shape on her left shoulder, meaning her torso and left arm have unique sculpts. It's a really impressive amount of detail.

Operetta's dolls also include takes on the famous Phantom mask as a fashionable complement to her scar, with the majority of her masks being heart-shaped accessories that frame her eye and plug into her earring hole. She's also had elaborate eyeglasses, asymmetrical sunglasses, and a fascinator with a veil to have the same effect across her various dolls.

But this is by far my favorite Operetta mask.

While it's very clearly Frankie-themed with the lightning-bolt shapes and stitched scars, this is the closest any Operetta mask has come to the iconic partial-face Phantom mask, because it's actually shaped like a section of face and covers a good portion of it. Like the majority of her other masks, it plugs into her ear piercing, and I love how it looks, even if I think it ought to be more flush to her face. I think I love it enough to go get an Operetta and do a restyle project including this mask so I can finally reconcile my love for the character and my less-than-love for her factory doll designs!

As another complement to her scars, Operetta's left arm has tattoo designs mixing black and red with more musical-staff motifs and abstract hearts. The two sections of the arm have contained segments of the tattoo so her arm joint and arm posing doesn't interfere with any continuity of the design.

I really like that there's a Monster High doll with tattoos like this, and it continues the asymmetry of her body detail in a fun way by mixing sculpting with paint designs.

But I have mixed feelings about the execution of Operetta's scars today, and I can only say "mixed" because I'm in no position to make a judgment on the topic. I do not have scars and can't speak for the effectiveness of this depiction, so these are just my outsider thoughts, which you can absolutely take with a grain of salt.

On the one hand, I think Operetta's detail is an awesome sculpt, the scarring is respectably extreme, and it's really admirable that they chose to represent physical disfigurement on a doll and paired it with a vibrant character who's personally defined irrespective of her scarring and visually builds her scars into a fashion statement. I think it'd be correct to call Operetta "groundbreaking".

On the other hand, it can feel like Mattel still played the scars too safe and pretty...or that, perhaps, they were forced to play it too safe after focus groups or executive fiat said it needed toning down. I don't know what the circumstance was, but it feels like this could have been more impactful.

For one, Operetta's scars only barely enter her frontal facial region. 

Her head has to turn to the side to make them show up.

This prevents her actual face from being affected like many scarred people's faces are, and it contradicts the plight of her father, whose defining angst has always been how his frontal face was heavily affected. It's certainly true that scars and birthmarks can lead to unfair discrimination no matter where they're located on a person, but for a Phantom, leaving the frontal face untouched feels like it misses the point, and having scarring on the front could make the design even more subversive and empowering by heavier emphasizing her glamor and confidence while she's scarred in a more prominent manner. This scar placement also kind of deprives her mask accessories of social function given that they can neither conceal nor accentuate the scars very well with the scars being mostly on the side of the head where they can't interact with the masks. Also, the elaborate, artful design of the scars can feel like it completely misses the social impact of scarring, which is that it creates physical abnormalities that are unplanned and often considered unsightly in their unfamiliarity. Real scars don't have beautiful designs and composition, and normalizing pretty or "badass" scars doesn't properly promote acceptance for scars that might be considered truly disfiguring! I think if they choose to bring Operetta back for G3, the scarring would create better representation if it didn't feel so artsy and it entered more of her frontal face. That would feel more grounded and realistic. Operetta would still be awesome and gorgeous with more "real" scarring, and I think, rather than media playing it safe and only depicting minimal or pretty scars, media has the power to depict scars that are more heavy and affecting and reframe them in a more neutral and less objectifying way. The narrative won't change if the depictions don't.

I don't know. I think Operetta has the right spirit and makes a cool doll from it, but I think the scar detail works a little stronger when seen just as a cool Phantom monster design idea and not quite as strongly as progressive representation of physical disfigurement. I still respect what she does and think it's a net positive, and I reiterate that I cannot have the final word on this question. If Operetta resonates and reassures and uplifts you, then that's wonderful. 

Operetta's costume has a collar to replicate Frankie's bolts. It clips around her neck and the ring is shaped like a row of staples to match Frankie's neck further.

The open clip-on back side of the collar.

There's something amusing to me about the fact that Frankie cannot wear this piece because she has real bolts!

Operetta's dress is based loosely on Frankie's prep-school signature plaid costume, but has a split-down-the-middle theme and her plaid is made of musical staffs!

The pattern and collar and mesh trim on the bottom are very Frankie, but the simplicity of the piece and the strip of buttons down the middle remind me of Roller Maze Operetta.

Mattel stock photo of Skultimate Roller Maze Operetta.

The back of the dress has torn a little past where it opens with velcro, leaving a wider gap below the velcro strip.

This piece would have been way more attractive to me if it was red and black or red and white. 

Under the dress, Operetta has full-leg footie tights split between magenta and black, contrasting the sides of her dress.

They're nice, but don't strike me stylistically as very associated with Operetta or Frankie.

Operetta's shoes are red and black with two straps and heels. The opposite colors on the tights genuinely tricked my eyes into thinking the shoes were asymmetrical and had opposite color balances. It was only upon looking at the shoes on a doll without the tights that I realized the colors were the same.

The heels of the shoes feel slightly mechanical, with bolts and vaguely screw-like ends.

These shoe sculpts first appeared on Classroom Frankie.

Operetta's purse is a recast of signature Frankie's, in solid pink with some silver accents.

This means I now own all three editions of this purse sculpt:

Left to right: signature Frankie (Creeproduction), I Love Fashion Scarah, and Fusion-Inspired
Operetta.

Operetta's version of the purse is the least detailed. 

Operetta should have a fabric black-spotted red belt shaped like a necktie, and a red hexagonal bracelet, but these pieces aren't worth it to me to track down.

Here's Operetta next to the ghoul she's dressed up as:

I definitely feel like cosplay Operetta has neither the strengths of signature Frankie nor of Operetta's fashion sense, so I'm happy to take this doll into her own direction as a restyled Frankenmonster with a new wardrobe. The best part of this doll is by far her mask, and that's gonna go to an Operetta restyle project. 

So now to making this doll her own Frankenmonster.

Eva Elizabeth Wollstonedeadcraft

Monster Parentage: I am a creation of Dr. Pretorius, so neither "monster" nor "parentage" are quite accurate terms for my story.
Killer Style: The doctor and I have no small admiration for the creations of Frankenstein, so I like to wear jackets and boots in tribute. My physical irregularities are flattered by playing into them and turning my styling toward the avant-garde. 
Freaky Flaw: I did not have a very easy development and was very slow to gain a command of speech, so now I tend to put much emphasis on making my intelligence and eloquence clear to people. I know I have nothing to prove to others, but I cannot escape the desire to prove myself to...myself.
Favorite Activity: There are few pleasures more enjoyable to me than the simple things one can do outside on a walk. Meeting new people, enjoying nature...it all makes one happy to be reanimated.
Biggest Pet Peeve: My intelligence isn't to be underestimated, and I despise cruelty to anybody who struggles with their looks or communication.
Favorite School Subject: Music class, oh music class! Nothing stirs my soul more than music. It animates me in the sweetest way, and makes me feel so powerful when I am creating it.
Least Favorite School Subject: Home Ick. A nasty run-in has convinced me quite thoroughly that fire is...bad.
Favorite Food: I will most unbecomingly devour any plate of roast home-cooked chicken placed before me. 

Pet: I have none now, but find myself interested in a pet. It would need to be a natural creation--creating an animal that might struggle would be unfair. 

Best Friends: Frankie Stein, Operetta

Here's the first stage of the work.

My direction for the design was informed by the scars inherent to Operetta's sculpt, and since those scars were musically-themed, I had to do something to blur out that element of the design. As such, I found some printmaking carving tools which I've used on linoleum in college, and used them to carve out sections of the scar to take away the obvious treble clef. 

From there, I included some linear scars elsewhere, including some reflecting the Bride's jaw scars, and brought the side scarring farther forward on her face. 

A more literary interpretation of the Monster as written by Shelley would be of someone who looks traditionally unsightly or uncanny, rather than a stylized cobbling-together of corpses, so I thought having scars without stitches could convey an artificial origin and a sense of Frankenmonster weirdness while not being framed as unattractive. From there, I found my direction with the face, and decided to style her as avant-garde and androgynous to make her striking and beautiful in a way that worked with her appearance-- like her Frankenmonster nature, it's another form of unconventional looks, and it works well to highlight glamor.

I decided to work with the gluiness of her hair and just cut it short and trimmed out the back like an undercut so it'd be a vertical hairstyle evocative of the Bride.

Her face paint got wider eyes than Operetta has and heterochromia, with red on her left and white on the right, and eyelashes and eyeshadow that are vertically inverted between the eyes to look both uncanny and artsy. She has no eyebrows to match that high-fashion androgynous look, and her lips are painted a little more pouted and they're black. I kind of wanted to evoke the look of both dramatic black-and-white horror or silent-movie makeup and modern fashion models at the same time.

I had been feeling very frustrated and disheartened by this faceup process, because I felt like I was struggling to get that "click" factor that made the face feel distinct, interesting, and appealing to me, as well as making this character look different from Operetta, but I think once I chose the eye colors and decided to vertically flip the lashes and eyeshadow, I found her identity as an artsy high-fashion ghoul who complements her scarring with a quirky glamor that fits into it.

And I feel pretty confident she's not like Operetta now.

It's an easy guess which doll I used, but it's not a close resemblance!

I also cut one of the bolts off the collar to put into her ear, making the bolts asymmetrical and placed in two areas in a way I liked.

Her boots are Dracubecca's with the pink paint both wiped off and covered over in turn so they're solid black. The metal details, wide stable foot, and Victorian style work for a Frankenmonster pretty smoothly, and they perfectly complement the shorts. The shorts are from I Love Fashion Scarah.

The finishing piece of her costume was easy to figure out--Clawdia Wolf's jacket. 

The jacket as it arrived to me.

It's a perfect match for the doll's palette, it's a classic suit coat like a Frankenmonster would wear, and its black trim makes it feel more graphical and artsy.

On Eva, the piece looks pretty good!

I think it's pretty clear that the piece was sewn for the big-sister body type, since it floats around Eva's body a little.

However, I think the oversizedness of the coat is part of what makes it fun and fashionable for her monster concept and aesthetic. It's interesting to me that, partially because of this mismatched cut and partially just because of the style, this is a piece that only really works for me on this doll as a Frankenmonster makeover--I can't see this as an Operetta jacket. I also like the effect of the coat without the top underneath it. She's decent, but it's bolder and more of a fashion statement than it would have been as a coat over something else.

I also found the erroneous Catty Noir hand I'd received among my Insect CAM pack and decided to give it to Eva as an asymmetrical clawed black glove. I think it elevated her look a bit more.

Since Eva's look was minimalist, I tried figuring out a purse, since I didn't think jewelry, a belt, or layers would fix the look and complete it. And what could be more avant-garde Frankenmonstery purse than a bag made of body parts? 

I had a few of the unbranded doll heads lying around, and some arm parts, so I figured I could construct a grotesque bag out of a hollow head with arms attached to it! I made a hole in the back for the rear arm to push into, and cut a hole out of the head and one of the eyes, and posed the arm just so before spray-painting it all black. 

I think this is a really fun visual, and it completes the doll well.

And now Franken Berry has a way to display in the larger Frankenmonster crowd!

The red is still a bit of a squeeze, but it works.

This project was fun. I honestly didn't think I'd find a faceup to make this character distinctive and plausible in the Frankenmonster archetype, but once I gave her the high-fashion avant-garde model look, she came together. This Operetta doll wasn't anything to write home about, but I'm glad I got her because it gave me renewed interest in working with her character (stay tuned) and allowed me to make an interesting new one as well!