Queen of the Golden Screen: Monster High Reel Drama Cleo de Nile by Mattel

That cover photo is edited, but only for shadows. That's a full-color photograph! That means it's time to finally talk about Reel Drama!

Reel Drama is a Monster High low-price collector line in the same vein as the Boo-riginal Creeproductions...down to the exact same character designs! The dolls are closely based on the Original Ghouls signature designs and have the conceptual goal of throwing back to the black-and-white monster movies they all came from. As such, each doll design is desaturated with a single accent color each, as well as a slightly different version of grey skin for each. Frankie's theme color is blue (a travesty; she would have killed in green), Lagoona has a lighter sea-foam blue and is very pretty, Draculaura has her magenta, Clawdeen has her purple, and Cleo, a latecomer to the doll line, has yellow. The coloring is extremely limited to just the hair and eyes of the dolls (and the eyes of their pets) rather than being evenly dispersed, resulting in fully greyscale costumes and some different color contrast, like Drac's corset becoming much darker when rendered in black. 

You can probably argue that the Reel Drama line is lazy. The extent of the "horror cinema" theming is the color palette, with the character designs almost one-to-one with G1 signature otherwise. The only other differences are that the Reel Drama dolls don't have purses and that their hair is lengthened. I think Frankie and Lagoona have exaggerated new earrings, too, but Cleo's, Clawdeen's, and Drac's look unchanged in mold. Mattel would be very easily able to run these dolls off production lines minimally altered from the ones which produce the Boo-riginal Creeproduction dolls. Is it any coincidence that Reel Drama Cleo only arrived after her Creepro doll? Still, lazy or not, there is an undeniable appeal to these renditions of the classic ghouls, and it's fun seeing the main...five reimagined in these starker palettes.

I think Ghoulia would make sense being another late edition, but Mattel just doesn't care that much about her. Sure, she's not derived from the Universal Studios pack of monsters, but Night of the Living Dead is arguably the last classic black-and-white monster movie and is just as instrumental in cementing a monster archetype icon in the popular culture, so Ghoulia would fit perfectly. And who are we kidding? If Reel Drama was entirely about monster-movie homage, there'd be a lot more design put into the line. It's visibly not that deep. Not in a way where Ghoulia would need to be excluded. I think Mattel just continues to reject her for no good reason. But if she did make it to Reel Drama, I'd want her coloring to draw from her red tones.

This would be a sick doll. 

Alternatively, she could go with lime green so there was a green Reel Drama doll. This works, but it's the minority in Ghoulia's palette, so it would make less sense.

The worst-case scenario would be a third Reel Drama doll in the blue family, and there's already one too many with Frankie who ought to have been medium green.

 I previously put this discussion on what RD Ghoulia could be in my review of Skull Shores greyscale Frankie,  but I decided to transfer and rewrite that section here and delete it from the prior review because it's more relevant here. 

If we're really adhering to the Reel Drama "Universal movie-tribute" veneer and pretending this isn't just another version of the classic Original Ghouls, then the only remaining candidates for Reel Drama dolls would actually be Operetta and Invisi Billy, descendants of Universal icons the Phantom of the Opera and the Invisible Man. Operetta would be an even more logical choice for a red Reel Drama doll than Ghoulia (otherwise, she'd have to be purple, her weakest color), and I'd probably have to get a red Reel Drama Operetta on principle, but Billy is very unlikely because Mattel hates boy dolls right now and his signature doll probably isn't iconic enough to get a remake. I don't genuinely expect any further new Reel Drama dolls beyond Cleo, but a Reel Drama Operetta is actually fairly possible given the concept of the line combined with the facts that Outta Fright revived her molds and Creeproduction revived her signature doll's assembly steps. You could also argue a Reel Drama Nefera into the line as a double entry under the Mummy's legacy, but G1 sig Nefera would probably need her Creeproduction first to qualify.

Another thing--I  imagine Reel Drama Frankie is a massive boon to customizers who seek to recreate the SDCC greyscale signature Frankie--with a reroot/repaint and a repainted signature purse and earrings, you have basically the same doll.

I guess part of why I never got a Reel Drama doll before was because Cleo wasn't around yet! I liked Draculaura and Lagoona's Reel Drama dolls, but never quite got the pull to say yes to them. And then the line expanded and there was just something so special to me about Cleo. I think the yellow really grabbed me, since yellow theme coloring isn't super common in dolls, and it looked really really good on her. I've always enjoyed aspects of her G1 sig doll, and I felt like this monster-movie coloring simply made the design more my style. I feel like the drama of the horror mummy comes from the deathly whites and greys of a bandaged corpse against golden jewelry. Also, well...whomst among the Original Ghouls is any better an embodiment of "drama" than Cleo? If the other ghouls are the "reel", Cleo is the drama!

This is my first G1 Cleo in my current collection, though I'm a big fan of G3 Cleo and have several of G3's editions. This is also my third G1 Cleo collected ever. In my original collection, I got Dead Tired just to have any Cleo, but didn't like her costume or gluey hair (her closing pyramid nightlight with its phosphorescent glowing lamp was an awesome accessory, though), and I got her Boo York doll per the two-pack with Deuce because I thought the copper and blue colors were gorgeous. They were, but her kanekalon hair was supremely messy to deal with and unsatisfying, and her skintone wasn't quite on thanks to the Boo York shimmer effect hitting her and Nefera in a, let's say, lightening manner.

The Reel Drama dolls are slightly more expensive than Creeproductions, but during their official drops, they're not priced like collector dolls, which is wonderful. Mattel gets away with too much in terms of their pricing, but I appreciate that these are treated more like playline releases, same as Creeproduction. It makes sense, too. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Reel Drama to have been a mass-market line during G1. Sweet Screams was far weirder and more artsy--the most "collector-doll" line of G1 that made it to mass retail! 

The Reel Drama boxes are trapezoids with big angular windows and are colored to match each specific doll, sans the brand logo which is rendered in its typical coloring. I think it's a strong choice to have the backdrop be colorful so the doll stands out more, but it also disguises how limited the color on the doll herself is. With the doll in a vacuum, the yellow distribution is less balanced than it is when the doll is packaged.

A filmstrip design using artwork from the character's poster, and lights and stsr graphics, help emphasize the aesthetic concept of the line...and to be honest, without the box art, there is nothing cementing these dolls with a cinema theme in specific. This isn't Frights, Camera, Action! with its nods to classic Hollywood and film equipment. These are, again, just G1 sig recolors with a conceptual spin explaining them.

The Reel Drama title on the box is pretty subdued, which kind of fits how subdued the cinema theme is. 

The window on my box was popped in a little, but it's not a problem. I don't keep Monster High boxes in most cases, not even for most collector dolls, so this won't affect me at all.

The back has a photo portrait of Cleo and a blurb making a perfect "that's a wrap" joke, depriving me of a good review title! The blurb also tries to claim she's styling for the boovies, but again, she's just a pretty recolor.

Here's the backdrop removed. 

Like Welcome Committee G3 Frankie, the Reel Drama dolls come with doll-sized and human-sized poster prints, with the latter being basically as large as the back of the box. Here's Cleo's full-size poster.

It's pretty, I guess, but captures none of the moody chiaroscuro of old movies. I want this Cleo to look glamorous, yes, but to embrace spooky rather than going full sparkle-diva. I'm also not impressed by this single illustration being milked for the rest of the packaging. I know making multiple pieces just for minor packaging variation is perhaps extravagant, but the effort would be appreciated, at least over here.

Cleo's posters are card, while Welcome Committee Frankie's were poster paper.

Here's the doll unboxed. Her stand is standard G1 stand sculpts, but with a clear pole and grip and silver base. The clip is tight on the pole and trickier to slide up and down than other stands.

The doll is quite striking despite being nearly beat-for beat the same as the signature Cleo. It's all in the coloring--which is all in the doll head.

Cleo starts with her understated jeweled headband, which has gone from gold to silver here. It's thin but fits her head pretty well. 

When G2 and G3 replicated this element with their own costume pieces, their headbands were much more prominent. Makes sense. You could be forgiven for thinking the G1 signature doll for Cleo wasn't wearing a headband. 

Cleo's hair here is black rather than black and brown, and has yellow streaks and that damnable tinsel in for golden highlights. The tinsel is the only gold element, while the rest of her saturated color is yellow. The hair is saran and hangs very long, per Reel Drama, and features the same rooting as signature Cleo otherwise, with straight bangs across the forehead.

Cleo's face is gorgeous as would be expected, and her eyes pop yellow against the rest of the face, which is greyscale.

G1 Cleo's wide-set narrow eyes proved somewhat challenging for factory screening, and she was prone to wonky eyes, but I think my Reel Drama Cleo looks okay. Maybe her left iris is straying a bit to the side, but it's not immediately registering as wall-eyed. My bigger issue is that the slight reflectiveness of her face paint catches in the inner corner of her left eye, making the line invisible so it looks like there's an errant black speck next to her eye when it's just part of the line reflecting the light and fading out of view. 

This small spot here likes to reflect and go invisible, leaving the black corner of her eye paint looking like a paint error.

The corners of Cleo's lips are not painted to match the sculpt at all, which was a problem for some portrait photos, and I had to edit out the discrepancy in post in those pictures.

The jewel on Cleo's face is painted a darker grey.

Cleo's skintone is a strong match for full-color G1 Cleo's tone in greyscale. Putting a color Cleo face next to Reel Drama and removing the coloring from the photo makes them look the same.

(I'll explain why I have a severed Frights, Camera, Action! Cleo face in a bit.)

I'm glad the Reel Drama doll matched the skin value well, because Mattel has messed this up before. Freak du Chic Noir Clawdeen belonged to a duo of dolls with desaturated greyscale-esque dolls, but Noir Clawdeen's grey skin was paler than her normal brown shade. 

Photo taken from Flying Purple Monkfish's discussion of the Noir dolls.

My edit of the previous photo to put the two Clawdeens in true greyscale.

Reel Drama Cleo's earrings are as expected, switching the signature sculpt from gold to silver. I can't help but think Reel Drama might have been stronger with more of the main color dispersed through the design. Gold jewelry, eyes, and hair on a dead grey and white mummy would look great for this Cleo. I suppose that's easily achieved by ordering the gold parts from a standard sig Cleo. The shade won't be the same as the Reel Drama yellow, though.

Around Cleo's neck is a small fabric choker introducing the bandage-print material of her wrappings-themed costume. I like that the threads are golden, but the tiny velcro square isn't ideal.

Cleo's top is rendered here in black and white, with ribbon-tie halter straps (never my favorite) and crossed wraps over the chest with glitter encrusting the fabric between the black outlines. The rest of the piece is sheer and hangs wide around the torso with black lacy trim.

The top left some glitter on my fingers, which I don't like. The velcro closure in back is also bafflingly small, being another little velcro square at the back of her waist.

This piece was the hardest to evoke when restyling G3 Cleo to evoke the G1 signature design. I got there by dyeing the bodysuit from L.O.L. O.M.G. Dollie, then dyeing it blue to suit the G3 character, cutting it apart to only have the torso piece, and painting gold outlines on the wraps..

Under the top, signature/Reel Drama Cleo has a sleeveless collarless bodysuit with a rounded bustline and clear elastic shoulder straps. The piece is the same bandage print as her collar, and has a tied trailing wrap on the left ankle. I think this pattern looks very spooky and effective in white, and I like the idea of giving Cleo bodysuits and close fits to blur the line between actual bandages and body-hugging fashion. For the most vanilla humanlike ghoul in G1's main squad, the fashion played her monster side well enough.

The elastic straps do not like to stay on top of her shoulders and tend to fall sideways and rest diagonally.

Cleo has a detached sleeve on her right arm in the same fabric, and with more "loose bandages". 

On the other arm, Cleo has two bangles, both of which clip on because the start of G1 did things that way. I'd honestly have preferred a mold update for closed loops here.

Creeproduction/Reel Drama can be faithful to the old dolls in some ways they didn't need to be. I'm just glad the only Creepro boy doll (Deuce) wasn't cursed with the original static-wrist manster forearms for accuracy's sake.

The larger bangle is supposed to be slid up Cleo's arm above the elbow, but it fell down. Clip-on rings don't seem good at staying in place in tension on doll limbs. Speaking of...

I've always loved signature Cleo's phone holster.

It was such a fun accessory to establish Cleo as a rich-girl social queen, and it's so charming because the phone design itself very quickly became a dated relic--the signature Cleo design first released before everything became a smartphone! I love this little snapshot of the times!  The holster clips onto Cleo's leg, but doesn't stay up where it's tight. The phone has a little molded clip hook that grabs the pouch, as well as fitting it nicely.

Skullette on the back.

Look at that keypad!

There have also been a couple of coffin phones for the dolls with slide-out keypads, and I'd love to have one of those too.

The clip on the back of Cleo's phone also makes it somewhat holdable and able to slide onto her fingers.

I do wish the screen could have been painted black or white though, for some paint detail.

Cleo's shoes are platform sandals with wrapping texture, here in white with grey washing for texture. The platforms are black, with their own subtle wrap texture.

Hissette is a recast of her signature mold, and I hadn't realized how little like a cobra she looked. She doesn't have the distinctive cobra hood later designs of the pet would give her, and she honestly looks like she's missing it!

I do like that the Reel Drama pets have colored eyes like their owners, since it keeps the color from being so limited. Hissette here also has paint applications on her jewels and crown, but it's hard to see in these photographs. This one does better at showing the gems and crown are painted a darker grey than the rest of her.

This sculpt of Hissette is molded in a fully closed ring in the middle of her coils. 

I had considered making changes to this Reel Drama doll to "upgrade" her movie-monster factor, like putting her on the Mummy CAM body and adding a golden death mask, inspired by this awesome fan art by unusualgrimm on Tumblr:

I was obsessed with this interpretation of a fashion mummy using a mask and clothes to affect her old glamor self, and ordered a spare Cleo head (Frights, Camera, Action!; the face I compared skintones with) and a CAM Mummy (again) to make it happen. However, the CAM body's colors didn't fully suit Reel Drama, with the wrappings too green and the gold flecks too red, and cutting off another G1 Cleo's face to make a mask didn't prove viable--it sat too large and looked distorted layered on the Reel Drama head. I decided that since I had the parts of the Mummy CAM already, I could divert the ideas of the death mask-disguised rotten mummy toward customizing the CAM as a more elaborate and cohesive mummy character design that would also let me lean into a more cadaverous look under a mask. An Inner Monster faceplate fit over her head pretty well, and didn't work on Cleo, so that decided things. Remaking a CAM Mummy became my avenue for these ideas...but that will be a project for another day. My September and October are going to be pretty much fully-booked for Halloween plans, so if I'm able to squeeze in a purchase for a costume for the CAM mummy, maybe she'll be complete before November, but don't expect that. Stay tuned, though.

Since I wasn't customizing Reel Drama, it was a simpler matter to photoshoot her. I boiled her hair straight, then set to pictures. I didn't go for a very elaborate or lengthy shoot--just pictures that played with her colors and lighting. A couple required edits to her mouth so her sculpted and painted lips weren't clashing with each other.

Here's Cleo with my B/W Skull Shores Frankie, my other greyscale-themed G1 doll. 

Despite Cleo trying less to be a greyscale doll than Frankie, I think Cleo does a better job. Sure, she's literally got a saturated color as part of her theme, but because she's not stuck with white saran hair, her palette is immaculate. Poor Frankie's hair fiber aged and yellowed and betrayed her visual concept, which is inevitable. If there's any argument I might make for polypropylene hair, it's that I haven't seen it yellowing in the same time contemporary G3 dolls with white saran hair have yellowed. If poly fiber just doesn't yellow like saran, it has one (1) good thing going for it.

(I found this Frankie's lost earring, by the way!)

I've been merciless about pointing out how little of Reel Drama is unique beyond the coloring, but that doesn't mean the dolls aren't pretty. I think Reel Drama Cleo is extremely bold and gorgeous and fun to pose because her presence is incredible. The Reel Drama line may be uncreative, but it's giving a visually beautiful new palette to its ghouls, and it's not unfairly priced by the manufacturer. I think these dolls would be inexcusable at typical Mattel Creations rates, but these are in the same club basically as the Creeproductions, so what's there to really be upset about? The dolls may be insubstantial and low-effort redesigns, and I'd definitely enjoy more even dispersal of the theme colors beyond the eyes and hair, but they look striking and dramatic as promised. I like signature Cleo a bit more now having experienced her in this color palette. She delivers the monster-movie mummy I always wanted from the G1 character. I hope this isn't the last of the Reel Drama line, but in the likelihood it is, it ended strong.