Moshi Monsters

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Moshi Monsters
Developer(s)Mind Candy
EngineAdobe Flash
Platform(s)Web browser
ReleaseApril 16, 2008; defunct as of December 13th, 2019
Genre(s)Online game
  1. In the Moshi Monster game, users choose between six virtual pet monsters they name and nurture. The monsters have to be fed and played with. Players can also buy clothes and other items for the monster. Based on your personality which Moshi monster are you more like and have the strongest bond with? Find out by taking this exciting quiz.
  2. Moshi Monsters is a free, safe online game where you can adopt your own pet Monster and go on amazing adventures together. Play games and puzzles to earn Rox, level up your Monster, and grow flowers in the garden to attract and collect ultra-rare Moshlings!
  3. Moshi Monsters, Roary Eyes His Cards, Readers Digest, 2012, Paperback, Stories, Games, Cards, Children's Book VintageNEJunk 5 out of 5 stars (596).

Moshi Monsters Village is free to download and you can earn in-game currency called Rox or Coins to get extra content. You also have the option to get extra content by spending real money on Super Moshi Membership. You may need to purchase in-game currency to complete some game quests.

Moshi Monsters was a British web browser game 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 (Katsuma, Poppet, Furi, Zommer, Luvli, and Diavlo) 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]

The servers for the game were officially closed on December 13, 2019 due to the game requiring Adobe Flash Player, which ended support on 31 December 2020.[4]

Mind Candy continues to actively use the 'Moshi' intellectual property in the mobile app Moshi, an app featuring bedtime stories and guided mindfulness meditations aimed at children.[5]

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.[6] As of December 2009, there were at least 10 million players registered.[7] In March 2010, Mind Candy announced that there were 15 million users and by September 2010, that number had surpassed 25 million.[8] In June 2011, it was announced that there were 50 million users.[9] On the 13th of November 2019, it was announced that Moshi Monsters would be closing down on 13 December 2019, due to the end of support for Adobe Flash Player.

Gameplay[edit]

Monsters[edit]

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

Monsters

Moshi Monsters Anime

Moshlings[edit]

The monsters (in-game pets) keep their own pets, called 'Moshlings'. They came in a variety of themed sets, including Arties, Beasties, Kitties, and Spookies. Those who were not paying members could keep two 'Moshlings' in their room, whilst paying members could 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, toys, the Moshi Monsters Magazine (number one selling children's magazine in the UK in 2011),[10] a best-selling DS video game,[11] 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.[12] The toys are exclusively available at Toys 'R' Us.

DS games[edit]

In November 2011, Activision released Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo for the Nintendo DS. The game is themed around moshlings and collecting and caring for them. It also came with an unlock code for a secret moshling to adopt in the main online game.

In October 2012, they also released Moshi Monsters: Moshling Theme Park. The game takes place after the events of the previous title, and its plot involves the Monsters going to Moshlings Theme Park so that they can take a break from looking after the Moshling Zoo, only to get their plane hit by thunder and to find out that the park is now abandoned in terrible condition, so they attempt to restore it to its former glory. Just like the previous game, it also had a secret moshling unlock code.

Mobile games[edit]

In July 2013, Mind Candy released Moshi Monsters Village on Google Play,[13] a 3D city-builder published by GREE and developed by Tag Games. After GREE UK shut down,[14] 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, Mind Candy released the Moshi MonstersEgg Hunt app, alongside a companion storybook of the same name.

In December 2017, Mind Candy released Moshi Twilight, an app featuring audio-based bedtime stories.[15] The app was later renamed Moshi and expanded to include guided mindfulness meditations.[5]

Music[edit]

In March 2012, Mind Candy confirmed a major partnership deal with Sony Music.[16] 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.

Www.moshimonsters.com

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, and was a box-office bomb in both countries. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on 14 April 2014 in the UK and 3 April 2014 in Australia.[17]

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 and the removal of the game.

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.[18]

Closure[edit]

On the 13th of November 2019, Mind Candy announced that Moshi Monsters would be closing down on 13 December 2019 due to the end of support for Adobe Flash Player.[4] On 13 December 2019, the game's servers had shut down as planned, and the Moshi Monsters website has been defunct ever since.

Controversies[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'.[19] 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'.[20] Lady Goo Goo was later replaced with a new Moshling named Baby Rox, who is not a parody of any particular celebrity.

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.'[21]

A Chinese clone version of the game called 麦咭小怪兽 as known as Little monster created by Hunan Television and www.61.com. Their website has been closed in March 2015.

Monsters

Moshi Monsters Movie

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. ^ ab''Moshi Monsters' is shutting down because it runs on Flash'. engadget.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  5. ^ abAmelia Heathman (21 April 2020). 'Moshi sleep app for kids branches out into mindfulness and meditation for children'. Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. ^Online World Atlas: Moshi Monsters – Pt. 1, Overview', Worlds in Motion. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Archived 7 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^(4 December 2009). 'Millions and millions of big monstersArchived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine', The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  8. ^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.
  9. ^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.
  10. ^ABC Figures Reveal Moshi Monsters Magazine is the Best Selling Children's Magazine in the UKArchived 28 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Bloomberg
  11. ^Moshi Monsters video game breaks chart recordArchived 4 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ToyNews
  12. ^'Moshi Monsters gets QSR promo at McDonald's'. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  13. ^'Moshi Monsters Village - Apps on Google Play'. play.google.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  14. ^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
  15. ^Seth Barton (19 December 2017). 'Moshi Twilight: a child-friendly spin on the iPhone App of the Year 2017'. MCV. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  16. ^'Sony Music partners with Moshi Monsters - News - Music Week'. www.musicweek.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  17. ^'Moshi Monsters (2013)'. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  18. ^'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.
  19. ^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.
  20. ^Sweney, Mark (13 October 2011). 'Lady Goo Goo injunction'. TheGuardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  21. ^Rawlinson, Kevin (26 August 2015). 'Ad watchdog rebukes Moshi Monsters'. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moshi_Monsters&oldid=1020599291'
Moshi Monsters The Movie
Directed byWip Vernooij
Produced byJocelyn Stevenson
Giles Healy
Written bySteve Cleverley
Jocelyn Stevenson
Based onMoshi Monsters
Starring
Music byJohn Powell
Sanj Sen
Edited byMark Edwards
Distributed byUniversal Pictures (United Kingdom)
Release date
Running time
81 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom[3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget£1.5 million[4][better source needed]
Box office$2.9 million[5]

Moshi Monsters: The Movie is a 2013 British animated film directed by Wip Vernooij and co-directed by Morgan Francis. It is based on the virtual world video game of Moshi Monsters. The film features the voices of Emma Tate, Tom Clarke Hill, Phillipa Alexander and Keith Wickham. The film was released to UK and Irish cinemas on 20 December 2013, and grossed $2.9 million.

The film did not receive a theatrical release in North America. It has been broadcast on Starz in May 2019, and was available on Hulu and Sling TV.[6][7][dead link]

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 Gombala Gombala 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 Bobbi 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 Mount Sillimanjaro after being distracted during Bobbi Singsong's kerfuffle.

Poppet and Katsuma begin to climb up Mount Sillimanjaro, 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.

Cast[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.

Production[edit]

The film was produced by Mind Candy and Cornwall-based animation studio Spider Eye.[1][8]It was financed and produced entirely in the UK.[9]

Reception[edit]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 10 critics, with an average rating of 4.80/10.[2]

Helen O'Hara of Empire magazine wrote: 'For the very young, the surreal, sweet-toothed pleasures will be captivating. For the older audience member, it may be the longest 81 minutes they've ever spent.'[10] Tim Robey of The Telegraph gave it 3 out of 5 and wrote: 'The film was lulling and sweetly harmless; the franchise's 80 million global subscribers can't all be wrong.'[11]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that 'even fans of the online game Moshi Monsters may find the film version an incredibly annoying and baffling bore.'[12]Mark Kermode gave the film 1 star, believing it may entertain very young children, but 'will leave adults bored, stupefied, revolted and appalled'.[13]

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote: 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie welcomes new converts with an effective combination of seizure-inducing color and insidiously catchy songs.' He called the voicework 'adequate' and called the songs a welcome distraction.[14]

Home media[edit]

Moshi Monsters Sign In

Moshi Monsters: The Movie was released on DVD on Monday 14 April 2014 in the UK.[15] It comes with either a Jackson or Mrs Snoodle trading card and a Mrs Snoodle code for online and the Moshi Village app.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ abcWolfe, Jennifer (20 August 2013). 'Mind Candy Confirms First Ever Moshi Monsters Movie'. Animation World Network. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  2. ^ ab'Moshi Monsters: The Movie (2013)'. Rotten Tomatoes.
  3. ^'Moshi Monsters The Movie (2013)'. BFI.
  4. ^'Moshi Monsters: The Movie (2013)'. IMDb. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. ^'Moshi Monsters: The Movie'. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  6. ^Grant Hermanns (28 April 2020). 'Starz Unveils May 2020 Calendar Including Mother's Day Collection'. ComingSoon.net.
  7. ^'Watch Moshi Monsters: The Movie Streaming Online | Hulu (Free Trial)'. www.hulu.com. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  8. ^'Moshi Monster The Movie'. Spider-Eye.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  9. ^Rhodri Marsden (17 April 2014). 'Moshi Monster creator: The man behind a British success story'. The Independent.
  10. ^Helen O'Hara (16 December 2013). 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie'. Empire (film magazine).
  11. ^Tim Robey (19 December 2013). 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie, review'. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  12. ^Peter Bradshaw (19 December 2013). 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie – review'. The Guardian.
  13. ^Mark Kermode (22 December 2013). 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie – review'. The Guardian.
  14. ^Lodge, Guy (17 December 2013). 'Film Review: 'Moshi Monsters: The Movie''. Variety.
  15. ^'DVD Review: MOSHI MONSTERS - THE MOVIE'. STARBURST Magazine.
  16. ^https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moshi-Monsters-Limited-Trading-Moshling/dp/B00HRTHTJM

External links[edit]

  • Official website[dead link]
  • Moshi Monsters: The Movie at IMDb

Www.moshimonsters.com

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moshi_Monsters:_The_Movie&oldid=1021356889'