Vincent Tong
Overview
Christmas wishes come true for Lobo, whose favorite cousin arrives for a surprise visit, and for Glorb, who wishes he could be everywhere at once!
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Wish Star’s Flicker: When Monsters Outgrow Their Shadows
I’ll admit it: I wasn’t expecting to feel anything during Super Monsters and the Wish Star. Not disappointment, not irritation—just the mild, distracted hum of a holiday special playing in the background while I wrapped presents or scrolled through my phone. But somewhere between Lobo’s eager grin and Glorb’s frantic, multi-armed flailing, I found myself leaning forward, not because the story was gripping, but because the film’s small, stubborn sincerity kept slipping through the cracks of its own formula.
This is a movie about monsters learning to want less. That’s not the tagline, of course—it’s buried in the synopsis like a half-hearted moral. Lobo, a young werewolf, wishes for his favorite cousin to visit for Christmas, while Glorb, a green, blobby creature with too many limbs, wishes he could be everywhere at once.
Their wishes come true, but the film’s real tension isn’t in the granting of desires; it’s in the quiet moments afterward, when the characters realize that getting what you want doesn’t always feel like you thought it would. That’s a surprisingly mature idea for a 27-minute children’s special, and it’s the only thing that saves Wish Star from being just another entry in the endless parade of holiday content churned out by streaming platforms.
The Super Monsters franchise, for those who haven’t had the pleasure, follows a group of preschool-aged monsters attending a school where they learn to control their supernatural abilities. It’s Sesame Street meets Monster High, with a dash of Harry Potter’s sorting hat thrown in for good measure. The show’s premise is simple, but it’s not without charm: these kids are just trying to figure out how to be themselves in a world that often treats them as scary or other. Wish Star, a standalone holiday special, strips away some of that serialized complexity in favor of a straightforward, wish-fulfillment narrative.
And yet, the film’s best moments aren’t in the spectacle of the wishes coming true—they’re in the small, human (or monster) reactions that follow.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A charming holiday-themed addition to the Super Monsters series, with bright animation and simple lessons for young kids."
A festive atmosphere and colorful animation fit the Super Monsters brand, and the focus on teamwork and kindness suits its target audience. It lacks the depth and excitement of longer holiday specials. Feedback is sparse but consistently points to its appeal for preschoolers and early elementary-aged children.
What viewers praise
- Bright and festive animation Vibrant colors and cheerful holiday themes keep young children visually engaged.
- Simple positive messages The story emphasizes teamwork and kindness, appropriate and uplifting messages for its audience.
- Familiar characters Fans of the series get their favorite characters in a new adventure.
Common complaints
- Lacks depth for older kids The plot is too simple to hold the attention of children beyond preschool age.
- Short runtime The brief length leaves little room for character development or a more involved story.
Recommended for
Preschoolers and young kids Fans of the Super Monsters series Holiday family viewing Fans of short animated specials
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe cousin grew the tree. Hasbro shipped the pack without her.
Christmas Eve in Pitchfork Pines. Frankie hauls in a tiny tree. Vida Calavera, Lobo Howler's cousin, a Mexican sugar skull from Ciudad Monstruo, uses plant magic and the thing shoots to the ceiling. Common Sense Media's Renee Longstreet walked the plot when the special landed. Santa is wrapping and cannot come, so he mails a Wish Star that grants one Christmas wish. Glorb, the class hamster voiced by Kathleen Barr, latestnetflix.com contends, cannot pick a party activity and wishes he could be everywhere at once. Be careful, the special says. Runtime 27 minutes. TV-Y. Netflix title 80999067. Dropped 7 December 2018.,,
The hour is a soft launch dressed as cocoa. Wikipedia lists Super Monsters and the Wish Star as the second holiday extra after Super Monsters Save Halloween on 5 October. Writers Evan Gore and Heather Lombard on part one, Robert N. Skir on part two. Animation direction April Napady and Ben Driedger. Jacob Joice directs the TMDB movie file. Vida stays. She gets her own Halloween special in 2019, then a Dia de los Muertos trip to her hometown. The voice is Gigi Saul Guerrero, Mexico City born, Vancouver based, the horror director later signed to a Blumhouse first-look, here saying Feliz Navidad to a werewolf preschooler. IMDb credits her as Vida across the franchise. That is the odd pairing the special never advertises.,,
Hollywood Reporter, 6 October 2016. Netflix reteams with Avi Arad's 41 Entertainment on Super Monsters, six preschoolers with superpowers, humans by day and monsters at night at Pitchfork Pines. Arad had already done Kong: King of the Apes for the same buyer. Deadline's archived brief promised kindergarten readiness. Sharing, feelings, respect. Series premiere 13 October 2017. Wish Star is the Christmas SKU, and Common Sense flagged the other SKU in the same review. Toys and other products marketed to kids. Amazon's Hasbro Monsters Up 7-pack listed Cleo, Frankie, Drac, Lobo, Zoe, Katya, and Spike. A buyer wished it had Vida and guessed she was too new. That is the whole special in plastic. The cousin who grows the tree is not in the box yet.,,,
Netflix Jr posted the official trailer the day the special landed. Christmas wishes for Lobo and Glorb. The party also nods at Hanukkah and the winter solstice, which is the quiet flex. A Marvel founder's preschool line, a grindhouse director on the mic, a sugar skull who would not fit in the seven-pack, and one wish that clones a hamster.,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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