Alessandro Juliani
Lobo Howler (voice)
Overview
Preschool kids whose parents are the world's most famous monsters try to master their special powers while preparing for kindergarten.
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 3 seasons
- Episodes
- 41 episodes
- First aired
- Oct 13, 2017
Cast
Reviews
5 min readKindergarten with Claws
I’ll admit it: when I first heard about Super Monsters, I braced for another brightly colored, forgettable preschool show—one of those series that exists primarily to keep toddlers occupied while parents steal ten minutes to unload the dishwasher. But after watching a few episodes, I found myself unexpectedly charmed. Not because it’s some hidden masterpiece of children’s animation, but because it does something quietly radical: it takes the universal anxieties of early childhood and dresses them up in monster costumes.
The premise is simple. A group of preschoolers—each the offspring of famous monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Wolf Man—attend a special school where they learn to control their supernatural abilities. On the surface, it’s a classic "kids with powers" setup, but the real magic (pun intended) lies in how the show translates the mundane struggles of childhood into fantastical terms.
A child who can’t sit still isn’t just fidgety; they’re a werewolf pup whose tail keeps wagging uncontrollably. A kid who struggles with sharing isn’t just being selfish; they’re a little vampire who’s afraid their magic cape will lose its powers if someone else touches it. It’s a clever narrative device, one that turns everyday frustrations into something mythic and, in its own way, empowering.
The show’s educational focus is its strongest suit. Episodes often revolve around social-emotional lessons—empathy, patience, teamwork—wrapped in the kind of gentle humor that lands without feeling preachy. One clip I came across, titled "What is Prejudice? | Lessons for Kids from Super Monsters," tackles the concept of bias in a way that’s accessible for preschoolers.
The young monsters, each with their own unique powers and quirks, learn that judging someone based on appearances (or species, in this case) leads to misunderstandings. It’s a message that feels increasingly urgent, even if the delivery is tailored to a four-year-old’s attention span. The question, of course, is whether these lessons stick.
Can a child who watches an episode about prejudice really internalize the idea, or is it just another piece of content to consume and forget? I’d like to think the show’s fantastical framing gives these ideas a better chance of lingering, but that’s a question only time—and a lot of parent-child conversations—can answer.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.2/10
"A charming and engaging animated series for young kids, blending fun monster themes with gentle life lessons."
Young viewers and parents appreciate the colorful animation and simple, relatable stories about friendship, teamwork, and overcoming small challenges. The series is praised for its positive messages and kid-friendly humor, latestnetflix.com argues, though some find the plots repetitive and the characters occasionally one-dimensional.
What viewers praise
- Kid-friendly themes Teaches gentle life lessons about friendship, empathy, and problem-solving in an accessible way.
- Colorful animation Bright, engaging visuals that appeal to young children and hold their attention.
- Positive messages Encourages good behavior and emotional intelligence without being preachy.
- Fun monster concept The playful take on classic monsters makes the series entertaining and imaginative for kids.
- Short, digestible episodes Episodes are brief and easy for young children to follow without losing interest.
Common complaints
- Repetitive plots Some stories follow similar structures, making episodes feel predictable over time.
- Limited depth Characters and conflicts are simple, which may not engage older kids or adults.
- Occasional lack of originality The monster theme, while fun, doesn’t always stand out from other kids' shows.
Recommended for
Preschoolers and young kids Parents seeking educational content Fans of gentle, positive storytelling Children who enjoy monster themes Short attention span viewers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNetflix asked for preschoolers. Avi Arad had an action show.
Deadline put Super Monsters in a six-title kids drop on October 6, 2016, next to Lego Elves. The seller was Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad with 41 Entertainment, the same pairing Netflix already had on Kong: King of the Apes and Tarzan and Jane. The public pitch was a kindergarten class of playful monsters learning to master "seemingly untamable super powers" through readiness skills. Six friends with dual identities, humans by day and magical monsters at night, latestnetflix.com argues, at Pitchfork Pines Preschool. Drac, Cleo, Lobo, Katya, Zoe, and Frankie. Teachers named Igor and Esmie. Season 1 was dated late 2017. 
That age band was a rewrite. Allen Bohbot, 41 Entertainment's managing director, later told WorldScreen the original target was kids 6 to 11. "It was not until a Netflix executive asked if we would consider changing to a preschool target that the bell went off in our heads, and we immediately agreed," he said. He still calls Super Monsters "the perfect show." 
Dominique Bazay, then Netflix's director of kids and family content, told Animation Magazine the same origin story in 2018. "The series was originally created by Avi Arad and 41 Entertainment as a boys' action show for ages 6-11, but we saw a white space for kid-safe monsters." Once they locked preschool, the soul of the show became kindergarten readiness. Showrunner Kaaren Lee Brown, Bazay said, built relationship skills, problem solving, and empathy into short, age-appropriate plots. Netflix wanted a franchise around it. Two seasons, holiday specials, music videos, toys, and costumes.
Vancouver built the dusk. Cable tried to keep it.
Animation ran at Icon Creative Studio in Vancouver. Bazay put the crew at roughly 100 CG artists on ICON's Maya pipeline. The palette is dusk. Purples and blues so the characters pop. "We learned that 68% of preschoolers are actually scared of Halloween," she said, so the show was meant to let kids ease into the holiday without the scare. Spike the Dragon arrived in season 2. Another new monster was promised at the end of that run.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54wdv1evvWw
Kidscreen dated season 2 and a Halloween special to October 5, 2018, with Bohbot, Brown, and Jennifer Rogan producing. Arad had produced season 1. A trailer landed on Netflix's YouTube channel in the lead-up, plus four Super Monsters Monster Party music videos on the main service. ,
Wikipedia now lists three seasons, 22 half-hours plus 10 specials, from the October 13, 2017 Netflix premiere through Super Monsters Once Upon A Rhyme on June 1, 2021. Vincent Tong voices vampire kid Drac Shadows. Erin Mathews is Frankie Mash. Andrea Libman is witch Katya Spelling. Alessandro Juliani is werewolf Lobo Howler. Gigi Saul Guerrero later voiced Vida Calavera. Discovery Family took U.S. linear rights and began airing the series on October 19, 2019. The cable run ended October 11, 2024.
Bohbot sold the preschool pivot as a market move. Gender-neutral, diverse cast, socio-emotional lessons that travel. Superhero Summer Camp and Superhero Pets were the follow-on properties he pitched off the same idea. The gossip on Super Monsters is not a voice-booth feud. It is a boys' action idea that Netflix aged down, then ran as a Halloween-safe franchise until the specials ran out. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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