Monster High Jane Boolittle

Jane Boolittle is the new ghoul at school. She was found alone in the jungle by Dr. Boolittle, who adopted her. She grew up somewhat of a wild child and, with the exception of Dr. Boolittle and his colleague Dr. Moreau, has never been exposed to people. Understandably, she is wary of other people, and was a little skeptical at first when Headmistress Bloodgood visited the island where Dr. Boolittle and Jane lived to offer Jane a place at Monster High.

Jane Boolittle wears a dress with a pink striped bodice, an overshirt of light-and-dark blue with a stylized vine motif, and a sheer turquoise short skirt accented with a belt featuring the trademark Monster High skullette design. She wears a feathered headdress and feathered shoulder “pads” paired with a large red necklace and a red collar. She wears a net fingerless glove on her left arm, bracelets on both wrists, and mismatched earrings – a feather in one ear, and what looks like a tiger’s tooth in the other. Jane has quite a lot going on, accessory-wise.

Jane pairs her dress with black capris that end in jagged edges, like the pants legs of film characters who have been stranded on a desert island for so long that their clothing has been reduced to rags. Her high lace-up sandals also imitate vines and feathers.

Her hair is long, with a little beehive on top. I don’t know what it is about Monster High dolls and beehives, but Mattel sure likes using them on dolls like Scaris Skelita and Sweet Screams Frankie. Her face is pretty conventional and not really monster-like, except for the pale blue dots under each eye that are evocative of tribal makeup to, once again, underscore her theme of being from the jungle.

Jane comes with the stand, brush and diary that the deluxe Monster High dolls come with. She also has other accessories, such as a purse, a walking stick (to navigate the difficult jungle brush and vines), and of course, a pet. However, these accessories are not quite what they seem.

Jane’s purse looks like a doctor’s bag – an homage to her father Dr. Boolittle. The bag opens up to reveal small slips of paper tucked inside.

This seems odd, until you realize that her walking stick is actually a pen.

Jane also comes with a pet named Needles. Needles is a three-toed sloth. But Needles isn’t a real sloth. He looks like he’s made of burlap and thread, like he’s a voodoo doll or something.

And he has a slit in his back so you can put things in him. Things like little slips of paper with messages written with a pen that looks like a walking stick.

Needles also conveniently fits on Jane’s back. He’s adorable, isn’t he?

Is he a pet or a backpack?

I’m not really sure I’m digging Jane Boolittle as much as other Monster High dolls. I’m not crazy about her outfit, and she wears way too many accessories. It also seems like Mattel is kind of stretching the “monster” theme a little thin with her. Her “monstrousness” is rather vague. What kind of creature is she, exactly? And what’s with the secret message stuff? The secret message concept reminds me of Momiji Dolls, dolls that feature a secret compartment on the bottom with a slip of paper hidden inside that you can write on and hide inside the doll. But why does Jane need to carry secret messages? Am I the only one confused by her?

Do you “get” Jane Boolittle?