My Little Pony: Equestria Girls | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Jayson Thiessen |
Written by | Meghan McCarthy |
Based on | My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Series Developed for Television by Lauren Faust |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Mark Kuehnel |
Music by | William Anderson |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 73 minutes |
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Language | English |
Box office | $488,232 (Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and United Kingdom) [1] |
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, known simply as Equestria Girls or EQG (sometimes as Through the Mirror), [2] [3] is a 2013 animated fantasy musical film which is the first installment of Hasbro's toy line and media franchise of the same name, which is itself an anthropomorphized spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony franchise. The film was animated in Adobe Flash, directed by Jayson Thiessen and written by Meghan McCarthy, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States. It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 15, 2013, followed by limited release in the United States and Canada on June 16, 2013, with a home media release on August 6, 2013. It also commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of the original My Little Pony toy line.
The film re-envisions the main characters of the parent franchise, normally ponies, as teenage humanoid characters in a high school setting. Set between the third and fourth seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic television series, the film's plot involves Twilight Sparkle pursuing her stolen crown into an alternate world where she transforms into a humanoid teenage girl. While learning how to behave locally, Twilight encounters the parallel universe counterparts of her pony friends, who help her in her search for her crown.
The film's critical reception was mixed, with most criticism directed towards character design, writing, plot, and characterization. The film was followed by three sequels, Rainbow Rocks (2014), Friendship Games (2015) and Legend of Everfree (2016) – all of which were more positively received. [4] [5]
Twilight Sparkle and her friends visit the Crystal Empire for her first royal summit following her coronation as a princess of Equestria. Sunset Shimmer, a former student of Princess Celestia, emerges from a mirror portal and steals Twilight's crown, which contains the Element of Magic. After a chase through the castle, Sunset goes through the portal with Twilight's crown. The other princesses explain that the portal leads to an alternate world; as the other Elements of Harmony are unusable without the crown, Twilight is tasked with retrieving it from the other world before the portal closes for thirty moons. Despite Celestia's insistence that Twilight must travel alone, Spike follows her into the portal.
Twilight and Spike emerge in the other world in the form of a humanoid teenager and a dog, respectively. Twilight investigates the nearby Canterlot High School and encounters its students and staff, several of whom resemble ponies in Equestria. Masquerading as a transfer student, Twilight defends the counterpart of her friend Fluttershy from being bullied by Sunset. Twilight learns that Fluttershy has delivered the crown to Principal Celestia, mistaking it for a prop meant for the elected "princess" of the Fall Formal. Determining that no one would believe her claims of being a pony from another world, Twilight receives Celestia's permission to run for Fall Formal Princess against Sunset to recover the crown.
While continuing to explore school life, Twilight discovers that the counterparts of Fluttershy and her other friends from Ponyville (Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash) – have separated of hostility. Sunset sends her cohorts Snips and Snails to record a humiliating video of Twilight behaving like a pony, which is posted online and viewed by the entire school. The counterparts of Twilight's friends come to her aid, only to argue among themselves, revealing the cause of their falling out to be a series of treacherous text messages and emails they supposedly sent each other. Through a theory of Twilight's, however, the five girls realize that Sunset sent these messages to deceive them. The five reconcile and help Twilight perform a public dance routine for her campaign, which improves Twilight's image.
In another attempt to undermine Twilight, Sunset has the formal decorations in the school gym wrecked and uses edited photographs to frame Twilight. Although Sunset's ex-boyfriend Flash Sentry proves Twilight's innocence, the formal is postponed to the night after the portal to Equestria closes. Twilight and Spike reveal their true identities to the other girls, convincing them of the situation's urgency. Under Twilight's direction, they rally the other students and successfully repair the damage in time for its original schedule, earning Twilight the school's support.
On the night of the formal, Twilight wins the election and the crown, but Sunset steals it back in a scuffle after kidnapping Spike and threatening to destroy the portal to Equestria. Upon donning the crown, Sunset transforms into a demon and hypnotizes the other students, revealing her intent to conquer Equestria with the students as her army. When Sunset attacks Twilight and her friends, their friendship activates the crown's magic, giving them pony-like ears, wings, and tails. The six girls use magic to revert Sunset and their schoolmates to normal. Sunset, humbled by the power of the girls' friendship, tearfully apologizes for her actions. After celebrating at the formal and placing Sunset under her friends' care, Twilight and Spike return to Equestria with the crown as the portal closes, reuniting with their pony friends.
To maintain continuity, Hasbro used the same writing staff as Friendship Is Magic television series, including the then-current story editor Meghan McCarthy, who considered the story to be "an extension of our mythology". [9] McCarthy stated that with the Equestria Girls setting, "we might explore different aspects of relationships that in the pony world don't quite work the same as they do when you set it in a high school setting", thus making the work more appealing to older girls that are in high or junior high school. [10]
In writing the film's script, McCarthy went back to the self-titled two-part pilot episode of Friendship Is Magic, where Twilight is sent to Ponyville for the first time and forced to meet new friends. She wanted to do the same with the film, in this case putting Twilight into a new world where she would again be forced to make new friends and succeed in her quest. [11]
Daniel Ingram stated in a Facebook post that he wrote six songs for the film in a more modern pop/girl group style that would fit the high school/urban setting. [12] [ non-primary source needed ] He also mentioned some of the crew members with whom he worked, including Trevor Hoffman for vocal arrangements and David Corman and Sam Ryan for production and that he collaborated with McCarthy on the lyrics.
Composer William Anderson, who provided the score for the film, said that most of the background music remains consistent with the television show, though "with elements of thrash rock once in a while". [10]
On May 12, 2013, a teaser trailer was first released on the New York Times website, [18] followed by a full theatrical trailer on Entertainment Weekly's website on June 7, 2013. [19]
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival grand opening celebration on June 15, 2013, as part of its Family Day. [20] The event included appearances by several of the film's creative staff and voice actors. [21] It was then presented under release through Screenvision and Cineplex theaters across the United States and Canada respectively, starting on June 16, 2013. Due to a larger-than-expected number of theater-goers in the initial weeks, Screenvision added additional showings to take advantage of the interest. [22] The screenings in the United States bore no classification from the MPAA (which is not mandatory), while the Canadian screenings had ratings from provincial film classification boards (usually G).
The film was re-released in select theaters across the United States on June 18 and 19, 2016 by distribution company Kidtoon Films. [23]
In the United Kingdom, the film was released through Showcase Cinemas on August 10, 2013. [24] In Australia, it was released through Village Cinemas on August 24, 2013. [25] In New Zealand, it was released through Event Cinemas for two weeks starting August 31, 2013.
The film was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on August 6, 2013. [26] The Blu-ray release includes a behind-the-scenes documentary on: the film's production, karaoke songs, a "ponify yourself" video and a printable poster. [11] Shout! Factory has signed with Hasbro to distribute the film internationally after its theatrical run. [27] [ clarification needed ]
The Region 4 DVD was released by Madman Entertainment on September 4, 2013. [28] The Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray was supposed to be released by UK-based distributor Clear Vision in April 2014, but the distributor had since entered administration. However, the same UK distributor did manage to release a Region 2 DVD for France and Italy between March and April 2014. The UK version DVD and Blu-ray was eventually released on July 28, 2014.
Alongside Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games, this film was released in a box set on October 13, 2015 in Region 1. [29]
The film made its United States television premiere on the Hub Network (a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro; now known as Discovery Family as of late 2014) on September 1, 2013. [30] On September 22, 2013, the film premiered on YTV in Canada. In the United Kingdom, the film premiered on Pop on November 23, 2013.
The film is a part of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise launched by Hasbro, which was briefly mentioned in the media earlier in February and March 2013 [31] [32] and formally announced in May 2013 with this film and other media strategy. [9] It was to be a part of the 30th anniversary of the My Little Pony brand. [9] Hasbro planned to produce related merchandise including: toys, apparel, publishing and accessories. [9] The human-like toys were developed to appeal to girls in their teens as a means to extend the My Little Pony brand. [33] In addition, LB Kids published a novelization of the film and Gameloft included a themed mini-game in its My Little Pony mobile game. IDW published a backstory of the characters in the alternative universe (including Sunset Shimmer) in a stand-alone issue. [34] [35]
The film's soundtrack was released on September 23, 2014, via the ITunes Store. [36] "This Strange World" is absent in the album. On October 2, 2014 (chart of October 11), the soundtrack placed #15, [37] [ non-primary source needed ] [38] where the "My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks" soundtrack was two weeks ago on September 18.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Opening Titles (Remix)" | Daniel Ingram and Lauren Faust | Rebecca Shoichet | 1:29 |
2. | "Equestria Girls (Cafeteria Song)" | Ingram and Meghan McCarthy | Shannon Chan-Kent, Kazumi Evans, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Shoichet, ensemble | 2:53 |
3. | "Time to Come Together" | Ingram and McCarthy | Shoichet, Evans, Ball, Libman, Chan-Kent, ensemble | 2:08 |
4. | "This Is Our Big Night" | Ingram and McCarthy | Shoichet, Ball, Libman, Chan-Kent, Evans | 2:03 |
5. | "A Friend for Life" | Ingram | Jerrica Santos | 2:26 |
Total length: | 11.33 |
Upon release to home video, Shout! Factory reported that more than 100,000 units have been ordered at retail, the largest release that the company has seen in its ten-year history. As a result of the success, Hasbro has signed Shout to continue distribution of other out-of-print My Little Pony titles from earlier generations such as The Princess Promenade , as well as newer animated Transformers shows. [39]
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls premiered on the Hub Network on September 1, 2013. The film was viewed by 553,000 viewers. [40] It earned year-to-year delivery time gains among multiple demographics, most notably Girls 6-11 (+1056%). [41] In the United Kingdom, 93,000 viewers watched the television broadcast on Pop, the most for the week of November 18–24. [42]
There has been criticism over the anthropomorphism approach of the franchise overall (including this film). The New York Daily News reported that, while some feared allowing their children to be influenced by the looks of humanized characters, others considered it reasonable with other current media with considerable body exposure. [43] Slate 's Amanda Marcotte considered that the characters' change to human-like form was to popularize the film with the adult fanbase of Friendship Is Magic. [44] However, many of these adult fans expressed disappointment over the humanized characters, worrying that the approach "goes against everything that Pony was trying to prove". [45] Craig McCracken, speaking for his wife Lauren Faust, Friendship Is Magic's creative showrunner for the first two seasons before stepping down, expressed concern that such approach would have gone against the way Faust wanted to take the television series. [46]
The film itself received mixed reviews from critics. Daniel Alvarez of the website Unleash the Fanboy gave the film 4 stars out of 5, stating that Equestria Girls was a "highly entertaining movie", though some elements, such as the brief romantic plot and Sunset's ultimate fate, were weaker than other parts of the film. [7] Luke Thompson of Topless Robot was more critical of the film, as while not a viewer of Friendship Is Magic, he believed "whatever clever concepts the show may have [...] the movie does not do very much with" and considered the animation sub-standard for a TV-to-film adaptation. [47] Iowa State Daily described the film as one that was "probably just made to sell dolls and figurines", though still delivered a "great message for kids". [48] Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club rated the film a "B−" and considered that the film "is only a few songs and one amazing demon battle scene better than most of Friendship Is Magic's two-part episodes", while otherwise treading on clichéd ideas from both the Friendship Is Magic and from other teen high school works. [49] Sherilyn Connelly of SF Weekly , though having enjoyed the film, felt it was too similar to the television series's pilot episodes in how the characters needed to be re-introduced for the film audience and that the "real disconnect" was the apparent reduction of age, from young adult in Friendship Is Magic to teenagers within the film. [6] Connelly did, however, vote for the film as Best Animated Feature in the 2013 Village Voice Film Critics' Poll. [50] Ed Liu of Toon Zone (now known as Anime Superhero) considered that the film "relies a bit too much on the familiar and the conventional", lacking Friendship Is Magic's injection of "idiosyncratic character" into otherwise predictable plots, but otherwise praised the voice actors, music and some of the film's animation. [51]
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, simply known as Equestria Girls, is a product line of fashion dolls and a media franchise launched in 2013 by the American toy company Hasbro as a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony line of pony toys and its Friendship Is Magic television series. Equestria Girls features anthropomorphized versions of My Little Pony characters from that period; as with My Little Pony, which features a colorful body and mane, Equestria Girls characters sport non-human skin and hair colors, while incorporating their pony counterpart's cutie marks in their clothing. The franchise includes various doll lines, media tie-ins, and licensed merchandise.
"Magical Mystery Cure" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the sixty-fifth episode of the series overall. Directed by James Wootton, it was written by M.A. Larson.
The third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 3 of the series premiered on November 10, 2012 on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on February 16, 2013.
Sunset Shimmer is a fictional character from the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls spin-off franchise. She is the main protagonist of the series of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls films and television specials, as well as a background character in the series finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. She is voiced by Rebecca Shoichet.
"Twilight's Kingdom" is the collective name for the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as well as the ninetieth and ninety-first episodes of the series overall. The two-part season finale deals with a new threat named Lord Tirek, who wants to rule Equestria by absorbing all magic, as well as Twilight Sparkle trying to learn what she should do with her new role as a princess. "Twilight's Kingdom" was directed by Jayson Thiessen, co-directed by Jim Miller, produced by Sarah Wall and Devon Cody, and written by Meghan McCarthy. It premiered on the Hub Network on May 10, 2014, with both parts airing back-to-back.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks, known simply as Rainbow Rocks, is a 2014 animated fantasy musical film which is a part of Hasbro's Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise, which is a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony franchise. The film was animated using Adobe Flash, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Ishi Rudell, written by Meghan McCarthy, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States, as a sequel to the 2013's Equestria Girls film. The film premiered in select theaters across the United States and Canada on September 27, 2014, which was followed by broadcast on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Discovery, Inc. and Hasbro, on October 17, 2014, and then a home media release on October 28, 2014, by Shout! Factory.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games, known simply as Friendship Games, is a 2015 animated musical sports fantasy film which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony franchise. The film was animated using Adobe Flash, directed by Ishi Rudell and written by Josh Haber, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States, as a sequel to 2014's Rainbow Rocks film. Unlike the previous two films, Friendship Games had no theatrical run in the United States and Canada, but the film was first shown on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro, on September 26, with a home media release on October 13 that year by Shout! Factory; it also had a limited theatrical run in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia beginning in late October 2015.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree, known simply as Legend of Everfree, is a 2016 animated musical fantasy film which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony franchise. The film was animated using Adobe Flash, written by Kristine Songco and Joanna Lewis, and directed by Ishi Rudell, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States as a sequel to 2015's Friendship Games film. Prior to its release in the United States on Netflix on October 1, 2016, the film was first broadcast on Discovery Kids in Latin America on September 24, 2016. The film was released on home media in the United States and Canada on November 1, 2016 by Shout! Factory. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice acting, and music, but criticized its script, plot, and excessive use of too many plotlines all at once.
My Little Pony: The Movie is a 2017 animated musical fantasy film based on the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which itself is part of the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and franchise. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen, written by Meghan McCarthy, Michael Vogel, Joe Ballarini, and Rita Hsiao, and produced by Stephen Davis, Brian Goldner, Marcia Gwendolyn Jones, and Haven Alexander. The film stars the show's regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, Cathy Weseluck, Nicole Oliver, and Britt McKillip reprising their roles and the guest voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldaña as new characters. The film follows the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, her five pony friends – collectively known as the "Mane 6" – and her dragon friend/assistant Spike on a quest to save their home of Equestria from an evil conqueror while gaining new friends along the way and testing their friendship and their patience.
American toy company Hasbro launched the fourth incarnation of My Little Pony toyline and media franchise in 2010. This generation is not given any name by Hasbro, but some of later releases of toys are labeled with the subtitle "Friendship Is Magic". It is unofficially referred to as the "Fourth Generation", "Generation Four" or "G4" by collectors.
Equestria is the fictional setting of the fourth and fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and My Little Pony: Pony Life. Created by Lauren Faust, the setting incorporates many elements of fantasy, including inspirations from European and Greek mythology.
Princess Twilight Sparkle, commonly known as Twilight Sparkle, is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and media franchise, beginning with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010–2019), and later in the franchise's fifth incarnation as well. She is voiced by Tara Strong; her singing voice is provided by Rebecca Shoichet.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Spring Breakdown is a 2019 animated one-hour television special which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toyline and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony toyline. The special was animated using Adobe Animate, written and edited by Nick Confalone, and directed by Ishi Rudell and Katrina Hadley, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Allspark Animation in the United States. Premiered on Discovery Family on March 30, 2019, it is the third one-hour Equestria Girls special, following Forgotten Friendship (2018) and Rollercoaster of Friendship (2018), and preceding Sunset's Backstage Pass (2019), and Holidays Unwrapped (2019).
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Forgotten Friendship, also known as Most Likely to be Forgotten on the extended YouTube release, is a 2018 animated one-hour television special which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toyline and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony toyline. The special was animated using Adobe Animate, written and edited by Nick Confalone, and directed by Ishi Rudell and Katrina Hadley, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States. Premiered on Discovery Family on February 17, 2018, Forgotten Friendship is the first one-hour Equestria Girls television special, followed up with Rollercoaster of Friendship (2018), Spring Breakdown (2019), Sunset's Backstage Pass (2019), and Holidays Unwrapped (2019).
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Holidays Unwrapped is a 2019 animated holiday season-themed one-hour television special which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toyline and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony toyline. The special was animated using Adobe Animate, written by Anna Christopher, and directed by Ishi Rudell and Katrina Hadley, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Allspark Animation in the United States.
The three-part series finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic consisted of the ninth season's 24th, 25th and 26th episodes as well as the 219th, 220th and 221st overall: the two parts of "The Ending of the End" along with "The Last Problem". Broadcast in prime time on October 12, 2019, on Discovery Family, the finale was 90 minutes long and produced by Allspark Animation. "The Ending of the End" follows Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie—known collectively as the "Mane 6"— and dragon friend Spike defending Equestria from their past enemies who are now united. "The Last Problem" is set years after the events of "The Ending of the End" when one of Twilight's students has a friendship problem. To solve it, Twilight recalls the moments she and the Mane 6 spent together.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh overall. The episodes follow the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle, who travels back to her hometown of Ponyville from Canterlot after Princesses Celestia and Luna disappear, and the Everfree Forest invades Ponyville. As Twilight and her friends try to find the cause of the havoc, they discover the Tree of Harmony, where they give up the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria.
"Keep Calm and Flutter On" is the tenth episode of the third season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-second overall. The episode features Fluttershy attempting to reform Discord while the rest of the Mane 6—Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie—remaining ambivalent on whether he can be good. The episode was highly anticipated and garnered positive reviews from critics, who found it funny and entertaining.