My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Encyclopedia
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series
that premiered on October 10, 2010 on the United States cable network The Hub, and is based on Hasbro
's My Little Pony
line of toys and animated works. The series is produced by Hasbro Studios
and DHX Media Vancouver (formerly Studio B Productions). The show is currently in its second season in the United States, and is broadcasting internationally in dozens of countries in over ten languages.
Lauren Faust
, an animator for several other successful children's shows, was selected by Hasbro as the creative director and executive producer for the show. Faust sought to challenge the established "girly" nature of the existing My Little Pony line, creating more in-depth characters and settings. She focused more on adventurous themes than the previous My Little Pony animated works had, and centered many stories on resolving difficulties between friends. Faust and her team incorporated suggestions from Hasbro to meet both the educational/informational rating for the show and for marketing of the toy line, but were otherwise given a free rein with the show. Faust later stepped down as executive producer near the end of the first season, but remained as consulting producer through the second season, and subsequently left the show. Jayson Thiessen, the show's supervising director, became the "showrunner" starting with season two.
The show follows a studious unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle as she is tasked by her mentor Princess Celestia to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different facet of friendship, and discovers themselves to be key parts in the "Elements of Harmony". In the series, the ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.
The show has been critically praised for its humor and moral outlook. Despite the target demographic of young girls, Friendship is Magic has gained a large following of older viewers, predominately male teenagers and adults, who call themselves "bronies". Reasons for this unintended appreciation include a combination of Faust's creative contribution to the writing and characterization, the expressive Flash
based animation style, themes older audiences can appreciate, and a reciprocal relationship between Hasbro, the creators, and the fans. Elements of the show have become part of the remix culture
and formed the basis for a variety of Internet memes. The show has prompted a fan convention
known as BroNYCon
.
, produced in 1992, was the toy line's most recent television series prior to Friendship is Magic, and it featured the pony designs of the first generation. It was followed by various direct-to-video
releases, which featured later designs up to the third generation. The same way Michael Bay
's film had helped to boost the new Transformers
toy line, Hasbro wanted to retool the My Little Pony franchise and update it to better suit the current generation of young girls. According to Margaret Loesch, CEO of The Hub, revisiting properties that had worked in the past was an important programming decision, influenced to an extent by the opinions of the network's programming executives, a number of whom were once fans of such shows.
Animator and writer Lauren Faust approached Hasbro, seeking to develop her girls' toys property "Galaxy Girls" into an animated series. Faust, who had previously worked on The Powerpuff Girls
and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
, had been pitching original animation aimed at girls for years, but was always rejected by studios and networks because cartoons for girls were considered unsuccessful. Following her pitch to Hasbro Studios' Lisa Licht, Licht showed Faust one of their recent My Little Pony animated works, Princess Promenade
, "completely on the fly," as Licht considered that Faust's style was well suited to that line and asked her to consider "some ideas where to take a new version of the franchise."
Faust was initially hired by Hasbro to create a 'pitch bible' (an extensive and detailed collection of all facets planned for a show in pre-production) for the show, allowing her to bring on additional help for conceptualization. Faust said she was "extremely skeptical" about taking the job at first because she had always found shows based on girls' toys to be boring and unrelatable. My Little Pony was one of her favorite childhood toys, but she was disappointed that her imagination at the time was nothing like the animated shows, in which the characters had "endless tea parties, giggled over nothing and defeated villains by either sharing with them or crying." With the chance to work on My Little Pony, she hoped to prove that "cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness." To do this, she incorporated many elements into the design of the characters and the show which contradicted idealized stereotypes of girls, including diverse personalities, the message that friends can be different and can get into arguments but still be friends, and the idea that girls should not be limited by what others say they can or can not do. Elements of the characters' personalities and the show's settings were based on her own childhood imagination of the ponies' adventures. Faust stated that as she provided Hasbro with more of her ideas for the show, she was inspired by their positive response to the non-traditional elements. Faust had initially pitched the show to include "adventure stories" in a similar proportion to "relationship stories," but recognizing the younger target audience, as well as the difficulty to write complex plots around these 'adventure' elements, she trimmed back on this content, focusing more on inter-character exchanges. The show still incorporates episodic creatures intended to be scary to children, such as dragon
s and hydras
, but places more emphasis on the friendships between the characters, executed with a comedic tone. By the time the show was green-lit, Faust had developed three full scripts for the series.
Faust began to work out concept sketches, several of which appeared on her deviantArt
page, including ponies from the first generation (Twilight, Applejack, Firefly, Surprise, Posey and Sparkler) which would later build on the core for the main cast of the show. Hasbro approved the show with Faust as Executive Producer and asked her to complete the pitch bible. In order to do so, Faust brought on her former collaborators, Martin Ansolobehere and Paul Rudish
, who had worked on other animated shows with her. Faust credits Rudish for the inspiration of the pegasus ponies controlling the weather in Equestria, as well as the character of Nightmare Moon during this period. Faust also bounced ideas off of her husband, Craig McCracken
, a fellow animator and creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. After submitting their initial version of the pitch bible, Hasbro requested more character designs from Faust's team; subsequently, Faust brought aboard Dave Dunnet and Lynne Naylor
to further refine the background and character styles.
Upon completion of the pitch bible, Hasbro and Faust began looking at studios for the actual animation. Studio B Productions (now DHX Media Vancouver) had previously done work with Adobe Flash based animations, as well as shows that featured a large number of animals, and Faust felt they would be a good selection. Studio B requested that Jayson Thiessen be the director, a choice Faust agreed with. She, Thiessen, and James Wootton led the completion of a two-minute short to pitch the final product to Hasbro, resulting in the company's decision to sanction the full production. Faust estimates that from being initially asked to develop the show until to this point took roughly one year.
Faust's initial writing staff at Hasbro Studios included several writers that worked with her on her previous shows, and were approved by Hasbro. These included Amy Keating Rogers
, Cindy Morrow, Meghan McCarthy, Chris Savino
, Charlotte Fullerton
, M. A. Larson, and Dave Polsky
. The writing process began with Faust and Renzetti coming up with broad plots for each show. The two would then spend a session with each episode's writer to brainstorm, allowing the writer to script out scenes and dialog. Faust and Renzetti then worked with the writer to finalize the scripts and assign some basic storyboard instructions. Hasbro was involved throughout this process, including setting some concepts to be incorporated into show. Examples of Hasbro's influence include having Celestia be a princess rather than a queen, making one of the ponies focused on fashion, and portraying toy sets in relevant places within the story such as Rarity's boutique. In some instances, Hasbro requested that the show include a setting, but would allow Faust and her team to create the visual style for it from which Hasbro would then base the toy set on, such as the Ponyville schoolhouse. Faust also had to write towards "Educational/Informational
" standards that Hasbro has required of the show, making crafting some of the situations she would have normally done on other animated shows more difficult; Faust provided the examples of having one character call another an "egghead" as a "delicate" joke, while having one character cheat in a competition to also be a careful balance. Due to intellectual property issues, Hasbro had lost some of the rights on the original pony names, and as such, the show includes a mix of original characters from the toy line and new characters developed for the show.
Completed scripts were sent to Studio B for pre-production and animation using Adobe Flash. Thiessen's production team was also given the opportunity to select key personnel with Hasbro's approval, including art director Ridd Sorenson. The Studio B team would storyboard the provided scripts, incorporating any direction and sometimes able to create scenes that the writers had felt would be impossible to show in animation. The animators would then prepare the key character poses, layout, background art, and other main elements, and send these versions back to the production team in Los Angeles for review by Hasbro and suggestions from the writers. Thiessen credited much of the technical expertise with the show to Wooton, who was able to create Flash programs to optimize the placement and posing of the pony characters and other elements, simplifying and economizing the amount of work needed by the other animators. For example, the ponies' hair and tails are generally fixed shapes, animated by bending and stretching them in curves in three dimensions and giving them a sense of movement without the expensive cost of animated individual hairs. Once the pre-production work was approved and completed, the episode would then be animated. Though Studio B performed this animation work initially, the final steps of creating the animation were passed to Top Draw Animation in the Philippines
, an animation studio that Studio B had worked well with in the past, in the later part of Season 1 and beyond.
The voice casting and production is handled by Voicebox Productions, with Terry Klassen
serving as the series' voice director. Faust, Thiessen, and others participated in selecting voice actors with Hasbro giving final approval.
The series' background music is composed by William Kevin Anderson, while Daniel Ingram
composes the songs. Songs from Ingram were only included if they would make sense in the episode's script, while the team provided Anderson with music cues they wanted in specific parts of the episode, allowing him to create appropriate music for each scene.
Prior to the green-lit of the show, Hasbro and Faust had planned for episodes to be 11 minutes long, which Faust wrote towards in her first full length script, "The Ticket Master", that was part of the pitch bible. However, Faust desired to have more traditional, 22-minute length episodes, and Hasbro eventually agreed to this approach. The initial production stages were very tight, requiring a schedule twice as fast as Faust had previously experienced, and frequent remote communication from the Los Angeles writing offices and the animation studio in Vancouver. At times, the two teams would hold "writer's summits" to propose new ideas for characters and situations, with the animation team providing suggestions on visuals, body language, and characterization. Faust estimates that the time to complete one episode was one year; at one point, the team was simultaneously working on all 26 episodes of the first season at various stages, and upon the green-lighting of the second season, that number temporarily jumped to 32. Episodes then aired about a month after completion. Thiessen explained that they had pushed to start season 2 work right after season 1 was completed to prevent staff turnover.
Near the end of the first season, Faust announced that she had left the show, and for season two she stepped down from Executive Producer to Consulting Producer. Her involvement in the second season mainly consists of story conception and scripts. Despite her decreased participation, she still has high hopes for the staff members, stating that "the gaps I have left are being filled by the same amazing artists, writers, and directors who brought you Season 1. I’m certain the show will be as entertaining as ever".
Friendship is Magic takes place in the land of Equestria, populated by varieties of ponies (including pegasus
and unicorn
variants), along with numbers of other sentient and non-sentient creatures. The show is centered on the character Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn pony sent by her mentor and ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, to the town of Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. In the show's opening episodes, Twilight is initially resentful of this assignment, more concerned about the foretold appearance of Nightmare Moon. When Nightmare Moon does appear, vowing for an everlasting night and causing Celestia to disappear, Twilight sets off with five other ponies—Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity—to obtain the Elements of Harmony and defeat Nightmare Moon. Before Twilight can activate them, Nightmare Moon appears and shatters the Elements. Twilight, in a flash of inspiration, realizes that her new friends each represent the Elements of Harmony, herself being the final piece, Magic. Together, the magical power of their friendship reverts Nightmare Moon to a repentant Princess Luna. Celestia reappears, and after reuniting with her sister, allows Twilight to stay in Ponyville to continue studying the magic of friendship.
Later episodes of the show feature individual episodes that follow Twilight and her friends dealing with various problems around Ponyville. At the end of each episode, Twilight sends a report back to Celestia explaining what she learned about friendship from these adventures. There is a loose continuity in these episodes; a theme throughout the first season, for example, shows the ponies' preparing for the Grand Galloping Gala that occurs in the final episode of the first season.
One central theme of the show involves "cutie marks", iconic symbols that magically appear on a pony's flank once he or she has discovered his or her special talent in life. While physically young adults, the six main characters are envisioned to be similar in maturity to human teenagers in 12- to 18-year-old range, and one episode, "Cutie Mark Chronicles", highlights how each received their cutie mark as younger fillies. Several episodes focus on the exploits of a much younger trio of pony characters that call themselves the "Cutie Mark Crusaders" who have yet to receive their cutie marks. The three are teased by other young ponies as "blank flanks". In response, they desperately hurry to try to discover their talents to receive their own cutie marks, often doing so in comical fashions.
, singing voice by Rebecca Shoichet
) is a unicorn pony gifted with powerful magic and representing the Element of Magic. The main protagonist of the series. Prior to the first episode, she rigorously studies through a vast library as Celestia's pupil, shunning socialization, until she discovers the joys of friendship after being sent to Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies. Her pet owl Owlowiscious aids her in some of her duties when Spike is asleep.
Spike (voiced by Cathy Weseluck
) is a young dragon who assists Twilight. Spike was hatched from an egg by Twilight and has accompanied her ever since. He often writes down Twilight's messages to Celestia and sends them to the Princess through his magical fire breath. He comes to hold a not so private crush on Rarity and is willing to do anything to help her.
Applejack (voiced by Ashleigh Ball
) is a dependable and hard-working earth pony that runs Sweet Apple Acres (a large apple orchard near Ponyville) and represents the Element of Honesty. She is part of a large family of ponies who run apple related businesses across Equestria. Her pet dog Winoma helps Applejack with herding around the orchard.
Rainbow Dash (also voiced by Ashleigh Ball) claims to be one of the fastest pegasus ponies in Equestria. She helps to control the weather at the Cloudsdale weather factory, and dreams of one day becoming a member of Equestria's aerial flight team, the Wonderbolts. As the embodiment of the Element of Loyalty, she is brave and bold, but is often too proud of herself and takes head strong actions. She gains a pet tortoise, Tank, named for his tenacity, and outfits him with a propeller to allow him to keep up with her in the sky.
Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman
, singing voice by Shannon Chan-Kent
) is a hyperactive earth pony that loves to throw parties. She will find a reason to sing on nearly any occasion to cheer on her friends, and represents the Element of Laughter. She is very resourceful, despite sometimes seeming ditzy. Pinkie Pie also has a pet, a toothless baby alligator named Gummy.
Fluttershy (also voiced by Andrea Libman) is, as her name says, a shy yet compassionate and understanding pegasus pony with numerous fears, but can overcome them and become assertive when she or her friends are in trouble. She has come to live close to the ground to tend to the animals around Ponyville, and represents the Element of Kindness. Angel, her pet bunny, tends to help Fluttershy break out of her shell.
Rarity (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain
, singing voice by Kazumi Evans) is a unicorn pony who takes great pride in her appearance, her manners, and her fashion skills. She also runs a boutique in Ponyville. She represents the Element of Generosity, willing to help out her friends and others, though still tries to be the center of attention. Her pet cat Opalescence (Opal) tends to be very bitter and angry towards others, including Rarity.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Apple Bloom (voiced by Michelle Creber), Scootaloo (voiced by Madeleine Peters
), and Sweetie Belle (voiced by Claire Corlett (daughter of Ian James Corlett
), singing voice by Michelle Creber), make frequent appearances within the show. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are the younger sisters of Applejack and Rarity, respectively, while Scootaloo is a pegasus pony who idolizes Rainbow Dash.
Princess Celestia (voiced by Nicole Oliver
) herself appears with some frequency, but usually only as a cameo at the end of an episode to receive a report from Twilight Sparkle on what she has learned so far about friendship.
Princess Luna (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) appeared in the two-part pilot of the first season, but did not make another appearance until her dedicated episode, "Luna Eclipsed" in episode 4 from the second season of the show.
Zecora (voiced by Brenda Chrichlow) is a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest. She specializes in herbal medicine and nearly always speaks in rhyme. In her initial appearance, "Bridle Gossip", the Ponyville residents fear her because she is different, but Twilight and her friends help to integrate her into the town's society.
Discord the draconequus
, the spirit of Chaos, was introduced in the second season's two-part premiere; the character, as penned by Faust, was originally inspired by Q
from Star Trek: The Next Generation
, and the animators further made more comparisons to the character once they were able to get John De Lancie
, who played Q, to voice the role.
channel of Discovery Communications
in United States markets. The block of programming is a joint development of Hasbro and Discovery, designed to compete with similar family friendly programming blocks on other networks such as the Disney Channel
and Nickelodeon
. The first episode of Friendship Is Magic premiered on the first Hub broadcast, October 10, 2010. In March 2011, the show was renewed for a second season that will air 2011-2012. Season two premiere aired on September 17, 2011 and had 339,000 viewers. Shannon Chan-Kent, the singing voice performer for the character Pinkie Pie, has begun recording for an upcoming third season.
The series is rated TV-Y.
for the English-speaking audience
in Canada
, Boomerang in the United Kingdom
, Okto
in Singapore
, and Cartoon Network
in Australia
. Some of these international broadcasts, including language translations, were arranged with association from the Turner Broadcasting System
Europe to distribute Friendship Is Magic, as well as other shows based on Hasbro's intellectual properties, throughout various channels they own in those regions.
The series is or will be available in the following languages, sorted in the chronological order of debut. The series is or will be automatically available in countries wherever the following television channels are broadcast.
will be releasing a 5-episode Region 1 DVD
of Friendship is Magic on February 28, 2012, entitled My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - The Friendship Express.
application Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day
in October 2011. The application allows children to practice reading and incorporates mini-games.
s, has been able to tap into the nerd culture to allow it to gain wider acceptance than other comparable forms. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media
, an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children's media, gave the show a rating of four out of five stars, emphasizing the show's messages of friendship, tolerance and respect, but advises parents to be wary of the "influence the characters might have on their kids' desires, since it's rooted in a well-known product line of books, toys, and just about everything in between." Matt Morgan writing for Wired
s GeekDad
column, praised the show, for having "rebooted the long-time Hasbro property while managing to lace it with geeky undertones", and being one of the few "girl-focused shows that a geeky dad can appreciate with his daughter".
Kathleen Richter of Ms. believed that Friendship Is Magic did little to change the nature of older animation for girls which she considered were "so sexist and racist and heteronormative". As one example, she considered that, through the character of Rainbow Dash, the show was promoting the stereotype that "all feminists are angry, tomboyish lesbians". She also considered that the only darker colored ponies shown to date were in positions of servitude for the "white pony overlord". Lauren Faust responded to these claims, stating that while Rainbow Dash was a tomboy, "nowhere in the show is her sexual orientation ever referenced" and "assuming [tomboys] are lesbians is extremely unfair to both straight and lesbian tomboys", and further stating that "Color has never, ever been depicted as a race indicator for the ponies." Amid Amidi, writing for the animation website Cartoon Brew, was more critical of the concept of the show, calling it a sign of "the end of the creator-driven era in TV animation". Amidi's essay expressed concern that assigning talent like Faust to a toy-centric show was part of a trend to focus on profitable genres of animation, such as toy tie-ins, to deal with a fragmented viewing audience, and overall "an admission of defeat for the entire movement, a white flag-waving moment for the TV animation industry".
, responding to Cartoon Brew's Amidi's negative essay on the show and state of current animation trends. The members of the cartoon or "/co/" board of 4chan, having not yet seen the show, considered the alarmist nature of the essay and began watching the show, and quickly warmed up to the series for plot, characters, and animation style. This reaction soon spread to the random board, /b/ of 4chan, where elements of the show quickly caught on as recurring jokes and memes on the site. The number of Friendship Is Magic posts, counter to the usual attitudes and image of 4chan, caused a large stir on the site, with fans of the show unrelenting against various trolling
attacks from other 4chan boards, leading to a temporary ban on anything pony related, which was soon overturned. Christopher Poole
, the founder of 4chan, briefly acknowledged the popularity of the show on 4chan at the 2011 South by Southwest
festival. Though the discussion of the show would continue at 4chan, many fans of the show created other venues to discuss the show, leading to its spread onto other forums and the rest of the Internet. Shaun Scotellaro, operator of Equestria Daily
, one of the main fan websites for the show, speculates that the spread across adult fans was accelerated by its presence in online gaming
, which sparked further interest.
The adult interest in the show is comparable to similar shows such as The Powerpuff Girls, Animaniacs
, Yo Gabba Gabba!
, Rocko's Modern Life
, Phineas and Ferb
, and SpongeBob SquarePants
; a combination of jokes aimed at adult viewers, modern anime
inspired visuals, and a sense of nostalgia for older cartoons. Many of the aforementioned shows had attracted college aged fans that at the time of Friendship Is Magics airing, would be raising children of their own. The show has made references to works that older viewers would recognize, such as to The Benny Hill Show
, X-Men
, 2001: A Space Odyssey
, Diamond Dogs
, and The Big Lebowski
. Two episodes, "Suited for Success" and "The Best Night Ever," feature lengthy musical numbers inspired by Stephen Sondheim
, including the song "Putting it Together" from the musical Sunday in the Park with George
. Along with the interest of the older demographic, the show's viewership increase from 1.4 million per month on its premiere to 4 million viewers per month by the end of the first season, making it the highest rating show of any Hasbro offering at the time. Advertising Age
reports that the viewership of the show has since doubled between the first and the second season in part due to the word-of-mouth of older fans.
Older fans of the show have adopted the title "brony", a portmanteau of the words "bro" and "pony". Though generally taken to refer to male fans, the term is often applied to any fan of the show outside the target demographic, regardless of gender. Another term, "pegasister", has been used to describe older female fans of the show. In a promotional ad prepared by the Hub for the show, using a parody of Katy Perry
's "California Gurls
" entitled "Equestria Girls", the lyrics acknowledge the word "brony" as part of its lexicon. The brony community has gained media attention through outlets such as Wired
, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal
. During a phone interview on NPR's comedy radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
in June 2011, former President Bill Clinton
successfully answered three multiple choice questions about Friendship Is Magic, leading at least one journalist to jokingly refer to him as a brony.
The brony community is considered to represent one aspect of New Sincerity
, where these older viewers not only watch the show but participate in creating new material around it. The community has adapted catchphrases from the show, such as using the words "anypony" and "everypony" as replacements for "anybody" and "everybody", while creating their own Internet meme like statements, such as the phrase "Confound these ponies", inspired by the Merrie Melodies short, The Dover Boys
. Sites such as "Equestria Daily" and "Ponychan" have been created to share artwork, stories, and news about the show, receiving more than 100,000 visits a day, and many artists use art sites like deviantArt to display fan art based on existing and fan created characters. Numerous videos that incorporate footage from the show, including music videos, parodies and remakes of movie and video game trailers, and other mashups, are posted on a daily basis to YouTube
. In one case, a video made by a high school student named Stephen, using science to dissect some of the physical impossibilities on My Little Pony as part of a class presentation, was highlighted by several news outlets and featured on Tosh.0
. Remixed media of professional works using Friendship Is Magic footage have been noticed by their respective creators, such as by Edgar Wright
for the My Little Pony versions of the trailers for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
and Hot Fuzz
, and the cast of Top Gear for a video setting clips of their show to the pony characters. Numerous fan projects have created Friendship Is Magic related video games, such as the brawler game
My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic
, or modifications of existing games like Team Fortress 2
. Fans have also started a series of local meet-ups and small conventions, such as BroNYCon which featured the show's supervising director Thiessen as its guest at its first gathering. Most of these fans are themselves surprised by their fondness for the show. Shaun Scotellaro, operator of Equestria Daily, stated that "Honestly, if someone were to have told me I’d be writing a pony blog seven months ago, I would have called them insane."
sight gag during one episode. According to supervising director Jayson Thiessen, they consider Derpy "like a little Easter Egg for people to catch". As part of a relief effort for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Faust auctioned several original drawings from the show along with a new sketch of Derpy Hooves, which alone sold for more than $2000 on eBay
, and more than $15,000 in total charitable earnings. At the conclusion of the first season, one of the show's animators affirmed that Derpy would be a scripted background character within season two. Another pony character, sporting neon colors, wearing sunglasses and manning a DJ mixer
for one episode, was given the stage name
of "DJ P0N-3" by the fans, which later was reused in the aforementioned "Equestria Girls" Hub ad. Similarly, fans of the show have named a male character with an hourglass cutie mark as "Doctor Whooves", in reference to The Doctor from the long running BBC television series Doctor Who
.
Hasbro and the Hub have also sought to market to this demographic. Linda Steiner, the senior vice president for Hasbro Studios, noted that while she hoped that the show would attract a "broader audience", she had "been in the business for 25 years and [had] never seen anything like this." The company recognizes the brony community as "a small group of My Little Pony fans who don't necessarily fit what one might expect to be the brand's target audience" while its core viewership in the older market is predominantly females. Despite being a small audience, Hasbro and the Hub network chose to "salute and embrace all the viewers who have embraced our brand", according to Margaret Loesch, CEO of the Hub and former executive producer of the original My Little Pony animated series. Hasbro introduced new My Little Pony toys at the 2011 Comic-Con International, including a collectible one available only at the convention. Clothing vendors that sell officially licensed My Little Pony merchandise such as Hot Topic
have expanded their lines to include themed shirts for both genders. The Hub promoted the show through a billboard near the Valhalla Motion Pictures Building in Los Angeles, using an image of the pony characters spoofing the film Bridesmaids
. On October 3, 2011, the billboard was replaced with another one spoofing Poltergeist. In addition to the "Equestria Girls" ad, the Hub made a parody of the Technorati-centric Apple App Store, including a play on the motto, "there's a pony for that". Hasbro has generally not taken a stance against full episodes being available on sites like YouTube, which has enabled the growth of the fandom. Though many of the fan-created elements of the show use copyrighted footage of the show and combine them with mature themed elements such as from R-rated films such as Inglourious Basterds or foul language from artists such as Wu-Tang Clan
, Hasbro has not taken a stance against these videos and has allowed them to be hosted at various outlets, recognizing that the parodies and remixes form a "participatory culture" that has helped to draw larger attention to the show.
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
that premiered on October 10, 2010 on the United States cable network The Hub, and is based on Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's My Little Pony
My Little Pony
My Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
line of toys and animated works. The series is produced by Hasbro Studios
Hasbro Studios
Hasbro Studios is an American "virtual" television production company located in Los Angeles, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro...
and DHX Media Vancouver (formerly Studio B Productions). The show is currently in its second season in the United States, and is broadcasting internationally in dozens of countries in over ten languages.
Lauren Faust
Lauren Faust
Lauren Faust is an American born animator of Polish and German descent. She grew up in Severna Park, a suburb of Annapolis, Maryland. She studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts....
, an animator for several other successful children's shows, was selected by Hasbro as the creative director and executive producer for the show. Faust sought to challenge the established "girly" nature of the existing My Little Pony line, creating more in-depth characters and settings. She focused more on adventurous themes than the previous My Little Pony animated works had, and centered many stories on resolving difficulties between friends. Faust and her team incorporated suggestions from Hasbro to meet both the educational/informational rating for the show and for marketing of the toy line, but were otherwise given a free rein with the show. Faust later stepped down as executive producer near the end of the first season, but remained as consulting producer through the second season, and subsequently left the show. Jayson Thiessen, the show's supervising director, became the "showrunner" starting with season two.
The show follows a studious unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle as she is tasked by her mentor Princess Celestia to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different facet of friendship, and discovers themselves to be key parts in the "Elements of Harmony". In the series, the ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.
The show has been critically praised for its humor and moral outlook. Despite the target demographic of young girls, Friendship is Magic has gained a large following of older viewers, predominately male teenagers and adults, who call themselves "bronies". Reasons for this unintended appreciation include a combination of Faust's creative contribution to the writing and characterization, the expressive Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
based animation style, themes older audiences can appreciate, and a reciprocal relationship between Hasbro, the creators, and the fans. Elements of the show have become part of the remix culture
Remix culture
Remix culture is a term used to describe a society which allows and encourages derivative works. Remix is defined as combining or editing existing materials to produce a new product. A Remix Culture would be, by default, permissive of efforts to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix...
and formed the basis for a variety of Internet memes. The show has prompted a fan convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
known as BroNYCon
BroNYCon
BroNYCon is a fan convention held several times a year exclusively in New York City, solely dedicated to the animated show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The convention was established by the show's growing amount of followers, commonly known as bronies, and has since been hosted at multiple...
.
Origin
Hasbro, Inc. has produced several iterations of toys and entertainment related to the My Little Pony franchise in the past, often labeled by collectors as Generations 1 through 3. The animated cartoon series My Little Pony TalesMy Little Pony Tales
My Little Pony Tales is an American animated television series produced by Graz Entertainment and Sunbow Productions, based on the My Little Pony toys by Hasbro. The series premiered in July 3, 1992 to December 25, 1992, with a total of 26 episodes...
, produced in 1992, was the toy line's most recent television series prior to Friendship is Magic, and it featured the pony designs of the first generation. It was followed by various direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
releases, which featured later designs up to the third generation. The same way Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
's film had helped to boost the new Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
toy line, Hasbro wanted to retool the My Little Pony franchise and update it to better suit the current generation of young girls. According to Margaret Loesch, CEO of The Hub, revisiting properties that had worked in the past was an important programming decision, influenced to an extent by the opinions of the network's programming executives, a number of whom were once fans of such shows.
Animator and writer Lauren Faust approached Hasbro, seeking to develop her girls' toys property "Galaxy Girls" into an animated series. Faust, who had previously worked on The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls. It first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television movie, which led to a series...
, had been pitching original animation aimed at girls for years, but was always rejected by studios and networks because cartoons for girls were considered unsuccessful. Following her pitch to Hasbro Studios' Lisa Licht, Licht showed Faust one of their recent My Little Pony animated works, Princess Promenade
My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade
My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade is a computer animated film coinciding with the release of the Crystal Princess line of My Little Pony. It featured the debut of the Breezies who live in Breezie Blossom and the 2006 re-design of Spike the dragon, who originally featured in the first run of My...
, "completely on the fly," as Licht considered that Faust's style was well suited to that line and asked her to consider "some ideas where to take a new version of the franchise."
Faust was initially hired by Hasbro to create a 'pitch bible' (an extensive and detailed collection of all facets planned for a show in pre-production) for the show, allowing her to bring on additional help for conceptualization. Faust said she was "extremely skeptical" about taking the job at first because she had always found shows based on girls' toys to be boring and unrelatable. My Little Pony was one of her favorite childhood toys, but she was disappointed that her imagination at the time was nothing like the animated shows, in which the characters had "endless tea parties, giggled over nothing and defeated villains by either sharing with them or crying." With the chance to work on My Little Pony, she hoped to prove that "cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness." To do this, she incorporated many elements into the design of the characters and the show which contradicted idealized stereotypes of girls, including diverse personalities, the message that friends can be different and can get into arguments but still be friends, and the idea that girls should not be limited by what others say they can or can not do. Elements of the characters' personalities and the show's settings were based on her own childhood imagination of the ponies' adventures. Faust stated that as she provided Hasbro with more of her ideas for the show, she was inspired by their positive response to the non-traditional elements. Faust had initially pitched the show to include "adventure stories" in a similar proportion to "relationship stories," but recognizing the younger target audience, as well as the difficulty to write complex plots around these 'adventure' elements, she trimmed back on this content, focusing more on inter-character exchanges. The show still incorporates episodic creatures intended to be scary to children, such as dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s and hydras
Lernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
, but places more emphasis on the friendships between the characters, executed with a comedic tone. By the time the show was green-lit, Faust had developed three full scripts for the series.
Faust began to work out concept sketches, several of which appeared on her deviantArt
DeviantArt
deviantART is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc...
page, including ponies from the first generation (Twilight, Applejack, Firefly, Surprise, Posey and Sparkler) which would later build on the core for the main cast of the show. Hasbro approved the show with Faust as Executive Producer and asked her to complete the pitch bible. In order to do so, Faust brought on her former collaborators, Martin Ansolobehere and Paul Rudish
Paul Rudish
Paul Rudish is an American animator who helped create Dexter's Laboratory, The PowerPuff Girls, Samurai Jack, and the Clone Wars. He worked in Hanna-Barbera and then in Cartoon Network Studios with Genndy Tartakovsky...
, who had worked on other animated shows with her. Faust credits Rudish for the inspiration of the pegasus ponies controlling the weather in Equestria, as well as the character of Nightmare Moon during this period. Faust also bounced ideas off of her husband, Craig McCracken
Craig McCracken
Craig McCracken is an American animator and creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.-Biography:...
, a fellow animator and creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. After submitting their initial version of the pitch bible, Hasbro requested more character designs from Faust's team; subsequently, Faust brought aboard Dave Dunnet and Lynne Naylor
Lynne Naylor
Lynne Naylor is an artist who has worked prolifically in animation, collaborating with others like Bruce Timm and Timothy Björklund, and designing female characters for Batman: The Animated Series. She also co-founded Spümcø, the company of her former boyfriend John Kricfalusi...
to further refine the background and character styles.
Upon completion of the pitch bible, Hasbro and Faust began looking at studios for the actual animation. Studio B Productions (now DHX Media Vancouver) had previously done work with Adobe Flash based animations, as well as shows that featured a large number of animals, and Faust felt they would be a good selection. Studio B requested that Jayson Thiessen be the director, a choice Faust agreed with. She, Thiessen, and James Wootton led the completion of a two-minute short to pitch the final product to Hasbro, resulting in the company's decision to sanction the full production. Faust estimates that from being initially asked to develop the show until to this point took roughly one year.
Production
The show is developed in Hasbro Studios in Los Angeles, where most of the writing staff is located, and DHX Media Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia for the animation work.Faust's initial writing staff at Hasbro Studios included several writers that worked with her on her previous shows, and were approved by Hasbro. These included Amy Keating Rogers
Amy Keating Rogers
Amy Keating Rogers is an American television writer who has contributed to several notable animated television series and films, including episodes of the The Powerpuff Girls animated series. She has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards...
, Cindy Morrow, Meghan McCarthy, Chris Savino
Chris Savino
Chris Savino is an American animator. He has worked for Spümcø, Games Animation, Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios and is currently planning a live-action short called Bigfoot & Gray: On the Run and an animated film called Adventures in Milk...
, Charlotte Fullerton
Charlotte Fullerton
Charlotte Fullerton is an American writer of television, novels, comic books and video games.- Biography :After graduating from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema-Television/Production, Fullerton worked at Fox Kids Network working her way up to Writer/Producer...
, M. A. Larson, and Dave Polsky
Dave Polsky
David "Dave" Polsky is an American film and television screenwriter best known for creating The Buzz on Maggie and co-writing Scary Movie 2. His production company is called Juban Productions.-Biography:...
. The writing process began with Faust and Renzetti coming up with broad plots for each show. The two would then spend a session with each episode's writer to brainstorm, allowing the writer to script out scenes and dialog. Faust and Renzetti then worked with the writer to finalize the scripts and assign some basic storyboard instructions. Hasbro was involved throughout this process, including setting some concepts to be incorporated into show. Examples of Hasbro's influence include having Celestia be a princess rather than a queen, making one of the ponies focused on fashion, and portraying toy sets in relevant places within the story such as Rarity's boutique. In some instances, Hasbro requested that the show include a setting, but would allow Faust and her team to create the visual style for it from which Hasbro would then base the toy set on, such as the Ponyville schoolhouse. Faust also had to write towards "Educational/Informational
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
" standards that Hasbro has required of the show, making crafting some of the situations she would have normally done on other animated shows more difficult; Faust provided the examples of having one character call another an "egghead" as a "delicate" joke, while having one character cheat in a competition to also be a careful balance. Due to intellectual property issues, Hasbro had lost some of the rights on the original pony names, and as such, the show includes a mix of original characters from the toy line and new characters developed for the show.
Completed scripts were sent to Studio B for pre-production and animation using Adobe Flash. Thiessen's production team was also given the opportunity to select key personnel with Hasbro's approval, including art director Ridd Sorenson. The Studio B team would storyboard the provided scripts, incorporating any direction and sometimes able to create scenes that the writers had felt would be impossible to show in animation. The animators would then prepare the key character poses, layout, background art, and other main elements, and send these versions back to the production team in Los Angeles for review by Hasbro and suggestions from the writers. Thiessen credited much of the technical expertise with the show to Wooton, who was able to create Flash programs to optimize the placement and posing of the pony characters and other elements, simplifying and economizing the amount of work needed by the other animators. For example, the ponies' hair and tails are generally fixed shapes, animated by bending and stretching them in curves in three dimensions and giving them a sense of movement without the expensive cost of animated individual hairs. Once the pre-production work was approved and completed, the episode would then be animated. Though Studio B performed this animation work initially, the final steps of creating the animation were passed to Top Draw Animation in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, an animation studio that Studio B had worked well with in the past, in the later part of Season 1 and beyond.
The voice casting and production is handled by Voicebox Productions, with Terry Klassen
Terry Klassen
Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor and voice director in Vancouver, British Columbia. He co-created Yvon of the Yukon. He is the voice director for shows including Martha Speaks, "Johnny Test", "George of the Jungle", "Ed, Edd n Eddy", several "Barbie" movies, "Transformers", "CardCaptors",...
serving as the series' voice director. Faust, Thiessen, and others participated in selecting voice actors with Hasbro giving final approval.
The series' background music is composed by William Kevin Anderson, while Daniel Ingram
Daniel Ingram
Daniel Ingram is a Canadian composer and songwriter, primarily for animated series soundtracks.As an accomplished songwriter, Mr. Daniel Ingram has written more than 80 songs for television including the theme songs for My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and Martha Speaks in genres ranging from...
composes the songs. Songs from Ingram were only included if they would make sense in the episode's script, while the team provided Anderson with music cues they wanted in specific parts of the episode, allowing him to create appropriate music for each scene.
Prior to the green-lit of the show, Hasbro and Faust had planned for episodes to be 11 minutes long, which Faust wrote towards in her first full length script, "The Ticket Master", that was part of the pitch bible. However, Faust desired to have more traditional, 22-minute length episodes, and Hasbro eventually agreed to this approach. The initial production stages were very tight, requiring a schedule twice as fast as Faust had previously experienced, and frequent remote communication from the Los Angeles writing offices and the animation studio in Vancouver. At times, the two teams would hold "writer's summits" to propose new ideas for characters and situations, with the animation team providing suggestions on visuals, body language, and characterization. Faust estimates that the time to complete one episode was one year; at one point, the team was simultaneously working on all 26 episodes of the first season at various stages, and upon the green-lighting of the second season, that number temporarily jumped to 32. Episodes then aired about a month after completion. Thiessen explained that they had pushed to start season 2 work right after season 1 was completed to prevent staff turnover.
Near the end of the first season, Faust announced that she had left the show, and for season two she stepped down from Executive Producer to Consulting Producer. Her involvement in the second season mainly consists of story conception and scripts. Despite her decreased participation, she still has high hopes for the staff members, stating that "the gaps I have left are being filled by the same amazing artists, writers, and directors who brought you Season 1. I’m certain the show will be as entertaining as ever".
Premise
Friendship is Magic takes place in the land of Equestria, populated by varieties of ponies (including pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
and unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
variants), along with numbers of other sentient and non-sentient creatures. The show is centered on the character Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn pony sent by her mentor and ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, to the town of Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. In the show's opening episodes, Twilight is initially resentful of this assignment, more concerned about the foretold appearance of Nightmare Moon. When Nightmare Moon does appear, vowing for an everlasting night and causing Celestia to disappear, Twilight sets off with five other ponies—Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity—to obtain the Elements of Harmony and defeat Nightmare Moon. Before Twilight can activate them, Nightmare Moon appears and shatters the Elements. Twilight, in a flash of inspiration, realizes that her new friends each represent the Elements of Harmony, herself being the final piece, Magic. Together, the magical power of their friendship reverts Nightmare Moon to a repentant Princess Luna. Celestia reappears, and after reuniting with her sister, allows Twilight to stay in Ponyville to continue studying the magic of friendship.
Later episodes of the show feature individual episodes that follow Twilight and her friends dealing with various problems around Ponyville. At the end of each episode, Twilight sends a report back to Celestia explaining what she learned about friendship from these adventures. There is a loose continuity in these episodes; a theme throughout the first season, for example, shows the ponies' preparing for the Grand Galloping Gala that occurs in the final episode of the first season.
One central theme of the show involves "cutie marks", iconic symbols that magically appear on a pony's flank once he or she has discovered his or her special talent in life. While physically young adults, the six main characters are envisioned to be similar in maturity to human teenagers in 12- to 18-year-old range, and one episode, "Cutie Mark Chronicles", highlights how each received their cutie mark as younger fillies. Several episodes focus on the exploits of a much younger trio of pony characters that call themselves the "Cutie Mark Crusaders" who have yet to receive their cutie marks. The three are teased by other young ponies as "blank flanks". In response, they desperately hurry to try to discover their talents to receive their own cutie marks, often doing so in comical fashions.
Characters
Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara StrongTara Strong
Tara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
, singing voice by Rebecca Shoichet
Rebecca Shoichet
Rebecca Shoichet is a Canadian voice actress.She took over Saffron Henderson's role of Sota Higurashi in InuYasha after Saffron moved to California to do anime voices in the USA.-Roles:* Nana - Nana O.* .hack//Roots - Saburou...
) is a unicorn pony gifted with powerful magic and representing the Element of Magic. The main protagonist of the series. Prior to the first episode, she rigorously studies through a vast library as Celestia's pupil, shunning socialization, until she discovers the joys of friendship after being sent to Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies. Her pet owl Owlowiscious aids her in some of her duties when Spike is asleep.
Spike (voiced by Cathy Weseluck
Cathy Weseluck
Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian voice actress who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is known with providing the voice for characters in various anime series such as Mirai Yashima , Dorothy Catalonia and Catherine Bloom , Near , Shampoo , Kagome's mother , Misa...
) is a young dragon who assists Twilight. Spike was hatched from an egg by Twilight and has accompanied her ever since. He often writes down Twilight's messages to Celestia and sends them to the Princess through his magical fire breath. He comes to hold a not so private crush on Rarity and is willing to do anything to help her.
Applejack (voiced by Ashleigh Ball
Ashleigh Ball
Ashleigh Ball is a Canadian voice actress and the lead singer and flautist in the Vancouver-based jazz/pop band Hey Ocean!.-Filmography:-External links:...
) is a dependable and hard-working earth pony that runs Sweet Apple Acres (a large apple orchard near Ponyville) and represents the Element of Honesty. She is part of a large family of ponies who run apple related businesses across Equestria. Her pet dog Winoma helps Applejack with herding around the orchard.
Rainbow Dash (also voiced by Ashleigh Ball) claims to be one of the fastest pegasus ponies in Equestria. She helps to control the weather at the Cloudsdale weather factory, and dreams of one day becoming a member of Equestria's aerial flight team, the Wonderbolts. As the embodiment of the Element of Loyalty, she is brave and bold, but is often too proud of herself and takes head strong actions. She gains a pet tortoise, Tank, named for his tenacity, and outfits him with a propeller to allow him to keep up with her in the sky.
Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman
Andrea Libman
Andrea Eva Libman is a Canadian actress, television writer, and singer, whose most popular on-screen appearances are on the Little Women movie, Andre and a guest-role on The X-Files...
, singing voice by Shannon Chan-Kent
Shannon Chan-Kent
Shannon Chan-Kent is a Canadian voice actor, singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as the singing voice of Pinkie Pie in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic...
) is a hyperactive earth pony that loves to throw parties. She will find a reason to sing on nearly any occasion to cheer on her friends, and represents the Element of Laughter. She is very resourceful, despite sometimes seeming ditzy. Pinkie Pie also has a pet, a toothless baby alligator named Gummy.
Fluttershy (also voiced by Andrea Libman) is, as her name says, a shy yet compassionate and understanding pegasus pony with numerous fears, but can overcome them and become assertive when she or her friends are in trouble. She has come to live close to the ground to tend to the animals around Ponyville, and represents the Element of Kindness. Angel, her pet bunny, tends to help Fluttershy break out of her shell.
Rarity (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain is a Canadian stage actress. She has made the transition from stage work to voice work, and has since become one of the core female voice actresses working with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Anime :* .hack//Roots - Asta, Nazo Grunty* Black Lagoon -...
, singing voice by Kazumi Evans) is a unicorn pony who takes great pride in her appearance, her manners, and her fashion skills. She also runs a boutique in Ponyville. She represents the Element of Generosity, willing to help out her friends and others, though still tries to be the center of attention. Her pet cat Opalescence (Opal) tends to be very bitter and angry towards others, including Rarity.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Apple Bloom (voiced by Michelle Creber), Scootaloo (voiced by Madeleine Peters
Madeleine Peters
Madeleine Heeps is an American child actress who provides the voice of Helen Lorraine in the PBS Kids children's television series Martha Speaks. She also provides the voice of Scootaloo in the children's TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She is now in 10th grade, and is 15 years...
), and Sweetie Belle (voiced by Claire Corlett (daughter of Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett is a Canadian animation voice artist, writer, and musician. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon....
), singing voice by Michelle Creber), make frequent appearances within the show. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are the younger sisters of Applejack and Rarity, respectively, while Scootaloo is a pegasus pony who idolizes Rainbow Dash.
Princess Celestia (voiced by Nicole Oliver
Nicole Oliver
-Education:She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from York University, and additional training from the British American Drama Academy in Oxford and London.-Career:...
) herself appears with some frequency, but usually only as a cameo at the end of an episode to receive a report from Twilight Sparkle on what she has learned so far about friendship.
Princess Luna (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) appeared in the two-part pilot of the first season, but did not make another appearance until her dedicated episode, "Luna Eclipsed" in episode 4 from the second season of the show.
Zecora (voiced by Brenda Chrichlow) is a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest. She specializes in herbal medicine and nearly always speaks in rhyme. In her initial appearance, "Bridle Gossip", the Ponyville residents fear her because she is different, but Twilight and her friends help to integrate her into the town's society.
Discord the draconequus
Chimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
, the spirit of Chaos, was introduced in the second season's two-part premiere; the character, as penned by Faust, was originally inspired by Q
Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional character who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. In all of these programs, he is played by John de Lancie....
from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, and the animators further made more comparisons to the character once they were able to get John De Lancie
John de Lancie
John de Lancie is an American actor. He has been active in screen and television roles since 1977, though he is best known for his recurring role as Q on the various Star Trek series and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1....
, who played Q, to voice the role.
Episodes
In total, 52 episodes have been produced. A total of 34 of these have been broadcast. The series is in production for a third season.| Season | Start Date | End Date | Number of Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 10, 2010 | May 6, 2011 | 26 |
| 2 | September 17, 2011 | 26 |
United States Broadcast
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is one of several animated shows used to premiere The Hub, a retooling of the Discovery KidsDiscovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...
channel of Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications, Inc. is an American global media and entertainment company. The company started as a single channel in 1985, The Discovery Channel. Today, DCI has global operations offering 28 network entertainment brands on more than 100 channels in more than 180 countries in 39...
in United States markets. The block of programming is a joint development of Hasbro and Discovery, designed to compete with similar family friendly programming blocks on other networks such as the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
and Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
. The first episode of Friendship Is Magic premiered on the first Hub broadcast, October 10, 2010. In March 2011, the show was renewed for a second season that will air 2011-2012. Season two premiere aired on September 17, 2011 and had 339,000 viewers. Shannon Chan-Kent, the singing voice performer for the character Pinkie Pie, has begun recording for an upcoming third season.
The series is rated TV-Y.
International broadcast
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has been distributed to international markets, including Treehouse TVTreehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...
for the English-speaking audience
English Canadian
An English Canadian is a Canadian of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual state, with English and French official language communities. Immigrant cultural groups ostensibly integrate into one or both of these communities, but...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Boomerang in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Okto
Okto
MediaCorp okto is a television channel in Bestway Building, Singapore, managed by MediaCorp TV12, which was officially launched on 20 October 2008 hence replacing the SPH MediaWorks Channel i, Kids Central and Arts Central brands as oktoDAY and oktoNITE respectively...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (Australia)
Cartoon Network is a cable and satellite television channel created by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner which primarily shows animated programming.The Australian version is available on Pay TV...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Some of these international broadcasts, including language translations, were arranged with association from the Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
Europe to distribute Friendship Is Magic, as well as other shows based on Hasbro's intellectual properties, throughout various channels they own in those regions.
The series is or will be available in the following languages, sorted in the chronological order of debut. The series is or will be automatically available in countries wherever the following television channels are broadcast.
| Language | Dubbed title | Channel broadcast | Date of debut |
|---|---|---|---|
| European French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
My Little Pony: Les amies c'est Magique | TiJi | August 26, 2011 |
| Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
My Little Pony: L'amicizia è magica | Italia 1 Italia 1 Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival... |
August 29, 2011 |
| Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... |
My Little Pony: Vriendschap is betoverend | Kindernet Kindernet Kindernet was the first commercial television station in The Netherlands. It started on 1 March 1988. It broadcast programmes, most of them were cartoons. Their final broadcasting was on 31 December 2004... block on Nickelodeon |
Early September 2011 |
| European Spanish Castilian Spanish Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers... |
My Little Pony, La Magia de la Amistad | Boing (official) Cartoonito Cartoonito Cartoonito is a British preschool television channel in the UK, available in both English and French. The channel usually airs programmes directed towards children under age 8, or "kids" versions of popular children's shows... Spain (unofficial) |
September 12, 2011 (official) September 1, 2011 (unofficial) |
| German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
My Little Pony: Freundschaft ist Magie | Nickelodeon | September 19, 2011 |
| Danish Danish language Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language... |
My Little Pony: Venskab er ren magi | Boomerang Boomerang Nordic Boomerang/Cartoonito Nordic is a television channel targeting the Nordic countries. It broadcasts cartoons such as Scooby-Doo and Top Cat.The channel launched on April 1, 2008 from the Canal Digital platform... |
September 26, 2011 |
| Norwegian Norwegian language Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language... |
My Little Pony: Vennskap er ren magi | ||
| Swedish Swedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish... |
My Little Pony: Vänskap är magisk | ||
| Arabic Arabic language Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book... |
ماي ليتل بوني | Cartoon Network Arabic Cartoon Network Arabic Cartoon Network Arabic is a free-to-air children's channel that is broadcast for a pan-Arabian audience in the MENA region, and it is the official Arabic edition of Cartoon Network. The channel was launched on October 10, 2010 at 10:10 am U.A.E. time... |
October 6, 2011 |
| Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... |
My Little Pony: Przyjaźń to magia | MiniMini MiniMini MiniMini+ is a Polish television channel owned and operated by Canal+. Its mainstreaming its programing mainly to 2-7 children.... |
October 15, 2011 |
| Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish is a version of the Spanish language, as spoken in Mexico and in various places of Canada and the United States of America, where there are communities of Mexican origin.... |
My Little Pony: La Magia de la Amistad | Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (Latin America) Discovery Kids Latin America is a cable television channel owned by Discovery Communications and headquartered in Miami, Florida, which started as a programming block on the Latin American version of Discovery Channel. It is the only Discovery channel to feature spokescharacters. Since the original... |
November 21, 2011 |
| Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay.... |
My Little Pony: A Amizade é Mágica | ||
| Finnish Finnish language Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a... |
My Little Pony: Ystävyyden taikaa | MTV3 MTV3 MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials... |
December 3, 2011 |
Home media
Episodes of Friendship is Magic are available for digital download through the iTunes Music Store. Shout! FactoryShout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
will be releasing a 5-episode Region 1 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Friendship is Magic on February 28, 2012, entitled My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - The Friendship Express.
Toys and merchandise
Like with the other generations of My Little Pony television shows, the Friendship is Magic show is accompanied by figurines and playsets based on the show.Other media
Hasbro has a section of their website for Friendship is Magic information for children and their parents, including character backgrounds, videos, and interactive games and media. In conjunction with Ruckus Media, Hasbro released an iOSIOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
application Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day
My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day
My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is a puzzle/storybook application developed by Ruckus Media Group and published by Hasbro, inspired by the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic...
in October 2011. The application allows children to practice reading and incorporates mini-games.
Critical reception
The series received positive reviews from critics. Todd VanDerWerff of the A.V. Club favorably notes the show's "sheer and utter joyfulness" and lack of cynicism, unlike many other shows that garnered a cult following of parents and adults. He compliments the characters' stylized appearance, the stories' relative complexity for kids TV, and the solid jokes which make the show enjoyable to parents as well as their children, and gives the series a B+. Genevieve Koski of the A.V. Club later commented that Friendship Is Magic is an example of a show that, while considered "'girly' entertainment" similar to boy bandBoy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
s, has been able to tap into the nerd culture to allow it to gain wider acceptance than other comparable forms. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media , commonly known as CSM, is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization which serves as a guide for parents that has reviews for most media types, including books, movies, video games, music, and websites, and rates them in terms of violence, sex, and profanity. The website...
, an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children's media, gave the show a rating of four out of five stars, emphasizing the show's messages of friendship, tolerance and respect, but advises parents to be wary of the "influence the characters might have on their kids' desires, since it's rooted in a well-known product line of books, toys, and just about everything in between." Matt Morgan writing for Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
s GeekDad
GeekDad
GeekDad is a website covering multiple topics targeting fathers who categorize themselves as a "geek." Popular post categories include Lego, Star Wars & Star Trek, video games, books, and field trips. GeekDad also publishes a regular podcast covering items of interest to the website's readers...
column, praised the show, for having "rebooted the long-time Hasbro property while managing to lace it with geeky undertones", and being one of the few "girl-focused shows that a geeky dad can appreciate with his daughter".
Kathleen Richter of Ms. believed that Friendship Is Magic did little to change the nature of older animation for girls which she considered were "so sexist and racist and heteronormative". As one example, she considered that, through the character of Rainbow Dash, the show was promoting the stereotype that "all feminists are angry, tomboyish lesbians". She also considered that the only darker colored ponies shown to date were in positions of servitude for the "white pony overlord". Lauren Faust responded to these claims, stating that while Rainbow Dash was a tomboy, "nowhere in the show is her sexual orientation ever referenced" and "assuming [tomboys] are lesbians is extremely unfair to both straight and lesbian tomboys", and further stating that "Color has never, ever been depicted as a race indicator for the ponies." Amid Amidi, writing for the animation website Cartoon Brew, was more critical of the concept of the show, calling it a sign of "the end of the creator-driven era in TV animation". Amidi's essay expressed concern that assigning talent like Faust to a toy-centric show was part of a trend to focus on profitable genres of animation, such as toy tie-ins, to deal with a fragmented viewing audience, and overall "an admission of defeat for the entire movement, a white flag-waving moment for the TV animation industry".
Internet following
Despite the target demographic of young girls and their mothers, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has become an Internet phenomenon with many fans of the show being males 14 to 35. The response from the Internet is traced to cartoon and animation fans on the Internet board 4chan4chan
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
, responding to Cartoon Brew's Amidi's negative essay on the show and state of current animation trends. The members of the cartoon or "/co/" board of 4chan, having not yet seen the show, considered the alarmist nature of the essay and began watching the show, and quickly warmed up to the series for plot, characters, and animation style. This reaction soon spread to the random board, /b/ of 4chan, where elements of the show quickly caught on as recurring jokes and memes on the site. The number of Friendship Is Magic posts, counter to the usual attitudes and image of 4chan, caused a large stir on the site, with fans of the show unrelenting against various trolling
Troll (Internet)
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response...
attacks from other 4chan boards, leading to a temporary ban on anything pony related, which was soon overturned. Christopher Poole
Christopher Poole
Christopher Poole is an American internet entrepreneur from New York City, noted for founding the websites 4chan and Canvas. He originally started 4chan anonymously, under the pseudonym moot .-Impact and activity:...
, the founder of 4chan, briefly acknowledged the popularity of the show on 4chan at the 2011 South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
festival. Though the discussion of the show would continue at 4chan, many fans of the show created other venues to discuss the show, leading to its spread onto other forums and the rest of the Internet. Shaun Scotellaro, operator of Equestria Daily
Equestria Daily
Equestria Daily is a 2011-established fan site dedicated to news and fan fiction coverage of the 2010 animated show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic...
, one of the main fan websites for the show, speculates that the spread across adult fans was accelerated by its presence in online gaming
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
, which sparked further interest.
The adult interest in the show is comparable to similar shows such as The Powerpuff Girls, Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
, Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...
, Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life is an animated series created by Joe Murray. The show aired for four seasons between 1993 and 1996 on Nickelodeon. Rocko's Modern Life is based around the surreal, parodic adventures of an anthropomorphic wallaby named Rocko, and his life in the city of O-Town...
, Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
, and SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
; a combination of jokes aimed at adult viewers, modern anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
inspired visuals, and a sense of nostalgia for older cartoons. Many of the aforementioned shows had attracted college aged fans that at the time of Friendship Is Magics airing, would be raising children of their own. The show has made references to works that older viewers would recognize, such as to The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
, X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
, and The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
. Two episodes, "Suited for Success" and "The Best Night Ever," feature lengthy musical numbers inspired by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, including the song "Putting it Together" from the musical Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
. Along with the interest of the older demographic, the show's viewership increase from 1.4 million per month on its premiere to 4 million viewers per month by the end of the first season, making it the highest rating show of any Hasbro offering at the time. Advertising Age
Advertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
reports that the viewership of the show has since doubled between the first and the second season in part due to the word-of-mouth of older fans.
Older fans of the show have adopted the title "brony", a portmanteau of the words "bro" and "pony". Though generally taken to refer to male fans, the term is often applied to any fan of the show outside the target demographic, regardless of gender. Another term, "pegasister", has been used to describe older female fans of the show. In a promotional ad prepared by the Hub for the show, using a parody of Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
's "California Gurls
California Gurls
"California Gurls" is an electropop song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry and is the lead single of her third studio album, Teenage Dream. The song features rapper Snoop Dogg, and was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco. According to Perry, the song is an answer song to...
" entitled "Equestria Girls", the lyrics acknowledge the word "brony" as part of its lexicon. The brony community has gained media attention through outlets such as Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
. During a phone interview on NPR's comedy radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news panel game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member...
in June 2011, former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
successfully answered three multiple choice questions about Friendship Is Magic, leading at least one journalist to jokingly refer to him as a brony.
The brony community is considered to represent one aspect of New Sincerity
New Sincerity
New sincerity is a term that has been used in music, aesthetics, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy, generally to describe art or concepts that run against prevailing modes of postmodernist irony or cynicism.-New sincerity in music:...
, where these older viewers not only watch the show but participate in creating new material around it. The community has adapted catchphrases from the show, such as using the words "anypony" and "everypony" as replacements for "anybody" and "everybody", while creating their own Internet meme like statements, such as the phrase "Confound these ponies", inspired by the Merrie Melodies short, The Dover Boys
The Dover Boys
"The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 19, 1942...
. Sites such as "Equestria Daily" and "Ponychan" have been created to share artwork, stories, and news about the show, receiving more than 100,000 visits a day, and many artists use art sites like deviantArt to display fan art based on existing and fan created characters. Numerous videos that incorporate footage from the show, including music videos, parodies and remakes of movie and video game trailers, and other mashups, are posted on a daily basis to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. In one case, a video made by a high school student named Stephen, using science to dissect some of the physical impossibilities on My Little Pony as part of a class presentation, was highlighted by several news outlets and featured on Tosh.0
Tosh.0
Tosh.0 is an American television series hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides sarcastic commentary on online video clips, society, celebrities, and other parts of popular culture.-History:...
. Remixed media of professional works using Friendship Is Magic footage have been noticed by their respective creators, such as by Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs...
for the My Little Pony versions of the trailers for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a 2010 comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The film is about Scott Pilgrim , a young Canadian musician, meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers , an American delivery girl...
and Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action dark comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead as well as the television series Spaced...
, and the cast of Top Gear for a video setting clips of their show to the pony characters. Numerous fan projects have created Friendship Is Magic related video games, such as the brawler game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic
My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic
My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic is an upcoming fan-made fighting game inspired by the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. It is under development by a team of nine volunteers who call themselves Mane6...
, or modifications of existing games like Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
. Fans have also started a series of local meet-ups and small conventions, such as BroNYCon which featured the show's supervising director Thiessen as its guest at its first gathering. Most of these fans are themselves surprised by their fondness for the show. Shaun Scotellaro, operator of Equestria Daily, stated that "Honestly, if someone were to have told me I’d be writing a pony blog seven months ago, I would have called them insane."
Reaction from crew members
Lauren Faust, the creator and executive producer for the show, has shown appreciation for the older fans of the show through her deviantArt page. Faust early in the show's first season had stated, in response to Richter's criticism, that she had expected people "to instantly label it girly, stupid, cheap, for babies or an evil corporate commercial", and instead encouraged people to watch the show with "an open mind". She had not expected older people without children to watch the show, but stated that "The fact that they did and that they were open-minded and cool enough and secure in their masculinity enough to embrace it and love it and go online and talk about how much they love it — I’m kind of proud." Faust and the creators have acknowledged some of the fan created elements of the show and reflected it back into the show's animation. In the first episode, a background pegasus pony is shown in one scene with a cross-eyed stare, a result of an overlooked animator error. The 4chan boards quickly dubbed the character "Derpy Hooves", creating a more detailed personality for her despite having minimal on-screen time. Faust responded to the fans, and has since kept the Derpy character with the cross-eyed look, and incorporated her into a slapstickSlapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
sight gag during one episode. According to supervising director Jayson Thiessen, they consider Derpy "like a little Easter Egg for people to catch". As part of a relief effort for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Faust auctioned several original drawings from the show along with a new sketch of Derpy Hooves, which alone sold for more than $2000 on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and more than $15,000 in total charitable earnings. At the conclusion of the first season, one of the show's animators affirmed that Derpy would be a scripted background character within season two. Another pony character, sporting neon colors, wearing sunglasses and manning a DJ mixer
DJ mixer
A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys.The key features that differentiate a DJ mixer from other types of audio mixers are the ability to redirect a non-playing source to headphones and the presence of a crossfader, which allows for an easier transition between two sources...
for one episode, was given the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of "DJ P0N-3" by the fans, which later was reused in the aforementioned "Equestria Girls" Hub ad. Similarly, fans of the show have named a male character with an hourglass cutie mark as "Doctor Whooves", in reference to The Doctor from the long running BBC television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
.
Hasbro and the Hub have also sought to market to this demographic. Linda Steiner, the senior vice president for Hasbro Studios, noted that while she hoped that the show would attract a "broader audience", she had "been in the business for 25 years and [had] never seen anything like this." The company recognizes the brony community as "a small group of My Little Pony fans who don't necessarily fit what one might expect to be the brand's target audience" while its core viewership in the older market is predominantly females. Despite being a small audience, Hasbro and the Hub network chose to "salute and embrace all the viewers who have embraced our brand", according to Margaret Loesch, CEO of the Hub and former executive producer of the original My Little Pony animated series. Hasbro introduced new My Little Pony toys at the 2011 Comic-Con International, including a collectible one available only at the convention. Clothing vendors that sell officially licensed My Little Pony merchandise such as Hot Topic
Hot Topic
Hot Topic is an American retail chain specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music on CD. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls. The first Hot Topic store was opened in 1988 by Orv Madden, who retired as CEO in 2000...
have expanded their lines to include themed shirts for both genders. The Hub promoted the show through a billboard near the Valhalla Motion Pictures Building in Los Angeles, using an image of the pony characters spoofing the film Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids (2011 film)
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The plot centers on Annie ....
. On October 3, 2011, the billboard was replaced with another one spoofing Poltergeist. In addition to the "Equestria Girls" ad, the Hub made a parody of the Technorati-centric Apple App Store, including a play on the motto, "there's a pony for that". Hasbro has generally not taken a stance against full episodes being available on sites like YouTube, which has enabled the growth of the fandom. Though many of the fan-created elements of the show use copyrighted footage of the show and combine them with mature themed elements such as from R-rated films such as Inglourious Basterds or foul language from artists such as Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, Hasbro has not taken a stance against these videos and has allowed them to be hosted at various outlets, recognizing that the parodies and remixes form a "participatory culture" that has helped to draw larger attention to the show.
External links
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Wiki on WikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...
- Equestria Daily - Friendship is Magic online community news and fanfiction