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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

February 03, 2023

"Friendship Is Magic" and "FiM" redirect here. For the episodes, see Friendship Is Magic (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic). For other uses, see FIM.
For the other media in the franchise, see My Little Pony (2010 toyline). For the game, see My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (video game).

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated children's television series based on the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise. The series follows a studious unicorn (later an alicorn) pony named Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) and her friends, Applejack (Ashleigh Ball), Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), Fluttershy (Andrea Libman), Rainbow Dash (Ball), Pinkie Pie (Libman), and her dragon assistant Spike (Cathy Weseluck). They travel on adventures and help others around Equestria, solving problems with their friendships.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Logo for the series' final three seasons
Genre
Created byLauren Faust
Based onMy Little Pony
by Bonnie Zacherle
Developed byLauren Faust
Directed by
  • Jayson Thiessen (seasons 1–5)
  • James Wootton (seasons 1–3)
  • Jim Miller (seasons 4–5)
  • Denny Lu (seasons 5–9)
  • Tim Stuby (seasons 6–7)
  • Mike Myhre (seasons 7–9)
Voices of
Theme music composerDaniel Ingram
Composers
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9
No. of episodes221 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Lauren Faust (season 1, "The Return of Harmony")
  • Beth Stevenson (season 1)
  • Stephen Davis
  • Kirsten Newlands
  • Blair Peters (seasons 1–2)
  • Chris Bartleman (seasons 1–3)
  • Meghan McCarthy (seasons 3–5, 8)
  • Jayson Thiessen (seasons 4–5)
  • Sarah Wall (seasons 5–9)
  • Asaph Fipke (seasons 6–7)
  • Nicole Dubuc (seasons 8–9)
Producers
  • Devon Cody (seasons 3–9)
  • Sarah Wall (seasons 1–4)
Running time22 minutes[7]
Production companies
DistributorHasbro Studios
Release
Original networkDiscovery Family[d] (United States)
Treehouse TV (Canada)
Picture format
Audio format
Original releaseOctober 10, 2010 (2010-10-10) –
October 12, 2019 (2019-10-12)
Chronology
Preceded by
RelatedMy Little Pony: Pony Life (2020–2021)

Animated in Flash, the series aired on Discovery Family (formerly The Hub) from October 10, 2010, to October 12, 2019. Hasbro selected animator Lauren Faust as creative director and executive producer. Faust created deeper characters and adventurous settings, seeking a show resembling how she had played with her toys and incorporating fantasy elements. However, due to hectic production schedules and a lack of creative control, she left the series during its second season.

Friendship Is Magic became one of the highest-rated productions in The Hub's history. Despite its target demographic of young girls, the series attracted an unexpectedly large following of older viewers, mainly adult men, who call themselves "bronies". The series gave Hasbro new merchandising opportunities. A spin-off franchise (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls) was launched in 2013, and ran alongside the series for six years. A feature-length film adaptation based on the television series, My Little Pony: The Movie, was released in October 2017 in the United States. My Little Pony: Pony Life, a spin-off comedy series, premiered on Discovery Family in November 2020.

Premise

In the kingdom of Equestria, its three species of ponies—earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns—live harmoniously. Twilight Sparkle, a studious unicorn, travels to Ponyville to learn about friendship at the urging of Equestria's ruler (and her mentor) Princess Celestia. Twilight and Spike, her dragon assistant, become close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. The ponies discover that they represent different facets of friendship, with magical artifacts known as Elements of Harmony. They have adventures and help others in and around Equestria, solving problems in their friendships.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters
  • Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle, a socially-naïve unicorn who loves to read but initially has trouble making friends
  • Ashleigh Ball as:
    • Applejack, a diligent earth pony whose family owns a farm
    • Rainbow Dash, an egotistical, sporty pegasus
  • Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a glamorous unicorn who owns a boutique
  • Andrea Libman as:
    • Fluttershy, a timid pegasus who loves other animals
    • Pinkie Pie, a fun-loving earth pony who enjoys throwing parties
  • Cathy Weseluck as Spike, a small dragon who is Twilight's assistant

Production

Conception

Hasbro has produced several incarnations of the My Little Pony franchise, often called "generations" by the toy line's collectors.[10][11] With many brands, including My Little Pony, the company uses a multi-generational plan.[12] The Transformers film (2007) inspired Hasbro, since it helped to increase sales of the Transformers toy line; the company wanted to retool the My Little Pony franchise to appeal to the young-girl demographic.[7] According to Margaret Loesch, CEO of The Hub, revisiting properties which had been successful was an important decision; it was somewhat influenced by the network's programming executives, several of whom were fans of the shows.[13] According to Hasbro senior vice president Linda Steiner, the company "intended to have the show appeal to a larger demographic"; the network was trying to create shows that parents and children would watch together.[14] Central themes Hasbro sought for the show included friendship and cooperation, determined from market research in how girls played with toys.[15]

 
Lauren Faust, developer and initial showrunner of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Animator and writer Lauren Faust approached Hasbro to develop "Galaxy Girls", her girls'-toy property, into an animated series.[16] Faust, who had worked on Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2005) and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004–2009), had unsuccessfully pitched animation aimed at girls for years.[17] When Faust approached Lisa Licht of Hasbro Studios, Licht was uninterested but showed Faust the My Little Pony special Princess Promenade (2006). Licht thought that Faust's style was suitable for that line, and asked her to consider "some ideas [on] where to take a new version of the franchise".[7][16][18]

Faust was initially hired by Hasbro to create a pitch bible for the show, enabling her to get additional help with ideas.[7] She was "extremely skeptical" about taking the job, because she thought that shows based on girls' toys were dull.[17] Although My Little Pony was one of her favorite childhood toys,[16] Faust was disappointed by the television shows; the characters "just 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" like the original series.[17] Faust incorporated many elements contradicting stereotypes of girls – diverse personalities, the message that friends can differ and remain friends, and the idea that girls should not be limited by what others say – into the design of the characters and the series.[17] Elements of the characters' personalities and the show's settings were based on her childhood imagination of the ponies' adventures, inspired by shows such as Transformers (1984–1987) and G.I. Joe (1983–1986) which her brothers watched.[19] According to Faust, she was making Friendship Is Magic "for [herself] as an eight-year-old".[20] Faust wanted the characters to be relatable, using "icons of girliness" (such as a waif or a bookworm) to broaden their appeal to a young female audience.[21]

Using her childhood as a guide, she imagined the three types of ponies—unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies—with different cultures and living in different places. Faust pictured the unicorns in the mountains, the pegasi in the clouds, and the earth ponies on the ground.[22] She envisioned them as realistic horses who ate hay, lived in barns, pulled carts, wore saddles, and picked up objects with their mouths.[23]

Faust said that Hasbro's positive response to non-traditional elements inspired her as she gave the company more ideas for the show. Although she pitched a balance of adventure and relationship stories, she de-emphasized adventures and focused on exchanges between characters for pragmatic reasons. The show incorporated creatures intended to frighten children, such as dragons and hydras, but emphasized friendships among the characters which were leavened with humor. When the series was approved, Faust had developed three full scripts.[7]

Development

Faust drew concept sketches, several of which appeared on her fyre-fly DeviantArt page. They included ideas about how she envisioned the original series' ponies – Applejack, the cowgirl; Firefly, the "badass"; the bubbly, enthusiastic Surprise; Posey, the kind, shy pony who loved other animals; and Sparkler, the fashion artist – which inspired this series' main cast.[24][25][26] Hasbro approved the show with Faust as executive producer,[27] and asked her to complete the pitch bible. She hired Martin Ansolabehere and Paul Rudish, with whom she had worked on other animated shows. Faust credited Rudish with inspiring Nightmare Moon, a villain who appears in the premiere episode "Friendship Is Magic", and the pegasus ponies' control of the weather; she then imagined the ponies as stewards of their world who made weather happen, flowers grow, and animals thrive.[28] She also consulted her husband Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. In six weeks, Faust sketched over 40 pages of "the universe that had existed in her 8-year-old mind".[29]

The visual collaboration brought a unique style to Friendship Is Magic. Pennsylvania Dutch design, steampunk fantasy art, European fairy tales, and Bavarian folk art influenced the original pony world.[22] Designing the settings, Faust sent photos to artist Dave Dunnet. Ponyville was based on German cottages, with a fairy-tale quality and equine elements such as horseshoe-shaped archways, hay bales, and troughs.[30][31] Canterlot was based on castles and cathedrals, giving it a European feel;[32] its location on a mountain and its purple-and-gold palette conveyed royalty and aspiration.[33] Fantasy inspired elements of the series which were modified to suit its setting, story, and target audience.[34] After seeing the initial version of the pitch bible, Hasbro requested more character designs and hired Dunnet and Lynne Naylor to refine the background and characters.[7]

After the pitch bible was completed, Hasbro and Faust evaluated animation studios. Studio B Productions (renamed DHX Media on September 8, 2010)[35] worked on Macromedia Flash-based animations and shows featuring animals. Faust felt that the studio would be a good fit, and agreed that Jayson Thiessen should direct. Faust, Thiessen, and James Wootton (who later became a director) presented a two-minute pitch to Hasbro, which approved the production. Faust estimated the time between being asked to develop the show and its approval at about one year.[7] The foundation of the series took roughly two years.[23]

Crew

 
Jayson Thiessen (left), the series' supervising director

Faust's initial writing staff at Hasbro Studios included several with whom she had worked on other shows and were approved by Hasbro, such as Amy Keating Rogers, Cindy Morrow, Meghan McCarthy, Chris Savino, Charlotte Fullerton, M.A. Larson, and Dave Polsky.[7] McCarthy accepted Faust's invitation due to her dedication.[36] Composer William Anderson presented a blind audition to Hasbro for Friendship Is Magic; the company admired his incidental music, and selected him.[37]

After the first season's finale aired, Faust announced that she had stepped down as executive producer to become consulting producer. Her involvement in the second season consisted primarily of story concepts and scripts, and she left after that season.[38] In an interview with New York magazine, Faust said that her reasons for leaving were a combination of hectic production schedules and a lack of creative control.[39] McCracken said that Faust's departure was due to its being a toy company-driven show, and there was "still some frustration" with being unable to bring some of her ideas to the screen.[40]

Initially scheduled to work on its fifth season, McCarthy gave up most of her work on the series to write My Little Pony: The Movie (2017).[41] After Thiessen also left to work on the film, Jim Miller became supervising director; Denny Lu, who had led the animation, replaced Miller as director. During season six, layout supervisor Tim Stuby was also appointed as a director to assist Miller and Lu.[42]

Writing

Writing began with the premise and "getting a nugget of a story to build upon" at Hasbro.[43] Faust and Rob Renzetti conceived broad plots for each episode, and held a brainstorming session with each episode's writer to flesh out scenes and dialogue. They worked with the writer to finalize the script and provide basic storyboard instructions. Hasbro was involved throughout the process, laying down concepts for incorporation into the show. Examples included Celestia as a princess instead of a queen; a fashion-focused pony; and toy sets in the story, such as Rarity's boutique.[7][17] Hasbro sometimes asked for a setting, allowing Faust and her team to create its visual style and basing a toy set (such as the Ponyville schoolhouse) on it. As Faust adhered to the educational and informational standards which Hasbro required of the show, she found creating situations more difficult; having a character call another an "egghead" was "treading a very delicate line", and a character's cheating was "worrisome to some".[7] When DHX Media went into the design phase of an episode, scripts were finalized.[43] Each episode generally included a moral or life lesson, chosen to "cross a broad spectrum of personal experiences" and not just aimed at children.[14] Because intellectual-property issues had caused Hasbro to lose some rights to the original pony names, the show included a mix of original characters from the toy line and new characters developed for the show.[16]

Hasbro and Faust planned for episodes to be 11 minutes long before the series was approved, and Faust observed the limit in "The Ticket Master" (her first full-length script). Faust preferred 22-minute episodes, however, and Hasbro eventually agreed. Scripts were written around the episode runtime, and Miller said that most editing removed supplementary dialogue and action.[42] Initial production stages were tight, requiring a schedule twice as fast as Faust had previously experienced. Communication between the Los Angeles writing offices and the animation studio in Vancouver was frequently remote. The two teams sometimes held "writer's summits" to propose ideas for characters and situations, at which the animation team provided suggestions on visuals, body language, and characterization.[7] Larson said that his writing often used "ridiculous shorthand" for conciseness, and he referred to other works.[44]

Music

 
Daniel Ingram composed the series' songs.

The series' background music and songs were composed by William Kevin Anderson and Daniel Ingram, respectively.[37][45] The production team identified parts of each episode where they wanted music cues, allowing Anderson to provide the music.[7] The score was composed after each episode's initial animation, and was reviewed by Hasbro.[43] Ingram worked with Anderson's compositions to create songs which meshed with the background music and fleshed out the show's fantasy setting.[46] Ingram's songs usually began with a piano and a basic melody. The creative team received the song and provided input; background voices and instrumentation were then layered before the lead singer's vocals.[47] Writers sometimes suggested lyrics and overall musical themes, including two songs written by Amy Keating Rogers.[48] Music composition substantially preceded the broadcast of an episode; songs for the series' third season, which began airing in November 2012, were composed in 2011.[46] Ingram thought the songs from previous My Little Pony shows were "a little bit dated", and decided to bring more-modern work to the Friendship Is Magic series.[49] Changes included songs with more emotional depth than those typical of children's animation, which could also be enjoyed outside the episode.[49] Ingram said that his songs had become "bigger and more epic, more Broadway and more cinematic over time",[45] and Hasbro endorsed the effort to try "something groundbreaking for daytime television".[46] "Putting it Together" from the musical Sunday in the Park with George inspired "The Art of the Dress" in the first-season episode "Suited for Success", and "At The Gala" from the first-season finale was based on Into the Woods.[45][50][51] A musical number in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" paid homage to "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man.[45]

Casting and voice acting

Voice casting and production was handled by Voicebox Productions,[52] with Terry Klassen the series' voice director. Faust, Thiessen, and others participated in selecting voice actors, with Hasbro giving final approval.[7] Tara Strong was cast as Twilight Sparkle after Faust, who had worked with her on The Powerpuff Girls, asked her to help pitch the show by voicing Twilight, Pinkie Pie and "Applejack [or] Rainbow Dash". After Faust heard Strong as Twilight, she knew she wanted her for the role.[53] When Cathy Weseluck auditioned for Spike, she envisioned him as a baby with a high voice. The director later told her to "boy him up a bit", "chang[ing] everything".[48]

The series was recorded in Vancouver.[54] Voice work was done after writing and before animation, with the animators providing direction. According to Andrea Libman (the voices of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie), this approach enabled the actors to play the characters without limitations; Libman said that she was allowed be as exaggerated as she wanted without the animators stopping her.[55] The actors received songs before recording, and practiced them at home.[56] The songs were recorded with the dialogue.[57]

Storyboarding and animation

Completed scripts were sent to Studio B for pre-production and animation with Macromedia Flash Professional 8. Thiessen's production team was allowed to select key personnel, subject to Hasbro approval; one of those selected was art director Ridd Sorensen. The Studio B team storyboarded the provided scripts, incorporating direction and creating scenes which the writers believed were impossible to animaten.[58] The DHX Media team went through the storyboard and design process, recorded dialogue, and created a storyboard animatic from the voice recordings.[59] The animators then prepared key-character poses, layout, background art, and other major elements. These versions were sent back to the production team in Los Angeles for review by Hasbro with suggestions from the writers.[58] Hasbro also received rough black-and-white drawings, colored and finalized character and prop designs, and animatics and a rough cut.[59] Thiessen credited much of the technical expertise to Wooton, who created Flash programs to optimize the placement and posing of the pony characters and other elements; this simplified the work needed from other animators.[58] The ponies' manes and tails are generally fixed shapes, animated by bending and stretching them in curves; this gave them movement without the need to animate individual hairs.[16]

 
Sample storyboard from the two "Twilight's Kingdom" episodes, depicting an action sequence cited as difficult to storyboard.

According to Timothy Packford of DHX Media, storyboarding action scenes was difficult because the stories' important points might be lost; storyboarding and intent needed to be clear. Episodes with large amounts of dialogue could "sort of slog and grind because there's so much talking".[59] A crucial point was to keep the shots interesting, with a good flow of one into another, and action sequences tended to have more cuts than dialogue.[59] The storyboard artists and animators also added unscripted background characters to populate the world. According to McCarthy, many fandom acknowledgements, pop-culture references or other Easter eggs were added by the studio.[60] Filipino animation studio Top Draw also worked on the animations.[61][62]

Each of the main characters had distinctive expressions and mannerisms, and shared general ones. According to the DHX Media team, they "avoid[ed] certain expressions if it [went] outside [the ponies'] personality".[63] The creative team interpreted each character's personality as mannerisms, facial expressions, props, and home environment;[63] Twilight's purple color signified royalty and mystical awareness, and her hard, angular edges personified her as tidy.[64] Other examples include Rainbow Dash's rainbow hair, representing her ability to cause a Sonic Rainboom;[65][e] Fluttershy's hair, indicating her bounciness, gentleness, and optimism;[67] Applejack's cutie mark,[f] symbolizing her simplicity;[69] Pinkie Pie's shape (similar to a bubble, balloon, or cloud), reflecting her cheerfulness and buoyancy;[70] and Spike's design, embodying his difference from the ponies.[71]

The director and supervising director managed half of the episodes each, working together on two-part episodes, and the supervising director oversaw all episodes.[42] Faust estimated the time to complete one episode at one year. The team simultaneously worked on various stages of all 26 first-season episodes; when the second season was approved, that number rose temporarily to 32. Episodes were originally aired about one month after completion, with the timeframe becoming six to eight weeks by the sixth season.[7][42] According to Thiessen, they had pushed to start work on the second season as soon as the first was completed to prevent staff turnover.[58]

Themes

Female friendship is a central theme of the series.[72] Faust said that its deeper message is that friendship means being oneself and accepting others.[29] According to Ethan Lewis of Den of Geek, the show often "takes on very morally complicated situations [...] that don't seem to have easy answers as opposed to very cut and dried children's messages".[73] Lewis added that the series taught lessons about friendship which some adults would be unable to comprehend.[73] The A.V. Club's Emily St. James compared Friendship Is Magic to "an owner's manual to being a kind person". St. James said that making friends could be difficult for children; the series broke it down to its most basic aspects, demonstrating the importance of a few friendly gestures.[74] Den of Geek writer Alana Joli Abott cited the celebration of differences, faith, and inclusion as prominent themes.[75]

Megan Crouse described the series for Den of Geek as "'serious' fantasy", drawing comparisons to The Lord of the Rings and The Sword in the Stone.[1] According to Crouse, Friendship Is Magic's consistency and system of magic made it work well as a fantasy story.[1] The Cut's Lisa Miller said that the series could be compared to almost any children's fairy tale or fantasy story.[29] Faust said that mythology and the fantasy genre influenced all of Friendship Is Magic.[76]

Several writers have called the show's setting a matriarchy.[77][78][79] In the OpenEdition.org journal Transatlantica, Isabelle Licari-Guillaume wrote that the series counters sexist portrayals which are common in media for children.[80] Lewis considered the characters some of television's "best representations" of females, neither stereotypically feminine nor masculine.[73] In the analysis Orienting Feminism, Kevin Fletcher wrote: "Friendship is Magic exhibits a feminist sensibility rather than an individualistic post-feminist one."[81] Fletcher added that by focusing on the value of community, the series abstains from post-feminism.[81] A study by Christian Valiente and Xeno Rasmusson which sampled 13 episodes found that the series has characters in circumstances which dispute gender stereotypes; females often play primary, active roles in positions of authority.[82] Valiente and Rasmusson said that although some male characters have abilities and authority, the series focuses on females often shown in positions of strength and leadership while maintaining traditional feminine traits. According to Valiente and Rasmusson, gender is "[no]thing more than an aesthetic story element" in Friendship Is Magic.[83]

Episodes

Main article: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes
Series overview
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
126October 10, 2010 (2010-10-10)May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)The Hub/Hub Network
226September 17, 2011 (2011-09-17)April 21, 2012 (2012-04-21)
313November 10, 2012 (2012-11-10)February 16, 2013 (2013-02-16)
426November 23, 2013 (2013-11-23)May 10, 2014 (2014-05-10)
526April 4, 2015 (2015-04-04)November 28, 2015 (2015-11-28)Discovery Family
626March 26, 2016 (2016-03-26)October 22, 2016 (2016-10-22)
726April 15, 2017 (2017-04-15)October 28, 2017 (2017-10-28)
FilmOctober 6, 2017 (2017-10-06)—
826March 24, 2018 (2018-03-24)October 13, 2018 (2018-10-13)Discovery Family
Holiday SpecialOctober 27, 2018 (2018-10-27)
926April 6, 2019 (2019-04-06)October 12, 2019 (2019-10-12)
SpecialJune 29, 2019 (2019-06-29)

Distribution

Broadcast

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which is targeted at girls aged 4–7,[84] was one of several animated shows which aired on The Hub (a retooling of Discovery Kids owned by Discovery Communications).[85] The network was rebranded Discovery Family on October 13, 2014.[9][86][87] Each episode is about 22 minutes long.[88]

Friendship Is Magic premiered on October 10, 2010.[85] In March 2011, less than two months before the season finale aired, the series was renewed for a second season which aired from September 17, 2011, to April 21, 2012.[3][89] A month before the second season ended, the series was renewed for a third season[3][90] which premiered on November 10, 2012, and ended on February 16, 2013.[3] One month later, The Hub renewed the show for a fourth season to air during the 2013–2014 television season.[91] On May 7, 2014, the series was renewed for a fifth season.[92][93] On August 4–8, 2014, The Hub aired "My Little Pony Mega Mare-a-thon": a 50-hour marathon of every episode from the first four seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and specials from the toy line's third generation.[94][95] The fifth season premiered on April 4, 2015, and ended on November 28, 2015.[3] A month before the prior season's airing, Discovery Family renewed the series for a sixth season which was broadcast from March 26 to October 22, 2016.[3][96] In October 2016, the show was renewed for a seventh season[97] which aired from April 15 to October 28, 2017.[3] An eighth season was broadcast from March 24 to October 6, 2018.[3][98] Discovery Family announced the ninth and final season on March 8, 2019, which premiered on April 6 of that year.[3][99] Before its finale, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic — A Decade of Pony (a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the series) was aired on October 11, 2019.[100] The 90-minute finale was broadcast the following day.[3][101]

Home media and streaming services

Main article: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic home video releases

With several other Hasbro properties, Friendship Is Magic was added to Netflix on April 1, 2012, in the United States.[102] In 2015, the series and several other shows based on Hasbro properties were planned to be dropped from the streaming service.[103][104] However, Hasbro and Netflix later decided to keep the shows on the latter.[105] Friendship Is Magic was intended to be removed in August 2018; a few seasons were dropped before they were brought back.[106] The series is set to be removed from Netflix on January 31, 2022.[107] In 2011, Celebration at Canterlot (a two-episode DVD) was available at Target stores with toys from the franchise.[108]

Shout! Factory has the DVD rights for the series in Region 1. Twenty-three five-episode DVDs and three six-episode DVDs have been released.[109] The series' first seven seasons have been released in DVD box sets.[110] United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights in Region 2 (which includes most of Western Europe and the Middle East),[111][112] but the company entered administration in December 2013.[113] Madman Entertainment has the Region 4 DVD and digital-download rights.[114]

Reception

Critical reception

Friendship Is Magic has been praised for its animation style, stories, characterization, and exploration of feminism.[115] Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100 percent of 10 critics gave the show's first season a positive review, with an average score of 8/10. According to the website's critical consensus, "Smart and sweet, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's [sic] proves that children's entertainment can be fun for adults, too."[116]

Critics responded positively to the series' characters, messages, and morals. A review by Emily Ashby on Common Sense Media, an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children's media, emphasized the show's themes of loyalty, friendliness, friendship, tolerance, and respect.[117] Den of Geek's Anna Dobbie appreciated the ponies' different personalities (which she believed worked well to achieve stability) and the series' focus on self-discovery and acceptance;[118] According to Screen Rant writer Carly Olsen, the show develops both its major and minor characters well.[119] Jamie Spain similarly applauded the show's elements of growth, learning, and social skills on BuzzFeed, which she considered uncommon in children's television.[120] The characters, messages, and morals have been called "super cool",[68] relatable,[29] "absolutely genuine",[121] inspiring, positive, and enjoyable.[122] Kathleen Richter of Ms., however, disagreed with the praise; she wrote that Friendship Is Magic promoted sexism, racism, and heteronormativity, saying that Rainbow Dash's character encouraged the stereotype that "all feminists are angry, tomboyish lesbians" and criticizing other aspects.[123] Faust responded to these claims, stating that although Rainbow Dash is a tomboy, her sexual orientation is never identified; Richter's assumption that tomboys become lesbians is "extremely unfair to both straight and lesbian tomboys".[17]

The series' visual designs and references have also been praised. St. James found the show "blessed with great looking characters and brightly colored backgrounds",[68] and IndieWire's Liza Shannon Miller and Hanh Hguyen and Entertainment Weekly's Hillary Busis credited its style and homages as contributing factors to the show's position as a pop-culture phenomenon.[124] Lewis agreed, highlighting the series' "vintage" style and "geek references".[73] For Wired, Matt Morgan wrote that the Easter eggs deepened the viewing experience.[125] Ashby and Amid Amidi (writing for Cartoon Brew) expressed concerns with the show's embedded marketing. Ashby warned parents to be wary of the effect Friendship Is Magic could have on their children's wants;[117] Amidi believed that assigning a talent like Faust to a toy-centered show was part of a trend focusing on profitable animation genres (such as toy tie-ins) to deal with a fragmented viewing audience, "an admission of defeat for the entire movement [of creator-driven animation]", and a "white flag-waving moment for the TV animation industry".[126]

Friendship Is Magic was included on a number of best-of lists. TV Guide (top sixty), IndieWire (forty-fifth), and Rotten Tomatoes (sixty-fourth) listed it as one of the top animated series of all time,[127][128][129] and readers of Television Without Pity voted it the best animated show on television.[130] IndieWire ranked it the twentieth-best animated series of the 21st century.[131] Other rankings are Time Out's list of best kids' shows (twenty-fourth) and Paste's list of best Netflix children's shows (eighth).[132][133]

Ratings

Friendship Is Magic premiered with an average viewership of 1.4 million per month, increasing to 4 million per month by the end of its first season[134] (the highest-rated Hasbro show at the time).[125] Advertising Age reported that the series' audience doubled between its first and second seasons.[135] According to Vox, its peak years were 2012 to 2014.[136] In March 2013, The Hub reported that the series had triple- and quadruple-digit-percent year-to-year growth.[137] In September of that year, it was the second most-watched show on The Hub for girls ages 2–11 and women ages 18–49.[138] A month later, Friendship Is Magic was one of the most co-viewed television series and the best-performing show on The Hub (with Littlest Pet Shop).[139] In the first quarter of 2014, the show had an American viewership of over 12 million.[29] Ratings began to decline after that year.[136]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2012 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Song – Children's and Animation Daniel Ingram (for "Becoming Popular (The Pony Everypony Should Know)") Nominated
[140]
[141]
Daniel Ingram (for "Find a Pet Song") Nominated
2012 Leo Awards Best Animation Program or Series Sarah Wall, Chris Bartleman, Blair Peters, and Kirsten Newlands Nominated
[142]
Best Direction in an Animation Program or Series Jayson Thiessen and James Wootton (for "Party of One") Nominated
Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Fredrickson, and Adam McGhie (for "Read It and Weep) Nominated
2013 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews (for "Magical Mystery Cure") Won
[143]
Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Frederickson, and Adam McGhie (for "Sleepless in Ponyville") Nominated
2014 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews (for "Pinkie Pride") Nominated
[144]
Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Frederickson, and Adam McGhie (for "Power Ponies") Won
2016 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Song Daniel Ingram and Amy Keating Rogers (for "The Magic Inside") Nominated
[145]
2016 Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form "The Cutie Map" (directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller; written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy) Nominated
[146]
2016 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram (for "Crusaders of the Lost Mark") Won
[147]
Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Fredrickson, Kirk Furniss, Adam McGhie, Christine Church, and Roger Monk (for "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?") Won
Best Performance in an Animation Program or Series Ashleigh Ball (for "Tanks for the Memories") Nominated
2016 Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Young Actor (12–21) Graham Verchere Won
[148]
2017 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram (for "A Hearth's Warming Tail") Nominated
[149]
Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Todd Araki, Christine Church, Marcel Duperreault, Jason Frederickson, Adam McGhie, and Roger Monk (for "28 Pranks Later") Won
2017 UBCP/ACTRA Awards Best Voice Andrea Libman (for "Rock Solid Friendship" as Pinkie Pie) Nominated
[150]
Best Voice Nicole Oliver (for "A Royal Problem" as Princess Celestia / Daybreaker) Nominated
Best Voice Vincent Tong (for "Hard to Say Anything" as Feather Bangs) Nominated
2018 Leo Awards Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Frederickson, Adam McGhie, Christine Church, Kirk Furniss, and Roger Monk (for "Shadow Play – Part 2") Nominated
[151]
Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Vincent Tong (for "Hard to Say Anything") Nominated
[152]
2018 UBCP/ACTRA Awards Best Voice Vincent Tong (for "Marks and Recreation" as Rumble) Nominated
[153]
2019 Humanitas Prize Children's Teleplay Brian Hohlfeld (for "Surf and/or Turf") Nominated
[154]
[155]
2019 Leo Awards Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Ashleigh Ball (for "Non-Compete Clause") Nominated
[156]
2019 UBCP/ACTRA Awards Best Voice Sunni Westbrook (for "Frenemies") Nominated
[157]
2020 UBCP/ACTRA Awards Best Voice Performance Sunni Westbrook (for "The Ending of the End – Part 1" as Cozy Glow) Nominated
[158]
2020 Leo Awards Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Sunni Westbrook (for "Frenemies") Nominated
[159]

Fandom

 
Twilight Sparkle cosplay
Main article: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom

Despite Hasbro's target demographic of young girls and their parents,[160][161] My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic became a cultural and Internet phenomenon with male fans between the ages of 13 and 35.[162][163] The Internet response has been traced to cartoon and animation fans on 4chan[160] responding to Amidi's essay on the show and current animation trends.[126][164] As a result of the 4chan discussion, interest in the show spread throughout the Internet and inspired a fan base, creative works, fan sites, and conventions.[162] Male fans adopted the name "brony" (a portmanteau of "bro" and "pony") to describe themselves.[165][166] The term "pegasister" (a portmanteau of "pegasus" and "sister") was later adopted to refer to older female fans of the show.[160] The older fan base surprised Hasbro and staff members involved with the series,[45][162][167][168] who appreciated the fandom by adding acknowledgements to fans in the show and toys.[16] Bronies were a meme early in the series, but their Internet popularity gradually faded as the show continued.[169]

Other media

Friendship Is Magic is associated with the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony toy line of figurines and play sets.[160] Due in part to older fans, Hasbro saw My Little Pony as a "lifestyle" brand with over 200 licenses in 15 categories of products which included clothing, housewares, and digital media. The brand grossed over US$650 million in retail sales in 2013,[170] and US$1 billion in 2014[171][172] and 2016.[173]

The series gave Hasbro several opportunities for spin-offs and other works. The company released games such as My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day, a video game by Gameloft, and a collectible card game.[174][175][176] In 2012, IDW Publishing began releasing monthly My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comics; the series ended in September 2021.[177] The comics were replaced by My Little Pony: Generations the following month.[178] A crossover comic of Friendship Is Magic and Transformers was released in 2020 and 2021.[179][180] Hasbro observed from the brony fandom that some fan-produced art was a humanized version of the show's characters, and was inspired to develop the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls spin-off series of movies and shorts which ran with Friendship Is Magic for six years.[181] My Little Pony: The Movie was released on October 6, 2017, in the United States.[182] Hasbro and Discovery Family announced a subsequent animated series, My Little Pony: Pony Life. The series, based on the same characters (with most of the voice actors returning), has a new animation style and depicts more stories about mundane experiences.[183]

Fifth generation

Main article: My Little Pony: A New Generation

After the show's finale aired, Hasbro began working on a fifth generation which began with the feature film My Little Pony: A New Generation.[184][185] Like Friendship Is Magic, it is set in Equestria because the production team wanted to further explore the fourth generation's lore and world-building. The fifth generation is set in after the events of the fourth, focusing on different ponies and unexplored parts of Equestria; this gave Hasbro the opportunity to include Easter eggs of the previous generations.[185] The film was released on Netflix in September 2021 to positive reviews;[186] it will be followed by a television series which will be released on the streaming service in 2022.[187]

Notes

  1. ^ Main composer for the episodes "Magical Mystery Cure" in season 3, "Pinkie Pride" in season 4, "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" in season 5, and "A Hearth's Warming Tail" in season 6[4]
  2. ^ Main composer for the episodes "Magical Mystery Cure" in season 3 and "Pinkie Pride" in season 4[5][6]
  3. ^ Previously known as Hasbro Studios[8]
  4. ^ Known as The Hub/Hub Network before October 13, 2014[9]
  5. ^ Combination of a rainbow and sonic boom[66]
  6. ^ A symbol that appears on the ponies' rumps once they have found their purpose or special talent in life[68]

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Works cited

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External links

February 03, 2023
little, pony, friendship, magic, friendship, magic, redirect, here, episodes, friendship, magic, other, uses, other, media, franchise, little, pony, 2010, toyline, game, video, game, animated, children, television, series, based, fourth, incarnation, hasbro, l. Friendship Is Magic and FiM redirect here For the episodes see Friendship Is Magic My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic For other uses see FIM For the other media in the franchise see My Little Pony 2010 toyline For the game see My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic video game My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic is an animated children s television series based on the fourth incarnation of Hasbro s My Little Pony franchise The series follows a studious unicorn later an alicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle Tara Strong and her friends Applejack Ashleigh Ball Rarity Tabitha St Germain Fluttershy Andrea Libman Rainbow Dash Ball Pinkie Pie Libman and her dragon assistant Spike Cathy Weseluck They travel on adventures and help others around Equestria solving problems with their friendships My Little Pony Friendship Is MagicLogo for the series final three seasonsGenreFantasy 1 2 Comedy 3 Created byLauren FaustBased onMy Little Ponyby Bonnie ZacherleDeveloped byLauren FaustDirected byJayson Thiessen seasons 1 5 James Wootton seasons 1 3 Jim Miller seasons 4 5 Denny Lu seasons 5 9 Tim Stuby seasons 6 7 Mike Myhre seasons 7 9 Voices ofTara Strong Ashleigh Ball Tabitha St Germain Andrea Libman Cathy WeseluckTheme music composerDaniel IngramComposersWilliam Anderson Daniel Ingram seasons 3 6 a Kelly Davidson Steffan Andrews seasons 3 4 b Country of originCanada United StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons9No of episodes221 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producersLauren Faust season 1 The Return of Harmony Beth Stevenson season 1 Stephen Davis Kirsten Newlands Blair Peters seasons 1 2 Chris Bartleman seasons 1 3 Meghan McCarthy seasons 3 5 8 Jayson Thiessen seasons 4 5 Sarah Wall seasons 5 9 Asaph Fipke seasons 6 7 Nicole Dubuc seasons 8 9 ProducersDevon Cody seasons 3 9 Sarah Wall seasons 1 4 Running time22 minutes 7 Production companiesAllspark Animation c Studio B Productions season 1 The Return of Harmony DHX Studios Vancouver seasons 2 9 DistributorHasbro StudiosReleaseOriginal networkDiscovery Family d United States Treehouse TV Canada Picture format480i NTSC 1080i HDTV and 1080p digital distribution Audio format5 1 surround sound Stereo MonoOriginal releaseOctober 10 2010 2010 10 10 October 12 2019 2019 10 12 ChronologyPreceded byMy Little Pony 1986 1987 My Little Pony Tales 1992 RelatedMy Little Pony Pony Life 2020 2021 Animated in Flash the series aired on Discovery Family formerly The Hub from October 10 2010 to October 12 2019 Hasbro selected animator Lauren Faust as creative director and executive producer Faust created deeper characters and adventurous settings seeking a show resembling how she had played with her toys and incorporating fantasy elements However due to hectic production schedules and a lack of creative control she left the series during its second season Friendship Is Magic became one of the highest rated productions in The Hub s history Despite its target demographic of young girls the series attracted an unexpectedly large following of older viewers mainly adult men who call themselves bronies The series gave Hasbro new merchandising opportunities A spin off franchise My Little Pony Equestria Girls was launched in 2013 and ran alongside the series for six years A feature length film adaptation based on the television series My Little Pony The Movie was released in October 2017 in the United States My Little Pony Pony Life a spin off comedy series premiered on Discovery Family in November 2020 Contents 1 Premise 2 Cast and characters 3 Production 3 1 Conception 3 2 Development 3 3 Crew 3 4 Writing 3 5 Music 3 6 Casting and voice acting 3 7 Storyboarding and animation 4 Themes 5 Episodes 6 Distribution 6 1 Broadcast 6 2 Home media and streaming services 7 Reception 7 1 Critical reception 7 2 Ratings 7 3 Awards and nominations 7 4 Fandom 8 Other media 8 1 Fifth generation 9 Notes 10 References 10 1 Citations 10 2 Works cited 11 External linksPremiseIn the kingdom of Equestria its three species of ponies earth ponies pegasi and unicorns live harmoniously Twilight Sparkle a studious unicorn travels to Ponyville to learn about friendship at the urging of Equestria s ruler and her mentor Princess Celestia Twilight and Spike her dragon assistant become close friends with five other ponies Applejack Rarity Fluttershy Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie The ponies discover that they represent different facets of friendship with magical artifacts known as Elements of Harmony They have adventures and help others in and around Equestria solving problems in their friendships Cast and charactersMain article List of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic characters Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle a socially naive unicorn who loves to read but initially has trouble making friends Ashleigh Ball as Applejack a diligent earth pony whose family owns a farm Rainbow Dash an egotistical sporty pegasus Tabitha St Germain as Rarity a glamorous unicorn who owns a boutique Andrea Libman as Fluttershy a timid pegasus who loves other animals Pinkie Pie a fun loving earth pony who enjoys throwing parties Cathy Weseluck as Spike a small dragon who is Twilight s assistantProductionConception Hasbro has produced several incarnations of the My Little Pony franchise often called generations by the toy line s collectors 10 11 With many brands including My Little Pony the company uses a multi generational plan 12 The Transformers film 2007 inspired Hasbro since it helped to increase sales of the Transformers toy line the company wanted to retool the My Little Pony franchise to appeal to the young girl demographic 7 According to Margaret Loesch CEO of The Hub revisiting properties which had been successful was an important decision it was somewhat influenced by the network s programming executives several of whom were fans of the shows 13 According to Hasbro senior vice president Linda Steiner the company intended to have the show appeal to a larger demographic the network was trying to create shows that parents and children would watch together 14 Central themes Hasbro sought for the show included friendship and cooperation determined from market research in how girls played with toys 15 Lauren Faust developer and initial showrunner of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Animator and writer Lauren Faust approached Hasbro to develop Galaxy Girls her girls toy property into an animated series 16 Faust who had worked on Cartoon Network s The Powerpuff Girls 1998 2005 and Foster s Home for Imaginary Friends 2004 2009 had unsuccessfully pitched animation aimed at girls for years 17 When Faust approached Lisa Licht of Hasbro Studios Licht was uninterested but showed Faust the My Little Pony special Princess Promenade 2006 Licht thought that Faust s style was suitable for that line and asked her to consider some ideas on where to take a new version of the franchise 7 16 18 Faust was initially hired by Hasbro to create a pitch bible for the show enabling her to get additional help with ideas 7 She was extremely skeptical about taking the job because she thought that shows based on girls toys were dull 17 Although My Little Pony was one of her favorite childhood toys 16 Faust was disappointed by the television shows the characters just 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 like the original series 17 Faust incorporated many elements contradicting stereotypes of girls diverse personalities the message that friends can differ and remain friends and the idea that girls should not be limited by what others say into the design of the characters and the series 17 Elements of the characters personalities and the show s settings were based on her childhood imagination of the ponies adventures inspired by shows such as Transformers 1984 1987 and G I Joe 1983 1986 which her brothers watched 19 According to Faust she was making Friendship Is Magic for herself as an eight year old 20 Faust wanted the characters to be relatable using icons of girliness such as a waif or a bookworm to broaden their appeal to a young female audience 21 Using her childhood as a guide she imagined the three types of ponies unicorns pegasi and earth ponies with different cultures and living in different places Faust pictured the unicorns in the mountains the pegasi in the clouds and the earth ponies on the ground 22 She envisioned them as realistic horses who ate hay lived in barns pulled carts wore saddles and picked up objects with their mouths 23 Faust said that Hasbro s positive response to non traditional elements inspired her as she gave the company more ideas for the show Although she pitched a balance of adventure and relationship stories she de emphasized adventures and focused on exchanges between characters for pragmatic reasons The show incorporated creatures intended to frighten children such as dragons and hydras but emphasized friendships among the characters which were leavened with humor When the series was approved Faust had developed three full scripts 7 Development Faust drew concept sketches several of which appeared on her fyre fly DeviantArt page They included ideas about how she envisioned the original series ponies Applejack the cowgirl Firefly the badass the bubbly enthusiastic Surprise Posey the kind shy pony who loved other animals and Sparkler the fashion artist which inspired this series main cast 24 25 26 Hasbro approved the show with Faust as executive producer 27 and asked her to complete the pitch bible She hired Martin Ansolabehere and Paul Rudish with whom she had worked on other animated shows Faust credited Rudish with inspiring Nightmare Moon a villain who appears in the premiere episode Friendship Is Magic and the pegasus ponies control of the weather she then imagined the ponies as stewards of their world who made weather happen flowers grow and animals thrive 28 She also consulted her husband Craig McCracken creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster s Home for Imaginary Friends In six weeks Faust sketched over 40 pages of the universe that had existed in her 8 year old mind 29 The visual collaboration brought a unique style to Friendship Is Magic Pennsylvania Dutch design steampunk fantasy art European fairy tales and Bavarian folk art influenced the original pony world 22 Designing the settings Faust sent photos to artist Dave Dunnet Ponyville was based on German cottages with a fairy tale quality and equine elements such as horseshoe shaped archways hay bales and troughs 30 31 Canterlot was based on castles and cathedrals giving it a European feel 32 its location on a mountain and its purple and gold palette conveyed royalty and aspiration 33 Fantasy inspired elements of the series which were modified to suit its setting story and target audience 34 After seeing the initial version of the pitch bible Hasbro requested more character designs and hired Dunnet and Lynne Naylor to refine the background and characters 7 After the pitch bible was completed Hasbro and Faust evaluated animation studios Studio B Productions renamed DHX Media on September 8 2010 35 worked on Macromedia Flash based animations and shows featuring animals Faust felt that the studio would be a good fit and agreed that Jayson Thiessen should direct Faust Thiessen and James Wootton who later became a director presented a two minute pitch to Hasbro which approved the production Faust estimated the time between being asked to develop the show and its approval at about one year 7 The foundation of the series took roughly two years 23 Crew Jayson Thiessen left the series supervising director Faust s initial writing staff at Hasbro Studios included several with whom she had worked on other shows and were approved by Hasbro such as Amy Keating Rogers Cindy Morrow Meghan McCarthy Chris Savino Charlotte Fullerton M A Larson and Dave Polsky 7 McCarthy accepted Faust s invitation due to her dedication 36 Composer William Anderson presented a blind audition to Hasbro for Friendship Is Magic the company admired his incidental music and selected him 37 After the first season s finale aired Faust announced that she had stepped down as executive producer to become consulting producer Her involvement in the second season consisted primarily of story concepts and scripts and she left after that season 38 In an interview with New York magazine Faust said that her reasons for leaving were a combination of hectic production schedules and a lack of creative control 39 McCracken said that Faust s departure was due to its being a toy company driven show and there was still some frustration with being unable to bring some of her ideas to the screen 40 Initially scheduled to work on its fifth season McCarthy gave up most of her work on the series to write My Little Pony The Movie 2017 41 After Thiessen also left to work on the film Jim Miller became supervising director Denny Lu who had led the animation replaced Miller as director During season six layout supervisor Tim Stuby was also appointed as a director to assist Miller and Lu 42 Writing Writing began with the premise and getting a nugget of a story to build upon at Hasbro 43 Faust and Rob Renzetti conceived broad plots for each episode and held a brainstorming session with each episode s writer to flesh out scenes and dialogue They worked with the writer to finalize the script and provide basic storyboard instructions Hasbro was involved throughout the process laying down concepts for incorporation into the show Examples included Celestia as a princess instead of a queen a fashion focused pony and toy sets in the story such as Rarity s boutique 7 17 Hasbro sometimes asked for a setting allowing Faust and her team to create its visual style and basing a toy set such as the Ponyville schoolhouse on it As Faust adhered to the educational and informational standards which Hasbro required of the show she found creating situations more difficult having a character call another an egghead was treading a very delicate line and a character s cheating was worrisome to some 7 When DHX Media went into the design phase of an episode scripts were finalized 43 Each episode generally included a moral or life lesson chosen to cross a broad spectrum of personal experiences and not just aimed at children 14 Because intellectual property issues had caused Hasbro to lose some rights to the original pony names the show included a mix of original characters from the toy line and new characters developed for the show 16 Hasbro and Faust planned for episodes to be 11 minutes long before the series was approved and Faust observed the limit in The Ticket Master her first full length script Faust preferred 22 minute episodes however and Hasbro eventually agreed Scripts were written around the episode runtime and Miller said that most editing removed supplementary dialogue and action 42 Initial production stages were tight requiring a schedule twice as fast as Faust had previously experienced Communication between the Los Angeles writing offices and the animation studio in Vancouver was frequently remote The two teams sometimes held writer s summits to propose ideas for characters and situations at which the animation team provided suggestions on visuals body language and characterization 7 Larson said that his writing often used ridiculous shorthand for conciseness and he referred to other works 44 Music Daniel Ingram composed the series songs The series background music and songs were composed by William Kevin Anderson and Daniel Ingram respectively 37 45 The production team identified parts of each episode where they wanted music cues allowing Anderson to provide the music 7 The score was composed after each episode s initial animation and was reviewed by Hasbro 43 Ingram worked with Anderson s compositions to create songs which meshed with the background music and fleshed out the show s fantasy setting 46 Ingram s songs usually began with a piano and a basic melody The creative team received the song and provided input background voices and instrumentation were then layered before the lead singer s vocals 47 Writers sometimes suggested lyrics and overall musical themes including two songs written by Amy Keating Rogers 48 Music composition substantially preceded the broadcast of an episode songs for the series third season which began airing in November 2012 were composed in 2011 46 Ingram thought the songs from previous My Little Pony shows were a little bit dated and decided to bring more modern work to the Friendship Is Magic series 49 Changes included songs with more emotional depth than those typical of children s animation which could also be enjoyed outside the episode 49 Ingram said that his songs had become bigger and more epic more Broadway and more cinematic over time 45 and Hasbro endorsed the effort to try something groundbreaking for daytime television 46 Putting it Together from the musical Sunday in the Park with George inspired The Art of the Dress in the first season episode Suited for Success and At The Gala from the first season finale was based on Into the Woods 45 50 51 A musical number in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 paid homage to Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man 45 Casting and voice acting Voice casting and production was handled by Voicebox Productions 52 with Terry Klassen the series voice director Faust Thiessen and others participated in selecting voice actors with Hasbro giving final approval 7 Tara Strong was cast as Twilight Sparkle after Faust who had worked with her on The Powerpuff Girls asked her to help pitch the show by voicing Twilight Pinkie Pie and Applejack or Rainbow Dash After Faust heard Strong as Twilight she knew she wanted her for the role 53 When Cathy Weseluck auditioned for Spike she envisioned him as a baby with a high voice The director later told her to boy him up a bit chang ing everything 48 The series was recorded in Vancouver 54 Voice work was done after writing and before animation with the animators providing direction According to Andrea Libman the voices of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie this approach enabled the actors to play the characters without limitations Libman said that she was allowed be as exaggerated as she wanted without the animators stopping her 55 The actors received songs before recording and practiced them at home 56 The songs were recorded with the dialogue 57 Storyboarding and animation Completed scripts were sent to Studio B for pre production and animation with Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Thiessen s production team was allowed to select key personnel subject to Hasbro approval one of those selected was art director Ridd Sorensen The Studio B team storyboarded the provided scripts incorporating direction and creating scenes which the writers believed were impossible to animaten 58 The DHX Media team went through the storyboard and design process recorded dialogue and created a storyboard animatic from the voice recordings 59 The animators then prepared key character poses layout background art and other major elements These versions were sent back to the production team in Los Angeles for review by Hasbro with suggestions from the writers 58 Hasbro also received rough black and white drawings colored and finalized character and prop designs and animatics and a rough cut 59 Thiessen credited much of the technical expertise to Wooton who created Flash programs to optimize the placement and posing of the pony characters and other elements this simplified the work needed from other animators 58 The ponies manes and tails are generally fixed shapes animated by bending and stretching them in curves this gave them movement without the need to animate individual hairs 16 Sample storyboard from the two Twilight s Kingdom episodes depicting an action sequence cited as difficult to storyboard According to Timothy Packford of DHX Media storyboarding action scenes was difficult because the stories important points might be lost storyboarding and intent needed to be clear Episodes with large amounts of dialogue could sort of slog and grind because there s so much talking 59 A crucial point was to keep the shots interesting with a good flow of one into another and action sequences tended to have more cuts than dialogue 59 The storyboard artists and animators also added unscripted background characters to populate the world According to McCarthy many fandom acknowledgements pop culture references or other Easter eggs were added by the studio 60 Filipino animation studio Top Draw also worked on the animations 61 62 Each of the main characters had distinctive expressions and mannerisms and shared general ones According to the DHX Media team they avoid ed certain expressions if it went outside the ponies personality 63 The creative team interpreted each character s personality as mannerisms facial expressions props and home environment 63 Twilight s purple color signified royalty and mystical awareness and her hard angular edges personified her as tidy 64 Other examples include Rainbow Dash s rainbow hair representing her ability to cause a Sonic Rainboom 65 e Fluttershy s hair indicating her bounciness gentleness and optimism 67 Applejack s cutie mark f symbolizing her simplicity 69 Pinkie Pie s shape similar to a bubble balloon or cloud reflecting her cheerfulness and buoyancy 70 and Spike s design embodying his difference from the ponies 71 The director and supervising director managed half of the episodes each working together on two part episodes and the supervising director oversaw all episodes 42 Faust estimated the time to complete one episode at one year The team simultaneously worked on various stages of all 26 first season episodes when the second season was approved that number rose temporarily to 32 Episodes were originally aired about one month after completion with the timeframe becoming six to eight weeks by the sixth season 7 42 According to Thiessen they had pushed to start work on the second season as soon as the first was completed to prevent staff turnover 58 ThemesFemale friendship is a central theme of the series 72 Faust said that its deeper message is that friendship means being oneself and accepting others 29 According to Ethan Lewis of Den of Geek the show often takes on very morally complicated situations that don t seem to have easy answers as opposed to very cut and dried children s messages 73 Lewis added that the series taught lessons about friendship which some adults would be unable to comprehend 73 The A V Club s Emily St James compared Friendship Is Magic to an owner s manual to being a kind person St James said that making friends could be difficult for children the series broke it down to its most basic aspects demonstrating the importance of a few friendly gestures 74 Den of Geek writer Alana Joli Abott cited the celebration of differences faith and inclusion as prominent themes 75 Megan Crouse described the series for Den of Geek as serious fantasy drawing comparisons to The Lord of the Rings and The Sword in the Stone 1 According to Crouse Friendship Is Magic s consistency and system of magic made it work well as a fantasy story 1 The Cut s Lisa Miller said that the series could be compared to almost any children s fairy tale or fantasy story 29 Faust said that mythology and the fantasy genre influenced all of Friendship Is Magic 76 Several writers have called the show s setting a matriarchy 77 78 79 In the OpenEdition org journal Transatlantica Isabelle Licari Guillaume wrote that the series counters sexist portrayals which are common in media for children 80 Lewis considered the characters some of television s best representations of females neither stereotypically feminine nor masculine 73 In the analysis Orienting Feminism Kevin Fletcher wrote Friendship is Magic exhibits a feminist sensibility rather than an individualistic post feminist one 81 Fletcher added that by focusing on the value of community the series abstains from post feminism 81 A study by Christian Valiente and Xeno Rasmusson which sampled 13 episodes found that the series has characters in circumstances which dispute gender stereotypes females often play primary active roles in positions of authority 82 Valiente and Rasmusson said that although some male characters have abilities and authority the series focuses on females often shown in positions of strength and leadership while maintaining traditional feminine traits According to Valiente and Rasmusson gender is no thing more than an aesthetic story element in Friendship Is Magic 83 EpisodesMain article List of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episodes Series overviewSeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast airedNetwork126October 10 2010 2010 10 10 May 6 2011 2011 05 06 The Hub Hub Network226September 17 2011 2011 09 17 April 21 2012 2012 04 21 313November 10 2012 2012 11 10 February 16 2013 2013 02 16 426November 23 2013 2013 11 23 May 10 2014 2014 05 10 526April 4 2015 2015 04 04 November 28 2015 2015 11 28 Discovery Family626March 26 2016 2016 03 26 October 22 2016 2016 10 22 726April 15 2017 2017 04 15 October 28 2017 2017 10 28 FilmOctober 6 2017 2017 10 06 826March 24 2018 2018 03 24 October 13 2018 2018 10 13 Discovery FamilyHoliday SpecialOctober 27 2018 2018 10 27 926April 6 2019 2019 04 06 October 12 2019 2019 10 12 SpecialJune 29 2019 2019 06 29 DistributionBroadcast My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic which is targeted at girls aged 4 7 84 was one of several animated shows which aired on The Hub a retooling of Discovery Kids owned by Discovery Communications 85 The network was rebranded Discovery Family on October 13 2014 9 86 87 Each episode is about 22 minutes long 88 Friendship Is Magic premiered on October 10 2010 85 In March 2011 less than two months before the season finale aired the series was renewed for a second season which aired from September 17 2011 to April 21 2012 3 89 A month before the second season ended the series was renewed for a third season 3 90 which premiered on November 10 2012 and ended on February 16 2013 3 One month later The Hub renewed the show for a fourth season to air during the 2013 2014 television season 91 On May 7 2014 the series was renewed for a fifth season 92 93 On August 4 8 2014 The Hub aired My Little Pony Mega Mare a thon a 50 hour marathon of every episode from the first four seasons of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic and specials from the toy line s third generation 94 95 The fifth season premiered on April 4 2015 and ended on November 28 2015 3 A month before the prior season s airing Discovery Family renewed the series for a sixth season which was broadcast from March 26 to October 22 2016 3 96 In October 2016 the show was renewed for a seventh season 97 which aired from April 15 to October 28 2017 3 An eighth season was broadcast from March 24 to October 6 2018 3 98 Discovery Family announced the ninth and final season on March 8 2019 which premiered on April 6 of that year 3 99 Before its finale My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic A Decade of Pony a behind the scenes look at the making of the series was aired on October 11 2019 100 The 90 minute finale was broadcast the following day 3 101 Home media and streaming services Main article List of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic home video releases With several other Hasbro properties Friendship Is Magic was added to Netflix on April 1 2012 in the United States 102 In 2015 the series and several other shows based on Hasbro properties were planned to be dropped from the streaming service 103 104 However Hasbro and Netflix later decided to keep the shows on the latter 105 Friendship Is Magic was intended to be removed in August 2018 a few seasons were dropped before they were brought back 106 The series is set to be removed from Netflix on January 31 2022 107 In 2011 Celebration at Canterlot a two episode DVD was available at Target stores with toys from the franchise 108 Shout Factory has the DVD rights for the series in Region 1 Twenty three five episode DVDs and three six episode DVDs have been released 109 The series first seven seasons have been released in DVD box sets 110 United Kingdom based Clear Vision has the publishing rights in Region 2 which includes most of Western Europe and the Middle East 111 112 but the company entered administration in December 2013 113 Madman Entertainment has the Region 4 DVD and digital download rights 114 ReceptionCritical reception Friendship Is Magic has been praised for its animation style stories characterization and exploration of feminism 115 Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100 percent of 10 critics gave the show s first season a positive review with an average score of 8 10 According to the website s critical consensus Smart and sweet My Little Pony Friendship is Magic s sic proves that children s entertainment can be fun for adults too 116 Critics responded positively to the series characters messages and morals A review by Emily Ashby on Common Sense Media an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children s media emphasized the show s themes of loyalty friendliness friendship tolerance and respect 117 Den of Geek s Anna Dobbie appreciated the ponies different personalities which she believed worked well to achieve stability and the series focus on self discovery and acceptance 118 According to Screen Rant writer Carly Olsen the show develops both its major and minor characters well 119 Jamie Spain similarly applauded the show s elements of growth learning and social skills on BuzzFeed which she considered uncommon in children s television 120 The characters messages and morals have been called super cool 68 relatable 29 absolutely genuine 121 inspiring positive and enjoyable 122 Kathleen Richter of Ms however disagreed with the praise she wrote that Friendship Is Magic promoted sexism racism and heteronormativity saying that Rainbow Dash s character encouraged the stereotype that all feminists are angry tomboyish lesbians and criticizing other aspects 123 Faust responded to these claims stating that although Rainbow Dash is a tomboy her sexual orientation is never identified Richter s assumption that tomboys become lesbians is extremely unfair to both straight and lesbian tomboys 17 The series visual designs and references have also been praised St James found the show blessed with great looking characters and brightly colored backgrounds 68 and IndieWire s Liza Shannon Miller and Hanh Hguyen and Entertainment Weekly s Hillary Busis credited its style and homages as contributing factors to the show s position as a pop culture phenomenon 124 Lewis agreed highlighting the series vintage style and geek references 73 For Wired Matt Morgan wrote that the Easter eggs deepened the viewing experience 125 Ashby and Amid Amidi writing for Cartoon Brew expressed concerns with the show s embedded marketing Ashby warned parents to be wary of the effect Friendship Is Magic could have on their children s wants 117 Amidi believed that assigning a talent like Faust to a toy centered show was part of a trend focusing on profitable animation genres such as toy tie ins to deal with a fragmented viewing audience an admission of defeat for the entire movement of creator driven animation and a white flag waving moment for the TV animation industry 126 Friendship Is Magic was included on a number of best of lists TV Guide top sixty IndieWire forty fifth and Rotten Tomatoes sixty fourth listed it as one of the top animated series of all time 127 128 129 and readers of Television Without Pity voted it the best animated show on television 130 IndieWire ranked it the twentieth best animated series of the 21st century 131 Other rankings are Time Out s list of best kids shows twenty fourth and Paste s list of best Netflix children s shows eighth 132 133 Ratings Friendship Is Magic premiered with an average viewership of 1 4 million per month increasing to 4 million per month by the end of its first season 134 the highest rated Hasbro show at the time 125 Advertising Age reported that the series audience doubled between its first and second seasons 135 According to Vox its peak years were 2012 to 2014 136 In March 2013 The Hub reported that the series had triple and quadruple digit percent year to year growth 137 In September of that year it was the second most watched show on The Hub for girls ages 2 11 and women ages 18 49 138 A month later Friendship Is Magic was one of the most co viewed television series and the best performing show on The Hub with Littlest Pet Shop 139 In the first quarter of 2014 the show had an American viewership of over 12 million 29 Ratings began to decline after that year 136 Awards and nominations Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominee s Result Ref 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Song Children s and Animation Daniel Ingram for Becoming Popular The Pony Everypony Should Know Nominated 140 141 Daniel Ingram for Find a Pet Song Nominated2012 Leo Awards Best Animation Program or Series Sarah Wall Chris Bartleman Blair Peters and Kirsten Newlands Nominated 142 Best Direction in an Animation Program or Series Jayson Thiessen and James Wootton for Party of One NominatedBest Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault Todd Araki Jason Fredrickson and Adam McGhie for Read It and Weep Nominated2013 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews for Magical Mystery Cure Won 143 Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault Todd Araki Jason Frederickson and Adam McGhie for Sleepless in Ponyville Nominated2014 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews for Pinkie Pride Nominated 144 Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault Todd Araki Jason Frederickson and Adam McGhie for Power Ponies Won2016 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Song Daniel Ingram and Amy Keating Rogers for The Magic Inside Nominated 145 2016 Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form The Cutie Map directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller written by Scott Sonneborn M A Larson and Meghan McCarthy Nominated 146 2016 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram for Crusaders of the Lost Mark Won 147 Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault Todd Araki Jason Fredrickson Kirk Furniss Adam McGhie Christine Church and Roger Monk for Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep WonBest Performance in an Animation Program or Series Ashleigh Ball for Tanks for the Memories Nominated2016 Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a Voice Over Role Young Actor 12 21 Graham Verchere Won 148 2017 Leo Awards Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series Daniel Ingram for A Hearth s Warming Tail Nominated 149 Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Todd Araki Christine Church Marcel Duperreault Jason Frederickson Adam McGhie and Roger Monk for 28 Pranks Later Won2017 UBCP ACTRA Awards Best Voice Andrea Libman for Rock Solid Friendship as Pinkie Pie Nominated 150 Best Voice Nicole Oliver for A Royal Problem as Princess Celestia Daybreaker NominatedBest Voice Vincent Tong for Hard to Say Anything as Feather Bangs Nominated2018 Leo Awards Best Sound in an Animation Program or Series Marcel Duperreault Todd Araki Jason Frederickson Adam McGhie Christine Church Kirk Furniss and Roger Monk for Shadow Play Part 2 Nominated 151 Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Vincent Tong for Hard to Say Anything Nominated 152 2018 UBCP ACTRA Awards Best Voice Vincent Tong for Marks and Recreation as Rumble Nominated 153 2019 Humanitas Prize Children s Teleplay Brian Hohlfeld for Surf and or Turf Nominated 154 155 2019 Leo Awards Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Ashleigh Ball for Non Compete Clause Nominated 156 2019 UBCP ACTRA Awards Best Voice Sunni Westbrook for Frenemies Nominated 157 2020 UBCP ACTRA Awards Best Voice Performance Sunni Westbrook for The Ending of the End Part 1 as Cozy Glow Nominated 158 2020 Leo Awards Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series Sunni Westbrook for Frenemies Nominated 159 Fandom Twilight Sparkle cosplay Main article My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic fandom Despite Hasbro s target demographic of young girls and their parents 160 161 My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic became a cultural and Internet phenomenon with male fans between the ages of 13 and 35 162 163 The Internet response has been traced to cartoon and animation fans on 4chan 160 responding to Amidi s essay on the show and current animation trends 126 164 As a result of the 4chan discussion interest in the show spread throughout the Internet and inspired a fan base creative works fan sites and conventions 162 Male fans adopted the name brony a portmanteau of bro and pony to describe themselves 165 166 The term pegasister a portmanteau of pegasus and sister was later adopted to refer to older female fans of the show 160 The older fan base surprised Hasbro and staff members involved with the series 45 162 167 168 who appreciated the fandom by adding acknowledgements to fans in the show and toys 16 Bronies were a meme early in the series but their Internet popularity gradually faded as the show continued 169 Other mediaFriendship Is Magic is associated with the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony toy line of figurines and play sets 160 Due in part to older fans Hasbro saw My Little Pony as a lifestyle brand with over 200 licenses in 15 categories of products which included clothing housewares and digital media The brand grossed over US 650 million in retail sales in 2013 170 and US 1 billion in 2014 171 172 and 2016 173 The series gave Hasbro several opportunities for spin offs and other works The company released games such as My Little Pony Twilight Sparkle Teacher for a Day a video game by Gameloft and a collectible card game 174 175 176 In 2012 IDW Publishing began releasing monthly My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic comics the series ended in September 2021 177 The comics were replaced by My Little Pony Generations the following month 178 A crossover comic of Friendship Is Magic and Transformers was released in 2020 and 2021 179 180 Hasbro observed from the brony fandom that some fan produced art was a humanized version of the show s characters and was inspired to develop the My Little Pony Equestria Girls spin off series of movies and shorts which ran with Friendship Is Magic for six years 181 My Little Pony The Movie was released on October 6 2017 in the United States 182 Hasbro and Discovery Family announced a subsequent animated series My Little Pony Pony Life The series based on the same characters with most of the voice actors returning has a new animation style and depicts more stories about mundane experiences 183 Fifth generation Main article My Little Pony A New Generation After the show s finale aired Hasbro began working on a fifth generation which began with the feature film My Little Pony A New Generation 184 185 Like Friendship Is Magic it is set in Equestria because the production team wanted to further explore the fourth generation s lore and world building The fifth generation is set in after the events of the fourth focusing on different ponies and unexplored parts of Equestria this gave Hasbro the opportunity to include Easter eggs of the previous generations 185 The film was released on Netflix in September 2021 to positive reviews 186 it will be followed by a television series which will be released on the streaming service in 2022 187 Notes Main composer for the episodes Magical Mystery Cure in season 3 Pinkie Pride in season 4 Crusaders of the Lost Mark in season 5 and A Hearth s Warming Tail in season 6 4 Main composer for the episodes Magical Mystery Cure in season 3 and Pinkie Pride in season 4 5 6 Previously known as Hasbro Studios 8 Known as The Hub Hub Network before October 13 2014 9 Combination of a rainbow and sonic boom 66 A symbol that appears on the ponies rumps once they have found their purpose or special talent in life 68 ReferencesCitations a b c Crouse Megan October 20 2014 Why My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is Serious Fantasy Den of Geek Archived from the original on August 14 2019 Retrieved August 13 2019 Stone Sam August 2 2019 My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Finale Trailer Heralds the Last Battle Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on August 4 2019 Retrieved August 13 2019 a b c d e f g h i j My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic DFC The Futon Critic Retrieved June 12 2021 Multiple sources Magical Mystery Cure My Little 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