| My Little Pony: Equestria Girls | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jayson Thiessen |
| Written by | Meghan McCarthy |
| Based on | My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic series developed for television byLauren Faust |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Edited by | Mark Kuehnel |
| Music by | William Kevin Anderson |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 73 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $488,232(Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and United Kingdom)[1] |
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, known simply asEquestria Girls orEQG (sometimes asThrough the Mirror),[2][3] is a 2013animatedmusicalfantasy film which is the first installment ofHasbro's toy line andmedia franchise of the same name, which is itself ananthropomorphized spin-off of the2010 relaunch of theMy Little Pony franchise. The film was animated inAdobe Flash, directed byJayson Thiessen and written byMeghan McCarthy, and was produced byDHX Media's2D animation studio inVancouver, Canada forHasbro Studios in theUnited States. It premiered at theLos Angeles Film Festival on June 15, 2013, followed bylimited release in the United States andCanada on June 16, 2013, with a home media release on August 6, 2013. It also commemorates the 30th anniversary of the launch of the originalMy Little Pony toy line.
The film re-envisions themain characters of the parent franchise, normally ponies, as teenage humanoid characters in a high school setting. Set between thethird andfourth seasons of theMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic television series, the film's plot involvesTwilight Sparkle pursuing her stolen crown into an alternate world where she transforms into a humanoid teenage girl. While learning how to behave locally, Twilight encounters the parallel universe counterparts of her pony friends, who help her in her search for her crown.
The film's critical reception was mixed, with most criticism directed towards character design, writing, plot, and characterization. The film was followed by three sequels,Rainbow Rocks (2014),Friendship Games (2015) andLegend of Everfree (2016) – all of which were more positively received.[4][5]
Twilight Sparkle and her friends visit the Crystal Empire for her first royal summit followingher coronation as a princess of Equestria.Sunset Shimmer, a former student ofPrincess Celestia, emerges from a mirror portal and steals Twilight's crown, which contains the Element of Magic. After a chase through the castle, Sunset goes through the portal with Twilight's crown. The other princesses explain that the portal leads to analternate world; as the otherElements of Harmony are unusable without the crown, Twilight is tasked with retrieving it from the other world before the portal closes for 30 moons. Despite Celestia's insistence that Twilight must travel alone,Spike follows her into the portal.
Twilight and Spike emerge in the other world in the forms of a humanoid teenager and a dog, respectively. Twilight investigates the nearby Canterlot High School and encounters its students and staff, several of whom resemble the ponies in Equestria. Masquerading as a transfer student, Twilight defends the counterpart of her friendFluttershy from being bullied by Sunset. Twilight learns that Fluttershy has delivered the crown toPrincipal Celestia, mistaking it for a prop meant for the elected "princess" of the Fall Formal. Determining that no one would believe her claims of being a pony from another world, Twilight receives Celestia's permission to run for Fall Formal Princess against Sunset to recover the crown.
While continuing to explore school life, Twilight discovers that the counterparts of Fluttershy and her other friends fromPonyville (Pinkie Pie,Applejack,Rarity andRainbow Dash) – have separated of hostility. Sunset sends her cohorts Snips and Snails to record a humiliating video of Twilight behaving like a pony, which is posted online and viewed by the entire school. The counterparts of Twilight's friends come to her aid, only to argue among themselves, revealing the cause of their falling out to be a series of treacherous text messages and emails they supposedly sent each other. Through a theory of Twilight's, however, the five girls realize that Sunset sent these messages to deceive them. They then reconcile and help Twilight perform a public dance routine for her campaign, which improves her image.
In another attempt to undermine Twilight, Sunset has the formal decorations in the school gym wrecked and uses edited photographs to frame Twilight. Although Sunset's ex-boyfriend Flash Sentry proves Twilight's innocence, the formal is postponed to the night after the portal to Equestria closes. Twilight and Spike reveal their true identities to the other girls, convincing them of the situation's urgency. Under Twilight's direction, they rally the other students and successfully repair the damage in time for its original schedule, earning Twilight the school's support.
On the night of the formal, Twilight wins the election and the crown, but Sunset steals it back in a scuffle after kidnapping Spike and threatening to destroy the portal to Equestria. Upon donning the crown, Sunset transforms into ademon and hypnotizes the other students, revealing her intent to conquer Equestria with the students as her army. When Sunset attacks Twilight and her friends, their friendship activates the crown's magic, giving them pony-like ears, wings, and tails. The six girls use magic to revert Sunset and their schoolmates to normal, and Sunset, humbled by the power of the girls' friendship, tearfully apologizes for her actions. After celebrating at the formal and placing Sunset under her friends' care, Twilight and Spike return to Equestria with the crown as the portal closes, reuniting with their pony friends.
To maintain continuity,Hasbro used the same writing staff as theFriendship Is Magic television series, including then-current story editorMeghan McCarthy, who considered the story to be "an extension of our mythology".[9] McCarthy stated that with theEquestria Girls setting, "we might explore different aspects of relationships that in the pony world don't quite work the same as they do when you set it in a high school setting", thus making the work more appealing to older girls that are in high or junior high school.[10]
In writing the film's script, McCarthy went back to theself-titled two-part pilot episode ofFriendship Is Magic, whereTwilight is sent toPonyville for the first time and forced to meet new friends. She wanted to do the same with the film, in this case putting Twilight into a new world where she would again be forced to make new friends and succeed in her quest.[11]
Daniel Ingram stated in aFacebook post that he wrote six songs for the film in a more modern pop/girl group style that would fit the high school/urban setting.[12][non-primary source needed] He also mentioned some of the crew members with whom he worked, including Trevor Hoffman for vocal arrangements and David Corman and Sam Ryan for production and that he collaborated with McCarthy on the lyrics.
Composer William Anderson, who provided the score for the film, said that most of the background music remains consistent with the television show, though "with elements of thrash rock once in a while".[10]
On May 12, 2013, a teaser trailer was first released on theNew York Times website,[18] followed by a full theatrical trailer onEntertainment Weekly's website on June 7, 2013.[19]
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls had its world premiere at theLos Angeles Film Festival grand opening celebration on June 15, 2013, as part of its Family Day.[20] The event included appearances by several of the film's creative staff and voice actors.[21] It was then presented under release throughScreenvision andCineplex theaters across theUnited States andCanada respectively, starting on June 16, 2013. Due to a larger-than-expected number of theater-goers in the initial weeks, Screenvision added additional showings to take advantage of the interest.[22] The screenings in the United Statesbore no classification from theMPAA (which is not mandatory), while the Canadian screenings hadratings from provincial film classification boards (usually G).
The film was re-released in select theaters across the United States on June 18 and 19, 2016 by distribution companyKidtoon Films.[23]
In theUnited Kingdom, the film was released throughShowcase Cinemas on August 10, 2013.[24] InAustralia, it was released throughVillage Cinemas on August 24, 2013.[25] InNew Zealand, it was released throughEvent Cinemas for two weeks starting August 31, 2013.
The film was released onRegion 1DVD andBlu-ray byShout! Factory on August 6, 2013.[26] The Blu-ray release includes a behind-the-scenes documentary on: the film's production, karaoke songs, a "ponify yourself" video and a printable poster.[11] Shout! Factory has signed withHasbro to distribute the film internationally both digitally and in physical medium for home entertainment after its theatrical run.[27][28]
TheRegion 4 DVD was released byMadman Entertainment on September 4, 2013.[29] TheRegion 2 DVD and Blu-ray was supposed to be released by UK-based distributor Clear Vision in April 2014, but the distributor had since enteredadministration. However, the same UK distributor did manage to release a Region 2 DVD forFrance andItaly between March and April 2014. The UK version DVD and Blu-ray was eventually released on July 28, 2014.
AlongsideRainbow Rocks andFriendship Games, this film was released in a box set on October 13, 2015 in Region 1.[30]
The film made its United States television premiere on the Hub Network (a joint venture betweenDiscovery Communications and Hasbro; now known asDiscovery Family as of late 2014) on September 1, 2013.[31] On September 22, 2013, the film premiered onYTV in Canada. In the United Kingdom, the film premiered onPop on November 23, 2013.
The film is a part ofMy Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line andmedia franchise launched byHasbro, which was briefly mentioned in the media earlier in February and March 2013[32][33] and formally announced in May 2013 with this film and other media strategy.[9] It was to be a part of the 30th anniversary of the My Little Pony brand.[9] Hasbro planned to produce related merchandise including: toys, apparel, publishing and accessories.[9] The human-like toys were developed to appeal to girls in their teens as a means to extend theMy Little Pony brand.[34] In addition,LB Kids published anovelization of the film andGameloft included a themed mini-game in itsMy Little Pony mobile game.IDW published a backstory of the characters in the alternative universe (including Sunset Shimmer) in a stand-alone issue.[35][36]
The film's soundtrack was released on September 23, 2014, via theITunes Store.[37] "This Strange World" is absent in the album. On October 2, 2014 (chart of October 11), the soundtrack placed #15,[38][non-primary source needed][39] where the "My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks" soundtrack was two weeks ago on September 18.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opening Titles (Remix)" | Daniel Ingram andLauren Faust | Rebecca Shoichet | 1:29 |
| 2. | "Equestria Girls (Cafeteria Song)" | Ingram andMeghan McCarthy | Shannon Chan-Kent,Kazumi Evans,Ashleigh Ball,Andrea Libman, Shoichet, ensemble | 2:53 |
| 3. | "Time to Come Together" | Ingram and McCarthy | Shoichet, Evans, Ball, Libman, Chan-Kent, ensemble | 2:08 |
| 4. | "This Is Our Big Night" | Ingram and McCarthy | Shoichet, Ball, Libman, Chan-Kent, Evans | 2:03 |
| 5. | "A Friend for Life" | Ingram | Jerrica Santos | 2:26 |
| Total length: | 11.33 | |||
Upon release to home video, Shout! Factory reported that more than 100,000 units have been ordered at retail, the largest release that the company has seen in its ten-year history. As a result of the success,Hasbro has signed Shout! to continue distribution of other out-of-printMy Little Pony titles from earlier generations such asThe Princess Promenade, as well as newer animatedTransformers shows.[40]
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls premiered on theHub Network on September 1, 2013. The film was viewed by 553,000 viewers.[41] It earned year-to-year delivery time gains among multiple demographics, most notably girls 6-11 (+1056%).[42] In theUnited Kingdom, 93,000 viewers watched the television broadcast onPop, the most for the week of November 18–24.[43]
There has been criticism over theanthropomorphism approach of the franchise overall (including this film). TheNew York Daily News reported that, while some feared allowing their children to be influenced by the looks of humanized characters, others considered it reasonable with other current media with considerable body exposure.[44]Slate's Amanda Marcotte considered that the characters' change to human-like form was to popularize the film with theadult fanbase ofFriendship Is Magic.[45] However, many of these adult fans expressed disappointment over the humanized characters, worrying that the approach "goes against everything that Pony was trying to prove".[46]Craig McCracken, speaking for his wifeLauren Faust,Friendship Is Magic's creative showrunner for the first two seasons before stepping down, expressed concern that such approach would have gone against the way Faust wanted to take the television series.[47]
The film itself received mixed reviews from critics. Daniel Alvarez of the websiteUnleash the Fanboy gave the film 4 stars out of 5, stating thatEquestria Girls was a "highly entertaining movie", though some elements, such as the brief romantic plot andSunset's ultimate fate, were weaker than other parts of the film.[7] Luke Thompson ofTopless Robot was more critical of the film, as while not a viewer ofFriendship Is Magic, he believed "whatever clever concepts the show may have [...] the movie does not do very much with" and considered the animation sub-standard for a TV-to-film adaptation.[48]Iowa State Daily described the film as one that was "probably just made to sell dolls and figurines", though still delivered a "great message for kids".[49] Gwen Ihnat ofThe A.V. Club rated the film a "B−" and considered that the film "is only a few songs and one amazing demon battle scene better than most ofFriendship Is Magic's two-part episodes", while otherwise treading on clichéd ideas from both theFriendship Is Magic and from other teen high school works.[50] Sherilyn Connelly ofSF Weekly, though having enjoyed the film, felt it was too similar to the television series's pilot episodes in how the characters needed to be re-introduced for the film audience and that the "real disconnect" was the apparent reduction of age, from young adult inFriendship Is Magic to teenagers within the film.[6] Connelly did, however, vote for the film as Best Animated Feature in the 2013 Village Voice Film Critics' Poll.[51] Ed Liu of Toon Zone (now known as Anime Superhero) considered that the film "relies a bit too much on the familiar and the conventional", lackingFriendship Is Magic's injection of "idiosyncratic character" into otherwise predictable plots, but otherwise praised the voice actors, music and some of the film's animation.[52]
