Friendship Is Magic (season 3)
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''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' is an
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
based on
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
's ''
My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...
'' franchise. The series follows a studious pony named
Twilight Sparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019), and later in the fra ...
(
Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...
), her dragon assistant
Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...
(
Cathy Weseluck Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian actress and comedian who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia and is known for her roles as Near in ''Death Note'', Cybersix/Adrian Seidelman in '' Cybersix'', and Spike in Discovery ...
) and her friends,
Applejack AppleJack was a command-line interface for Mac OS X that provided a simplified user interface for single user mode system repairs. It allowed for permission repair, disk repair, cache cleaning, validation of preference- and property list file ...
(
Ashleigh Ball Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and singer. She is known for voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film series, ''Bratz'', ''Johnny Test'', '' Care Bea ...
), Rarity ( Tabitha St. Germain),
Fluttershy Fluttershy is a fictional character who appears in the My Little Pony (2010 toyline), fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a c ...
(
Andrea Libman Andrea Libman is a Canadian actress. She is known for providing voice acting in various animated shows, such as voicing the characters of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in the Discovery Family series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and it ...
),
Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend of Twilight Spa ...
(Ball) and
Pinkie Pie Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend ...
(Libman). The six pony friends, collectively known as the "
Mane Six The Mane Six are the main characters of the animated television series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. The group consists of six pony friends: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Created by ...
", go on adventures and help others around
Equestria Equestria () is a fictional kingdom and the main setting of My Little Pony (2010 toyline), the fourth and My Little Pony: A New Generation, fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the Animated series, ...
, solving problems with their friendships. Animated in
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...
, the series aired on
Discovery Family Discovery Family (known on-air as Discovery Family Channel and abbreviated as DFC) is an American Specialty channel, cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Di ...
(formerly The Hub) from October 10, 2010, to October 12, 2019. Hasbro selected animator
Lauren Faust Lauren J. Faust (born July 25, 1974) is an American animator, writer, director, and producer. She is known for developing the animated series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and '' DC Super Hero Girls''. Faust has collaborated with her ...
to head the show. Faust created deeper characters and adventurous settings, seeking a show resembling how she had played with her toys as a child, and incorporated fantasy elements. However, due to a hectic production schedule 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, known as "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 Equestria () is a fictional kingdom and the main setting of My Little Pony (2010 toyline), the fourth and My Little Pony: A New Generation, fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the Animated series, ...
, its three subspecies of ponies (often described as "tribes" or "races")— earth ponies, pegasi, and
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...
s—live harmoniously.
Twilight Sparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019), and later in the fra ...
, a studious unicorn (later an alicorn), travels to Ponyville to learn about friendship at the urging of Equestria's ruler (and her mentor)
Princess Celestia Princess Celestia is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She serves as the benevolent ru ...
. Twilight and
Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...
, her
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
assistant, become close friends with five other ponies:
Applejack AppleJack was a command-line interface for Mac OS X that provided a simplified user interface for single user mode system repairs. It allowed for permission repair, disk repair, cache cleaning, validation of preference- and property list file ...
, Rarity,
Fluttershy Fluttershy is a fictional character who appears in the My Little Pony (2010 toyline), fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a c ...
,
Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend of Twilight Spa ...
, and
Pinkie Pie Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend ...
. The ponies discover that they represent different facets of friendship, with powerful magical artifacts known as
Elements of Harmony The Elements of Harmony are six magical artifacts representing fundamental virtues of friendship in the television series ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Each element embodies a specific virtue: honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, ...
. They go on adventures and help others in and around Equestria, solving both interpersonal issues between them, and defeat destructive threats to both Equestria and the wider world.


Cast and characters

*
Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...
as
Twilight Sparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019), and later in the fra ...
, a studious and socially naïve unicorn (later an alicorn) who loves to read but initially has trouble making friends. *
Ashleigh Ball Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and singer. She is known for voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film series, ''Bratz'', ''Johnny Test'', '' Care Bea ...
as: **
Applejack AppleJack was a command-line interface for Mac OS X that provided a simplified user interface for single user mode system repairs. It allowed for permission repair, disk repair, cache cleaning, validation of preference- and property list file ...
, a diligent earth pony whose family owns a farm. **
Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend of Twilight Spa ...
, an egotistical, sporty pegasus. * Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a glamorous unicorn who owns a
boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...
*
Andrea Libman Andrea Libman is a Canadian actress. She is known for providing voice acting in various animated shows, such as voicing the characters of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in the Discovery Family series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and it ...
as: **
Fluttershy Fluttershy is a fictional character who appears in the My Little Pony (2010 toyline), fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a c ...
, a timid pegasus who loves other animals. **
Pinkie Pie Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend ...
, an energetic earth pony who enjoys throwing parties. *
Cathy Weseluck Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian actress and comedian who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia and is known for her roles as Near in ''Death Note'', Cybersix/Adrian Seidelman in '' Cybersix'', and Spike in Discovery ...
as
Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...
, a small
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
who is Twilight's assistant.


Production


Conception

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
has produced several incarnations of the ''
My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...
'' franchise, often called "generations" by the toy line's collectors. With many brands, including My Little Pony, the company uses a multi-generational plan. The ''Transformers'' film (2007) inspired Hasbro, since it helped to increase sales of the
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
toy line; the company wanted to retool the ''My Little Pony'' franchise to appeal to the young-girl
demographic Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...
. According to
Margaret Loesch Margaret Ann Loesch (, ) is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. She stepped down from her position in 2014. ...
, 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. 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. Central themes Hasbro sought for the show included friendship and cooperation, determined from market research in how girls played with toys. Animator and writer
Lauren Faust Lauren J. Faust (born July 25, 1974) is an American animator, writer, director, and producer. She is known for developing the animated series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and '' DC Super Hero Girls''. Faust has collaborated with her ...
approached Hasbro to develop "Galaxy Girls", her girls'-toy property, into an animated series. Faust, who had worked on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's ''
The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom ...
'' (1998–2005) and ''
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as the network's first show animated primarily with Adobe Flash, whic ...
'' (2004–2009), had unsuccessfully pitched animation aimed at girls for years. 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 the brand and asked her to consider "some ideas nwhere to take a new version of the franchise". Faust was initially hired by Hasbro to create a pitch bible for the show, enabling her to get additional help with ideas. She was "extremely skeptical" about taking the job, because she thought that shows based on girls' toys were dull. Although ''My Little Pony'' was one of her favorite childhood toys, 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. Faust incorporated many elements contradicting stereotypes of girlsdiverse personalities, the message that friends can differ and remain friends, and the idea that girls should not be limited by what others sayinto the design of the characters and the series. 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 ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
'' (1984–1987) and ''
G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...
'' (1983–1986) which her brothers watched. According to Faust, she was making ''Friendship Is Magic'' "for erselfas an eight-year-old". 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. 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. She envisioned them as realistic horses who ate hay, lived in barns, pulled carts, wore saddles, and picked up objects with their mouths. 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
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
s and
hydras ''Hydra'' ( ) is a genus of small freshwater hydrozoans of the phylum Cnidaria. They are solitary, carnivorous jellyfish-like animals, native to the temperate and tropical regions. The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1758 after the Hydra, whi ...
, but emphasized friendships among the characters which were leavened with humor. When the series was approved, Faust had developed three scripts.


Development

Faust drew concept sketches, several of which appeared on her fyre-flye
DeviantArt DeviantArt (formerly styled as deviantART and thus abbreviated as dA) is an American online community that features artwork, videography, photography, and literature, launched on August 7, 2000, by Mathew Stephens, Scott Jarkoff and Angelo Sotir ...
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. Hasbro approved the show with Faust as executive producer, and asked her to complete the pitch bible. She hired Martin Ansolabehere and
Paul Rudish Paul Rudish is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, and voice actor, originally known for his art, writing, and design work at Cartoon Network Studios on series created by Genndy Tartakovsky. He went on to co-create the series '' Sym-B ...
, 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. She also consulted her husband
Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American cartoonist, animator, director, writer, and producer known for creating Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Channel and Disney XD's ''W ...
, 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". The visual collaboration brought a unique style to ''Friendship Is Magic''.
Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...
design,
steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...
fantasy art, European fairy tales, and Bavarian folk art influenced the original pony world. Designing the settings, Faust sent photos to artist Dave Dunnet.
Ponyville Equestria () is a fictional kingdom and the main setting of the fourth and fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the animated television series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and its spino ...
was based on German cottages, with a fairy-tale quality and equine elements such as horseshoe-shaped archways, hay bales, and troughs. Canterlot was based on castles and cathedrals, giving it a European feel; its location on a mountain and its purple-and-gold palette conveyed royalty and aspiration. Fantasy inspired elements of the series which were modified to suit its setting, story, and target audience. 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. After the pitch bible was completed, Hasbro and Faust evaluated animation studios. Studio B Productions (renamed DHX Media Vancouver on September 8, 2010) 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 Jayson Thiessen (born December 30, 1976) is a Canadian animator and voice actor, best known as the first supervising director of the animated television series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. He also directed its spin-off films '' Eques ...
should direct the series. Faust, Thiessen, and James Wootton (who later became series co-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. The foundation of the series took roughly two years.


Crew

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 Amy Keating Rogers (born June 17, 1969) is an American television writer who has contributed to several notable animated television series and films, including episodes of '' The Powerpuff Girls'' and '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Sh ...
, Cindy Morrow,
Meghan McCarthy Meghan McCarthy is an American screenwriter, lyricist, film and television producer, and creative executive best known as the showrunner of the animated television show '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. She is also known for her work on ...
,
Chris Savino Christopher Mason Savino (born October 2, 1971) is an American comic book artist, writer and former animator. He is well-known for having created the animated series '' The Loud House'' (2016–present) for Nickelodeon. Savino has also worked on ...
,
Charlotte Fullerton Charlotte Louise Fullerton (born March 20) is an American writer of television, novels, comic books and video games. Biography Fullerton graduated with a BA in cinema-television/production from the University of Southern California, and starte ...
,
M.A. Larson Mitchell Aaron Larson (born August 3, in Burnsville, Minnesota) is an American screenwriter and author. Larson has written for several animated series, including '' Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', ''My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Growing Up ...
, and
Dave Polsky David Polsky is an American film and television screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include sh ...
. McCarthy accepted Faust's invitation due to her dedication. Composer William Anderson presented a
blind audition In a blind audition, the identity of the performer is concealed from the judges to prevent bias. The performance takes place behind a curtain so the judges cannot see the performer. Blind auditions have become a standard in symphony orchestras. In ...
to Hasbro for ''Friendship Is Magic''; the company admired his
incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...
, and selected him. 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. 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. 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. 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). After Thiessen also left to work on the film, his co-director Jim Miller became supervising director with animation director Denny Lu taking Miller's spot as co-director. During season six, layout supervisor Tim Stuby was also appointed as co-director to assist Miller and Lu before leaving during season 7, leading to Mike Myhre taking his spot for the rest of the series.


Writing

Writing began with the premise and "getting a nugget of a story to build upon" at Hasbro. Faust and
Rob Renzetti Robert John Renzetti is an American animator and author. Renzetti is known for creating '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' and the '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' series '' Mina and the Count'' for Nickelodeon, directing '' Dexter's Laboratory'', '' The Powe ...
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. 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 In U.S. English slang, egghead is an epithet used to refer to intellectuals or people considered out-of-touch with ordinary people and lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests, etc. on account of their intellectual interests. A similar ...
" was "treading a very delicate line", and a character's cheating was "worrisome to some". When DHX Media went into the design phase of an episode, scripts were finalized. Each episode generally included a moral or life lesson, chosen to "cross a broad spectrum of personal experiences" and not just aimed at children. 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. 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. 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 Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
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. Larson said that his writing often used "ridiculous shorthand" for conciseness, and he referred to other works.


Music

The series' background music and songs were composed by William Kevin Anderson and Daniel Ingram, respectively. The production team identified parts of each episode where they wanted music cues, allowing Anderson to provide the music. The score was composed after each episode's initial animation, and was reviewed by Hasbro. Ingram worked with Anderson's compositions to create songs which meshed with the background music and fleshed out the show's fantasy setting. 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. Writers sometimes suggested lyrics and overall musical themes, including two songs written by Amy Keating Rogers. 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. 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. Changes included songs with more emotional depth than those typical of children's animation, which could also be enjoyed outside the episode. Ingram said that his songs had become "bigger and more epic, more Broadway and more cinematic over time", and Hasbro endorsed the effort to try "something groundbreaking for daytime television". "Putting it Together" from the musical ''
Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...
'' inspired "The Art of the Dress" in the first-season episode "
Suited for Success "Suited for Success" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the animated television series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. It originally aired on The Hub on February 4, 2011. The episode was written by Charlotte Fullerton. In ...
", and "At The Gala" from the first-season finale was based on ''
Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
''. A musical number in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" paid homage to "
Ya Got Trouble "Ya Got Trouble" is a patter song by Meredith Willson from the 1957 Broadway musical ''The Music Man'', and its 1962 filmed version. It is one of the most popular and recognizable songs in the musical. Willson considered eliminating a long piece ...
" from ''
The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...
''.


Casting and voice acting

Voice casting and production was handled by
Voicebox Productions Voicebox Productions is a Canadian audio production company located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It specializes in animation voice over by handling the logistics of casting, directing, payroll and working with local recording studios. Lana C ...
, with
Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...
the series' voice director. Faust, Thiessen, and others participated in selecting voice actors, with Hasbro giving final approval. 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 rRainbow Dash". After Faust heard Strong as Twilight, she knew she wanted her for the role. When
Cathy Weseluck Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian actress and comedian who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia and is known for her roles as Near in ''Death Note'', Cybersix/Adrian Seidelman in '' Cybersix'', and Spike in Discovery ...
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 ngeverything". The series was recorded in Vancouver. 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. The actors received songs before recording, and practiced them at home. The songs were recorded with the dialogue.


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 that the writers believed were impossible to animate. The DHX Media team went through the storyboard and design process, recorded dialogue, and created a storyboard
animatic A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proces ...
from the voice recordings. 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. Hasbro also received rough black-and-white drawings, colored and finalized character and prop designs, and
animatics A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process ...
and a
rough cut In filmmaking, the rough cut (also known as the first cut or editor's cut) is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still ...
. 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. The ponies'
manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the '' Lares'', '' Lemures'', '' Genii'', and '' Di Penates'' as deities ...
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. 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". 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. 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 Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...
were added by the studio. Filipino animation studio Top Draw also worked on the animations. Each of the main characters had distinctive expressions and mannerisms, and shared general ones. According to the DHX Media team, they "avoid dcertain expressions if it
ent Ents are giant humanoids in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant". The Ents appear in ''The Lord ...
outside he ponies'personality". The creative team interpreted each character's personality as mannerisms, facial expressions, props, and home environment; Twilight's purple color signified royalty and mystical awareness, and her hard, angular edges personified her as tidy. Other examples include Rainbow Dash's rainbow hair, representing her ability to cause a Sonic Rainboom; Fluttershy's hair, indicating her bounciness, gentleness, and optimism; Applejack's
cutie mark A cutie mark is a symbol that appears on the Equine anatomy#External anatomy, flanks of ponies in the ''My Little Pony'' franchise, most prominently featured in the television series ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Each cutie mark repres ...
, symbolizing her simplicity; Pinkie Pie's shape (similar to a bubble, balloon, or cloud), reflecting her cheerfulness and buoyancy; and Spike's design, embodying his difference from the ponies. The director and supervising director managed half of the episodes each, working together on two-part episodes, and the supervising director oversaw all episodes. 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. According to Thiessen, they had pushed to start work on the second season as soon as the first was completed to prevent staff turnover.


Themes

Female friendship is a central theme of the series. Faust said that its deeper message is that friendship means being oneself and accepting others. According to Ethan Lewis of
Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
, 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". Lewis added that the series taught lessons about friendship which some adults would be unable to comprehend. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' 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. Den of Geek writer Alana Joli Abott cited the celebration of differences, faith, and inclusion as prominent themes. Megan Crouse described the series for Den of Geek as serious' fantasy", drawing comparisons to ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'' and '' The Sword in the Stone''. According to Crouse, ''Friendship Is Magic'' consistency and system of magic made it work well as a fantasy story. '' The Cut'' Lisa Miller said that the series could be compared to almost any children's fairy tale or fantasy story. Faust said that mythology and the fantasy genre influenced all of ''Friendship Is Magic''. Several writers have called the show's setting a
matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of Power (social and political), power and Social privilege, privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. Whil ...
. In the OpenEdition.org journal ''Transatlantica'', Isabelle Licari-Guillaume wrote that the series counters sexist portrayals which are common in media for children. Lewis considered the characters some of television's "best representations" of females, neither stereotypically feminine nor masculine. In the analysis ''Orienting Feminism'', Kevin Fletcher wrote: "''Friendship is Magic'' exhibits a feminist sensibility rather than an individualistic post-feminist one." Fletcher added that by focusing on the value of community, the series abstains from post-feminism. 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. 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 " ohing more than an aesthetic story element" in ''Friendship Is Magic''.


Episodes


Distribution


Broadcast

''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', which is primarily targeted at girls aged 4–7, was one of several animated shows which aired on The Hub (a retooling of
Discovery Kids Discovery Kids, stylized as discovery k!ds, is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television block within Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel in October 1996. Discovery Kids on NBC was ...
owned by
Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...
). The network was rebranded Discovery Family on October 13, 2014. Each episode is about 22 minutes long. ''Friendship Is Magic'' premiered on October 10, 2010. 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. A month before the second season ended, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on November 10, 2012, and ended on February 16, 2013. One month later, The Hub renewed the show for a fourth season to air during the 2013–2014 television season. On May 7, 2014, the series was renewed for a fifth season. On August 4–8, 2014, The Hub aired "My Little Pony Mega Mare-a-thon": a 50-hour
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
of every episode from the first four seasons of ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and specials from the toy line's
third generation Third generation, Generation III, Gen 3 or Gen III may refer to: * ''Third Generation'' (album), a 1982 album by Hiroshima * ''The Third Generation'' (1920 film), an American drama film directed by Henry Kolker * ''The Third Generation'' (1979 fi ...
. The fifth season premiered on April 4, 2015, and ended on November 28, 2015. 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. In October 2016, the show was renewed for a seventh season which aired from April 15 to October 28, 2017. An eighth season was broadcast from March 24 to October 6, 2018. Discovery Family announced the ninth and final season on March 8, 2019, which premiered on April 6 of that year. 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. The 90-minute finale was broadcast the following day.


Home media and streaming services

In 2011, ''Celebration at Canterlot'' (a two-episode
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
) was available at
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
stores with toys from the franchise. With several other Hasbro properties, ''Friendship Is Magic'' was added to
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on April 1, 2012, in the United States. In 2015, the series and several other shows based on Hasbro properties were planned to be dropped from the streaming service. However, Hasbro and Netflix later decided to keep the shows on the latter. ''Friendship Is Magic'' was intended to be removed in August 2018; a few seasons were dropped before they were brought back. Most of the series was removed from Netflix worldwide on January 31, 2022, and the show was fully taken off of Netflix in the United States on April 1st, 2025. In addition to other Hasbro shows, seasons 3-9 of ''Friendship Is Magic'' are currently available for streaming in the United States on
FAST Fast or FAST may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Fast" (Juice Wrld song), 2019 * "Fast" (Luke Bryan song), 2016 * "Fast" (Sueco song), 2019 * "Fast" (GloToven song), 2019 * ''Fast'', an album by Custom, 2002 * ''Fast'', a 2010 short fil ...
streaming service
Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...
, owned by Fox Corporation.
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
has the DVD rights for the series in Region 1. Twenty-three five-episode DVDs and three six-episode DVDs have been released.Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The series' first seven seasons have been released in DVD box sets.Multiple sources: * * * * * * * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights in Region 2 (which includes most of Western Europe and the Middle East), but the company entered
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
in December 2013.
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...
has the Region 4 DVD and digital-download rights.


Reception


Critical reception

''Friendship Is Magic'' has been praised for its animation style, stories, characterization, and exploration of feminism.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
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'' proves that children's entertainment can be fun for adults, too." Critics responded positively to the series' characters, messages, and morals. A review by Emily Ashby on
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
, an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children's media, emphasized the show's themes of loyalty, friendliness, friendship, tolerance, and respect. 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; According to ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...
'' writer Carly Olsen, the show develops both its major and minor characters well. Jamie Spain similarly applauded the show's elements of growth, learning, and social skills on
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...
, which she considered uncommon in children's television. The characters, messages, and morals have been called "super cool", relatable, "absolutely genuine", inspiring, positive, and enjoyable. Kathleen Richter of ''
Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
'', however, disagreed with the praise; she wrote that ''Friendship Is Magic'' promoted sexism, racism, and
heteronormativity Heteronormativity is the definition of heterosexuality as the normative human sexuality. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between peo ...
, saying that Rainbow Dash's character encouraged the stereotype that "all feminists are angry, tomboyish
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
s" and criticizing other aspects. Faust responded to these claims, stating that although Rainbow Dash is a
tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...
, her sexual orientation is never identified; Richter's assumption that tomboys become lesbians is "extremely unfair to both straight and lesbian tomboys". The series' visual designs and references have also been praised. St. James found the show "blessed with great looking characters and brightly colored backgrounds", and '' IndieWire'' Liza Shannon Miller and Hanh Hguyen and ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' Hillary Busis credited its style and homages as contributing factors to the show's position as a pop-culture phenomenon.Multiple sources: * * * * Lewis agreed, highlighting the series' "vintage" style and "geek references". For ''
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
'', Matt Morgan wrote that the Easter eggs deepened the viewing experience. Ashby and
Amid Amidi Amid Amidi is a journalist. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the ''Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched on 15 March 2004. Cartoon Dump It ...
(writing for ''
Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched on 15 March 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created '' Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ' ...
'') 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; 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 f creator-driven animation, and a "
white flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire and for negotiation. It is also used to symboliz ...
-waving moment for the TV animation industry". ''Friendship Is Magic'' was included on a number of best-of lists. ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' (top sixty), ''IndieWire'' (forty-fifth), and ''Rotten Tomatoes'' (sixty-fourth) listed it as one of the top animated series of all time, and readers of
Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism a ...
voted it the best animated show on television. ''IndieWire'' ranked it the twentieth-best animated series of the 21st century. Other rankings are '' Time Out'' list of best kids' shows (twenty-fourth) and '' Paste's'' list of best Netflix children's shows (eighth).


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 (the highest-rated Hasbro show at the time). ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
'' reported that the series' audience doubled between its first and second seasons. According to '' Vox'', its peak years were 2012 to 2014. In March 2013, The Hub reported that the series had triple- and quadruple-digit-percent year-to-year growth. 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. 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 Littlest Pet Shop is a toy franchise and cartoon series owned by Hasbro and currently under license with Basic Fun!. The original toy series was produced by Kenner in the early 1990s. An animated television series was produced in 1995 by Sunbow ...
''). In the first quarter of 2014, the show had an American viewership of over 12 million. Ratings began to decline after that year.


Awards and nominations


Fandom

Despite Hasbro's target demographic of young girls and their parents, ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' became a cultural and Internet phenomenon with male fans between the ages of 13 and 35 during the 2010s. The Internet response has been traced to cartoon and animation fans on
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...
responding to Amidi's essay on the show and current animation trends. 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
fan conventions A fan convention (also known as a con or fan meeting) is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some also incorporate comm ...
. Male fans adopted the name "brony" (a
portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.
of "bro" and "pony") to describe themselves. The term "pegasister" (a portmanteau of "pegasus" and "sister") was later adopted to refer to older female fans of the show. The older fan base surprised Hasbro and staff members involved with the series, who appreciated the fandom by adding acknowledgements to fans in the show and toys. Bronies were a
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
early in the series, but their relative Internet popularity gradually faded over the years as the show continued and eventually came to an end in 2019. Despite the original television series ending in 2019, the fandom continues to flourish as of 2025, with the fandom continually hosting
brony conventions A fan convention (also called a brony convention, or brony con or pony con) is a fan convention organized for the fandom of the animated television series ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', whose adult fans are commonly referred to as '' ...
around the world, creating fan music, writing
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
, and producing
fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by Fan (person), fans of a work of fiction or celebrity depicting events, Character (arts), character, or other aspect of the work. As fan labor, fan art refers to artworks that are not created, commissione ...
.


Other media

''Friendship Is Magic'' is associated with the 2010 relaunch of the ''My Little Pony'' toy line of figurines and play sets. 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, and US$1 billion in 2014 and 2016. 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 A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
by
Gameloft Gameloft SE is a French video game company based in Paris, founded in December 1999 by Ubisoft co-founder Michel Guillemot. The company operates 18 development studios worldwide, and publishes games for mobile devices, video game consoles, and ...
, and a
collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...
. In 2012,
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
began releasing monthly ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' comics; the series ended in September 2021. The comics were replaced by ''My Little Pony: Generations'' the following month. A crossover comic of ''Friendship Is Magic'' and ''Transformers'' was released in 2020 and 2021. 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. ''My Little Pony: The Movie'' was released on October 6, 2017, in the United States. 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.


Fifth 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''. 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. The film was released on Netflix in September 2021 to positive reviews; it was followed by a television series which released on the streaming service in 2022.


See also

*
List of fictional horses This is a list of equines as fictional subjects, including horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, and zebras. This list excludes fantasy creatures such as centaurs, unicorns, and pegasus, and horses in mythology and folklore. __TOC__ Literature ...


Notes


References


Citations


Works cited

* * * * * *


External links

* at
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

Archived
from the original on October 20, 2019.
''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''
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Hasbro Studios Allspark, formerly known as Hasbro Studios, LLC, was an American production and distribution company owned by toy and multimedia company Hasbro and based in Burbank, California that was in operation from 2009 to 2019. Originally just a televis ...

''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''
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Discovery Family Discovery Family (known on-air as Discovery Family Channel and abbreviated as DFC) is an American Specialty channel, cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Di ...
. Archived fro
the original
on October 20, 2014. * {{Portal bar, Animation, Cartoon, Television, Toys, Canada, United States Friendship is Magic 2010 American animated television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2010s American animated comedy television series 2010s American children's comedy television series 2010 Canadian television series debuts 2019 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian animated comedy television series 2010s Canadian children's television series American animated television series reboots American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated education television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated musical television series American children's animated supernatural television series American flash animated television series Canadian animated television series reboots Canadian children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated comedy television series Canadian children's animated education television series Canadian children's animated fantasy television series Canadian children's animated musical television series Canadian children's animated supernatural television series Canadian flash animated television series American English-language television shows Discovery Family original programming Television series by Allspark Television series by WildBrain Animated television series about horses Animated television series about princesses Animated television series set in fictional countries Television series based on classical mythology Television series created by Lauren Faust Works about friendship