My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated children's television series based on Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise. The series follows a studious pony named Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong), her dragon assistant Spike (Cathy Weseluck) and her friends, Applejack (Ashleigh Ball), Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), Fluttershy (Andrea Libman), Rainbow Dash (Ball) and Pinkie Pie (Libman). They go on adventures and help others around Equestria, solving problems with their friendships.
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 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, 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 go on adventures and help others in and around Equestria, solving problems in their friendships.
Cast and characters
Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle, a socially naïve unicorn (later an alicorn) 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. 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 toy line; the company wanted to retool the My Little Pony franchise to appeal to the young-girl demographic. 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. 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 approached Hasbro to develop "Galaxy Girls", her girls'-toy property, into an animated series. 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. 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 [on] where to take a new version of the franchise".