Name: My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic
Production: Studio B Productions, Hasbro Studios
Developed by: Lauren Faust
Year: 2010 - 2019
DVD Release Date: N/A
Genre: Fantasy / Vector-based Animation
Rated: General
Running Time: 22 min.
Number of Episodes: 26 (season 1)

Dragon Contents:

This rating only indicates the dragon contents and importance they play in the movie/game/episodes reviewed.

R a t i n g :

This rating indicates how good or how bad was the movie/game/episodes reviewed. A rating of 5 stars on 10 is considered as the average which mean it is not good but not bad either.

Originally the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was intended for young (females) audience but it generated a significant interest outside this age and gender group such as older males and people from 4chan message board. However, workign it its favor, the show is quite different from the '80 series, though it's still occur within the "My Little Pony" (MLP) universe, vector animation, slender characters, exaggerated facial expressions and random humor make the shows enjoyable for a wide range of people.

The main difference so far that I have seen from MLP (1986) and MLP: Friendship is Magic (2010), is that in the former, humans exist, and there is plenty of anthropomorphic animals (i.e. human-sized mouse/penguin/etc walking on two legs, wearing human clothing), driving cars and do other things that do not make a lot of sense for such society. Whereas MLP: Friendship is Magic more oriented on ponies and on how such society could exist on their own. This is especially noticeable with the design of Rarity's various dresses (when they do wear these). Morales of the story in MLP Friendship is Magic are more straightforward and less to do with a "villain of the week".

Producers and animators of the show are also watching online reactions and became aware of the popularity of their work outside their originally intended age group. One example of change because of this is a grey colored pony with blond mane, yellow eyes and a seven bubbles cutie mark. She appears in episode 1 and would have been a mere background character amongst so many others if she had not had her eyes crossed. This was most likely due to an animation error but people noticed this and it didn't take long before songs and fan fictions begin to be written about her. When the people involved in the show noticed this, this pegasus pony began again appearing from time to time with her eyes independently looking in different directions in the second half of season one. She is unofficial named "Derpy Hooves" and it is rumored that she may become a more official character in season 2.

The show has a lot of magical and mythical creatures going around, including dragons, griffons, sea-serpents, cockatrices, etc. Note that all episodes are readily available on Youtube as Hasbro is probably making most of its profit from the merchandise associated with the show rather than from its viewership.


Story line:
The story is centered on Twilight Sparkle, a purpleish unicorn gifted in magic and student of Equestria ruler Princess Celestia. Twilight along with her assistant, a purple baby dragon called Spike, is sent to Ponyville with the task of making friends. There she encounters many ponies but she remains reluctant to answer their call for friendship (mostly because of their odd behavior) but by the end of the first two-part episode, Twilight will have managed to make reliable friends of a hardworking earth pony (plain flavored pony) called Applejack, a tomboyish pegasus pony called Rainbow Dash, an elegant and stylish unicorn pony called Rarity, a extremely timid pegasus pony called Fluffershy and a restless and carefree earth pony called Pinkie Pie.

All episodes deal with various situations and problems that can be encountered by having friends. Except for episode one, there is no real villain to defeat in order to conclude an episode. Episodes usually end with Twilight reporting back to princess Celestia what she has learned about friendship. As surprising as it may sound, the stories aren’t repetitive. Themes are well executed and the characters development is well done.

All characters behave like teenagers/young adult including Spike who, despite being a baby dragon, happens to have a crush on Rarity.


Images:
The animation is vector-based (think along the lines of Adobe Flash). Despite of the rather simple characters design, the animation is fluid and facial expressions are most of the time priceless. Generally speaking, the quality of the show is quite good and enjoyable.


Sound & Music:
From time to time an episode contain a song which are surprisingly good for show intended for kids. Background musics are appropriate and voices are credible and fitting.