Whether we like it or not, My Little Pony has been incredibly popular since the television series “Friendship is Magic” blew up among fans of all ages. The brand has never been more popular, and Hasbro has chosen to extend the universe even more. My Little Pony: Equestria Girls portrays our favorite ponies as teenage girls, forced to go through high school.
Honestly, this is a perfect opportunity for Hasbro to expand the franchise’s toy, clothing, publishing, and accessory lines. It’s the perfect trap for children who enjoy the ponies, and it picks up right where the third season of the show last ended.
How to Stream or Download My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
To stream or to download the film from a digital store, click on the Download button located at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
Twilight Sparkle, the recently crowned Princess of Equestria, is still getting used to her new rank and wings. Sunset Shimmer, a rebellious former pupil of Princess Celestia, however, takes her magical crown and flees to another planet. Twilight and her friend, Spike, are tasked with collecting the crown, and they follow the thief.
Twilight discovers that she has been transformed into a helpless human in a high school world populated by teenage human equivalents of her pals after crossing over. Twilight must find the miracle of friendship, which goes beyond everything she ever dreamed imaginable, in order to rescue both realms.
The writer of this My Little Pony film is Meghan McCarthy, who’s known for writing a few episodes for Cartoon Network shows such as Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends and Fish Hooks. McCarthy is also responsible for the character and world-building around My Little Pony and the Littlest Pet Shop franchise, so she should at least know what kids would like to see. Jayson
Thiessen is also the director of this movie, and he’s worked on shows I was never really a fan of (I mean, who watches Disney XD?).
This film is a perfect example of a cliché. To get what her heart desires, the awkward girl must push her way into the student body and compete against a clique-y popular girl. There’s also a prince charming male love interest who performs with his band at the school dance and dons the typical “rockstar” hair.
It’s adorably filled with lots of girl power moments and is the type of story we’d imagine when roleplaying with dolls. Everyone fits into a stereotype, as expected from a story set in high school. And as you can see from the synopsis, the story is pretty shallow. Many of the gaps in the plot are especially hard to fill if you haven’t seen the show, and it seems that the characters are more annoying in this, with Pinky Pie being quirkier than she is.
Their new human forms take on a Japanese anime style, with their large heads, little bodies, and varied skin colors, but I feel like they could’ve added more diversity with their styles. That being said, the animation is smooth and impressive given that it was created with Adobe Flash.
This stretches the boundaries of what can be accomplished using off-the-shelf animation software. The ponies (er, teenagers) are voiced by no other than Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Tabitha St. Germain, and Andrea Libman. All were fantastic and it’s insane how they manage to voice hundreds of characters without sounding the same.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, I can see how My Little Pony: Equestria Girls would appeal to younger girls, it’s pink and sparkly. Despite that, it’s not as magical as it should be. It’s could’ve achieved something more if they hired better writers. It’s comfortable with its simple premise, laced with generic comedy and some nice knock-off pop songs. The message is straightforward yet powerful, and the animation is good enough to appeal to even the youngest viewers, but it’s nothing close to a family film.
