Twilight and Company on a Brand New Adventure!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ended its previous season with the princess coronation of Twilight Sparkle. This summer, another epic pony adventure awaits as the newly crowned alicorn finds herself in an all new world, and an all new body! My Little Pony: Equestria Girls showcases the ponies of Equestria reborn as human beings, in a feature-length movie planned for theaters and DVD this summer. A pony’s work is never done!
An early look at the human versions of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
Equestria Girls was first unveiled as a spin-off of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It was Hasbro’s way of expanding upon the popularity of the animated series by turning Twilight and her friends into humans and dropping into high school. Not much was known about the series aside from a look at the Mane 6 human designs and a 2014 release for the series. However, the curtain was finally lifted with an extended look at the series in action, as well as information the creative staff, story, and official series name: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.
Courtesy of a New York Times article, it is now known that My Little Pony: Equestria Girls will debut as a movie this summer. The film will be released in over 200 theaters from June 16, 2013 and will receive a DVD release in August, before airing on the Hub Network this fall. Best of all, a trailer for the movie has been released online and in theaters, showing the world of Equestria Girls in action for the first time:
The trailer features Twilight and her friends meeting up with the trio of princess ponies (Celestia, Luna, and Cadence). Twilight is transported to another world, one in which she is becomes a (purple) human being, has a dog that looks a lot like Spike, and she even encounters human versions of her Ponyville friends. The trailer provides a look at notable characters from the series, providing glimpses of several humanized ponies, including Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, DJ PON-3 and the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Also interesting is the inclusion of brand new characters who are featured in the trailer, including a blue haired boy who may very well be a new friend to the formerly alicorn Twilight, and a devious red-head girl who may be the antagonist of the film.
I think this movie, as well as the following ensuing series, has a lot of potential. It’s just funny and awesome to see Twilight so out of her element in our human world. Seeing her be fascinated by her legs, or trying to eat an apple without using her hand is a gleeful delight. I also like how all the character sport a multicolor design, similar to the characters of the Nicktoon Doug.
The idea of the characters has humans has always been interesting to me. I like the idea of taking the characters of showing off what they would be like in the real world. We even get to see some of the quirks of the characters in the trailer, like Fluttershy eating a vegetarian lunch and Rainbow Dash playing soccer. Fans of the series have imagined what the characters would look like if they were in our shoes through fan art and custom animation. It’s an idea that looks like the creators of the series will be addressing head-on. Equestria Girls will share the same animation style and creative staff as it’s Friendship is Magic predecessor, and the higher-ups at Hasbro vow to keep the message of love and friendship intact.
One of my personal favorite pieces of fan art showing Twilight and her friends as human beings, well before the existence of Equestria Girls!
Only time will tell if My Little Pony: Equestria Girls can live up to the expectation of the millions of fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Based on the trailer, I can honestly say I’m looking forward to finding out. It just so happens that this film will be showing in theaters in my home state, according to the official website. I’ll definitely try to see it when is comes and give you my thoughts on how this spin-off measures up. Until then, it’s good to know that, during the long wait for Season 4 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there’s some else to look forward to!
Edit: I did not post where originally learned of this movie and have posted a link below. Apologies to both readers and Toon Zone.
Links:
NY Times on Hub Network’s “My Little Pony: Equestria Girls”-Toon Zone
Cartoons & Characters Blog 