My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (or simply Equestria Girls) is a fashion doll and media franchise launched in 2013 by American toy company Hasbro, as a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony toy line.
The franchise features anthropomorphized versions of characters from the Friendship Is Magic television series; as with My Little Pony, the dolls have colorful bodies and hair, while incorporating their pony counterparts' "cutie marks" in their clothing. Along with licensed merchandise, Hasbro (through its subsidiary Allspark Animation) has commissioned several animated works to accompany the doll line, including four films, eight television specials, and multiple short-form series.
The setting of Equestria Girls is established as a parallel universe to the main world of Equestria in the 2010 incarnation of My Little Pony, populated by humanoid versions of the "Mane Six" and other characters; Hasbro's marketing materials describe them as "full-time students and part-time magical pony girls".
Contents
Premise
Equestria Girls takes place in an alternate version of Equestria resembling modern-day Earth, which is populated by humanoid counterparts to the pony characters of Friendship Is Magic. This world is accessible through a magical mirror that was once kept in the Crystal Empire, before being relocated to Twilight Sparkle's castle sometime later. In Equestria Girls media, pony characters from Friendship Is Magic who travel through the mirror assume humanoid forms in the alternate setting and vice versa.
Most Equestria Girls characters are similar to their Friendship Is Magic counterparts in terms of appearance and personality. Several locales in the parallel world serve as counterparts to the main cities and establishments in Equestria: Canterlot High School (CHS), for example, corresponds to Canterlot in Equestria, and is run by Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, who are counterparts of Equestria's rulers Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
Characters
The main characters are collectively referred to in merchandise as the "Equestria Girls". Beginning with Rainbow Rocks, they are also the members of a rock band called the "Rainbooms". In Legend of Everfree, they are granted magical abilities from geodes they discover at the titular camp.
Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara Strong, singing voice by Rebecca Shoichet) – Two different versions of Twilight Sparkle appear in the Equestria Girls franchise:
Princess Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn with wings who appeared in Friendship Is Magic, transformed into a humanoid teenager after traveling from Equestria. In Rainbow Rocks, she temporarily assumes the role of vocalist in the Rainbooms.
Twilight Sparkle (a.k.a. Sci-Twi), the alternate universe counterpart, formally debuts in Friendship Games as a student at Crystal Prep Academy, who eventually transfers to Canterlot High School after being saved by Sunset Shimmer from being transformed into her evil alter ego Midnight Sparkle. She joins the Rainbooms as a backup vocalist and has telekinetic powers.
Spike (voiced by Cathy Weseluck) – As with Twilight Sparkle, two versions of Spike have appeared in the franchise:
His Friendship Is Magic incarnation, a dragon, is transformed into a dog upon traveling through the portal from Equestria with Princess Twilight Sparkle. He retains the ability to speak in this form.
His alternate universe counterpart is an ordinary dog and Sci-Twi's pet, formally introduced in Friendship Games. He gains the ability to talk after exposure to Equestrian magic.
Sunset Shimmer (voiced by Rebecca Shoichet) – A unicorn from Equestria who resides in the parallel world as a CHS student. Originally the main antagonist of the first Equestria Girls film, she reforms and becomes the leader of the parallel world's counterparts of the main characters. She joins the Rainbooms as a rhythm guitarist and can read people's minds by physically touching them.
Development and release
The 2010 incarnation of the My Little Pony toy line and its associated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, despite targeting younger children, attracted an unexpected cult following of older male fans in their 20s and 30s, known as "bronies". Artwork produced by these fans included re-imaginings of the Friendship Is Magic cast as humans. Hasbro saw this art and came up with the idea of developing the spin-off with a similar aesthetic.
The earliest known official use of the "Equestria Girls" name occurred in 2011 when the American television channel The Hub (a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro; now known as Discovery Family) released a promotional trailer for Hasbro Studio's Friendship Is Magic television series, featuring a modified version of Katy Perry's "California Gurls". However, the trailer had no connection to the later-launched franchise.
In December 2012, Hasbro registered a trademark for the name "Equestria Girls" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The franchise was briefly mentioned in the media earlier in February and March 2013. In an interview in the February/March 2013 issue of the Kidscreen magazine, Hasbro's senior vice president of international distribution and development, Finn Arnesen, called My Little Pony a "top-priority" brand for the company; the film was described as "a new companion series" that would "[send] the pony heroes on a mission to a new world where they take on human form". Equestria Girls was announced in May 2013 with a film and other media strategies, and it was included in Hasbro's licensing program for My Little Pony announced in June 2013, which began at the 2013 Licensing International Expo along with the company's other properties. The spin-off coincided with the 30th anniversary of the My Little Pony brand.
Along with the toys, Hasbro planned to produce related merchandise and media including film, apparel, and accessories. Hasbro's chief marketing officer, John A. Frascotti, called the franchise a "major strategic initiative" for the company. The human-based toys were developed to appeal to girls in their teens as a means to extend the My Little Pony brand. In addition, Hasbro would continue its licensing deals with book publisher Little, Brown and Company and comic book publisher IDW Publishing to publish related works.
Toys and yearly line-ups
Equestria Girls (2013): The first lineup to be released, it features a humanized version of My Little Pony characters from the 2010 relaunch.
Rainbow Rocks (2014): The succeeding lineup named Rainbow Rocks, featuring music-themed toys and media, was first displayed at the 2014 American International Toy Fair.
Friendship Games (2015): In January 2015, at that year's edition of The Toy Fair in London, some merchandise was unveiled labeled My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games. Some vectors for the merchandise include Applejack and Fluttershy in archery outfits, an alternative universe counterpart of Twilight Sparkle, and five new characters introduced with the lineup: Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare. Mentions on the supporting products, alongside the film, were included in Hasbro's investor presentation at the 2015 American International Toy Fair.Wondercolts and Shadowbolts dolls were released in late 2015 in two varieties: "School Spirit" classic and "Sporty Style" deluxe. In the Sporty Style assortment, the Wondercolts' Fluttershy and Applejack and the Shadowbolts' Sour Sweet and Twilight Sparkle come with a bow and a quiver of arrows. The Wondercolts' Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer and the Shadowbolts' Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat come with motorcycle helmets and goggles. The Wondercolts' Pinkie Pie and Rarity and the Shadowbolts' Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare come with roller skates. A motocross bike was released in 2015.
Equestria Girls Minis (2015): A lineup featuring caricatured Equestria Girls characters.
Legend of Everfree (2016): First mentioned in a Hasbro 2016 Entertainment Plan presentation in August 2015 along with the tie-in film of the same title, a tentative image was shown of a new character whose name was not mentioned at the time. In February 2016, at the 2016 American International Toy Fair, some Legend of Everfree merchandise was revealed. Dolls unveiled were available in four styles: "Geometric Assortment", "Crystal Gala Assortment", "Crystal Wings Assortment" and "Boho Assortment". A new character by the name of Gloriosa Daisy was also revealed during the presentation. The toys were released in July 2016.
Equestria Girls: Better Together (2017–2020): An updated lineup featuring newly-re-styled caricatured Equestria Girls characters.
Media
Animated productions
Allspark Animation (previously credited under Hasbro Studios), a subsidiary of Hasbro, has commissioned the production of several animated films, specials, and shorts (except Equestria Girls Minis shorts). Most of the animated media were produced by DHX Studios Vancouver's 2D animation team in Canada, except the Canterlot Shorts from 2017, which were produced by Boulder Media in the Republic of Ireland (a company acquired by Hasbro in 2016).
The following works were produced under this scope:
A media tie-in to promote the Equestria Girls Minis toy line, the animated shorts ranging from 15 to 30 seconds in length were showcased on various online outlets including the toy line's official website and official YouTube channel beginning in late 2015.
The animation studio which produced the shorts is yet to be identified.
Publications
The following juvenile fiction chapter books are originally published by Little, Brown and Company imprint of Hachette Book Group USA. The Orchard Book's imprint of Hachette UK, as well as The Five Mile Press in Australia, also published the books. The dates listed are the American publish dates.
Other than the chapter books, the following books were also published by the LB Kids imprint.
A special short story, featuring the origins of Sunset Shimmer, was published in the IDW My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 2013 San Diego Comic-Con comic variant in July 2013. It also included additional stories in a stand-alone issue, titled My Little Pony Annual 2013: Equestria Girls, released on October 30, 2013.
An issue of IDW's Fiendship Is Magic features the Sirens, the evil creatures that appeared in Rainbow Rocks.
Live-action music videos
Up until the Friendship Games lineup, Hasbro has been releasing a series of live-action music videos to promote the toy line. The videos feature female dancers, dressed as the protagonists, dancing to the renditions of the song "Equestria Girls", a number heard in the first Equestria Girls film.
With the first lineup, Hasbro released a live-action music video, titled Magic of Friendship, on the Entertainment Weekly website on August 30, 2013, depicting seven teenage girls, as the six protagonists and Sunset Shimmer, doing a new dance routine called "The EG Stomp" in a school cafeteria to a shorter Toy Commercial version of the "Equestria Girls" song.
On February 20, 2014, Hasbro released a new live-action music video on its official website to coincide with the Rainbow Rocks lineup, depicting the protagonists in a rock band. The music video, also titled Rainbow Rocks, uses a rock version of the "Equestria Girls" song and portrays the protagonists performing the "EG Stomp". Through the Equestria Girls YouTube channel, another music video was released on August 4, 2014. It depicts four more teenage girls, each one dressed as the Dazzlings and DJ Pon-3 respectively. In February 2015, another music video titled "Rainbooms Remix" was released.
On August 14, 2015, the same year the Friendship Games lineup was launched, Hasbro released a live-action music video on its website, depicting five of the six protagonists as well as Sunset Shimmer in a sporting competition against Crystal Prep's Twilight Sparkle.
Video and website games
Promotional material of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls included a website called Hasbro's Equestria Girls that showcased the Mane Six along with introducing Sunset Shimmer as the antagonist.
The website hosted short descriptions of the main characters along with the main antagonists. In much of the advertising, the characters were portrayed with two different art styles, one portraying more of a Monster High art style and a more simplistic style that they ended up using for the films. Both art styles are depicted side by side along with snapshots from their respective movies, Equestria Girls, Rainbow Rocks, and The Friendship Games. The website also included different features such as snapshots of the film, and games based on their respective movies.
On October 15, 2013, Gameloft's My Little Pony mobile game was updated to include the Equestria Girls mini-game.
A Rainbow Rocks missile command-type mini-game was added to the Hasbro Arcade mobile app on April 8, 2014. On October 29, 2014, the mini-game was updated to include the Dazzlings with two songs from the film and one song from one of the live-action music videos.
On June 7, 2014, a Rainbow Rocks game titled "Repeat the Beat" was released on Hasbro's Equestria Girls website; almost two months later, two more games have been released on July 31, 2014, one of them being "Equestria Girls: Battle of the Bands" and the other being "Equestria Girls: V.I.F. (Very Important Friend)".
On August 4, 2015, a Friendship Games game titled "Archery Game" was released on Hasbro's Equestria Girls website.
Other merchandise
Soundtracks
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Soundtrack (2013)
Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks – Soundtrack (2014)
Equestria Girls: Friendship Games – Soundtrack (2015)
Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree – Soundtrack (2016)
The My Little Pony 2015 Convention Collection released for San Diego Comic-Con in 2015 contains select songs from the first two films: Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks.
Reception
There has been criticism over the anthropomorphism approach of the toy line, as well as the franchise overall. Before the Equestria Girls film's release, several mothers spoke to the New York Daily News stating concerns about the humanized characters, describing them as "too sexy", "anorexic", and "going back to the original Barbie" or "looking like Bratz dolls", and several feared allowing their children to be influenced by the looks. However, some considered it reasonable with other current media such as The Little Mermaid, with one parent stating she felt that it isn't "any worse than Ariel in a bikini top for two hours". Slate's Amanda Marcotte considered that the characters' change to humanoid form was to popularize Equestria Girls with the adult fanbase of Friendship Is Magic, who she claims "have expressed a strong interest in seeing the Ponies in sexy, humanized forms". However, many of these adult fans expressed disappointment in the announcement of the franchise and the characters, considering Equestria Girls to be trying to pander to this older audience, and that the approach "goes against everything that Pony was trying to prove". Craig McCracken, speaking for his wife Lauren Faust, Friendship Is Magic's creative showrunner for the first two seasons before stepping down, stated that McCracken felt she "wasn't the biggest fan" of Equestria Girls, opining that the approach of turning the pony characters into humanoids would have gone against the way she wanted to take the television series.
Being part of a toy line and media franchise from Hasbro, the criticism against commercialization was taken into account when reviewing the films and specials from the Equestria Girls series, whose reception has generally been mixed to positive for retaining the quality of the Friendship Is Magic television series. When reviewing the Friendship Games film, Mike Cahill of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "craven commercialism", but adding that "it's not unattractively designed, and its peppy collegiate spirit trumps the sappiness of Disney's Tinkerbell spin-offs". Conversely, Adam Lemuz of Geekscape gave the same film a four out of five, praising its animation, music, directing and writing. Sherilyn Connelly, published by McFarland & Company, complimented the films for having character-driven plots and argued that some journalists' and adult male My Little Pony fans' harsh criticisms of Equestria Girls arose from a misogynistic backlash against the idea of media that overtly starred characters meant to appeal to, resemble, and resonate with a young female audience.