Animated productions
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio (formerly known as Studio B Productions) in Vancouver, Canada, for Hasbro Studios (now Allspark) in the United States. The series premiered on Sunday, October 10, 2010 on The Hub (now Discovery Family), an American television channel partly owned by Hasbro. Friendship Is Magic was developed by Lauren Faust, who was a fan of the original property in her youth, and invented her own adventure stories for the toys in place of the stereotypical "girly" stories from the 1980s' features.[5] The series became the most successful show on The Hub,[6] popularized the brand, and gained a notable fan following.
An animated feature film based on the Friendship Is Magic characters was first announced on October 20, 2014, in an interview with Hasbro Studios CEO Stephen Davis by Variety. Released on October 6, 2017, in the United States,[7] the new My Little Pony: The Movie is Hasbro's first animated feature film from its Allspark Pictures film division. It was distributed worldwide by Lionsgate, with the exception of China.[8] Thiessen directed the film with McCarthy writing the film and act as the film's co-executive producer alongside Mike Vogel. Originally, Joe Ballarini was the scriptwriter for the film.[9]
The film concerns the "Mane Six" ponies – Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity – journeying beyond Equestria to stop a threat looming over their hometown of Ponyville.[10]
The main cast from Friendship Is Magic reprised their roles alongside original characters voiced by Kristin Chenoweth, Emily Blunt, Michael Peña, Uzo Aduba, Liev Schreiber, Taye Diggs, Sia, and Zoe Saldaña.[11][12][13][14]
Two television specials were produced during the period. My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever, a holiday season special animated at DHX Media's Vancouver 2D animation studio, was first broadcast in the United States on October 27, 2018 on Discovery Family. Another special, My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip, was animated at Boulder Media (an Irish studio which Hasbro acquired in 2016) and broadcast on June 29, 2019 on Discovery Family.
My Little Pony: Pony Life, another animated television series commissioned by Allspark Animation, premiered in the United States on November 7, 2020 on Discovery Family. The series, which succeeds Friendship Is Magic, features ponies in a caricatured appearance. The cast of six main characters in Friendship Is Magic have reprised their roles in the new series. Hasbro also plans to release additional animated shorts on My Little Pony's official YouTube channel.
- My Little Pony animated productions
Interactive software
In conjunction with Ruckus Media, Hasbro released an iOS application Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day in October 2011. It gives children practice in reading, incorporating mini-games.[15] Several eBooks based on Friendship Is Magic, including story versions of the Ruckus applications, have been released for the Barnes & Noble Nook, in partnership with Hasbro.[16]
Hasbro has licensed Gameloft to create Friendship Is Magic video games for mobile devices, with the first game, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, reaching the market on November 8, 2012.[17] The first game is a village-building game, featuring action-based mini-games for iOS and Android devices.[18] Though the game is aimed at younger players, Gameloft's Barnabé Anglade stated that there are nods to the show's brony fandom, such as the inclusion of fan-favorite characters and popular background ponies.
Comics
The American My Little Pony comics are published by IDW Publishing under license from Hasbro. The first issue of the flagship title, Friendship Is Magic, was published in November 2012, and has proven a highly successful venture with a larger circulation than most competing titles. The series is written by Katie Cook and illustrated by Andy Price.[20] The first issue, by early October, had already gained over 90,000 pre-orders, making it a better seller than other comics for that month.[21] By early November, the title had exceeded 100,000 pre-orders, and IDW committed to a second run of the issue to meet the additional demand.[22] The first issue features 19 different covers, most exclusive to specific comic book shops and chains and only available in limited numbers.[23] The comic, through its first eight issues, remains IDW's most successful title, and along with The Walking Dead, remain one of the few non-DC
