Taglines: Discover a different breed of hero.
After a dark force conquers Canterlot, the Mane 6 – Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity – embark on an unforgettable journey beyond Equestria where they meet new friends and exciting challenges on a quest to use the magic of friendship to save their homeland.
My Little Pony: The Movie is a 2017 animated musical fantasy film based on the television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was developed as part of the 2010 re-launch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen and based on a story and screenplay co-written by Meghan McCarthy, both Friendship Is Magic veterans. In addition to the series’ regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain and Cathy Weseluck, the film also features the voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana as new characters.
The film was produced by Allspark Pictures and DHX Media, using traditional animation created with Toon Boom Harmony. It premiered in New York City on September 24, 2017, and was released on October 6, 2017 in the United States and Canada through Lionsgate.
My Little Pony: The Movie has grossed $21.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $31 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $52.9 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was expected to gross between $10 million and $17 million from 2,528 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $3 million on its first day, including $290,000 from Thursday night previews.
It ended up opening to $8.9 million finishing 4th at the box office behind Blade Runner 2049, The Mountain Between Us and It. Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew stated that, despite the opening being considered a disappointment, any reasonable return from the film would be seen as a positive by Hasbro because it is tied to the toy line. The film dropped 54% in its second weekend, making $4.1 million and falling to 9th. Its biggest markets outside North America are the UK with $4.8 million, Russia with $2.3 million, and Germany with $2.3 million.
In the Land of Equestria, at the capital city of Canterlot, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, that form the Mane 6 (Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) and Spike the baby dragon, are getting ready for the Friendship Festival. There, Twilight is feeling overwhelmed organizing the event as the Princess of Friendship, especially since her fellow princesses, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance, decline her more grandiose proposals. However, her friends sing a song to encourage her. With such support, the festival gets underway.
However, a fleet of dark airships led by the renegade unicorn, Tempest, soon arrives and demands the Ponies surrender. When the Princesses refuse, as Tempest had hoped, her forces quickly overwhelm Canterlot’s defenses including magically freezes/encases almost all the Princesses in stone. Twilight almost shares that fate, but for Rainbow Dash saving Twilight just in time while the cross-eyed pegasus, Derpy Hooves, sacrifices herself taking the blow, providing a critical few minutes distraction for the Mane 6 to escape.
Twilight and her friends escape after hearing Celestia’s last words to Luna “Go South past the badlands to find the Queen of the Hyppo-” just before she is cut off just as she is encased in stone. Twilight thinks they need to find the Queen of the Hippos, and set off while Tempest learns of their escape.
After an arduous trek through the desert badlands, they find a forbidding city. It has many monsters that sell other animals and after Pinkie Pie, against Twilight’s advice, foolishly calls attention to themselves to request help, the Mane 6 are surrounded by the denizens of the city desiring to exploit them. However, a charming humanoid cat called Capper comes and saves them. After secretly arranging a message to be sent to a creditor that he will have something to offer to settle his debt, Capper lures the Mane 6 to his home offering to help them both considering shelter and claiming to have information about the location the “Hippos” they seek, over Twilight’s suspicious objections about trusting a complete stranger.
Once there, Rarity, the most trusting of all of Capper, surprises the cat by repairing and improving his suit, in an act of selfless generosity he cannot comprehend, while Twilight finds a map showing that it is not the Queen of the Hippos they are looking for, but the Queen of the Hyppogryphs. Realizing that Capper was being untruthful to them, Twilight’s suspicions are confirmed when Capper’s creditor arrives to take the Mane 6 into slavery as recompense for Capper’s debt. Meanwhile, Tempest has arrived in the city in pursuit of the princess, and arrives at Capper’s house seconds after his creditor did.
As Tempest violently subdues the criminal when he attempts to enslave her, the Mane 6 flee in the confusion until they reach the airship docks and desperately stowaway in a departing an airship. Meanwhile, frustrated at her quarry escaping again, Tempest demands that Capper tell her where the Mane 6 are going. Although obviously frightened by Tempest’s threats, Capper is reminded by Rarity’s repairs to his coat of how goodhearted the Mane 6 are and confesses a false destination to throw Tempest off their trail. Unfortunately, Tempest forces Capper to accompany them to prove his story true.
On the airship, the Mane 6 are discovered by its crew under the command of Captain Calaeno. They crew is just about to toss them overboard when the lunch signal is sounded and they immediately break to have lunch with Mane 6 invited to the table. Moving past this strange professionalism and generosity, Rainbow Dash finds out that they used to be pirates before The Storm King forced them to become delivery birds.
Delighted to meet actual pirates, Rainbow sings an encouraging song that restores the Pirates’ mojo and they throw off the shackles of their servitude to the Stormking. However, at this exciting development, Dash overdoes her adulation over Twilight’s objections and performs a Sonic Rainboom, a bright rainbow colored shockwave, that alerts the pursuing Tempest of their position.
My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
Directed by: Jayson Thiessen
Starring: Uzo Aduba, Ashleigh Ball, Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Taye Diggs, Andrea Libman, Michael Peña, Zoe Saldana, Liev Schreiber, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong, Cathy Weseluck
Screenplay by: Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao, Michael Vogel
Cinematography by: Anthony Di Ninno
Film Editing by: Braden Oberson
Art Direction by: Rebecca Dart
Music by: Daniel Ingram
MPAA Rating: PG for mild action.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: October 6, 2017
