My Little Pony: The Movie (2017 film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids My Little Pony: The Movie |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jayson Thiessen |
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| Music by | Daniel Ingram |
| Cinematography | Anthony Di Ninno |
| Editing by | Braden Oberson |
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| Release date(s) | September 24, 2017 (New York City) October 6, 2017 (United States and Canada) |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Money made | $61.3 million |
My Little Pony: The Movie is a 2017 animated musical fantasy film based on the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was developed as part of the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro. Directed by Jayson Thiessen from a story and screenplay by Meghan McCarthy (both Friendship Is Magic veterans), the plot follows the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, her five pony friends – collectively known as the "Mane 6" – and her dragon friend Spike embarking on a quest to save their home of Equestria from an evil conqueror while gaining new friends in the process. In addition to the show's regular voice cast reprising their roles, the film features the voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba, and Zoe Saldana as new characters.
My Little Pony: The Movie 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 North America by Lionsgate, and in Canada by Entertainment One Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $61 million worldwide on a $6.5 million budget.
Plot
The ponies of Equestria prepare for their first Friendship Festival, overseen by Princess Twilight Sparkle in Canterlot. The festivities are interrupted by the army of an evil conqueror called the Storm King, led by his second-in-command, a unicorn named Tempest Shadow, who is under orders to capture Equestria's princesses for him to harness their magic in exchange for restoring her broken horn. Twilight escapes being petrified by Tempest's magical orbs after Princess Celestia gives Princess Luna incomplete instructions to seek help from "the queen of the hippo" beyond Equestria. Joined by her friends Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike, Twilight sets out to find the "hippos".
Twilight and her friends travel to the desert city of Klugetown, where a feline con artist named Capper offers to escort them, secretly intending to sell them to settle a debt. As Capper begins to develop a genuine friendship with them, Twilight discovers an atlas that reveals the "hippos" to be hippogriffs, exposing Capper's treachery. When Tempest arrives in pursuit of Twilight, the group evades her aboard a delivery airship run by birdlike pirates, whom Rainbow Dash persuades to take them to the hippogriffs' kingdom on Mount Aris. In a moment of over-excitement, Rainbow Dash performs a Sonic Rainboom that accidentally gives their location away to Tempest, forcing the group to reach Mount Aris in a makeshift hot air balloon.
While exploring the hippogriffs' deserted kingdom, Twilight and her friends are saved from drowning in an underwater cavern by the seapony Princess Skystar, who leads them to her undersea home of Seaquestria. Skystar reveals her kind to be the hippogriffs, transformed by a magic pearl used by her mother, Queen Novo, to hide from the Storm King. When Novo denies them the pearl to use against the Storm King, Twilight desperately attempts to steal it while letting her friends unknowingly distract the sea ponies. Her plan backfires when she triggers an alarm before Pinkie can persuade Novo to give them the pearl, resulting in the entire group getting banished to the surface. After disowning her friends during a heated argument, Twilight is kidnapped by Tempest, who gains her sympathy upon revealing how the loss of her horn as a filly after an ursa minor attack destabilized her magic and caused her own friends to shun her. Meanwhile, Twilight's friends return to Canterlot to rescue her with the help of Capper, the pirates, and Skystar.
In Canterlot, Tempest delivers Twilight to the Storm King, who absorbs the princesses' magic to empower his mystical Staff of Sacanas and conjure a powerful storm against Twilight's friends, betraying Tempest as well. Twilight saves Tempest and Twilight's friends blast themselves from Pinkie's giant party canon to get through the storm. Twilight and her friends reconcile and they help her take the staff and end the storm. The Storm King hurls a magical orb at the group to petrify them, but Tempest jumps in his way, turning them both into stone. The Storm King's body falls and shatters, while the group uses the staff to revive Tempest, who returns the stolen magic to restore the princesses and the damaged city. The Friendship Festival resumes, and the ponies celebrate with all of the allies Twilight and her friends have made on their adventure. Encouraged by Twilight, Tempest joins in by producing a fireworks display with her broken horn, and accepts the group's friendship.
Cast
- Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle, an intelligent alicorn who is Equestria's Princess of Friendship, responsible for spreading friendship and harmony across the kingdom. She is the leader of the "Mane 6" ponies.
- Rebecca Shoichet performs Twilight Sparkle's singing voice.
- Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, two of the "Mane 6"; Rainbow Dash is a loyal pegasus with an adventurous spirit, and Applejack is an honest apple farmer pony.
- Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, two of the "Mane 6"; Pinkie Pie is a party-obsessed pony filled with joy and laughter, and Fluttershy is a kind and timid pegasus who cares for animals.
- Shannon Chan-Kent performs Pinkie Pie's singing voice.
- Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a generous fashion designer unicorn and one of the "Mane 6".
- Kazumi Evans performs Rarity's singing voice.
- Cathy Weseluck as Spike, a baby dragon and Twilight Sparkle's assistant.
- Emily Blunt as Tempest Shadow / Fizzlepop Berrytwist, an embittered unicorn who serves as the Storm King's second-in-command in order to repair her broken horn. On the development of the character, screenwriter Meghan McCarthy said, "We just arrived at this idea of a character who had come from Equestria, and had not had the positive experience that Twilight [Sparkle] and her friends had. It felt like a good counterpart to our heroes was to have a villain who didn't just not get friendship, but had a reason that she didn't understand it." McCarthy also called Blunt's performance "a big influence" on how the character was animated in the film.
- Michael Peña as Grubber, a wisecracking hedgehog and Tempest Shadow's cohort. McCarthy said that Grubber "needed to be goofy" to counterpoint the "very straight-laced, hardcore" Tempest. Peña ad-libbed much of the character's dialogue, with McCarthy saying, "You get Michael Peña in a recording booth, and you just are like, 'Please just go and say funny things.' He will be there for hours, just giving you all kinds of really great material that was not something that we had originally scripted!"
- Liev Schreiber as the Storm King, the despotic, satyr-like leader of the storm creatures who conquers lands in search of powerful magic to control the weather. On his acceptance of the role, Schreiber said that he wanted something child-friendly for his kids to watch, noting his repertoire of violent, adult-oriented films. Comparing his character to Basil Rathbone, Schreiber said the Storm King "is prone to temper tantrums, and he's a little crazy. He has a wide range of behaviors." He considers the character to be "one of the more intense roles [he's] played".
- Taye Diggs as Capper, an anthropomorphic alley cat who is a cunning yet good-hearted con artist. Diggs, who was excited to appear in an animated film, says, "I'm very movement-oriented, so just looking at the way Capper is positioned, the expressions on his face, all enhances my performance. It's really cool."
- Zoe Saldana as Captain Celaeno, an anthropomorphic parrot and jaded pirate captain who is relegated to the Storm King's delivery service. Saldana says Celaeno "cares for her crew", adding, "She's a responsible, thoughtful, and empathetic leader. That's a terrific, very poignant message to give to children about leadership – that it's okay for you to want to be a leader as long as you know that the responsibilities that come along with it."
- Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Skystar, an excitable hippogriff and magically transformed seapony princess. Chenoweth said of her character, "Let's just say she's been locked up for a while and is longing for friends." She joked that she dabbled in method acting for the role, making sure her hair was "on point for every recording session".
- Uzo Aduba as Queen Novo, the benevolent ruler of the hippogriffs-turned-seaponies, and Princess Skystar's mother. The character is described by Chenoweth as "loving but also a little too strict and stern". Detailing her role, Aduba says, "She [wants] to protect her group to the best of her ability, and [wants] to create a life of peace and stability. She doesn't take any nonsense, and will do everything in her power to protect her family."
- Sia as Songbird Serenade, a pegasus and famous pop star in Equestria. The character's design is modeled after Sia's likeness.
Nicole Oliver, St. Germain, and Britt McKillip reprise their respective roles from Friendship Is Magic as alicorns Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. St. Germain also voices Granny Smith, Applejack's grandmother, and Muffins, a cross-eyed gray pegasus. Michelle Creber and Peter New voice Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh, Applejack's younger sister and older brother, respectively. Michael Dobson voices Bulk Biceps, a muscular pegasus. Samuel Vincent voices Party Favor, a balloonist unicorn.
Adam Bengis voices Code Red, one of the Canterlot ponies. Brian Dobson voices Verko, a mole-rat crime boss in Klugetown. Max Martini, Mark Oliver, and Nicole Oliver respectively perform as three of Captain Celaeno's parrot-like crew: Boyle, first mate Mullet, and Lix Spittle. Michael Dobson, Andrew McNee, Tegan Moss, Sabrina Pitre, Rhona Rees, and Vincent all feature as assorted citizens of Canterlot. Richard Ian Cox, Michael Dobson, McNee, New, and Nicole Oliver also perform as denizens of Klugetown. Additional voices are provided by Alistair Abell, Caitlyn Bairstow, Julia Benson, Christine Chatelain, Brian Dobson, Paul Dobson, Rondel Reynoldson, Jason Simpson, Sarah Troyer, and Siobhan Williams.
See also
In Spanish: My Little Pony: La película para niños
