However, in the United States and Canada, the first two films, Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks, had limited theatrical screenings in select cities before they were released on home media (by Shout! Factory for the region) and broadcast on television. Hasbro Studios listed the films as "TV specials" in the company's sales guide. The first two films were written by Meghan McCarthy and directed by Jayson Thiessen the third film was written by Josh Haber and directed by Ishi Rudell the fourth film was written by Kristine Songco and Joanna Lewis, and directed by Ishi Rudell. The films were then followed by the animated specials beginning in 2017 (the year My Little Pony: The Movie, a wide release animated feature film, was distributed by Lionsgate Films). Films (2013–2016) įour Equestria Girls animated feature films, each lasting around 70 minutes, were released between 20, promoting the year's particular line-up of Equestria Girls dolls. McCarthy stated that with the Equestria Girls setting, "we might explore different aspects of relationships that in the pony world don't quite work the same as they do when you set it in a high school setting", thus making the work more appealing to older girls that are in high or junior high school. To maintain continuity of the films with the Friendship Is Magic television series, Hasbro used the same writing staff as the show, including the story editor Meghan McCarthy, who considered the story to be "an extension of our mythology". However, the Canterlot Shorts portions of the so-called Summertime Shorts were produced by Boulder Media, an animation studio located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, that Hasbro acquired in 2016. DHX Studios Vancouver's 2D animation team, part of Canadian company DHX Media's DHX Studios division, produced most of animations. "Sci-Twi").Īllspark Animation (previsiously credited as Hasbro Studios), a subsidiary of Hasbro responsible for non-toy multimedia strategies, commissioned the productions. Friendship Games formally introduced the parallel world counterpart of Twilight Sparkle ( a.k.a. Later works put Sunset Shimmer, introduced in the first film as the major antagonist who betrayed her former teacher Princess Celestia but later reformed, in a reading role in place of Equestria's Twilight Sparkle. Together, with the counterparts of her pony friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, along with her assistant Spike, Twilight will have to deal with the various magical happenings in Canterlot High that originate from the mirror portal. The first film, Equestria Girls, follows Equestria's Twilight Sparkle in the parallel world, which is accessed through a magic mirror.
My little pony equestria girls movie magic series#
The media additionally features alternate humanoid versions of pony characters in roles similar to the counterparts in Equestria characters as depicted in the Friendship Is Magic television series who travel between worlds assume similar forms in the alternative setting. 2.3.3 Better Together shorts (2017–2020)Īs with the toy line, the animations are primarily set in a fictional world parallel to the pony-inhabited fantasy setting of the 2010 incarnation of My Little Pony, accessible via a magic mirror.2.3.1 Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games complementary shorts (2014–2015).2.2.3 Rollercoaster of Friendship (2018).