My Little Pony: A New Generation
My Little Pony: A New Generation is a 2021 animated adventure comedy film directed by Robert Cullen and José Luis Ucha, and co-directed by Mark Fattibene, from a screenplay by Gillian Berrow and Tim Sullivan from Cecil Kramer and Peter Lewis as producers with a story by Cullen, Ucha and Sullivan. Based on Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise, the film marks the beginning of the fifth incarnation of the franchise, which serves as the official sequel to the previous generation, a first for the franchise. The film also marks Boulder Media's only feature film. It features the voices of Vanessa Hudgens, Kimiko Glenn, James Marsden, Sofia Carson, Liza Koshy, Ken Jeong, Elizabeth Perkins, Jane Krakowski, Michael McKean, and Phil LaMarr. A New Generation is set many years after the events of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, in a magic-less era where the story of Twilight Sparkle and her friends is considered a myth, and the three pony kinds – earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns – have grown apart, living separated from one another in paranoia and prejudice. The film tells the story of an earth pony Sunny Starscout who embarks on a quest to reunite all pony kinds and restore magic to the land after meeting the unicorn Izzy Moonbow.
It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2021. Originally set to be released theatrically by Paramount Pictures, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was instead released in most countries on Netflix on September 24, 2021, while still being theatrically released in several Asian countries. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics for its message, though its pacing and writing received some criticism, and was the most-viewed film on Netflix in October 2021. Two sequel series, My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale and My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, premiered through YouTube and Netflix respectfully in 2022, while a sing-along version of the film was released on July 18, 2022.
Plot
In the earth pony town of Maretime Bay, Argyle Starshine teaches his daughter Sunny Starscout about tales of old Equestria when earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns lived in harmony. Although most earth ponies dismiss these ideas as myths and now live in fear of the other races, Sunny hopes that all races can make amends and live in harmony.Years later, Sunny continuously tries to change the minds of the other earth ponies, disrupting a showcase of anti-pegasi and unicorn technology by factory owner Phyllis Cloverleaf. Hitch Trailblazer, Sunny's childhood friend and sheriff of Maretime Bay, pulls her away and prepares to send her back home with the warning that she is jeopardizing their friendship with her activities. Suddenly, a unicorn named Izzy Moonbow wanders into the town. While most of the earth ponies flee, Sunny befriends Izzy and quickly takes her to her home to hide from Hitch and his deputy Sprout, Phyllis' son. Learning from Izzy that unicorns have lost their magic and that the pegasi may be to blame, Sunny travels with her to the pegasus city of Zephyr Heights in order to ask for their help. The two elude Hitch and flee town, and Hitch leaves Sprout in charge while he pursues them. Sprout names himself sheriff and eventually becomes a dictator-like leader, turning the residents of Maretime Bay into a hostile mob and commandeering his mother's factory to construct a war machine.
Sunny and Izzy are caught in Zephyr Heights and taken to meet Queen Haven and her two daughters, Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm, who seem to be the only pegasi who can fly. When Sunny starts asking about magic, Haven has them imprisoned in the castle dungeon. Zipp secretly visits them there and tells them that the pegasi have also lost their magic and cannot fly, and the royal family uses wires to give the illusion of flight. She helps them escape and takes them to an abandoned transit station that Sunny realizes was used by all pony races in the past. Sunny finds a set of stained glass windows depicting two crystals – one of which is set in Haven's crown – that may fit together and bring back the magic. The three concoct a plan to steal the crown during Pipp's performance that night. Hitch's arrival triggers a series of mishaps that reveal the royals' inability to fly; Haven is arrested, and the sisters are forced to flee. While Pipp is initially angry with her sister, she returns the crystal and helps the group escape the city. Hitch overcomes his own prejudices and offers to help Sunny in her effort to reunite the pony races.
Izzy escorts the group to her home in the forest village of Bridlewood and disguises them as unicorns before leading them to Alphabittle, who holds the unicorn crystal. Sunny wins it from him in a dance competition, but loses her disguise as she celebrates. As the group flees with the two crystals, they come across Haven, who has also escaped. Sunny and Izzy try to put the two crystals together, but they have no effect. Dejected, Sunny gives back the crystals and returns to Maretime Bay with Hitch.
While packing up her childhood toys, Sunny finds a third crystal intended to join with the other two, built into a lamp her father had made for her. As she races to tell Hitch, they discover that Sprout has turned the entire town to his side and is piloting his war machine to attack the other pony races. Sunny and Hitch rush back to her home as Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Haven, and Alphabittle arrive. Gathering the crystals, Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp try to put them together while Hitch and Zipp hold off Sprout's machine. Phyllis orders Sprout to stop, but he refuses and crashes into Sunny's home, destroying it and the frame in which the crystals must be set. Phyllis, Haven, Alphabittle, and Sunny's friends put aside their differences and come together to comfort her amid the rubble. In response, the crystals activate, temporarily transforming Sunny into an alicorn, giving her a new hairstyle with colored bangs, and restoring magic across the land. Sunny and her friends celebrate as the ponies of all three races cooperate to fix the damage done by Sprout and a new era of peace begins.
Cast
- Vanessa Hudgens as Sunny Starscout, an adventurous and virtuous earth pony-turned-alicorn who enjoys roller skating and wants all pony kinds to get along, and tries to return magic to the world in order to unite the three types of ponies as equals
- Kimiko Glenn as Izzy Moonbow, an energetic and curious unicorn from the Bridlewood Forest that loves crafting, who is the first non-earth pony Sunny befriended
- James Marsden as Hitch Trailblazer, an earth pony who is the kind and hard-working sheriff at Maretime Bay and Sunny's childhood friend
- Sofia Carson as Pipp Petals, a Pegasus princess from Zephyr Heights who is a talented pop icon and loves to be a good influence on others and entertain other ponies with her music
- Liza Koshy as Zephyrina "Zipp" Storm, Pipp's older sister and a rebellious Pegasus princess from Zephyr Heights who enjoys athletics and science
- Ken Jeong as Sprout Cloverleaf, an earth pony stallion, Phyllis' son, and deputy sheriff to Hitch at Maretime Bay
- * Alan Schmuckler provides Sprout's singing voice.
- Elizabeth Perkins as Phyllis Cloverleaf, an earth pony who owns Canterlogic, a company specializing in products to keep earth ponies "safe and stylish"
- Jane Krakowski as Queen Haven, a pegasus who is the mother of Pipp and Zipp and the monarch of Zephyr Heights
- Michael McKean as Argyle Starshine, Sunny's late father who tells her stories about Twilight Sparkle and her friends
- Phil LaMarr as Alphabittle Blossomforth, a unicorn stallion from the Bridlewood Forest who runs a tea room
Production
Development
In February 2019, it was reported that Hasbro was developing an animated My Little Pony feature film. Reports later said that the film would mark the beginning of the franchise's fifth-generation, which was confirmed on September 17, 2020; My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic creator Lauren Faust first hinted that Hasbro was working on the fifth incarnation in 2018, when she denied any involvement on the franchise's next incarnation. On October 8, 2020, it was reported that the fifth incarnation, including the film, would center on a new set of characters, though with the possibility of characters from the previous incarnation appearing.On January 29, 2021, Emily Thompson, Entertainment One's VP of global brand management, revealed that the film would be set in the same world as the fourth incarnation of the franchise, while still serving as the first entry in the fifth incarnation, being set years after the events depicted in the previous incarnation. Thompson explained that her decision was made because the producers felt it would have "felt wrong" not to further explore the lore and worldbuilding established by the fourth incarnation.
On February 12, 2021, it was reported that the founder of Boulder Media, Robert Cullen, along with José Ucha would serve as directors, with Mark Fattibene set to co-direct the film. Cecil Kramer and Peter Lewis were also announced as producers for the film. Executive producers include former Friendship Is Magic co-showrunner and writer Meghan McCarthy and Allspark Animation president Stephen Davis.