Equestria Girls: The History of Hasbro's Beautiful Mess

Darling Dollz
9 Jan 202349:21

Summary

TLDR《小马宝莉:友谊魔法》自2010年推出以来,不仅赢得了目标年轻女孩市场,还吸引了大量成年观众,形成了独特的“Bronies”亚文化。2013年,孩之宝推出了以人类青少年女孩形象为主的《小马国女孩》系列,虽然起初受到质疑,但随着时间的推移,该系列通过电影和时尚娃娃产品线逐渐找到了自己的定位。《小马国女孩》的故事围绕主要角色在人类世界的冒险展开,虽然产品设计上有所争议,但系列凭借其独特的魅力和创新的故事情节,成为了一个值得纪念的特许经营产品。

Takeaways

  • 🌟 2010年,孩之宝推出了第四代热门玩具系列《小马宝莉》,随后推出了以人类青少年女孩形象为主的《小马国女孩》(Equestria Girls)系列。
  • 🎬 《小马国女孩》系列起初受到了一些质疑,被认为是孩之宝的一次商业行为,但随着时间的推移,该系列逐渐找到了自己的定位。
  • 👧 该系列的目标受众是青少年女孩,但也意外地吸引了大量成年男性粉丝,即所谓的“Bronies”。
  • 🎥 《小马国女孩》电影系列与《小马宝莉:友谊就是魔法》(Friendship is Magic)保持了一定的连贯性,但各自发展了独立的故事情节。
  • 💃 系列中的时尚娃娃设计起初被批评为缺乏创意和吸引力,但后续的产品在设计上有所改进。
  • 🎤 音乐是《小马国女孩》系列的一个亮点,许多电影中的歌曲受到了粉丝的喜爱。
  • 🌈 系列中的《彩虹摇滚》(Rainbow Rocks)被认为是最成功的电影之一,因为它具有独特的反派角色和音乐元素。
  • 🏆 尽管《小马国女孩》的娃娃销量未能达到预期,但其动画作品和电影仍然拥有一定的粉丝基础。
  • 🔄 随着《小马宝莉》系列的更新换代,孩之宝尝试了不同的产品线,如迷你版《小马国女孩》和时尚小队(Fashion Squad)系列。
  • 🎁 2019年,随着《小马宝莉》进入第五代,孩之宝停止了《小马国女孩》系列的新产品开发,标志着该系列的结束。
  • 🌐 尽管《小马国女孩》系列已经结束,但它作为一个独特的文化现象,仍然在粉丝心中占有一席之地。

Q & A

  • 《我的小马驹:友谊魔法》第四代在2010年推出,它的成功对市场产生了什么影响?

    -《我的小马驹:友谊魔法》第四代不仅成功地吸引了他们最初目标的年轻女孩市场,还赢得了大量成年人的关注,从而诞生了一个完整的亚文化——Bronies。

  • Equestria Girls系列是如何诞生的?

    -Equestria Girls系列是作为《我的小马驹:友谊魔法》的一个衍生产品线诞生的,它聚焦于主要角色作为人类青少年女孩的形象,而非马的形象。

  • Equestria Girls系列在最初发布时面临了哪些挑战?

    -Equestria Girls系列在最初发布时面临了来自Bronies社区的抵触,他们对时尚娃娃品牌持反感态度,并且对于这个系列似乎更倾向于年轻女孩而非成年男性感到疏远。此外,公众对这个系列的预期并不高,普遍认为这是Hasbro为了迎合Bronies而做出的一个没有灵魂的商业行为。

  • Equestria Girls系列的第一部电影《彩虹瀑布》的情节是什么?

    -第一部电影《彩虹瀑布》的情节涉及Twilight Sparkle追逐新反派Sunset Shimmer,后者偷走了她的皇冠并逃到了一个没有魔法的平行维度,那里的每个人都是人类。Twilight学会了如何作为青少年女孩行动,并与其它主要角色的人类版本交朋友,引入魔法到人类世界并最终拯救了世界。

  • Equestria Girls系列的娃娃在设计上有哪些特点?

    -Equestria Girls系列的娃娃设计简单,便于动画制作和宣传材料的再现,所有角色几乎都穿着相同的服装,具有相似的轮廓。此外,它们的肤色比他们作为马的形象的颜色略浅,这是为了保持一定的连贯性。

  • Equestria Girls系列的第二部电影《彩虹摇滚》有哪些亮点?

    -《彩虹摇滚》是一部音乐主题电影,包含11首完整的歌曲。该片的情节围绕一个新的反派三人组——海妖,她们用歌声操纵每个人互相战斗,以便她们能够通过负面能量获取食物。Twilight和她的朋友们必须学会如何利用在上一部电影中获得的魔法来打败海妖。

  • Equestria Girls系列的娃娃在市场上的表现如何?

    -尽管Equestria Girls系列的娃娃在设计和质量上受到了一些批评,但它们仍然相对便宜、易于收集,并且得到了已经庞大的媒体特许经营的支持,因此找到了一群忠实的观众。

  • Equestria Girls系列的第三部电影《友谊游戏》的情节有哪些特点?

    -《友谊游戏》的情节围绕人类Twilight Sparkle展开,她和朋友们参与了一个学校运动比赛。电影引入了一个新的对手团队——Shadowbolts,但这些角色并没有得到很好的利用,电影的焦点更多地放在动作场面和紧张气氛的构建上。

  • Equestria Girls系列的第四部电影《传奇自由》的情节和特点是什么?

    -《传奇自由》的情节发生在一个夏令营中,主角们发现那里是奇怪和危险魔法事件的中心。电影的特点是较低的风险感,以及对前几部电影情节的重复,例如Rarity的情节与《彩虹摇滚》中的相似,而人类Twilight的情节则直接取自Sunset Shimmer之前的角色弧线。

  • Equestria Girls系列在2017年之后有哪些新的发展?

    -2017年之后,Equestria Girls系列开始转向短小的网络剧集和更长的动画特别节目。这些剧集和特别节目由Ishi Riddell导演,Jillian M Barrow主要编写,它们与电影保持连续性,但由于是短小的网络剧集,所以情节并不像电影那样重。

  • Equestria Girls系列的最终结局是什么?

    -Equestria Girls系列的最终结局并不是一个完整的长篇特别节目,而是一系列独立的短片集合,名为《假日解封》,每部短片大约七分钟,主题围绕冬季和节日。最后一部官方的Equestria Girls媒体是一部音乐视频,为庆祝国际妇女节而发布。

Outlines

00:00

🎉 我的小马驹:友谊魔法的诞生与影响

这段落回顾了2010年孩之宝推出的第四代流行玩具品牌'我的小马驹',并重点介绍了'Equestria Girls'这个以时尚娃娃系列和伴随电影系列为代表的衍生品牌。这个系列将主要角色设定为人类青少年女孩而非马驹形象。视频制作者分享了自己对这个系列发布时的紧密关注,并表达了回顾这个系列的起源、电影和背景的兴趣。同时,提到了'我的小马驹'G4的历史和成功,以及它如何吸引了大量成年观众,从而产生了所谓的'Bronies'亚文化。

05:01

🌟 Equestria Girls系列的起步与挑战

这段落讨论了Equestria Girls系列的初期挑战,包括角色设计、市场定位以及与Monster High的竞争。视频制作者提到了最初的角色设计受到了混合反响,指出了设计上的简单性以及与马驹原型的肤色相似性。同时,提到了Bronies群体对于时尚娃娃品牌的矛盾态度,以及公众对这个新系列的怀疑。尽管如此,Equestria Girls的首部电影在2013年6月发布,并取得了一定的成功。

10:02

🎬 电影与娃娃:Equestria Girls系列的扩展

这段落继续探讨了Equestria Girls系列的发展,特别是电影与娃娃之间的联系。视频制作者提到,尽管第一版Equestria Girls娃娃的设计并不出色,但电影和娃娃还是取得了足够的成功,促使孩之宝继续推出新的产品。2013年晚些时候,推出了第二批以音乐为主题的娃娃系列'Rainbow Rocks',并且开始发布具有更好关节活动的娃娃,以与Monster High竞争。

15:04

🎶 音乐与剧情:Equestria Girls系列的成熟

这段落聚焦于Equestria Girls系列中的两部音乐主题电影——'Rainbow Rocks'和'Friendship Games'。视频制作者赞扬了'Rainbow Rocks'的音乐和剧情,并认为它是系列中最好的电影。同时,提到了'Friendship Games'虽然不如前作,但仍具有一定的娱乐性。此外,还讨论了这些电影中的角色发展和剧情设定,以及它们如何未能充分利用新引入的角色。

20:06

🏆 竞争与合作:Equestria Girls系列的竞技精神

这段落讲述了Equestria Girls系列中的'Friendship Games'电影和相关娃娃系列。视频制作者表达了对娃娃设计混乱和缺乏吸引力的失望,同时提到了电影中的新角色——Shadow Bolts队,以及它们如何未能在电影中得到充分利用。尽管如此,'Friendship Games'电影仍然保持了一定的动作和紧张感,特别是在关注竞技和团队合作的主题上。

25:09

🎉 新阶段:Equestria Girls系列的转变与重启

这段落描述了Equestria Girls系列进入新阶段的变化,包括新的电视特别节目和娃娃系列的重启。视频制作者提到了2016年的'Legend of Everfree'电影和相关的娃娃系列,以及它们在市场上的表现。同时,讨论了2017年开始的短篇网络剧集和更长的动画特辑,以及它们如何继续沿用电影的情节,但以更轻松的方式呈现。

30:10

🌈 时尚与友谊:Equestria Girls系列的时尚娃娃回归

这段落探讨了Equestria Girls时尚娃娃系列的重启,以及它们在市场上的表现。视频制作者提到了新娃娃的设计变化,以及它们与动画模型的差异。同时,讨论了新系列的娃娃销售情况,以及它们如何未能继续下去。此外,还提到了2018年的电视特别节目'Forgotten Friendship',以及它如何成为系列中的一个较强的长篇特辑。

35:11

🏖️ 假期与冒险:Equestria Girls系列的假日特辑

这段落讲述了Equestria Girls系列中的'Holidays Unwrapped'特辑,它是由六个独立短片组成,每个短片大约七分钟,主题围绕冬季假期。视频制作者提到了这种格式的局限性,以及它作为系列结尾的不足之处。同时,提到了Equestria Girls时尚小队娃娃系列的持续发布,以及它们如何过渡到我的小马驹的第五代。

40:12

🎇 Equestria Girls系列的遗产与未来

这段落总结了Equestria Girls系列的遗产和对未来的影响。视频制作者分享了自己对这个系列的回顾和感受,认为尽管娃娃系列未能实现最初的目标,但整个系列仍然是一个独特而有趣的存在。同时,提到了系列的动画和迷你剧集的持续成功,以及它们如何为系列带来了积极的评价。最后,视频制作者表达了对未来类似内容的期待,并邀请观众分享他们对Equestria Girls的看法。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡My Little Pony

《My Little Pony》是一款由孩之宝公司推出的玩具系列,视频主要讨论的是其第四代产品及其衍生系列《Equestria Girls》。在视频中,这个关键词代表了整个玩具和动画系列的起点,为后续讨论提供了背景。

💡Equestria Girls

《Equestria Girls》是《My Little Pony》系列的一个衍生产品,它将原本的卡通马角色转变为人类青少年女孩的形象,并推出了相应的时尚娃娃系列和电影系列。这个关键词是视频讨论的核心,涵盖了从概念诞生到产品设计,再到市场反响的全过程。

💡Bronies

Bronies是指《My Little Pony》的成年男性粉丝群体,这个词汇在视频中用来描述那些对《Equestria Girls》持批评态度的观众。尽管他们对原始系列有着极高的热情,但对于转向以年轻女孩为主要目标市场的时尚娃娃系列感到疏远。

💡Fashion Dolls

时尚娃娃是指一类以青少年女孩为主要目标市场的玩偶,通常具有时尚元素和可更换的衣服。在视频中,'Equestria Girls'时尚娃娃系列是作为《My Little Pony》品牌扩展的一部分推出的,旨在模仿当时市场上如'Monster High'等成功的时尚娃娃品牌。

💡Monster High

《Monster High》是由美泰公司推出的一款时尚娃娃系列,以其独特的怪物主题和成功的市场表现而闻名。在视频中,它被提及作为《Equestria Girls》在时尚娃娃市场上的竞争对手和灵感来源。

💡Character Design

角色设计是指为动画、电影或玩具等媒体中的角色创建外观和个性的过程。在视频中,角色设计是一个重要议题,特别是讨论《Equestria Girls》如何将《My Little Pony》中的角色从马变成人类少女,并探讨了这些设计在粉丝中的接受程度。

💡Market Response

市场反应指的是消费者和市场对某一产品或服务的反馈和接受程度。在视频中,市场反应特指《Equestria Girls》系列推出后,消费者和粉丝群体对其娃娃和电影的接受情况,包括销售业绩和批评意见。

💡Animation

动画是指通过连续播放静态图像或计算机生成的图像序列来创造运动幻觉的过程。在视频中,动画是指《Equestria Girls》系列电影的动画制作,它对于角色的表现和故事的叙述起到了关键作用。

💡Franchise

特许经营权是指一个品牌或产品系列的使用权和经营权,通常由原始创作者授权给第三方进行开发和销售。在视频中,特许经营权指的是《My Little Pony》和《Equestria Girls》作为一个整体品牌,如何通过不同的产品线和媒体形式进行扩展和营销。

💡Toy Market

玩具市场是指涉及玩具生产、销售和消费的商业领域。在视频中,玩具市场是讨论《Equestria Girls》产品线成功与否的关键背景,特别是它如何与当时流行的其他时尚娃娃品牌竞争。

💡Fanbase

粉丝基础是指对某一品牌、系列或作品忠诚且热情的支持者群体。在视频中,粉丝基础对于《Equestria Girls》的成功至关重要,它不仅包括年轻的目标市场,还包括了成年男性粉丝群体(Bronies)。

Highlights

2010年孩之宝推出了广受欢迎的玩具品牌“小马宝莉”的第四代,并在2013年推出了以人类青少年女孩形象为主的衍生系列“Equestria Girls”。

“小马宝莉”不仅成功吸引了年轻女孩市场,还赢得了大量成年人观众,形成了独特的次文化——“Bronies”。

Equestria Girls系列起初并不被看好,被认为是孩之宝为了迎合Bronies而推出的无灵魂的商业化产品。

Equestria Girls的首个电影在2013年6月上映,讲述了Twilight Sparkle穿越到一个没有魔法的人类世界并与主要角色的人类版本相遇的故事。

Equestria Girls的时尚娃娃系列在2013年推出,但设计上存在争议,缺乏与电影设计的连贯性。

尽管Equestria Girls系列面临诸多批评,但其电影和娃娃仍然取得了足够的成功,促使孩之宝继续推出新产品。

2014年推出的“彩虹摇滚”系列娃娃和电影取得了显著成功,音乐和剧情得到了积极评价。

Equestria Girls系列在2015年推出了“友谊游戏”系列,但该系列的娃娃设计和电影剧情均未达到预期效果。

2016年的“永自由的传说”电影标志着Equestria Girls系列的第一阶段结束,但反响平平。

2017年开始,Equestria Girls系列转向发布一系列短网络剧和长篇特别篇,而非传统的电影格式。

2018年,Equestria Girls时尚娃娃系列进行了重启,采用了新的设计和外观,但与动画模型差异较大。

Equestria Girls系列的最后一个全长特别篇“Sunset's Backstage Pass”在2019年发布,但未能为整个系列提供一个满意的结尾。

Equestria Girls系列被认为是一个时代的产物,其独特的概念和创意在当时取得了一定的成功,但随着时间的推移和市场的变化,其影响力逐渐减弱。

Transcripts

00:00

in 2010 Hasbro would launch the fourth

00:03

generation of the popular toy franchise

00:06

My Little Pony subtitled friendship is

00:09

Magic and the rest is history but today

00:13

I want to focus specifically on the

00:16

Equestria Girls spin-off a fashion doll

00:19

line and accompanying movie series that

00:21

focused on the main characters as human

00:24

teenage girls rather than you know

00:27

horses it's something I actually

00:29

remember following pretty closely back

00:31

when it was first being released so I

00:33

thought it would be fun to look back to

00:36

go over its Inception the movies and

00:39

just the general background of

00:41

everything I have

00:42

absolutely no idea how long this is

00:45

going to be but we're already here in

00:48

this chair

00:49

talking

00:51

so let's do it the history of My Little

00:53

Pony G4 and its rise to fame is a pretty

00:56

well documented thing so we're not going

00:59

to be spending a lot of time on that all

01:02

that's really important to know is that

01:04

My Little Pony not only successfully

01:06

cornered the market of young girls that

01:08

they were originally aiming for but an

01:11

extremely significant audience of adults

01:14

as well this would result in an entire

01:17

subculture being born the ever

01:20

ubiquitous Bronies which again are very

01:23

well documented so although they're

01:25

important here I won't be rehashing like

01:28

their entire history so we're gonna fast

01:30

forward to 2013. Friendship is Magic has

01:34

finished its third season to pretty

01:36

immense success it's one of the largest

01:39

most lucrative franchises in the world a

01:43

fourth season hadn't been officially

01:45

announced yet but it kind of went

01:47

without saying that it would be

01:48

happening in the meantime Hasbro was

01:50

free to do to honestly whatever they

01:53

wanted the only place to go was up so

01:55

perhaps it was time to bring My Little

01:58

Pony to new lengths to venture into

02:01

Uncharted territories and conveniently

02:04

as all this was going on there was

02:06

another toy Market that was quietly

02:09

exploding into popularity with both

02:12

children and adults nay they weren't

02:15

just interested in little plastic horses

02:17

but little plastic women as well thanks

02:21

to the introduction of Monster High by

02:23

Mattel also in 2010 the fashion doll

02:27

Market was seeing a huge surge in

02:29

popularity and more importantly money by

02:33

2013 Monster High was worth an estimated

02:36

1 billion doll hairs with a B and thanks

02:41

to them Mattel was seeing their profits

02:43

practically quadruple I imagine that

02:47

it's a Hasbro their next move was pretty

02:49

obvious so while My Little Pony's

02:52

dedicated audience was eagerly awaiting

02:54

the fourth season Hasbro would give them

02:57

something new this is spin-off franchise

03:01

was pretty lightly teased all throughout

03:03

early 2013.

03:06

looking at the news fan site Equestria

03:09

Daily it seems that all fans knew for

03:12

the longest time was the trademark

03:14

itself Equestria girls that it was

03:17

rumored to be a fashion doll line and

03:19

that it would be primarily focusing on

03:21

the teen girl demographic and although

03:24

the first movie wouldn't be officially

03:26

announced until late spring it would be

03:29

around March that we got our first look

03:31

at the character designs

03:33

to a fairly mixed reaction I actually

03:37

remember when these were first announced

03:38

I wasn't really in the My Little Pony

03:40

fandom I was way more so in the Monster

03:43

High crowd and as you can imagine we

03:46

were all pretty interested in these two

03:47

however after seeing the initial images

03:50

I think public interest on both sides

03:54

The Faded considerably hopes for

03:59

Equestria Girls as a franchise were not

04:02

extremely high going in the general

04:04

consensus was that this was a soulless

04:07

cash grab on Hasbro's part with no

04:09

thought or effort put into it just

04:12

another toy to put on the shelves and

04:14

keep in mind at this point we hadn't

04:16

even seen the Dolls yet Equestria Girls

04:18

unfortunately just had a lot working

04:21

against it My Little Pony had a huge fan

04:24

base of adult men and although it wasn't

04:27

uncommon for them to buy the toys or the

04:30

merchandise they were like a paradox

04:33

toxically averse to it being a fashion

04:36

doll brand and felt alienated by the

04:39

fact that it seemed to be aimed more at

04:41

young girls than adult men which

04:44

obviously I have nothing against adults

04:46

who buy and collect toys but with

04:48

Bronies specifically

04:50

usually adult collectors have a kind of

04:53

self-awareness that we're not the target

04:55

audience but Bronies tended to have the

04:58

attitude that they should be the target

05:00

audience and anytime Hasbro made toys

05:04

that were overtly girly it did not go

05:08

over well and people on the fashion doll

05:11

side were already pretty Discerning into

05:13

what makes a good fashion doll so they

05:16

weren't really interested in what

05:18

appeared to just be a cash grab the

05:20

general public too was pretty averse to

05:23

these at first there's an article

05:24

written by Amanda Marcotte for slate

05:27

where she criticizes Hasbro for giving

05:30

into the demands of Bronies and turning

05:32

the ponies into quote imitation sexy

05:35

anime characters which

05:38

yeah sexy yeah okay Amanda do you have

05:43

something you'd like to share with the

05:45

class I wonder and to be honest I wasn't

05:48

too interested in Equestria Girls either

05:51

after seeing these designs for the first

05:53

time and I do think it's important to

05:56

talk about the initial designs and why

05:58

they're

05:59

they're not horrible they're really not

06:01

all that bad but they could have been a

06:03

lot better I think Hasbro was

06:05

approaching these from the standpoint of

06:08

it being a movie first and a doll line

06:11

Second which is always kind of been

06:13

Hasbro's philosophy as far as toys go

06:16

and I guess it worked pretty well for

06:18

them up to this point so they gave the

06:20

characters pretty simplistic designs

06:23

that were easy to animate and recreate

06:25

for promotional materials

06:27

so they all have almost identical

06:31

outfits and Silhouettes which for a

06:33

fashion doll lineup is really just not

06:35

that interesting another thing is the

06:37

fact that they have skin tones which are

06:40

the same but just slightly lighter than

06:42

the color of their horse selves which I

06:46

have gotten used to over time but I just

06:48

remember seeing these for the first time

06:50

and thinking it was kind of strange and

06:52

off-putting the artworks and the dolls

06:55

which are upcoming usually did have them

06:58

depicted as anthropomorphic with the

07:01

horse ears and all but in the movies

07:03

they are fully human for the most part

07:06

and even referred to as such and I think

07:08

there's two big reasons for this one is

07:12

obvious it's very derivative of Monster

07:14

High and they're unnatural skin tones

07:17

another reason was that bronies were

07:21

kind of racist at this point it was

07:24

pretty common to see fan art of the main

07:26

characters in My Little Pony reimagined

07:29

as humans which Hasbro actually cited as

07:32

a partial inspiration for Equestria

07:34

Girls it was also common for anyone who

07:38

drew the characters visibly as women of

07:40

color to be harassed and insulted for it

07:44

this was a pretty significant pretty

07:46

constant discourse that followed the

07:48

fandom basically anywhere it went so

07:51

that was a problem for Hasbro right I

07:54

mean it shouldn't have been but it was

07:55

they couldn't make the main characters

07:57

all white because that would be a

07:59

terrible lack of diversity but they

08:02

couldn't make any of the characters not

08:03

white because that would anger their

08:06

precious adult man fan base character

08:08

designer Cora kosika did share what she

08:11

mentioned to be the very first piece of

08:13

Equestria Girls concept art which does

08:16

depict Twilight Sparkle with a dark skin

08:18

tone but the decision to have the

08:21

characters all have fantasy skin tones

08:23

appears to have been made pretty early

08:25

on if not immediately after this I think

08:29

safe is the operative word here Hasbro

08:32

was playing it very very safe which is

08:35

just not the best move if you want to go

08:37

up against Monster High who was

08:40

successful due to being pretty

08:41

controversial and risky compared to

08:44

everything else in the Toy Market at the

08:46

time nonetheless the first movie would

08:49

Premiere in June of 2013 to a pretty big

08:52

Fanfare the plot involves Twilight

08:55

Sparkle from Friendship is Magic

08:57

pursuing a new villain Sunset Shimmer

08:59

after she steals her crown and escapes

09:01

to an alternate Dimension with no magic

09:03

where everyone is human Twilight learns

09:06

to act as a teenage girl and befriends

09:08

the human counterparts of the other main

09:10

characters introducing magic to the

09:12

human world and saving the day in the

09:14

process now just like its first reveal I

09:17

do think the first Equestria Girls movie

09:20

is a kind of a rough introduction to the

09:23

franchise again there was just a lot of

09:26

weird decisions being made made some

09:28

good decisions too like carrying over

09:30

the main Show's writing staff and Voice

09:33

team story editor Megan McCarthy would

09:36

be brought in as the lead writer and all

09:38

primary characters would retain their

09:40

voice actors they also brought in the

09:42

show's primary songwriter Daniel Ingram

09:44

so if nothing else it could be

09:47

reasonably assumed that the movie would

09:49

carry roughly the same quality as the

09:51

show this was rooted in Hasbro's desire

09:54

to maintain continuity with the primary

09:57

franchise

09:59

not a bad thing but I do think they took

10:02

it a little too far rather than treating

10:05

Equestria girls like a spin-off

10:07

franchise they instead chose to treat it

10:09

more like an extension the Twilight

10:12

Sparkle we see is the main character in

10:14

Equestria Girls is actually the same

10:16

Twilight Sparkle from Friendship is

10:18

Magic the premise involves her traveling

10:21

to another dimension where everyone is

10:22

human and so she just takes human form

10:25

this in my opinion just a massively over

10:29

complicates thing there really wasn't

10:32

any reason to tie Equestria Girls Into

10:35

The Story of Friendship is Magic

10:37

and they do find some clever ways to

10:40

play around with it later on in the

10:42

franchise but just speaking to this

10:44

first movie is just something that was

10:46

kind of difficult to get around and you

10:48

can tell they kind of struggled with

10:49

incorporating the logistics of

10:51

everything into just one film the movie

10:53

itself well it was fine I despite my

10:57

complaints up to this point I don't

10:58

think it's a bad movie I'm not gonna

11:00

give like a detailed plot summary

11:02

because well if I do that for all of

11:05

them then we'll be here literally all

11:07

day it's a pretty standard High School

11:09

drama fair that takes itself a bit too

11:12

seriously you know the villain is the

11:14

typical stock mean girl character

11:16

everything hinges on a school dance

11:18

twilight gets a boring jockey High

11:21

School love interest which is I another

11:24

thing the ages of the Pony characters

11:27

and friendship is Magic we're always

11:28

kind of ambiguous but it was somewhat

11:31

understood that they were adults I mean

11:34

they had jobs and mortgages and

11:36

everything so horse Twilight is an adult

11:39

but human Twilight is a high school

11:42

student Who develops feelings for

11:46

you know let's not get too deep into

11:47

that anyways

11:49

all that said the big appeal of

11:52

friendship is Magic is the main cast and

11:55

their personalities and Dynamics and all

11:58

of that is on display pretty wonderfully

12:01

in this movie too maybe Equestria Girls

12:03

wasn't attracting a large amount of new

12:06

fans but it was definitely something

12:08

that established fans could find

12:09

something to enjoy the music was great

12:12

it had a really interesting finale

12:14

sequence all together not bad at all it

12:17

was around the time of the first movies

12:19

Premiere that we would finally get a

12:21

good look at the Equestria Girls dolls

12:24

and they were

12:25

and not great the style of the animation

12:29

just really did not translate well or

12:32

maybe vice versa so the dolls were

12:35

pretty uncanny the clothing was very

12:38

cheaply made and the designs were

12:40

honestly pretty lazy too there also just

12:43

wasn't any kind of effort to have a

12:45

continuity between the doll designs and

12:47

the movie designs which is a trend that

12:49

will continue mostly throughout all of

12:51

Equestria Girls live and something I

12:54

think was pretty common with friendship

12:55

is Magic too actually but the good news

12:57

is the movie and the dolls were

13:00

successful enough to Warrant continuing

13:02

the franchise from what I understand

13:04

Hasbro never really intended for there

13:07

to be more than one movie Megan McCarthy

13:10

actually confirmed that she wrote the

13:12

first one with zero idea of a sequel in

13:14

mind I think they just wanted this first

13:17

movie to promote and I guess explain the

13:21

existence of the Equestria Girls

13:23

characters and then turn their focus

13:25

solely to the dolls but his fate would

13:28

have it we demanded more horse girls in

13:31

late 2013 Equestria Girls would release

13:33

their second batch of Mainline dolls

13:36

titled Rainbow Rocks these were music

13:38

themed and I did not make any

13:41

significant improvements on the first

13:43

line though they did expand the roster a

13:45

little bit releasing dolls of fan

13:47

favorite minor characters from

13:49

Friendship is Magic like Octavia and DJ

13:52

Pawn 3 also Amethyst Star whoever that

13:56

is they would also start releasing dolls

13:59

with articulation making them slightly

14:01

more competitive with Monster High

14:03

criticisms were pretty consistent with

14:06

all the dolls the fabric quality was

14:08

papery and pretty bad the designs were

14:11

either uninspired or completely

14:14

nonsensical that hair quality was

14:17

atrocious and difficult to manage but

14:20

the dolls were also relatively

14:22

inexpensive easy to collect and were

14:25

backed by what was already a huge media

14:27

franchise so although they would never

14:29

quite reach Monster High's level they

14:32

would find a pretty dedicated audience

14:34

according to mlpmerch.com Rainbow Rocks

14:37

is the largest collection with around 50

14:40

or so dolls I say 50 and not 52 like it

14:44

says on the website because they do also

14:46

count the pets that some of them came

14:47

with as individual dolls the Rainbow

14:50

Rocks line would continue into 2014

14:53

where we would also see one of my

14:55

personal favorite lines it's called The

14:57

Rock and hairstyle lion and although

14:59

they still have a lot of the same

15:01

problems as the previous dolls

15:03

I don't know something about them the

15:06

designs just have a lot more personality

15:07

and fun compared to everything else in

15:10

the Rainbow Rocks era they're honestly

15:12

pretty cool they would also release a

15:14

Comic-Con exclusive doll in 2014 of

15:18

maniac Mayhem which a presence at

15:21

Comic-Con shows that Hasbro did care at

15:24

least a little bit about attracting the

15:26

attention of adult doll collectors in

15:28

February of 2014 it was officially

15:31

announced that a Rainbow Rocks movie was

15:34

in the works then from March to June of

15:37

2014 Hasbro would upload a series of

15:40

animated shorts to promote it officially

15:43

they serve as sort of a prequel to the

15:45

movie itself but I think they just

15:47

figured out they were missing out on the

15:49

engagement that Monster High had been

15:50

getting with its webisodes the movie

15:52

itself would officially release in

15:54

September of 2014 and I'm pretty

15:59

comfortable saying that it's the best

16:00

one which is not at all an unpopular

16:02

opinion Megan McCarthy would be brought

16:05

back as the lead writer and Daniel

16:07

Ingram of course for music which rainbow

16:10

rocks being a music themed collection it

16:12

followed suit that the movie would not

16:14

just contain musical numbers but be a

16:18

musical with 11 songs featured in the

16:20

full movie and let me tell you the music

16:22

is great like it's incredibly good I

16:25

still revisit this soundtrack to This

16:27

movie specifically to this day the plot

16:30

of this one revolves around the

16:32

introduction of a new villainous Trio

16:34

the sirens who use their songs to

16:37

manipulate everyone into fighting so

16:38

they can feed on the negative energy

16:40

Twilight returns and the group must

16:42

learn how to harness the magic they

16:44

gained in the last movie to defeat the

16:46

sirens before they get too powerful

16:47

through song of course I think with this

16:51

movie they managed a kind of level off

16:54

the weirdness from the first movie and

16:57

focus more on crafting an original plot

16:59

and it really works you can tell they

17:01

had a lot more fun with this one and it

17:04

is also the only movie that is in my

17:07

opinion not overtly formulaic almost

17:10

every Equestria Girls plot follows the

17:13

exact structure of the first movie a

17:17

character finds a magical object becomes

17:19

corrupted in some way by its influence

17:22

becomes evil but is saved and Redeemed

17:24

by the power of friendship it's very by

17:27

the numbers

17:28

Rainbow Rocks however has the benefit of

17:31

having some of the most iconic villains

17:34

in the entire franchise and that's

17:36

including friendship is Magic too the

17:39

sirens Adagio Sonata and Arya are just

17:41

some incredible standouts they're also

17:44

not redeemed or really sympathized with

17:46

in any way in this movie they're just

17:49

evil girls who are causing problems on

17:51

purpose and we'd love to see it the

17:54

movie also had some really good

17:55

character moments with Sunset Shimmer

17:58

the antagonist from the first movie

17:59

she's on a big Redemption Arc in this

18:02

film but it's one of the few times that

18:04

it's done really well we actually see

18:07

her struggle with the consequences of

18:09

her actions from the first movie and

18:11

deal with the problems she caused so

18:13

even though the dolls weren't the most

18:15

exciting things on the market it could

18:18

be said that it is really at this point

18:20

that Equestria Girls is really finding

18:22

its footing as its own independent thing

18:25

even the initial negativity it faced

18:27

from Bronies when it was first in

18:28

unveiled had pretty much disappeared if

18:32

I recall friendship Is Magic's fourth

18:34

season left a lot of the fandom pretty

18:36

disappointed with the direction of the

18:38

franchise but there was still a fair

18:40

amount of hype and excitement revolving

18:42

around Equestria Girls I also think that

18:45

with this one the movies developed a

18:48

sort of self-awareness they knew that

18:51

they were kind of weird and that the

18:53

premise made zero sense but almost

18:55

completely to their benefit because had

18:58

they tried to take themselves as

19:00

seriously as the first movie did I think

19:03

the quality would have dropped massively

19:06

but no they let themselves have more fun

19:09

with what was inherently a pretty

19:11

strange concept and I appreciate that

19:13

the Rainbow Rocks movie actually ended

19:15

with a post-credit sequence that

19:18

featured the human Twilight Sparkle as

19:20

in the Twilight Sparkle that was born in

19:22

the human world not the transformed Pony

19:26

Twilight see it's unnecessarily

19:28

Complicated by the way I don't think

19:31

I've mentioned this yet but Sunset

19:33

Shimmer is originally from the Pony

19:35

world 2. she started Living in the human

19:38

world prior to the events of the first

19:40

movie

19:41

and it's never explained what happened

19:43

to the real human Sunset Shimmer I don't

19:46

think and it could have been as simple

19:48

as just saying she lives in another city

19:51

but they do not address it so we're just

19:54

left to draw our own conclusions the

19:57

simplest being that Sunset Shimmer must

19:58

have killed and replaced her but that

20:00

would bring us to the next era of

20:02

Equestria Girls 2015 Friendship Games

20:06

the Friendship Games doll collection is

20:08

considerably smaller than Rainbow Rocks

20:11

clocking in at 34 according to

20:14

mlpmerch.com and I'm just gonna level

20:17

with you guys the Friendship Games dolls

20:19

are

20:21

a kind of awful visually they're an

20:24

absolute mess and I see what they were

20:26

going for but it did not work obviously

20:30

this is a sports theme collection so

20:32

there was a bigger emphasis on the more

20:34

articulated bodies which is nice

20:36

but man these designs they're something

20:40

hi editing me here oh hold on a moment

20:44

okay that's better anyways while editing

20:47

I noticed how mean I am to these dolls

20:50

and I stand by everything I said but I

20:52

also want to say that my issues with

20:53

these dolls really do not extend to the

20:56

designers who worked on them I should

20:58

have made it clear that almost all of it

20:59

is aimed at Hasbro themselves I don't

21:02

think I'm allowed to share all of it but

21:04

there's prototypes and concept art out

21:06

there that shows the Equestria Girls

21:08

team working on the dolls had a lot of

21:10

really cool ideas but Hasbro wasn't

21:13

really on their side and there just

21:15

wasn't the means to implement these cool

21:18

ideas so we ended up with what we have

21:21

and that just adds to my disappointment

21:23

with the doll line overall

21:25

okay back to the video but hey

21:27

Twilight's love interest got a doll in

21:29

this run and he looks oh okay let's move

21:33

on uh basically every previous issue

21:36

with the dolls persists in this

21:38

collection too The Collection does

21:40

introduce a lot of new characters

21:42

however in addition to the main six

21:44

which includes Sunset Shimmer instead of

21:46

Twilight on the Wonder Cults team

21:48

there's a rival team from another school

21:50

called The Shadow bolts which includes

21:52

human Twilight you know the one from the

21:55

credits not the pony one you get it by

21:57

now so basically characters who are

22:00

being set up to be Rivals to the main

22:02

characters always the fun concept and a

22:04

good lead into the upcoming movie and

22:07

thankfully these new characters are not

22:09

nearly as but ugly as their dolls or box

22:12

art would have you believe the

22:13

Friendship Games movie would Premiere in

22:15

September of 2015. it revolves around

22:18

human Twilight this time Pony Twilight

22:21

only making a small appearance at the

22:23

very end and Sunset Shimmer now fully

22:26

stepping into a leadership role it also

22:28

introduces us to the aforementioned

22:30

Shadow bolts who the movie immediately

22:32

sets up to be foils to each of the main

22:34

characters the opening credits even puts

22:37

them all side by side so you can see

22:40

specifically who parallels who

22:43

I remember being so incredibly excited

22:46

for those concept but

22:48

unfortunately it was incredibly

22:51

underutilized or more accurately not

22:54

really utilized at all the shadow bolts

22:56

are all relatively minor characters the

22:59

main antagonist is actually their

23:01

headmistress who is an okay villain in a

23:05

Disney kind of way she even gets a

23:07

pretty solid villain song but it just

23:09

feels like wasted potential watching it

23:11

back to see all these cool characters

23:13

just not be used in the way they should

23:16

have been you do get little bits and

23:18

pieces of it you see that sugar coat is

23:20

a foil for Applejack's honesty in the

23:23

way she's blunt without care for other

23:25

people's feelings hi sugar coat that was

23:28

a really bad speech you should consider

23:30

not speaking in public she's my personal

23:32

favorite by the way is sour sweet sort

23:35

of parallels Fluttershy sweetness but in

23:37

a toxic over-the-top kind of way Indigo

23:40

zap is hyper competitive like Rainbow

23:42

Dash the other two I mean I can guess

23:46

how they foil Pinkie Pie and rare 30 but

23:49

I'm really not sure because they're just

23:51

really not in the movie and the group as

23:53

a whole just really aren't that plot

23:55

important I think they just really

23:57

misunderstood the entire appeal of a

24:00

character focused fashion doll line

24:02

because who's going to want to buy dolls

24:04

of these characters if they hardly

24:06

appear in the movie and don't even look

24:08

anything like they do in the movie you

24:11

know Friendship Games is also the first

24:14

movie not to be written by Meghan

24:16

McCarthy who is working on the My Little

24:18

Pony movie at the time instead it was

24:21

taken over by Josh Haber who was a

24:24

regular writer on friendship is Magic

24:25

and responsible for some pretty good

24:28

episodes at least by the standard of the

24:30

later Seasons the movie doesn't really

24:32

properly utilize its plot setup or its

24:35

new characters but I can at least say

24:37

it's not boring I think it could have

24:40

been improved in a lot of ways but it

24:41

just focuses a lot more on the action

24:44

set pieces and the tension building up

24:46

to the big finale which I think is

24:48

altogether not a bad move considering

24:51

this is a movie focused on a competition

24:53

after all so all that said I still don't

24:57

think it's a bad movie I think Rainbow

24:59

Rocks just set a very high bar and while

25:03

Friendship Games didn't quite get up

25:05

there it's still pretty fun there's some

25:08

solid action sequences the finale and

25:11

human Twilight's character development

25:13

and short stint as an antagonist is

25:16

pretty good and Sunset Shimmer really

25:19

grew into an awesome core character here

25:21

too and although the shadow bolts didn't

25:24

live up to their potential their

25:26

introduction did at least open the door

25:28

for some pretty cool fan content which I

25:32

think the general consensus was that

25:34

although Friendship Games wasn't quite

25:36

as good as Rainbow Rocks we were still

25:39

pretty excited for what was coming in

25:40

the future movie-wise at least I had

25:43

almost entirely stopped paying attention

25:45

to the dolls at this point which is

25:48

saying something considering I went into

25:49

this franchise primarily as a doll

25:52

collector but the same was true for a

25:54

lot lot of people too and I think Hasbro

25:57

was kind of taking notice of that 2016's

26:00

collection Legend of everfree would be

26:02

the smallest of all four core

26:05

collections with only 16 dolls and

26:07

primarily focusing on unarticulated

26:10

budget releases

26:12

I don't think these were very widely

26:14

distributed either because although I do

26:16

remember finding plenty of Friendship

26:18

Games dolls when I went out shopping I

26:20

don't actually recall seeing these in

26:23

stores at all they're also like a

26:25

weirdly expensive on eBay which does

26:28

lead me to believe they were produced in

26:30

smaller numbers I think it goes without

26:32

saying that the dolls weren't really

26:34

pulling the numbers they needed to so

26:37

Hasbro would actually supplement the

26:39

Equestria Girls product line with

26:41

something else Equestria Girls minis

26:44

would be released in I think late 2015

26:48

going into 2016. these were figures that

26:52

were four and a half inches tall and

26:54

fully plastic though some would have

26:55

rubbery clothing pieces that could be

26:57

removed and swapped out they were also

27:00

articulated and somewhat posable and

27:02

dare I say pretty superior to the actual

27:06

fashion dolls in every way in addition

27:09

to the figures a lot also came with

27:12

incredibly cool playsets they're just

27:15

really cute and really well designed

27:17

adapting sets from both past movies and

27:20

some original Concepts too as well as

27:22

some of the minor characters as you can

27:24

tell I loved these a lot there were

27:27

quite a lot released but they didn't

27:29

actually last very long only until the

27:31

end of 2016. but we must go back to

27:35

Legends of everfree the movie would

27:37

premiere on Netflix in October of 2016

27:40

to suspiciously little promotion on the

27:43

part of Hasbro it may have been because

27:46

I was just paying a little less

27:48

attention to the franchise at this point

27:50

but I do remember the premieres of the

27:52

past three movies being such huge events

27:55

with tons of build up but this one I

27:58

forgot it even aired until like two

28:00

weeks after the fact Megan McCarthy did

28:03

return to the staff of this one but

28:05

rather as a co-executive producer the

28:08

writers would be Christine Sanko and

28:10

Joanna Lewis it is also the first movie

28:13

not to feature Jason Thiessen on the

28:15

staff who served as director of the

28:17

first two films and Consulting director

28:19

of Friendship Games the director of this

28:21

one would be ishi Riddell the group goes

28:24

on a field trip to Camp everfree which

28:26

they discover to be the center of

28:28

bizarre and dangerous magical happenings

28:30

Twilight worries that her magic is

28:32

infecting everyone but in the end must

28:34

Embrace that side of her in order to

28:36

protect everyone I think it shows that

28:39

the staff of this movie approached it

28:42

like an episode of the series rather

28:45

than a movie the girls which now include

28:48

human Twilight they go to Camp they get

28:51

super powers for some reason a character

28:54

gets corrupted by Magic becomes evil but

28:57

is saved and Redeemed by a nuclear blast

29:00

of scalding hot friendship

29:03

it kind of sounds like a glossing over

29:06

the plot and I know I haven't really

29:08

given detailed plot summaries or

29:10

anything up to this point but honestly I

29:13

re-watched these movies in preparation

29:15

for this video and I'm

29:17

struggling to remember anything

29:19

incredibly significant about it and I

29:22

remember that from watching it for the

29:23

very first time too just feeling very

29:26

let down because Friendship Games may

29:29

not have been as structurally sound as

29:32

Rainbow Rocks but it was at least

29:34

exciting to watch it's also even more

29:37

derivative of the past movies than

29:39

Friendship Games was it literally

29:42

repeats Rarity subplot from rainbow

29:44

rocks and almost everything with human

29:47

Twilight regretting her actions from the

29:49

previous movie are lifted directly from

29:51

Sunset Shimmer's previous character Arc

29:53

they also do give human Twilight her own

29:56

love interest so we can stop questioning

29:59

whatever was going on with that last one

30:02

the whole movie just feels very low

30:04

stakes and almost out of place compared

30:07

to the previous three they even go the

30:09

extra mile of giving the girls

30:11

individualized powers and like full

30:14

magical girl Transformations that none

30:17

of it really goes anywhere I do want to

30:19

say though I really love their like

30:21

magical girl forms in this movie they're

30:24

so gorgeous and so well designed and

30:27

that's true for a lot of the outfits in

30:28

these later movies there's some really

30:30

incredible designs but they're just very

30:33

clearly designed for the movies and not

30:35

for the dolls because there's no way

30:37

Hasbro had any chance of physically

30:39

executing these looks I think the

30:42

Wikipedia page puts it best quote the

30:45

movie received mixed reviews from

30:47

critics who praised the animation voice

30:49

acting and music but criticized its

30:52

script plot and excessive use of too

30:54

many plot lines all at once this is

30:57

unfortunately definitely the weakest of

31:00

the movies and it's also the last movie

31:02

thus ends phase one of Equestria Girls

31:05

My Little Pony itself is already broken

31:08

into separate generations so I don't

31:11

think Equestria Girls can also have

31:14

separate generations and they're not

31:16

really Generations anyways but they are

31:18

separate from one another so I will call

31:20

them phases because that's just the

31:23

first thing I thought of phase two

31:25

starts in 2017 rather than movies Hasbro

31:29

would instead start to release a steady

31:31

stream of short webisodes and longer

31:34

animated specials the actual

31:36

organization of these is weirdly

31:39

confusing but to break it down one

31:42

collection is referred to as Canterlot

31:44

shorts these aired from July 2017 to the

31:47

end of August alongside them was also a

31:50

series of music videos which are grouped

31:53

with the Canterlot shorts and referred

31:54

to officially as Summertime shorts I

31:58

guess just because they aired during the

32:00

summer the Equestria Girls web series

32:02

which is officially referred to as

32:05

Better Together is also a collection of

32:08

short webisodes but it started airing

32:10

later in the year and ran until 2020.

32:13

all of these would continue to be under

32:15

the direction of ishi Riddell with both

32:18

better together and the Canterlot shorts

32:20

primarily written by Jillian M Barrow

32:22

they're in continuity with the movies

32:25

but as you can imagine with them being

32:27

short webisodes around two minutes in

32:30

length they're not quite as heavy on

32:33

plot as the movies were but there's

32:35

still a decently entertaining sometimes

32:38

it's fun to just watch the silly horse

32:40

girls be silly horse girls in June of

32:44

2017 they would also air the first of

32:47

three long-form specials each running

32:49

about 22 minutes or the length of a

32:52

standard My Little Pony episode they're

32:55

each their own independent story but

32:57

just is slightly connected enough that

33:00

when strung together they sort of make

33:02

their own full-length movie the first

33:04

was titled dance magic and included the

33:07

return of the Shadow bolts not Indigo

33:10

zap though because she was the worst

33:12

this one is about a music video

33:14

competition and is by far the most

33:17

mundane of any of the Equestria Girls

33:19

long form content but it does provide a

33:23

nice conclusion to the whole school

33:24

rivalry plotline following dance magic

33:27

is movie Magic after winning the

33:30

competition from the previous special

33:31

the girls are invited to the shooting of

33:34

a Daring Do movie but find that the

33:36

production is being intentionally

33:37

sabotaged the culprit turns out to be

33:40

none other than June upper Montage the

33:43

director's niece who wanted a starring

33:44

role in the movie this one actually

33:47

remembers that the girls are her

33:49

basically superheroes in this case it

33:52

even majorly references the power ponies

33:54

episode from Friendship is Magic but not

33:58

in the sense that it gives them anything

34:00

incredibly exciting to do still it's

34:03

pretty fun the third and final one in

34:05

this set is mirror magic which sees

34:08

Juniper become corrupted by a magic

34:10

mirror turns evil but is redeemed once

34:13

more through the power of friendship

34:15

this one includes an appearance from

34:17

Starlight glimmer a former major

34:19

antagonist turned recurring character in

34:22

friendship Is Magic's later Seasons her

34:25

and sunset have a very similar character

34:27

art so her inclusion was actually pretty

34:30

smart and kept the plot from becoming

34:32

once again too formulaic Juniper montage

34:36

and starlight glimmer appeared too late

34:38

to get proper Equestria Girls dolls but

34:41

they did both receive Equestria Girls

34:43

Minifigures Juniper in a movie theater

34:46

playset and starlight in a multi-pack

34:48

that also included Daring Do and DJ Pawn

34:51

3. later that year in September of 2017

34:55

at hazcon Hasbro announced the official

34:58

Return of the Equestria Girls Doll Line

35:00

This Time updated with a new aesthetic

35:03

new designs and completely different

35:05

bodies and facial sculpts they would

35:08

later be officially released in December

35:10

the new dolls were obviously completely

35:14

different they were more expressive and

35:17

individualized in the past dolls but

35:20

this came at the cost of looking

35:22

absolutely nothing like the animation

35:25

models I do think these are actually

35:28

pretty cute and I like the updated

35:30

outfits but they just don't look like

35:33

the characters which again just really

35:34

misses the Mark if you're opting for a

35:37

character based fashion doll I looked at

35:40

the Equestria Daily News Post for these

35:42

two because I was curious what the

35:44

initial reactions were and almost

35:47

unanimously the consensus was that the

35:50

packaging design was leagues better than

35:52

the actual dolls the first assortment

35:55

was partially articulated having joints

35:58

at the elbows but later assortments

36:00

would go back to having no extra

36:02

articulation these just really did not

36:05

perform well only having the basic line

36:08

a line called friendship power which is

36:11

supposed to be like their superhero

36:13

transformation forms so many styles

36:15

which had extra outfit pieces this big

36:18

multi-pack and then aligned with

36:19

Twilight and Pinky that came with Pony

36:21

figures MLP merch lists a music festival

36:25

line 2 which seems like it would have

36:27

included everyone but there's only

36:29

images for Pinky Rainbow Dash Sunset and

36:32

Twilight I don't think this line was

36:34

ever actually released regardless it

36:37

doesn't appear that the Equestria Girls

36:39

fashion doll line would continue at all

36:41

past 2018

36:43

I assume these probably sold even worse

36:47

than the first phase I do think these

36:49

were in Earnest attempt to be more

36:52

competitive in the doll market and I

36:54

don't even think their failure was

36:56

entirely their fault I do think they

37:00

were a little too different from the

37:02

first phase for their own good and kind

37:04

of a alienated the audience they already

37:06

had but fashion doll sales were also

37:09

just suffering all across the board at

37:12

this time Monster High wasn't even

37:14

really around anymore by this point and

37:16

even Barbie was struggling immensely so

37:19

honestly I wonder if these ever even

37:22

really had a chance February of 2018

37:24

would bring the next Equestria Girls

37:26

television special forgotten friendship

37:29

this one an hour long directed by ishi

37:32

Riddell and Katrina Hadley and written

37:34

by Nick confelloni I do hope I'm

37:36

pronouncing all these names correctly

37:38

also from this point on the main

37:40

characters would have updated character

37:42

models to reflect the designs of the

37:44

rebooted fashion doll line this one

37:46

revolves around Sunset realizing that

37:49

all her friends had forgotten her

37:50

character development over the past few

37:52

movies and only remember her as the

37:54

bully from the first movie with human

37:56

Twilight hardly remembering her at all

37:58

this turns out to be the work of another

38:00

character Wallflower blush who became

38:03

corrupted by a magical item turned evil

38:06

but was saved and redeemed In The End by

38:08

the power of friendship next to Rainbow

38:10

Rocks I do think this is one of the

38:12

stronger long form specials and I'm not

38:15

actually sure if that's a popular

38:16

opinion or not yeah it's it's a little

38:19

formulaic but I think the shorter run

38:21

time helped tighten the plot a lot it

38:24

featured Trixie in a prominent role who

38:26

had been a pretty minor character up to

38:28

this point and even had a really well

38:30

written conclusion to sunsets Loose Ends

38:32

back in the Pony world so yeah the dolls

38:36

were definitely suffering but the

38:38

animated side of Equestria Girls was

38:39

actually picking itself up pretty well

38:41

speaking of dolls also in 2018 Hasbro

38:45

would actually bring back the Equestria

38:47

Girls minis albeit in a considerably

38:50

worse substantially inferior form it was

38:54

a new product line called Equestria

38:56

Girls fashion Squad these were

38:58

reminiscent of the Polly Pocket fashion

39:01

poly dolls you know plastic mini dolls

39:03

with rubbery clothes they're cute I'll

39:06

give them that they're cute but I just

39:08

think the minis were so much more unique

39:10

and better designed too what's

39:13

interesting about these though is that

39:14

they ran until 2020 when friendship is

39:17

Magic had its own soft reboot generation

39:21

4.5 conversely these would change their

39:24

packaging and Concepts to match with the

39:26

current state even releasing a few sets

39:28

that came with Pony figures in the

39:30

generation 4.5 style they also released

39:33

a fashion doll Squad of the character

39:35

minty in a set with Pinkie Pie which if

39:38

you don't know minty was a major

39:39

character and big fan favorite in

39:41

generation three she did get a few

39:44

Generation 4 toys but it's just cool to

39:47

see her here too the next television

39:49

special also aired in the same year in

39:52

July of 2018 roller coaster of

39:55

friendship like the last one this one

39:57

was directed by The Duo of ishi Riddell

39:59

and Katrina Hadley and written by Nick

40:01

confelloni when both Rarity and

40:03

Applejack apply for jobs at a new theme

40:05

park only Rarity gets selected and is

40:08

hired as the Park's costume designer

40:10

putting a strain on her relationship

40:12

with Applejack this is further

40:14

Complicated by the Park's PR

40:15

representative the social media

40:17

influencer vignette Valencia who say it

40:20

with me now gets corrupted by Magic

40:22

turns evil but is defeated and redeemed

40:24

with the power of friendship this one is

40:26

very

40:27

fine it's okay the theme park makes for

40:31

a fun location change but overall I just

40:33

don't think it's extremely memorable it

40:36

did have a lot of good character moments

40:37

though I think that's a consistent

40:39

strength with the Equestria Girls media

40:42

is that even though every movie has a

40:45

primary character focus in this case

40:47

Rarity and Applejack they do make sure

40:49

to give all the main characters a good

40:51

amount of screen time it does probably

40:53

have the most humorously anti-climactic

40:55

finale though all the girls get together

40:58

and have their big magical girl

41:00

Transformations like they're gearing up

41:02

for this huge fight but a rarity just

41:05

knocks vignette's phone out of her hand

41:07

and it's over a fun fact about this

41:09

specific movie though is that Katrina

41:11

Hadley said on Twitter that the conflict

41:13

between Applejack and Rarity was

41:16

intentionally framed as a lover's

41:18

quarrel and watching it back yeah I

41:21

definitely sensed it the next television

41:24

special was spring breakdown premiering

41:26

in March of 2019. and I think this

41:29

really marks the beginning of the end of

41:32

Equestria Girls friendship Is Magic's

41:34

ninth and final season would start to

41:36

air right after this movie putting the

41:39

entire Equestria Girls franchise in a

41:42

sort of limbo State I already mentioned

41:44

that the fashion Squad dolls would carry

41:46

over into generation 4.5 but it didn't

41:49

really make sense for the Equestria

41:51

Girls movies to do the same anyways this

41:54

movie has the same directing and writer

41:56

setup is the last few movies but I do

41:59

wonder if at this point there's just

42:01

like a complete lack of oversight from

42:04

Hasbro or something because this movie

42:06

is kind of insane for one there's a bit

42:10

where Rarity starts crushing on a male

42:12

character that is just a blatant gender

42:15

swap of Applejack and the movie even

42:17

goes as far as to acknowledge this fact

42:20

a good portion of the movie is spent on

42:23

this really boring main plot where

42:25

Rainbow Dash is just aboard because

42:27

they're on a cruise ship and there's no

42:29

villains to fight or redeem with the

42:31

power of friendship so she just spends

42:34

the first 20 minutes causing problems

42:36

and making everyone's lives difficult

42:38

then the last half is spent with human

42:41

Twilight human Rainbow Dash and Sunset

42:43

traveling to the Pony world and just

42:45

enjoying themselves as ponies while the

42:48

rest of the characters literally fight

42:50

for their lives on a sinking ship and

42:53

the movie ends with every single human

42:54

character traveling to the Pony world

42:57

like it just ends on this shot of them

42:59

all as ponies definitely one of the

43:02

stranger entries the next special would

43:05

Premiere actually very shortly after

43:07

this one in July of 2019 sunsets

43:10

backstage pass this one would retain the

43:13

same directing Duo but is written This

43:15

Time by Brittany Rawls this one involves

43:18

Sunset and the Gang attending a music

43:20

festival with Sunset and Pinky

43:22

particularly excited for the reunion

43:24

performance of the pop Duo post crash

43:26

however Sunset finds her herself trapped

43:29

in a Time Loop and is forced to repeat

43:31

the day over and over eventually she

43:34

discovers that the ones behind the Loop

43:36

are post-crush themselves who stumbled

43:38

upon a magic Relic and used it to redo

43:40

the day over and over in order to

43:42

perfect their performance they don't

43:44

really become demons or extremely evil

43:47

or anything but are defeated and

43:49

redeemed with the power of friendship

43:50

nonetheless this movie also marks the

43:53

reappearance of the Sirens of rainbow

43:56

Rocks Fame whose Sunset initially

43:58

accuses of being behind the time Loop

44:00

they're definitely not Redeemed by any

44:03

measure like the other villains but do

44:05

at least seem to be doing pretty well

44:07

for themselves now Sonata is wearing

44:09

this outfit that would have been so cute

44:12

if not for the fact it has actual

44:15

literal Tacos on it because she had a

44:18

line in Rainbow Rocks about it being

44:20

Taco Tuesday in the cafeteria and the

44:22

fandom just collectively decided that

44:25

would be her single most defining

44:27

character trait it Taco Tuesday just

44:31

follow my lead this is technically the

44:33

last full length Equestria Girls special

44:36

we would get and it's not a bad movie

44:38

but it's hardly a satisfying ending to

44:40

the franchise they're riding on the wall

44:43

of generation 4 coming to a close had

44:45

been pretty clear for a while now so I

44:47

do think it would have been a lot more

44:48

beneficial to attempt to create an

44:51

actual conclusion for the series I did

44:53

say it was the last full length special

44:55

however not the last one entirely the

44:58

special titled holidays unwrapped would

45:00

air in November of 2019 directed Again

45:03

by ishi Riddell and Katrina Hadley

45:05

written by Anna Christopher rather than

45:08

a full special this one was instead a

45:10

collection of independent shorts six of

45:12

them running about seven minutes each

45:14

all themed around winter the holidays

45:16

they're exactly what you would expect

45:19

they're fine but as you can imagine this

45:22

hardly makes for the most exciting

45:24

format and definitely not good closure

45:26

for the franchise either f after this

45:29

special the studio that had been

45:30

animating almost all of the Equestria

45:33

Girls media dhx media later known as

45:35

wild brain left the production this

45:38

would of course mean the end of all

45:40

Equestria Girls media the Equestria

45:43

Girls fashion Squad dolls like I said

45:45

would continue to be released into 2020

45:47

until the transition into generation 5

45:50

of My Little Pony The Better Together

45:52

animated shorts that were already

45:54

produced would also continue to err on a

45:56

regular basis until 2020 as well it's

45:59

difficult to tell because the channel is

46:01

constantly re-uploading episodes and

46:04

putting them into random compilations

46:06

but it appears that the very last

46:08

official Equestria Girls media to be

46:11

released was a music video starring Pony

46:14

Twilight's human love interest singing

46:16

about supporting the Equestria Girls

46:17

uploaded in honor of international

46:21

women's day

46:22

so there's that for the grand finale of

46:25

the Equestria Girls franchise in 2019

46:28

the Japanese Manufacturing Company

46:30

kotobukiya would start releasing a line

46:33

of anime style be Shoujo figures of the

46:35

Equestria Girls characters based on

46:38

illustrations by shunya yamashida these

46:41

aren't actually marketed as Equestria

46:43

Girls products but they use the

46:45

character designs and included Sunset

46:47

Shimmer in the lineup Celestia and Luna

46:49

too they were initially released with

46:52

human skin tones but limited edition

46:53

versions would have the fantasy skin

46:55

tones oh and there was a Hatsune Miku My

46:59

Little Pony figure included too and thus

47:01

ends Equestria Girls and here we are 10

47:05

years after it first debuted and it was

47:08

really interesting to look back actually

47:10

because as a doll line no I don't think

47:14

Equestria Girls really accomplished what

47:16

it originally set out to do despite

47:18

achieving a very significant fan base

47:20

and being able to set itself apart from

47:23

its parent franchise in some pretty cool

47:24

ways the actual merchandise the core

47:27

component of its entire exception was a

47:31

pretty bad and not counting the minis

47:33

though those were delightful and I still

47:35

love them a lot but despite that I still

47:38

have really fond memories of Equestria

47:40

Girls I still think it was altogether a

47:43

really fun and unique franchise I think

47:46

some very talented people the designers

47:49

artists writers they were handed

47:51

something very difficult they were given

47:53

something that was never really meant to

47:55

have a lot of effort put into it but

47:57

they still worked hard on it and made

47:59

something really notable in the end I

48:01

don't think anything like Equestria

48:03

Girls can really exist again not in the

48:06

same way I just don't see the same

48:08

concept working at all with generation 5

48:10

of My Little Pony and the world is also

48:13

just a completely different place than

48:14

it was 10 years ago Equestria Girls is

48:18

definitely a product of its time and it

48:20

shows in some bad ways but but also in a

48:23

lot of good ways too I hope you enjoyed

48:25

this little stroll through history with

48:27

me I've obviously talked quite a bit and

48:30

if you were able to sit through it all I

48:32

genuinely really appreciate it I'd like

48:34

to make more content like this in the

48:36

future you know full retrospectives and

48:38

histories of specific franchises but

48:41

they are very time consuming in any case

48:44

just be sure to let me know all your

48:46

thoughts down below what you thought of

48:48

Equestria Girls did you like the movies

48:50

did you like the dolls were you there

48:52

when it was ongoing watching the movies

48:54

as they premiered or did you discover it

48:56

a little later be sure to tell me all

48:58

about it and when you're done with that

49:00

just be sure to like And subscribe for

49:02

any future fashion doll content thank

49:04

you