My Little Pony: The Elements of Harmony: Friendship is Magic: The Official Guidebook

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My Little Pony: The Elements of Harmony: Friendship is Magic: The Official Guidebook Page 10

by Brandon T. Snider


  Little Pony serves as a teaching tool for families to use at home

  when illustrating important life lessons. As Twilight Sparkle learns

  the importance of sharing and friendship, parents can use her

  experiences to educate their children

  and pass along these valuable

  messages. Musical numbers like

  the “Sharing/Caring Song” are

  designed to engage kids by

  making the message fun,

  energetic, and relatable.

  Nostalgia often plays

  a part in popular culture,

  and many parents have

  welcomed My Little

  Pony into their homes

  because they grew up

  with it. Moms share their

  childhood love of the brand,

  which helps them relate to the

  “I was on vacation in Austin,

  Texas, during a record-breaking

  heat wave, and while walking along

  the sidewalk near my hotel in South

  Congress, I saw in the distance what looked

  to be a person in a large pink mascot costume.

  Initially, I dismissed it as someone on their way

  to a sporting event of some kind and continued

  chatting with my friends, but as we passed the

  pink mascot, I noticed a balloon cutie mark on

  the hip of the costume. This was Pinkie Pie!

  Someone was dressed head to toe in this

  fuzzy costume in 110-degree heat! Now

  that’s dedication!”

  —Devon Cody, producer

  “As a parent, I’ve had to sit

  through my share of shows with my kids so

  I understand how great it is to find ones that we enjoy

  watching together, and that have a positive impact on them.

  I had a mom come up to me and tell me that when her sons start

  to argue, she just has to say, ‘What would Pinkie Pie do?’ and instead

  of continuing to fight, they try to calmly resolve their

  differences. One of the many joys of working on this show

  is knowing that I’m not just getting to write funny stories,

  but that I’m putting something with a really positive

  message out into the world.”

  —Meghan McCarthy, story editor

  kids in the process. Instead of stagnating, My Little Pony has

  evolved to include modern attitudes toward family, community,

  and acceptance. The characters and their

  continued evolution serve to reignite a

  fondness felt by parents, which they, in

  turn, pass along to the next generation.

  It can be argued that younger

  generations have become desensitized

  to violence because of the deluge

  of images shown to them on

  television and the Internet, and in

  the news media. Though My Little

  Pony rests comfortably in the

  realm of fantasy, parents can rest

  assured that even the most perilous

  situations that the characters may find

  themselves in can always be solved

  “One

  day I received

  a package hand-

  delivered by some fans

  from out of town. It was

  an incredible My Little Pony

  poster that they had custom-

  designed and signed by all the

  prominent musicians in the fan

  community at the time. It’s a

  beautiful piece of work and a

  very touching gesture from the

  community. I had it framed,

  and it hangs in my studio

  today.”

  —Daniel Ingram,

  song composer

  “It’s a

  good feeling

  knowing that

  kids are not only

  enjoying the show for

  its entertainment value,

  but that they are getting

  something deeper out

  of it as well. ”

  —Ridd Sorensen,

  art director

  by a nonviolent resolution. The solutions

  are always clear, clever, and positive.

  My Little Pony may be aimed

  squarely at younger audiences, but the

  universal appeal of the series for all

  ages is recognized by the show’s creator,

  Lauren Faust, as one of the secrets to its

  success. But what keeps teen and adult

  fans engaged in a show meant for kids? The

  message of Friendship is Magic is a universal

  one, and fans of all ages connect deeply to

  the show’s sense of camaraderie and fellowship.

  “A fan I spoke to told me that Cindy

  Morrow’s episode ‘Griffon the Brush Off’ really

  had a strong effect on him. This fan always felt that

  he needed to please everyone in order to have friends. He

  would even change his personality to do this. But in watching

  this episode, he learned that he just needed to be himself like

  Pinkie was. If someone liked him, great! If not, then they

  weren’t his friend to begin with.”

  —Amy Keating Rogers, writer

 

 

 


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