Revision as of September 2, 2020
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a Canadian-American animated fantasy television series based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and is often referred to by collectors as the fourth generation (also referred to as ‘‘G4’’) of the franchise. The series premiered on October 10, 2010 on The Hub (which was renamed as Discovery Family in late 2014), and ended on October 12, 2019. Hasbro selected animator Lauren Faust as the creative director and executive producer for the show. Faust sought to challenge the established nature of the existing My Little Pony line, creating more in-depth characters and adventurous settings; she left the series during season 2, to be replaced by Megan McCarthy as showrunner for the remainder of the series.
The series follows a studios anthropomorphic unicorn (later an alicorn) pony named Twilight Sparkle as her mentor, Princess Celestia, guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight and her dragon assistant Spike become close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each of the ponies represent a different faucet of friendship, and Twilight discovers herself to be a key part of the magical artifacts known as the "Elements of Harmony". The ponies travel on adventures and help others around Equestria while working out problems that arise in their own friendships.
The series has become a major commercial success, becoming the highest rated original production in Hub Network's broadcast history and leading to new merchandising opportunities Hasbro, including books, clothing, collective trading cards, and comics. Despite the target demographic of young girls, Friendship Is Magic has also gained a large following of older viewers, mainly young and middle-aged men, who call themselves "bronies". Portions of the show have become part of the remix culture, and have also formed the basis for a variety of internet memes.
A feature-length film adaptation directly based on the TV series, titled My Little Pony: The Movie, was theatrically released on October 6, 2017 in the United States. A spin-off franchise, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls was launched in 2013. The first two films, Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks, were shown in limited theatrical screenings prior to television broadcast and home media release. A spin-off reboot series, titled My Little Pony: Pony Life is scheduled to premiere on Discovery Family in the United States in late 2020.