My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

The Semi-Magnificent Six.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 29, 2017

Years ago when I reviewed Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels, I started out by warning any and all readers that if they didn’t have a (perhaps jaded) sense of humor, they were strongly encouraged to skip the main portion of my writing and just concentrate on the technical elements of our coverage if they were considering a purchase. That piece of advice went by the wayside for at least one reader, namely one of the public relations personnel assigned to handle what I assume is the gigantic “Thomas account”. I received a blistering email from this individual taking me to task for the review (which I just re-read in preparation for writing this review, and which I still think is kinda sorta hilarious, so there), delivering one of my all time favorite upbraids I have received as a critic (and, believe me, I’ve received a lot): “I think you’re being a little hard on that poor little blue tank engine, aren’t you?” So with those inimitable words resonating in all our minds, I again urge anyone without a sense of humor about so-called “children’s entertainment” to simply do the smart thing and stop reading — now. (Or at least go down to those oft mentioned technical aspects of the review, below.) Much like the many releases of Thomas & Friends product I’ve been assigned over the years, I’ve had an at least somewhat similar glut of My Little Pony offerings showing up in my review queue, including My Little Pony Equestria Girls (another review whose supposed humor evidently skirted right around one of the users who also reviewed the film), My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree , My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, and My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games. (In poking around the site as I researched background for this review — and, yes, even this review required some background research — I discovered that we’ve yet to cover Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony, a documentary that actually sounds interesting to me, so I’ll pick that one up and write about it soon, no doubt engendering even more umbrage over my so-called sense of humor.) Perhaps for all of these reasons I wasn’t overly excited about reviewing My Little Pony: The Movie, but as with both the Thomas the Tank Engine and other Pony offerings, it’s a largely harmless enterprise that moves along quickly (if also relentlessly predictably) enough that it should certainly appeal to younger (female?) kids in particular.

Twilight Sparkle is front and center in this adventure, with a plotline that gets her and several of her acolytes out of Equestria after her planned Friendship Festival goes horribly wrong. A huge group of interlopers under the control of Storm King (Liev Schreiber), a villain who has his own acolyte in the form of Tempest Shadow (Emily Blunt), a unicorn with a broken horn, shows up and wreaks havoc, more or less "freezing" several of the denizens of Canterlot with a magical spell. With Twilight’s princess cohorts all taken out by Tempest, Twilight is forced to escape, along with five other ponies, and sidekick Spike along for some comedy relief.

My Little Pony: The Movie takes the ponies on a quest that will hopefully restore Equestria to its former luster, and you pretty much know what you’re in for from the get go with this enterprise. Friendships will be tested, Twilight’s attempts to fix things only makes them worse (for a little while), and even Tempest turns out to have a “kinder, gentler” side when you get right down to it. It’s all resolutely predictable, but it teaches valuable lessons of loyalty, honesty and persistence, three things that most parents will of course want their tots to learn about.

My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My Little Pony: The Movie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. The movie arguably slightly ups the general design aesthetic of the television version of this franchise, but by how much may be debatable. The palette is rather lustrous throughout, with the all important purples and pinks resonating very well throughout the presentation. The animation isn't really overly detailed most of the time, and some of the backgrounds almost approach Hanna-Barbera levels of simplicity, but some of the CGI is rather well done and adds a suitably magical element to a few scenes. There are some brief flirtations with banding, but otherwise this is a bright, sharp and problem free presentation that should easily delight younger children especially.

My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

My Little Pony: The Movie features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that derives considerable sonic energy from some of the film's big showdowns, as in the opening fracas at the Friendship Festival. As the ponies get out of Equestria, there are a number of scenes that feature nicely placed ambient environmental sounds in a variety of different environments (some lushly tropical, others almost desert like). As with most My Little Pony outings, there's music galore, and the many songs or other underscoring choices also waft through the surround channels nicely. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly and with smart prioritization throughout.

My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scene (1080p; 1:16)


• Equestria Girls Short (1080p; 2:47) is for those who want their horses to be humans rather than vice versa.


• Baking with Pinkie Pie (1080p; 3:51) offers a how to video for aspiring cupcake makers.


• Making Magic with the Mane 6 and Their New Friends (1080p; 14:36) is an overview of some of the characters in the film.


• The Journey Beyond Equestria (1080p; 11:28) looks at some of the (series) antecedents to some plot points in the film, as well as exploring some of the new locales the little ponies get to.


• I'm the Friend You Need - Music Video (1080p; 2:51)


• Hanazuki: Full of Treasures (1080p; 5:05)

My Little Pony: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lest I receive a new, improved email from some PR hack (there, I said it) asking, "You're being awfully hard on those multi-colored little ponies, aren't you?", let me close by saying films like My Little Pony: The Movie serve a definite purpose (they're "really useful", to use some Thomas the Tank Engine verbiage that I joked about in that above linked review). Look, I'm a parent (even if my boys are now more or less adults), and so I say this without an ounce of "judginess": if you need to get something done, and plopping the kids down in front of the television for an hour and a half will help, you could do a lot worse than this colorful if awfully predictable affair (and, yes, all of the foregoing is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek). Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.