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Lauren Faust

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Series, S04E25 and S04E26 ): ​Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1 and Part 2

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States of America

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Title of the work

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Series, S04E25 and S04E26 ): ​Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1 and Part 2

Studio / Production Company

Hasbro

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2014

First Edition Details

Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1. Directed by Jayson Thiessen, Jim Miller. Script by Lauren Faust, Meghan McCarthy. Hasbro Studios, May 10, 2014, 22 min. 

Twilight’s Kingdom Part 2. Directed by Jayson Thiessen, Jim Miller. Script by Lauren Faust, Meghan McCarthy. Hasbro Studios, May 10, 2014, 23 min. 

Running time

Part 1 – 22 min; Part 2 – 23 min

Format

Available as video on demand on Netflix, also DVDs (multiple editions) are available

Official Website

mylittlepony.hasbro.com (accessed: August 7, 2020)

Available Onllne

On Netflix - 6 seasons (accessed: August 7, 2020).

On Amazon Prime (accessed: August 7, 2020).

On iTunes (accessed: August 7, 2020).

Genre

Animated films
Television series

Target Audience

Crossover (Children)

Cover

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Ukrainian Logo by Hasbro, 2017. Retrieved from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (accessed: January 26, 2022).


Author of the Entry:

Anna Mik, University of Warsaw, anna.m.mik@gmail.com

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com

Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk

Lauren Faust, photographed by Rfaust76 on July 1, 2014 (accessed: January 7, 2020). The file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.

Lauren Faust , b. 1974
(Animator, Producer)

Lauren Faust is the creator of: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a TV-series primarily for children, broadcast in 2011-2019, produced by Hasbro. She also has worked for the Cartoon Network Studios in the production of: The Powerpuff Girls (her husband, Craig McCracken, is the creator of this series) and for Warner Bros (she is responsible for the reboot of: DC Super Hero Girls). Her philosophical outlook could be described as feminist (as she states herself on social media and in various interviews). 


Bio prepared by Anna Mik, University of Warsaw, anna.m.mik@gmail.com


Casting

Twilight Sparkle – Tara Strong,

Applejack/Rainbow Dash – Ashleigh Ball,

Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy – Andrea Libman,

Rarity/Nightmare Moon/Princess Luna – Tabitha St. Germain,

Spike/Mayor Mare – Cathy Weseluck,

Princess Celestia – Nicolve Oliver,

Lord Tirek – Mark Acheson.

Adaptations

My Little Pony. Friendship is Magic is a TV series, with multiple spin-off movies which all together provide the background for toys called “My Little Pony” produced by Hasbro; a similar phenomenon of cross-promotion also occurs in the case of Monster High (toys are accompanied by a TV series which reinforces popularity and sales of the toys).

Sequels, Prequels and Spin-offs

The previous episode: Equestria Games.

The next episode: The Cutie Map (Part 1).

Summary

Summary of the series (see here)

Summary of the episode:

In this two-part story, Twilight faces another significant challenge associated with her responsibilities of being one of Equestria’s royals. In the beginning, she struggles with the fact that she has no essential tasks assigned to her. At the same time, the other three princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence, are respected and visible in the kingdom’s everyday affairs (they greet distinguished guests, make crucial decisions, and so on). They explain to the youngest pony that her time is about to come, and she needs to learn how to be patient. Little do they know that Twilight’s time is nigh. 

While sleeping, the three princesses (excluding Twilight) have a vision of the evil centaur, Lord Tirek, sucking the life out of ponies, whose magic gives him strength and power. In a flashback, ponies are acquainted with Tirek’s past: he has attempted taking over Equestria before, however, betrayed by his brother, he was sent to Tartarus instead. The ponies suspect that he escaped when Cerberus got loose and for a while, the gates of Tartarus were not adequately guarded (It’s About Time). Afraid of the centaur coming for their powers (the greatest in Equestria), they let Twilight "store" their magic until Lord Tirek is defeated. 

Unfortunately, the task to imprison Lord Tirek gets more complicated, as he has already got hold of the power of almost every pony in the kingdom. Twilight, even with the royal powers of her fellow princesses, does not stand a chance in a fight with the mighty centaur. In order to defeat the monster, the ponies need to join forces and use the magic of friendship, the most potent force in the universe. Tirek does not stand a chance with the magical bond between the girls, loses his powers and gets back to Tartarus. Twilight proves her ability to be a real princess and becomes a genuine member of the Equestrian royal team.

Analysis

Centaur in My Little Pony is a typical villain. Although he has a backstory, his motivation was evil from the beginning (at least that we know so far). His depiction, based on the idea of a monstrous centaur, is interesting, as he has the lower body of a horse, but instead of a human torso, head and hands, he looks a bit like Satan, with red skin, horns and a fiery glance. Lord Tirek coming from Tartarus to destroy Equestria, is a hybrid between a horse and the devil, not a human. 

Casting a centaur in the role of a villain is interesting from the perspective of the principal inhabitants of Equestria – ponies. To them, Lord Tirek must not only be an evil force trying to take over the world – he is also a monstrous hybrid, a mix between a pony and some other unknown creature (as far as we know, ponies do not know humans). Tirek is a mythical distortion threatening the harmony of the pony world. In this respect, his character has a similar function as he did in ancient times (except of course Chiron, who was wise and helpful towards humans). Lord Tirek takes away the power from the ponies, and only a union between friends can hold him back. Experiencing the power of friendship is undoubtedly an important lesson for young audiences, often encountering “centaurs” on their way.


Further Reading

Centaurs” on Theoi.com (accessed: August 10, 2020).

Hodkinson, Owen and Helen Lovatt, Introduction in Classical Reception and Children’s Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Maurice, Lisa, "From Chiron to Foaly: The Centaur in Classical Mythology and Fantasy Literature" in The Reception of Ancient Greece and Rome in Children’s Literature: Heroes and Eagles, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015.

Addenda

The series proved to be very popular among teenagers and adults as well: fans call themselves: “bronies”; because of this popularity, it could be considered as having reached a crossover audience.

Translations: Multi-language soundtrack

Yellow cloud
Leaf pattern
Leaf pattern

Title of the work

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Series, S04E25 and S04E26 ): ​Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1 and Part 2

Studio / Production Company

Hasbro

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2014

First Edition Details

Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1. Directed by Jayson Thiessen, Jim Miller. Script by Lauren Faust, Meghan McCarthy. Hasbro Studios, May 10, 2014, 22 min. 

Twilight’s Kingdom Part 2. Directed by Jayson Thiessen, Jim Miller. Script by Lauren Faust, Meghan McCarthy. Hasbro Studios, May 10, 2014, 23 min. 

Running time

Part 1 – 22 min; Part 2 – 23 min

Format

Available as video on demand on Netflix, also DVDs (multiple editions) are available

Official Website

mylittlepony.hasbro.com (accessed: August 7, 2020)

Available Onllne

On Netflix - 6 seasons (accessed: August 7, 2020).

On Amazon Prime (accessed: August 7, 2020).

On iTunes (accessed: August 7, 2020).

Genre

Animated films
Television series

Target Audience

Crossover (Children)

Cover

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Ukrainian Logo by Hasbro, 2017. Retrieved from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (accessed: January 26, 2022).


Author of the Entry:

Anna Mik, University of Warsaw, anna.m.mik@gmail.com

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com

Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk

Lauren Faust, photographed by Rfaust76 on July 1, 2014 (accessed: January 7, 2020). The file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.

Lauren Faust (Animator, Producer)

Lauren Faust is the creator of: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a TV-series primarily for children, broadcast in 2011-2019, produced by Hasbro. She also has worked for the Cartoon Network Studios in the production of: The Powerpuff Girls (her husband, Craig McCracken, is the creator of this series) and for Warner Bros (she is responsible for the reboot of: DC Super Hero Girls). Her philosophical outlook could be described as feminist (as she states herself on social media and in various interviews). 


Bio prepared by Anna Mik, University of Warsaw, anna.m.mik@gmail.com


Casting

Twilight Sparkle – Tara Strong,

Applejack/Rainbow Dash – Ashleigh Ball,

Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy – Andrea Libman,

Rarity/Nightmare Moon/Princess Luna – Tabitha St. Germain,

Spike/Mayor Mare – Cathy Weseluck,

Princess Celestia – Nicolve Oliver,

Lord Tirek – Mark Acheson.

Adaptations

My Little Pony. Friendship is Magic is a TV series, with multiple spin-off movies which all together provide the background for toys called “My Little Pony” produced by Hasbro; a similar phenomenon of cross-promotion also occurs in the case of Monster High (toys are accompanied by a TV series which reinforces popularity and sales of the toys).

Sequels, Prequels and Spin-offs

The previous episode: Equestria Games.

The next episode: The Cutie Map (Part 1).

Summary

Summary of the series (see here)

Summary of the episode:

In this two-part story, Twilight faces another significant challenge associated with her responsibilities of being one of Equestria’s royals. In the beginning, she struggles with the fact that she has no essential tasks assigned to her. At the same time, the other three princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence, are respected and visible in the kingdom’s everyday affairs (they greet distinguished guests, make crucial decisions, and so on). They explain to the youngest pony that her time is about to come, and she needs to learn how to be patient. Little do they know that Twilight’s time is nigh. 

While sleeping, the three princesses (excluding Twilight) have a vision of the evil centaur, Lord Tirek, sucking the life out of ponies, whose magic gives him strength and power. In a flashback, ponies are acquainted with Tirek’s past: he has attempted taking over Equestria before, however, betrayed by his brother, he was sent to Tartarus instead. The ponies suspect that he escaped when Cerberus got loose and for a while, the gates of Tartarus were not adequately guarded (It’s About Time). Afraid of the centaur coming for their powers (the greatest in Equestria), they let Twilight "store" their magic until Lord Tirek is defeated. 

Unfortunately, the task to imprison Lord Tirek gets more complicated, as he has already got hold of the power of almost every pony in the kingdom. Twilight, even with the royal powers of her fellow princesses, does not stand a chance in a fight with the mighty centaur. In order to defeat the monster, the ponies need to join forces and use the magic of friendship, the most potent force in the universe. Tirek does not stand a chance with the magical bond between the girls, loses his powers and gets back to Tartarus. Twilight proves her ability to be a real princess and becomes a genuine member of the Equestrian royal team.

Analysis

Centaur in My Little Pony is a typical villain. Although he has a backstory, his motivation was evil from the beginning (at least that we know so far). His depiction, based on the idea of a monstrous centaur, is interesting, as he has the lower body of a horse, but instead of a human torso, head and hands, he looks a bit like Satan, with red skin, horns and a fiery glance. Lord Tirek coming from Tartarus to destroy Equestria, is a hybrid between a horse and the devil, not a human. 

Casting a centaur in the role of a villain is interesting from the perspective of the principal inhabitants of Equestria – ponies. To them, Lord Tirek must not only be an evil force trying to take over the world – he is also a monstrous hybrid, a mix between a pony and some other unknown creature (as far as we know, ponies do not know humans). Tirek is a mythical distortion threatening the harmony of the pony world. In this respect, his character has a similar function as he did in ancient times (except of course Chiron, who was wise and helpful towards humans). Lord Tirek takes away the power from the ponies, and only a union between friends can hold him back. Experiencing the power of friendship is undoubtedly an important lesson for young audiences, often encountering “centaurs” on their way.


Further Reading

Centaurs” on Theoi.com (accessed: August 10, 2020).

Hodkinson, Owen and Helen Lovatt, Introduction in Classical Reception and Children’s Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Maurice, Lisa, "From Chiron to Foaly: The Centaur in Classical Mythology and Fantasy Literature" in The Reception of Ancient Greece and Rome in Children’s Literature: Heroes and Eagles, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015.

Addenda

The series proved to be very popular among teenagers and adults as well: fans call themselves: “bronies”; because of this popularity, it could be considered as having reached a crossover audience.

Translations: Multi-language soundtrack

Yellow cloud