My Little Pony: A New Generation

My Little Pony: A New Generation is a 2021 adventure comedy film based on the series My Little Pony created by Bonnie Zacherle, which was developed as part of the 2021 re-launch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro. Directed by Robert Cullen & Jose Ucha. The film marks the start of the fifth incarnation of the franchise, which is set in the same universe as the previous generations, a first for the franchise.

Plot

Years after the events of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, the film centers on Sunny Starscout, an outcast and young activist earth pony who still sees hope in Equestria where Twilight Sparkle's teachings on friendship and harmony have been replaced with paranoia and mistrust, and where all three species of ponies live segregated from one another. However, when she meets a lost unicorn named Izzy, the two embark on an adventure involving musical numbers, a jewel heist, conspiracy theories, and "the world’s cutest flying Pomeranian" as they travel to new lands while facing their fears and turning enemies into friends.

Why It's Alright, Alright, Alright-Right-Right

1. The film stays connected to the 2010s TV show, Friendship is Magic, that way it looks less like a cash-grab reboot and more of a tribute to Friendship is Magic, and it doesn't ignore any events of the previous show.
2. The opening scene where the original Mane Six appeared in a different art style looked pretty cool, and it's nice to see the Mane Six in the opening scene.
3. There are many new and creative places to explore that take on a different type of element, such as the forest civilisation of Bridlewood or the sky city of Zephyr Heights.
4. The CGI animation of the film looks great and very beautiful, which fits the spirit of the previous installment. The CGI animation in the movie is often said to arguably have the best CGI animation in the franchise as it has a movie-sized budget, which is pretty impressive, especially for My Little Pony standards.
5. The film is surprisingly really funny, particularly with the running gag of magic, wing, feather and mayonnaise being curse words in Bridlewood that bring forth a slew of bad luck, resulting in the unicorns having to do a weird ritual mostly consisting of them shouting "BING BONG".
6. The film introduces the new characters, especially the five new characters to introduce, who would later be on this upcoming G5 MLP show, such as:
   • Sunny Starscout, an adventurous Earth pony who likes roller skating and wants all pony kinds to get along.
   • Izzy Moonbow, an energetic and curious unicorn from Bridlewood Forest who loves crafting.
   • Hitch Trailblazer, an Earth pony who is a kind and hard-working, if a bit unorthodox sheriff at Maretime Bay.
   • Pipp Petals, a Pegasus princess from Zephyr Heights who is a talented pop icon and loves to entertain other ponies with her music.
   • Zipp Storm, Pipp's sister and a rebellious Pegasus princess from Zephyr Heights who likes athletics and science.
   • Phyllis Cloverleaf, an Earth pony who owns Canterlogic, a company specializing in products to keep Earth ponies "safe and stylish". Also spreads propaganda about how bad other kinds of ponies are.
7. All-new characters are pretty likable and entertaining, especially for Izzy the Unicorn, who is a very cute unicorn character, which Kimiko Glenn does a splendid job voicing her.
8. There are some songs that are very catchy to listen to, particularly Danger, Danger which instead of going for the pop beats the show is known for, goes for a more Nirvana-esque hard rock style.
9. The climactic scene in the lighthouse is amazing.
10. The movie is not afraid to get dark, as the plot revolves around how being in isolation can lead to hate.
11. The film has tons of references to real-life companies, and movies, like Pony, which refers to Sony, which doesn't make the film feel like an advertisement, unlike the The Emoji Movie, or Ralph Breaks the Internet. In other words, there is no product placements, but rather parodies.
12. The idea of a My Little Pony film in a magic-less era, without any wings or unicorns, is very creative for a My Little Pony film.
13. Beautiful soundtrack that were composed by Heitor Pereira, Alan Schmuckler, and Michael Mahler.
14. The ending is great; the three crystals begin to glow, lift Sunny into the air, and transform her into an alicorn while restoring magic across the land. Sunny and her new friends watch as earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi work together to clean up Sprout's mess and bring a new era to the land, setting up the future of the franchise.

Bad Qualities

1. Just like Friendship is Magic, the film still has some adult references, which may be a bit inappropriate for the little kids. Example is that the movie poster references to The Terminator as Judgment Neigh.
2. The plot can be a bit uncanny at times.
3. Sprout Cloverleaf, while a good villain, can be a bit annoying at many points.
4. The film has pacing problems, despite being 91 minutes long, the film feels a bit longer than that.
5. The ending, while solid, comes off as rather abrupt.
6. There are a couple of animation errors here and there, such as the reflection in the characters' eyes, no matter where they are, always reflecting on Maretime Bay.
7. It abruptly undoes the good guys' accomplishments from FiM. Thus starting on the same note as some of the most-infamous sequels in history, and immediately turning some fans off from this Generation.
8. There are a few plot-holes here or there:
   • How did the three pony kinds become separated to begin with?
   • At the royal celebration where nearly every pegasus in Zephyr Heights is attending, how is it that not a single pony noticed Sunny stealing the crown?
     • On a similar topic, how did Queen Haven not feel the crown being swapped?
   • The rules of the dance game implied it was 'best out of three', but why was Sunny declared the winner when Alphabittle won more rounds than her?
9. While the message is good, it feels very overly done and predictable.
10. The scene where Pipp features an unnecessary ad with a perfume called "Parfum La Pipp" can be very controversial to some people, even though it is a reference from Miraculous Ladybug where Adrien features in the ad called "Adrien The Fragrance".
11. Some fans might be disappointed in the "kidifying" of the new Generation and the replacement of Canadian voice actors with Hollywood voice actors (especially considering Vancouver has been the production site for the franchise since My Little Pony Tales in the 90s).

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 90% based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 7/10, while it has a 89% audience score rating on the same site. Courtney Howard from Variety gave the film a mostly positive review. She praised the film for "[retaining] its predecessors' lively, spirited drive centered on friendship, empowerment and magic," though was critical of some plot aspects. On IMDb, it has a 6.9/10 rating. Three days after its release, A New Generation became the second-most popular film on Netflix.

Trivia

• It was originally set to be released theatrically by Paramount Pictures, however, it was instead released in most countries on Netflix on September 24, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while still being theatrically released in several Asian countries.