Fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have gotten to follow their favorite ponies into a parallel universe where they experience the world as anthropomorphized high school students. Through four films, three TV specials, music albums, animated shorts, and even a mobile app and a line of dolls, the MLP: Equestria Girls franchise shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, a new digital series is launching TODAY!
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls is now a new digital series on the Hasbro YouTube channel! The first episode drops TODAY, and a new episode, each around 2-3 minutes long, will drop every Friday. Check out the trailer above!
Here’s the official description from Hasbro:
The magic of Equestria cannot be contained! It’s found its way into the world of the all new My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Digital Series and it’s turning everything on its head. From after-school clubs to beach days, music festivals to theme parks, and a rockin’ Spring Break on a yacht, magic is sure making things interesting. Join Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity as they learn what it means to be superheroes while they take on their biggest challenge yet: high school.
I love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I’ve gotta say, I’ve never really understood the need for an Equestria Girls franchise. A one-off movie as an interesting parallel universe thing? Sure, that was fun. But part of the charm of My Little Pony is that they’re, you know, ponies.
Still, I was glad to get a chance at a sneak peek at some of the upcoming episodes of the new Equestria Girls digital series. While Equestria Girls isn’t nearly as charming or heartfelt as Friendship is Magic, it does provide a nice bridge for kids as they age out of that show, which is rated Y7, into their tween years. That is, until they get older and age right back down into loving the sweetness of Friendship is Magic again.
And despite the fact that I’m not as crazy about Equestria Girls, there were several episodes that I thought stood out and that I really enjoyed. “Pinkie Sitting” is a sweet look at Pinkie Pie trying to entertain a babysitting charge who’s more into reading than she is into parties. “The Finals Countdown” has Twilight Sparkle learn that the best way to teach others is by relating to their individual interests. And “Display of Affection” has Rarity finding inspiration in the work of a mysterious street artist called Flanksy.
There are a couple of duds, too. “My Little Shop of Horrors” was clearly just an excuse to have a mash-up title between MLP and Little Shop of Horrors (complete with overactive plants). “Overpowered” and “A Little Birdie Told Me” also fall flat.
However, most of the episodes I saw were somewhere in between. Entertaining, but not mindblowing. Kids and die-hard My Little Pony fans will dig the series, but more casual fans, or those who’ve never engaged in MLP before might find the series a bit more hit-and-miss.
But hey, the series is free, and available on YouTube, so head on over and decide for yourself! The first episode is available NOW!
(image: Hasbro)
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