My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
The cast of Friendship Is Magic, presented as a poster at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. Major characters include (mid-front row, starting sixth from left) Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Spike and Rarity. The poster also includes minor characters and those named by the fandom, including Derpy, DJ Pon-3, and Doctor Hooves.
Genre	Adventure fiction High fantasy Comedy
Developed by	Lauren Faust
Directed by	Jayson Thiessen James Wootton (seasons 1–3) Jim Miller(season 4–present)
Voices of	Tara Strong Ashleigh Ball Andrea Libman Tabitha St. Germain Cathy Weseluck Nicole Oliver Madeleine Peters Claire Corlett Michelle Creber
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	222 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Lauren Faust
Running time	22 minutes
Release
Original network	The Hub/Hub Network/Discovery Family (U.S.) Treehouse TV (Canada)
Original release	October 10, 2010 – October 12, 2019

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a popular Canadian-American cartoon series. It was first shown on TV on October 10, 2010. The show is based on the famous My Little Pony toys made by Hasbro.

The cartoon was created by Lauren Faust. She also worked on other well-known shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The series ran for nine seasons, ending on October 12, 2019.

Main Characters
Online Popularity
Episodes Overview
Images for kids
See also

Main Characters

This show is about a group of friends who learn important lessons about friendship. Here are the main characters:

Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara Strong) — She is a smart, violet unicorn pony. Later, she becomes an alicorn princess. Her special mark, called a cutie mark, is a six-pointed star with five smaller stars. She stands for the Element of Magic.

Applejack (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) — An orange earth pony with a lemon yellow mane. Her cutie mark is three red apples. She represents the Element of Honesty. Applejack lives and works on Sweet Apple Acres with her family.

Rainbow Dash (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) — A sky blue pegasus pony who loves to fly fast. She has a multicolored mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a rainbow-colored lightning bolt. She represents the Element of Loyalty and is a member of the Wonderbolts flying team.

Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman) — A fun-loving pink pony with a magenta mane. Her cutie mark is yellow and blue balloons. She represents the Element of Laughter. Pinkie Pie is very energetic and loves to throw parties for her friends.

Fluttershy (voiced by Andrea Libman) — A quiet and kind lemon yellow pegasus pony. She has a pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark is three butterflies. She represents the Element of Kindness and loves spending time with animals.

Rarity (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) — A white unicorn pony with an amethyst mane. Her cutie mark is three blue diamonds. She represents the Element of Generosity. Rarity is a talented fashion designer who makes beautiful dresses.

Spike (voiced by Cathy Weseluck) — A small, amethyst baby dragon. He is Twilight Sparkle's best friend and helps her with many tasks. Spike has been with Twilight from the very beginning of her adventures.

Sweetie Belle (voiced by Claire Corlett) - A white unicorn pony and Rarity's younger sister. She is one of the leaders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Apple Bloom (voiced by Michelle Creber) — A pale yellow earth pony and Applejack's younger sister. She is also one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Scootaloo (voiced by Madeleine Peters) — A light amber Pegasus pony. She is one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and looks up to Rainbow Dash as a hero.

Princess Celestia (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - A powerful white alicorn pony. She is one of the rulers of Equestria and was Twilight Sparkle's teacher.

Discord (voiced by John de Lancie) - A playful creature called a draconequus. He represents chaos but becomes one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends. He is especially close with Fluttershy.

Online Popularity

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic became very popular online, even with older fans. Many of these fans are males aged 15 to 35. These fans are often called "bronies," which is a mix of "bro" and "pony." At first, the word was mostly for male fans, but now it describes any older fan of the show, no matter their gender.

The show's unexpected popularity started on an internet forum called 4chan. People there were interested in the show after a blog post criticized it. They started watching and really liked the story, characters, and animation. This led to many jokes and memes about the show spreading online.

Fans created websites like "Equestria Daily" and "Ponychan." These sites share stories, artwork, and news about the show. They get thousands of visits every day.

The show's creator, Lauren Faust, liked that older fans enjoyed the show. For example, a background pony with crossed eyes was a mistake by an animator. Fans on 4chan named her "Derpy Hooves." Lauren Faust listened to the fans and kept the character with her unique look, making her a silly background character in later episodes.

In one episode, "The Last Roundup," Derpy Hooves even had a few lines. Some people complained about her voice, so Hasbro changed it to sound more feminine. Another background pony, a DJ with neon hair, was named "DJ P0N-3" by fans. Both Derpy and DJ P0N-3 later appeared in the show's 100th episode, "Slice of Life," which was a special tribute to the fans.

Episodes Overview

Each episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is about 22 minutes long. Most seasons have 26 episodes, except for Season 3, which had 13 episodes. The show has a total of 222 episodes across nine seasons.

Season one

The first season started on October 10, 2010.

Friendship is Magic (Part 1)

Season two

The second season began on September 12, 2011.

The Return of Harmony (Part 1)

Season three

The third season premiered on November 5, 2012.

The Crystal Empire (Part 1)

Season four

The fourth season started on November 18, 2013.

Princess Twilight Sparkle (Part 1)

Season five

The fifth season premiered on March 30, 2015. This season included the 100th episode of the series.

The Cutie Map (Part 1)

Season six

The sixth season began on March 21, 2016.

The Crystalling (Part 1)

Season seven

The seventh season premiered on April 10, 2017.

Celestial Advice

Season eight

The eighth season started on March 19, 2018.

School Daze (Part 1)

Holiday Special (2018)

A special holiday episode was released in 2018.

My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever

Season nine

The ninth and final season premiered on April 6, 2019. This season included the 200th episode of the series.

The Beginning of the End (Part 1)

Images for kids

Lauren Faust, developer and initial showrunner of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Jayson Thiessen (left), the series' supervising director
Daniel Ingram composed the series' songs.
Sample storyboard from the two "Twilight's Kingdom" episodes, depicting an action sequence cited as difficult to storyboard.