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Galloping to Greatness Again Co-directors Robert Cullen and José Luis Ucha discuss the triumphant arrival of My Little Pony: A New Generation. By Karen Idelson
M
y Little Pony has been such a consistent part of pop culture around the world that it’s hard to believe it was only launched in 1981 as a Hasbro toy. Four different TV series, several generations of characters and two movies later, the colorful equine stars continue to entertain and inspire generations of kids (and many, many adults) around the world with their mantra, “Friendship is magic.” This month, the new feature My Little Pony: A New Generation will arrive in time to capture a new generation of fans and appeal to longtime aficionados of the franchise as well. Co-written and co-directed by Robert Cullen (Transformers: Cyberverse, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera) and José Luis Ucha (Bernard, Invizimals), the new adventure finds the realm of Equestria in big trouble as it has lost is magic: Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi are now separated and no longer friends. So, it’s up to Earth Pony Sunny (Vanessa Hudgens) and Unicorn Izzy (Kimiko Glenn) to bring back enchantment to their world!
“We wanted to make the movie accessible to people who probably aren’t familiar with the world of My Little Pony,” says Cullen. “And we’re also paying respects and homage to the older films and TV shows. We want fans to appreciate it and see it and for the comedy to be
effective. There are Easter eggs in the movie as well for fans. But we definitely kept the DNA of ‘Friendship Is Magic.’ It’s still there in the presence of the main ponies in the movie as they go through the story. So, it was kind of a balancing act.”
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september|october 21
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