The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie

***The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie*** is a hardcover/digital artbook by Hasbro, Inc. that features behind-the-scenes material used to create the feature film *My Little Pony: The Movie*. Included are concept art and sketches by art director Rebecca Dart, a foreword by writer/executive producer Meghan McCarthy, an afterword by director Jayson Thiessen,

 full-color artwork, deleted scenes and content, and commentary from the
 director, screenwriters, character/location designers, and animators.

The book is 160 pages long and was published by VIZ Media LLC on August 29, 2017.

## Publisher's description

"Explore the making of *My Little Pony: The Movie* with exclusive
behind-the-scenes material from the creators of the film. This gorgeous
hardcover volume includes concept sketches, notes, character designs,
and pages and pages of magical, full-color artwork accompanied by
commentary from the director, screenwriter, and character designers. A
must-have for all *My Little Pony* fans."[1]

## Contents

### Foreword

Meghan McCarthy, writer and executive producer for *My Little Pony: The Movie*,
 delivers the book's foreword and comments on the process of bringing
only the most dedicated writers, artists, and creative minds together to
 create the film and how fortunate she was to be a part of that process.

### Introduction

Rebecca Dart, art director for *My Little Pony: The Movie*,
delivers the book's introduction and discusses her initial start at DHX
Media in 2010, her being appointed as art director on the series in
season five, and the transition from using Flash in the series to using
Toon Boom Harmony in the film.

### The Mane Six (Plus Spike!)

Introductory bios for the film's main cast and concept art, sketches,
 and animation references by the film's art and animation departments.
Comparisons between how the ponies look in the series and how they look
in the movie. Commentary by art and concept designers discusses how the
ponies' designs were changed with the new animation software: thinner
outlines, more ear depth, more detailed wings, etc. Also commented on is
 the blending of 2-D animation with 3-D assets.

### Equestria

Concepts and final designs of Canterlot and Ponyville, including how each location was updated for the film. Influences and inspirations for the designs include Antoni Gaudí—particularly the Sagrada Família—and Indian, Greek, and Russian architecture. Introductory bios and concept art for Songbird Serenade, Tempest Shadow, Grubber, and the Storm King. Scrapped prologues for the film include featuring the Arimaspi King and an aged Scorpan.

### Beyond Equestria

Artwork and concept art of locations from an originally longer travel montage sequence.

### Klugetown

Concept art of Klugetown
 and its anthropomorphic residents. Commentary discusses how Klugetown
was specifically designed to be the "antithesis to Canterlot".
Introductory bio and concept art for Capper, who evolved from a fox character named Mendax to his current design. Concept art of Capper's house and the Klugetown airport.

### Pirates

Introductory bio and concept art for Captain Celaeno,
 who evolved from a harpy character named Madame Harpy to her current
design, and the pirates, who were originally villains. Concept art of
the pirates' airship. In a deleted scene, the Mane Six encounter mud
trolls after escaping the pirates.

### Mount Aris

Artwork and concept art of the Hippogriff Kingdom. Influences and
inspirations for the designs include Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland and
the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Concept art for the hippogriffs and how their designs transitioned to seapony form.

### Seaquestria

Artwork and concept art of the Seapony Kingdom. Introductory bios and concept art for Queen Novo and Princess Skystar. Scrapped concepts include Haven Bay and Salina Blue
 being sisters of Skystar's instead of background characters, a seapony
prison, and Spike turning into a seadragon instead of a pufferfish.
Concept art of the Mane Six's seapony forms, and storyboards for the
opening seapony sequence.

### Return to Equestria

Artwork and concept art of the film's climax. In a deleted scene, the
 seaponies turn back into hippogriffs and join the Mane Six in the final
 battle against the Storm King. Storyboards for this scene were drawn in
 October 2015. Other scrapped concepts include the Mane Six transforming
 similarly to Rainbow Power.

### Afterword

Jayson Thiessen, director for *My Little Pony: The Movie*, delivers the book's afterword and comments on why *My Little Pony*
 has resonated with audiences worldwide and the difficulty of squeezing
everything that the production team wanted into the film's runtime. He
also thanks everyone involved in the film's creation and Lauren Faust for her talent and vision.

### Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the teams at Hasbro and DHX Media.