The My Little Pony franchise is ending its popular The Friendship is Magic series, but don’t expect to see the brand riding off into the sunset any time soon. Hasbro has big plans for the franchise after acquiring Entertainment One in 2019, including a wide range of new consumer products, the release of a CGI film, a cross platform mashup with The Transformers, and a new animated series called My Little Pony: Pony Life.
eOne is now Hasbro’s global entertainment arm, and will now air Pony Life, which debuted in late 2020 on platforms like Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. The upcoming film is currently slated for release in September, with a newly developed CGI look.
“The final season [of Friendship is Magic] brought that storytelling to a satisfying conclusion, and it felt like the right time to close that chapter of Pony history,” says Emily Thompson, VP of global brand management for eOne. “Generation Alpha has a higher emotional intelligence, and they expect a lot more from their entertainment. We know it’s important to Gen Alpha that they see their peer groups represented in their entertainment, and that shaped how we built our core cast.”
The movie’s main character, for example, is an activist working to make the pony world a better place. My Little Pony will be one of Hasbro’s biggest initiatives in 2021, says Casey Collins, SVP and GM of global consumer products.
Naturally, the new programming will launch a stampede of new toys and consumer products, with the first new offerings hitting store shelves in August. As a major driver of sales, My Little Pony is getting a lot of attention from the toymaker and from eOne.
“Consumer behaviors have changed so much due to COVID-19, and we’re taking a look at categories that have been spiking in terms of sales,” Collins said.