My Little Pony: The Movie (1986) User Reviews

Nothing Can Stop the Smooze!

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 16 January 2007]

Spring has arrived and the My Little Ponies are having a gay old time! But after screwing up a dance recital, Baby Lickety-Split feels unwanted and runs away from home. Oh no! While the ponies go in search of her, the evil witch Hydia and her two ne'er-do-well children are determined to destroy the pony's home with a nastiness known as The Smooze.

Many of the cartoons of my childhood are truly awful when I go back and look at them again. This was not one of those. It was a decent story, appropriate for children and decently animated. Granted, the songs were sort of weak and didn't really have the lyrical genius an adult might like. I wonder how much crap my mom had to sit through with me as a child.

But the messages are good. First, we learn that families are important and that parents should love their children and children should love their parents. The evil witch Hydia won't let her kids call her "mom" and makes them do horrible things to those innocent little ponies. Mothers, love your babies, and don't let them grow up to be cowboys. Kids, love your parents, and know they're (probably) doing the best they can. Unless they're like Hydia, then your parents are bad and you should get new ones.

We also learn that running away is not the answer to feeling unwanted. Someone out there probably loves you, unless you're a really awful person. But even then you can probably find someone. Baby Lickety-Split was cute and everyone loved her, she was just too focused on being the star of the show, rather than working as a team. It's important to put in your best effort, but don't step on other people's toes.

I really loved the Smooze... and the song that goes with it, because nothing can stop the Smooze. I really cannot describe this, so you may as well see it. If you get the DVD, you can jump to any song you want. Go ahead and jump to this song before you even watch the movie, it's not going to ruin anything and really sets up the greatness of the film.

Danny DeVito gets top billing for this film. Don't be fooled by that. He doesn't show up until much later and plays a minor character, the Grundle King, with few lines. Those lines, by the way, are in broken English. So he doesn't even really have a full sentence in his script. Mr. DeVito, you lucky man... getting such credit for such little work.

Mike Joens is the director. Joens has done a fair amount of work with the art department of "The Muppet Babies", another great cartoon, so you know this one is in good hands. The writer is George Arthur Bloom, who has been involved in a great many pony projects. If anyone knows the mythology of My Little Pony, it's Bloom.

Whether you have kids or not, I think this is a winner of a film. I don't have my own kids, but still I loved it. If I did, I would show this to them because it's better than much of the current kid stuff out there. Not all, but much of it. (It's hard to beat things like "Shrek", but not so hard to beat many of the television cartoons.) Go to your local Family Video, where kids movies are free, and pick this one up today.

A little piece of paradise

[decalderonne · 7/10 · 12 June 2022]

I didn't watch this feature-length film until I was an adult, although I have been one of the BIGGEST fans of the TV series that followed the film, since the age of 5 (I'm now in my mid-30s). Hence, I have no nostalgia associated with the movie specifically, the way so many other reviewers seem to, and this allows me to be a little more objective in my own appraisal. Let me start by saying that this was a terrific introduction to the Flutter Ponies - one of the most alluring elements of the entire G1 MLP franchise, and the way they roll back and eradicate the Smooze at the end of the story by the power of their fluttering wings is ABSOLUTELY *EPIC* - a truly and uniquely spectacular sequence in cartoon film history. I would much rather watch this than the generic action sequences in modern, so-called 'real' films like "The Batman". The Flutter Ponies are immeasurably cooler than anything in the DC or Marvel mega-franchises today.

I don't find Baby Lickety-Split NEARLY as annoying as a lot of people seem to, although you WOULD be advised to turn down the volume on your DVD towards the end of her first song "I'll Go It Alone". It's the much more petulant equivalent of the old standard "By Myself" (popularized by the likes of Judy Garland), and although the so-called grand finale where both Baby LS and Spike sing 'in harmony' (ahem) will test even the most ardent G1 MLP fan to put it kindly - I still find the song a lot more original and authentic and yes, even entertaining (bar the ending), than her second song "What Good Could Wishing Do?" which is a much more generically schmaltzy song (the kind you would find in any late 20th century musical). The idea of the supposed Wishing Well singing back to her, in a play on Snow White's wishing well song from the 1937 Disney film, is clever, but I found this to be the MOST GRATING melody for the most part because it sounds like the composer was trying to outdo both Stephen Schwartz and Kander & Ebb at their generic worst!!

The rest of the score is mostly REALLY REALLY ENJOYABLE, MEMORABLE and JUST DARN GOOD, so I completely disagree with everyone who has dissed all the songs. And no, "Nothing Can Stop the Schmooze" is FAR from the musical highlight - it's an attempt to add some levity and comedy to the Witches' vile plot to bury everyone and everything in Dream Valley forever, not unlike the way Shakespeare's Richard III juxtaposed outright villainy with almost ridiculously comedic lines - but the TRUE WORTH of the score lies elsewhere!!!

The Witches' first song "An Evil Witch Like Me" is MUCH MUCH MORE CLEVER AND DELICIOUS than the title would have you believe, both lyrically and sonically, as Hydia contextualizes everything within the framework of her proudly "despicable" family tree. There's such a rich mythology woven into just that one song, making the viewer LONG to see some of Hydia's ancestors like the deceptively beautiful Lucretia and Bad-Ass Grandma Alexis featured in their own stories. The cackling within the song is also superbly and musically/rhythmically timed, enhancing the number in a way that's both hilarious and true to the character. I've watched just this song on its own countless times on YouTube.

"I'll Do the Dirty Work" is also more on the generic, late 20th century American musical theatre side of the spectrum, at least as far as the MELODY goes, but it's a genuinely effective CHARACTER PIECE that certainly transcends the contemporary Broadway genre. If anything, it plays out like a subversion of the standard musical theatre trope, where you would normally have 2 LIKEABLE characters sing this kind of tune, but in this case it's a DASTARDLY DUET.

I really don't understand the people who have dismissed and disparaged THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER RAINBOW - true, it may not be the single most original song ever conceived of, but I think it's a truly worthy and legitimately epic ANTHEM for this movie, which Tammy Amerson belts out terrifically and with great conviction and sincerity. It's a song that we should all TAKE TO HEART - not just the ponies in the story - because it's so easy to lose hope and succumb to despair and negative thinking, especially today (all these decades AFTER the film was made and released). Seriously. It's a bona fide NOTE TO SELF moment for any viewer, regardless of whether they're a child, or an adult. I think the song can give 'Tomorrow' from Annie a run for its money......although this one is much more symbolic and metaphorical. On the one hand, Megan is referring to the magical rainbow featured in the story, but it also applies just as powerfully to the optimism and positive thinking we all need in REAL LIFE, on a day to day basis!

I think Mr. Moochik's song HOME is another indisputable winner! Yes, it's ultimately plugging the "Paradise Estate" playset to children, but the way the lyricist and composer GET to that is really really ingenious in my opinion, taking both the fictional characters and the real viewers on a tour around the world.......far more effective than Disney's magic carpet ride from Aladdin, to be perfectly frank!!! The song absolutely and brilliantly drives home the point about having/living in a home that fits your own temperament and personality - no matter what the rest of the world may say (literally in this case) - and the fact that Megan is so empathetic and sympathetic as to be COMPLETELY IN SYNC with the Ponies' preferences and needs is such a moving and heartwarming touch. I know that a lot of critics, and viewers to this day, criticize the fact that the movie was supposed to sell toys, but the American media is all about selling things to people no matter WHAT they're watching - and at least in this case, it's as if the children in the audience are being told that EVEN IF they can't visit Egypt, Italy, and all the places the Moochick whisks Megan and the Ponies to over the course of the song......they JUST MIGHT be able to own a 'little piece of paradise' in the form of the Paradise Estate playset.

At the end of the day, I do believe that this movie is a little piece of paradise in and of itself. The fact that the Grundles get to have their own home/semblance of a kingdom again in the form of the compromised Castle in Dream Valley is like ICING ON THE CAKE as the story reaches its conclusion. That was very generous of the Ponies, and 1000% appreciated by the Grundles, who are really neat characters in their own right themselves. Danny DeVito is one of the best actors of all time - I have seen him do a live play here in Los Angeles - and he proves the maxim that there are no small parts; only small actors.

On the subject of actors, I will say that I am personally not CRAZY about Cloris Leachman as Hydia, or Madeline Kahn as Draggle. I think Tress McNellie and Jennifer Darling were VASTLY SUPERIOR in the TV series as those characters, when we see Hydia and her daughters return to get their revenge on the Flutter Ponies. I don't know whether Cloris Leachman did her own singing as Hydia here - but the singing was preferable to her spoken lines on the whole. There were a lot of times where it seemed like Cloris was trying to underplay the dialogue, or make it sound more 'realistic', but this didn't match what the animators were doing on a few glaring occasions. I guess she wasn't exactly familiar with the animation medium, although she DOES really really 'sell' Hydia's defeat, as the old witch bellows and yells hopelessly against the magical might of the Flutter Ponies.

Megan, Molly and Danny REALLY shine here as three-dimensional characters - George Arthur Bloom did a brilliant job writing them as a REAL FAMILY - and for that matter, I think ALL THE PONIES here are portrayed as three-dimensional, relatable characters. I couldn't disagree more with those who have said that the Ponies were just cardboard cutouts and that it wasn't until the 2010 MLP 'Friendship is Magic' reboot that the equine characters started to have personalities. WHAT UTTER BALDERDASH!! It's those G4 versions that are one-dimensional and obnoxious and annoying in my serious opinion. I tried watching that "updated" series, but grew tired after a few episodes. There are WAY MORE characters in the G1 MLP franchise, including this feature film, and I thought George Arthur Bloom did a really really admirable job balancing the rather vast array of players, and fleshing them out in the process.

P. S - This was never meant to be a Disney Classic type of film, but considering the fact that it was the feature film adaptation of a toy line for children, I think they REALLY CREATED *SOMETHING FOR THE AGES* here with A *LOT OF GENUINE HEART AND SOUL*.

The morals and messages here are plentiful if you are not a hardened cynic, and so is the humour. And no, the humour is not all slapstick. The morals are not heavy-handed either. When Megan tells the Grundles that they are really beautiful, you know that she sees them for the endearing beings they are. The Grundles also disabuse anyone of the erroneous notion that this is a cloyingly, sickeningly cute movie - I think the opposite is true.

Yes, it's a flawed movie, but SO ARE THE BEST DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS in my opinion. Please don't buy into the myth that Disney = Perfection. This is an UNEXPECTEDLY RARE GEM, which isn't just a cash-grab, and even today - over 35 years later, when all the toys and playsets are no longer as readily purchasable as they were in the 1980s - I think the film still holds up, overall, in a rather sublime way.

Good, but certainly flawed.

[getarounditschool · 7/10 · 8 June 2016]

Ah, My Little Pony: The Movie. As an admitted fan of Generation 1 of MLP (Both 'N Friends and Tales), I have to say... this film is somewhat lacking. There are a lot of moments where it just felt like nothing was happening and it became boring. The animation is typical 80s cartoon fare, the story is... not actually that bad, but the writing is all over the place. At times it feels quite solid, like with the witch sisters Reeka and Draggle learning to work together, but there were quite a few times where it was more than a bit lacking, and often, as I said, boring.

Now, the songs... some of the songs are absolutely horrible (I'll Go It Alone for example) whilst some are mediocre (There's Always Another Rainbow) and yet others are rather wonderful (What Good Will Wishing Do?). I can't understand why they gave such a talented singer as Alice Playten a song like I'll Go It Alone, for example. The direction in songwriting baffles me, as it is, again, all over the place.

There really isn't much to My Little Pony: The Movie, but I still quite enjoy this film. It's certainly far from the worst of the first generation cartoons, movies and specials. I can understand why a lot of people might not like this,other than the usual, generic lack of appeal of cartoon horses to most crowds, but it holds a special place in my heart regardless.

Also Wind Whistler is best pony.

Bad movie, great trip down memory lane

[hippiegal · 24 September 2001]

Back when I was six I dragged my poor Mom to see this in the theaters. I LOVED it! When I got older I watched it every time it was on the Disney channel. Now that I'm in college I still watch it every once in a while. Is it a bad movie? You better believe it. Is it great 80's nostalgia? You better believe it! I think out of the many 80's cartoon/toy lines that made it to theaters this is actually one of the better efforts. It's held up better over time than say, the Care Bear movies. Oh course being a little girl who loved ponies and horses it's no brainer why I thought this was one of the greatest movies ever when I was six. I still watch it now for a trip down memory lane.

The Ultimate Excursion in 80's cutesy cartoons

[filmbuff-36 · 6/10 · 7 December 1999]

By far one of the most sickeningly cute movies of all time. I grew up as a child of the 80's so naturally this was just one of the such films I was subject to as a child. Looking back after all these years, I was surprised to see the all star cast that made up the ensemble.

Basically the story involves a group of ponies who have to fight off three witches plans to flood their valley with something called a Smooze. I don't know what it all means, but I remember that my sister made me sit through this one as well as all the Care Bear movies.

If you've never even heard of "My Little Pony", then don't even try to watch this film. You had to actually experience it when it first came out to understand everyone's fascination with it. But still, I'll give it 6 stars since at least there's nothing truly wrong with it and the fact that it's marginally better then all the crap it spawned.

For a My Little Pony movie, it sure lacks ponies.

[LordNuggets · 3/10 · 26 June 2014]

Most people who down-vote this movie do so because of songs they don't like, the cuteness and other stuff like that - I want to focus on another aspect that I believe damaged this movie greatly, and that is the ponies themselves.

They are not the main characters of this movie.

Let's take a step back here - we know the plot of the antagonists, the witches. It was explained that they lost the land when the ponies came in and made everything green, and just want it back. Hydia also wants to give her girls a bad upbringing and has failed that, and the two daughters don't know how to deal with this. Their story is well understood.

The Grundles, under the lead of their king played by Danny DeVito, also have a subplot that they want their land back that the witches took from them. Their story is also well understood.

But the ponies really don't have anything. They were just enjoying themselves in that spring festival of theirs and were just minding their own business. They only got a plot halfway-through because the Smooze came in to eat everything! And the only thing they do is run for help to the Williams siblings (Megan, Molly and Danny) and later on the Flutter ponies. Both of these groups really have no reason to do anything, and I really don't understand why the ponies gave Megan the Rainbow of Light since they needed it and Megan didn't need it at all.

It could have worked out though - the ponies have some skilled folks at their possession. The movie could have a subplot with Magic Star, an Earthling/Earth pony who was known for her magical abilities and here finally could prove herself. Or Wind Whistler with her intelligence and 'Spock' attitude, or Mimic who is the most powerful unicorn in all the land, or perhaps even Shady or Sundance who could use this situation to get over their respective self-esteem issues.

But no, the focus is on Baby Lickety-Split. Why you may ask? For no reason; the only thing she does is being a freaky annoyance and then the Smooze locks her up, so she got nothing to do with anything, and thus is only a waste of time with really bad songs to boot where she is more yelling than singing.

And thus, no pony actually got some time to shine.

And the way the plot gets resolved is completely stupid. First off, earlier on the ponies think they lost their home (Dream Castle) so a new home, Paradise Estate, is introduced. Then it turns out the Smooze didn't destroy the castle, so they now got two homes... and that issue doesn't get resolved. The second is the Grundles; they still haven't got their home back, and only get a ham-fisted moral that one should not judge them based on their looks. That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard, since their entire plot didn't revolve around that.

So, when it comes down to it, this movie should have been called "Hydia, Reeka and Draggel; a witches adventure", since this is all their story. If you want to see something that actually focuses on specific ponies, watch the G1 series or Friendship is Magic.

Not as bad as I thought it would be, kids should enjoy it.

[loserfilmnerd · 6/10 · 27 January 2012]

I'd first like to point out that if it wasn't for the newest My Little Pony show, I wouldn't have any interest in My Little Pony at all. But, since I was bored, I decided to watch the original theatrical movie on Youtube, and, while it wasn't a great movie, it wasn't that bad either.

Things I liked: -The animation was pretty good, especially compared to the later series My Little Pony N Friends. There were some rather obvious animation errors, but overall everything moved smoothly, and there was quite a bit of movement.

-I also really liked the backgrounds. They were very detailed, and some parts just looked gorgeous.

-I thought the musical score was very whimsical.

-The story was easy to follow, and it moved along at a decent pace.

-There were a few suspenseful moments. Adults should find these mildly amusing, children will probably find them exciting.

Things I disliked: -The characters had no interesting personalities. A lot of them just seemed to be filler, the rest only had one personality trait to go on.

-The villain was weak. She had no motivation, and she just wasn't threatening enough.

-The songs were really bad. They were mostly forgettable, and they were all sung my horrible singers. I'd understand if one of them was sung badly for comedic effect, they were ALL sung badly. It's like they couldn't afford any professional singers.

-The humor was really mostly weak. I laughed at a few lines, but the slapstick was mostly lame.

I'd recommend this to parents who were fans of eighties My Little Pony if they want to introduce the franchise to their kids. But if you want an animated masterpiece you and your children will both love, I'd suggest something from Disney.

A basic Saturday morning cartoon.

[mdanielle-94261 · 1/10 · 25 August 2015]

All nostalgic value aside, this movie is just bad.

One, the 1980s wasn't a good time for cartoons in general, especially for MLP. The "stories" are weak and were honestly just a way for the creatures to make a quick buck and a way for parents to just keep the kids out of their hair for an hour and a half.

Two, Unlike now, MLP didn't give any of the characters a personality. They were all just cardboard cutouts to fill (you guessed it) an episode on a Saturday morning cartoon with a basic lesson for 2- 6 year olds like "don't be selfish" and "friendship is great".

Three The movie has horrible songs like "can't stop the smooze" and the voice acting is also horrible. And to be frank, the only reason I liked this was because of the colors and glittery look of the ponies...when I was 6. A movie like this just doesn't hold up and any level. And in 2015, there are A LOT more better choices for kids compared to the tripe back then.

One of my favorites as a kid

[slawless77 · 10/10 · 24 January 2006]

I used to LOVE this movie growing up, used to make my parents rent it at the video store as much as possible... not sure why we didn't just buy it or tape it. :) Its older, but a classic, not sure what it was about this movie but I thought it was great, very entertaining. It doesn't have the bright colors and large, vivid shapes that the new shows have now, so kids these days may not like it as much, I am not sure. We have a 1-year-old, she really likes the new Disney shows, not the old cartoons such as this one, Bugs Bunny, Jetsons, etc. Too bad for the younger generation, they don't know what they're missing! Thanks!

I was surprised....

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 20 April 2012]

...at how decent this movie was. I did love it as a kid, but I hadn't seen the movie, its sequel or the TV series since was I was like 9. Now after My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which is one of the better animated shows I've seen in a while, I grew interested in re-visiting them, actually expecting them to not be anywhere near as good as I remembered, starting with this movie. It is not perfect, the film does have some suspenseful and touching moments but there are times where the slapsticky humour fell flat. By all means there were times when it was amusing, but others where it wasn't. The characters are likable enough and cute, with my favourite being adorable Spike with genuinely sinister Smooze not far behind, but none of them really have exactly interesting personalities and that's including Hydia, who is more a comical villain than a scary one. In regard to this point, without making it overly so I think to contrast with her daughters, who were really the comical characters, Hydia could have been more threatening. And I have to admit I didn't care for the songs very much, with exception of the title song and Smooze's song. The melodies were forgettable mostly, the lyrics coming across as overly cutesy and some(not all, Megan's was lovely) suffered from bad vocals consisting of forced tone and not much of a sense of pitch. Lickity Split's "I want"(type of song that is) song was especially true of all those things. On the other hand, I did like the animation, with the backgrounds beautiful and the colours bright and breezy. The incidental music score is wonderful and full of appealing whimsy, and the story is cute and easy to follow with suspenseful moments and good messaging. The voice cast are absolutely great, Danny DeVito is good although his appearance is somewhat brief and Rhea Perlman and especially Madeline Kahn are a lot of fun and are an amusing double act, but for me the best was Cloris Leachman. Although the character of Hydia is not quite up to Leachman's calibre, she really sounds as though as though she was having a ball providing the voice. Overall, a decent if imperfect movie. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A disappointment, rarely watched it.

[morphricky · 4/10 · 24 July 2012]

I remember being extremely disappointed with this movie as a child. Comparing it to "Resque at Midnight Castle", one of the very first and obvious things I don't like is the character Baby Lickety-Split. This character is so insanely obnoxious and selfish, yet she is the big focus of this story. To summon up the character, all she does is think about herself and if she doesn't get her way, she will cry like a baby and pout. Much like "A Troll in Central Park", when the main character is such a brat, then the movie becomes a drag.

Thankfully there are some distractions, such as the witches making the evil "ooze" to cover the land in a concrete like goo that makes people angry when they come in contact with it and can't be cleansed. A lovely addition to an already obnoxious cast, isn't it? Sigh...

So some characters goes for a search to get rid of the goo, while Lickety Split is on her own adventure, because she is such a brat she runs away. So the focus shifts between three focuses. The search party, Lickety-Brat and the witches.

The movie I found had some very few enjoyable moments. Most of the movie is quite slow, the characters are mostly annoying and the songs weren't very spectacular either. Even Lickety-Brat gets her own song. (Ugh! And yes, the song is nothing but whining on her part....) In the first release in Sweden, they cut the scary parts out (as well as the spider Agh, who has a one second appearance because of bad editing), so when I watched the movie it didn't make sense to me at all why they suddenly shouted "We made it!" when there wasn't any apparent danger. It wasn't such a treat to watch these cut scenes when I watched the full movie, as the animation is so sloppy that they have the wrong characters in the scene! Not only that, but the characters changes in the scenes. Sometimes even Lickety-Brat is there though she's not supposed to. That's beyond bad... quality control anyone?

I watch this movie very rarely. I think last time I saw it was about five years ago and it doesn't really cross my mind to watch it again.

A classic...

[junebug2950 · 8/10 · 17 February 2009]

This movie was one of my favorites when I was about 6. I was OBSESSED with My Little Pony at that age. I had my share of ponies, of course, and I had to watch this movie every single day. I drove my family and everyone crazy with it. Then, as with all the others, I grew up...

Fast forward 19 years. I am now 25, and I recently re-discovered this movie and bought it for my friend's 2-year old daughter. I am now realizing what I put everyone else through, and my friend now absolutely hates me for bringing this movie into their home, because all this kid ever wants to watch is her "pony movie." I just think it is amazing how this movie can capture the attention of today's generation as well as ours. It is an awesome children's movie, with enough songs and action to keep any 2-7 year old busy. I am realizing now just why I loved this movie so much as a kid.

Not bad, but good

[lukevisser · 7/10 · 28 September 2013]

I was introduced into the new MLP:FiM sometime in late 2011/early 2012, and checked it out because of a lot of people talked about it. I became somewhat of a brony later in spring 2012, yet I also heard about the older generations, although I shrugged it off. Not too late this summer, I became curious of the G1 episodes, and it was fairly good. I decided to give this movie a go, and I though it wasn't too bad. There's a few iffy moments in the movie, but it shouldn't ruin anything. One of the major flaws was that some of the voices sounded nasally in the songs. But what's not to like about adventurous ponies? And this is coming from a guy.

fever dream

[issyjs-70221 · 2/10 · 24 November 2020]

I remember not much about this film but remember i was absolutely terrified of those slime creatures when i was around 4 years old and have lived in utter fear since. just feels like a big nightmare

A classic for MLP lovers!

[harleypassion · 10 April 2000]

I loved this show...wait...i still LOVE it! I was a kid when i saw it and remembered being so scared of the flooze, getting all worried the ponies may not find any way to stop it. I loved seeing the way the stupid witch sisters argued and all...

I loved the bushwoolies MOST! They're so CUTE!!! I loved the way one said "Coming with you? Oh yeah yeah..good idea.." and when Shady was scolding herself, he would agree with all she said and she got upset and asked if he ever thought for himself, and he replied "Yeah...RUN!"

OK, enough on the characters...this movie is a real classic..so imagine my delight at finding the VCD recently! I had a recorded version of this movie on VHS, but it was old. So when I saw the vcd and such a reasonable price..of course i quickly bought it! Now i can enjoy the memories of my childhood...MY LITTLE PONIES was my favourite cartoon and toy of all time...

The good old days lol

[fannywoggle · 7/10 · 8 May 2006]

I'd totally forgotten about this little movie until I went to a mates the other day and noticed her little girl had it on DVD, yes.......I just had to borrow it lol, I hadn't seen it since I was about 5 or 6 (Im 20 now lol) and I still remember most of the words in it! Despite the lack of technology when it was made, unlike what we have now, I still think it is a good movie and will definitely buy it for my kids one day when I have them. Watching this movie brought back some memories and I will certainly watch it again in the future. I didn't even know Danny Devito was in it lol. My favourite character has to be the grundles, just goes to show, never judge a book by it's cover. Erm I think I've done my 10 lines now lol xxxx

A childhood love turned into a ruthless quest for the DVD...

[SaltLakeQueen · 6/10 · 14 September 2006]

In my formative years, I watched this movie almost daily. How my mum put up with that, I'll never know! But one year I lent the videotape to a friend, suddenly changed schools, and never got it back. Oh, a sad period of my childhood! I think I loved this movie as a child because of the bright colors, the pretty ponies, the fact that this was a world of the equine. After all, what girl didn't go through a horsey phase, even if only for a short while? Only now, upon reflection and re-watching, I realize that all the morals the movie was trying to teach never really hit me as a kid.

Lines like "It's easy to be courageous when helping others!" totally flew over my small-child head. I don't think they even sunk in subliminally! What I DO know is that to this day, I can sing the songs, word for word and tune for tune.

(And yes, my late teens brought on a phase of nostalgia, where I raced from place to place searching for this movie on DVD... God bless eBay, even if the movie turned out to be a complete and utter bootleg. At least I had it. And subjected my poor roommate to many a sing-along with the Smooze song.) If you show this film to your kids -- or watch it yourself -- purely for entertainment (and expecting serious cheese), then you'll enjoy the trip. (Yes, pun intended...) If you're looking for morals to give your kids, or to inspire them, then... You should probably choose something else. This is fluff, pure fluff, with a little "twinkle" added.

Not Bad At All...

[kandy5001 · 8/10 · 9 January 2003]

A pleasant story. Lots of soft, pastel colors. Smiley Happy Ponies, laughing.

Two Thumbs up...and I'm a guy! :)

Smoose & Spike are stars. Cute, but commercial.

[Growlyted · 6/10 · 10 April 2004]

Spike is a cute dragon & the Smoose is funny. (Reminds me of Grimer from the Pokemon series.) Danny DeVito (Taxi) & Rhea Perlman (Cheers)are interesting casting. The intro with the animals is adorable. I like the Smoose song; the rest range from sugared to painful. It is aimed to sell toys & isn't subtle, but if you look past it, you've got a likeable movie. The witches are adequate villains, more comic than scary. Og, the Flume plant & the Evil Forest are entertaining, but the Smoose beats them all. If you've collected the toys, you'll enjoy this. I still have a few, including Spike & Wind Whistler, who both appear. Each type of pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, Earthling, Sea, Baby & Flutter is represented, as are some of the buildings. It'll take you back. 6/10

A wonderful movie which still doesn't have a patch on its sequel, mainly because Janyse Jaud, Tabitha St. Germain and Victor Dal Chele were not involved at all...

[bib_the_moo · 9/10 · 20 January 2007]

The evil witch Hydia plans to turn the idyllic Ponyville into a wasteland with a horrifying substance only known as the Smooze. Will aid come from Dream Valley? The story here is very heavy and a good job has been made of trimming down the story to make it accessible to those not familiar with the story. The characters are quite well developed - the beauty of the film is that it knows there will be more films so it doesn't have to rush past characterisation where other films would need to get down to action quickly to ensure that it can get a sequel greenlighted.

The visuals are fantastic, the special effects are brilliant and are mixed well with natural scenery to great effect, there's no doubting that Michael Joens can cope with such a grand canvas to work on. The action scenes are also very well handled and the Smooze special effects are mostly good (only occasionally it is obvious that some are computer generated).

The main problem with the film is that it isn't a lot of fun. I know it wants to be serious but it also needs to be fun for the audience to watch, 89 minutes is a long time to sit listening to lots of talk about family trees and ancient quests etc. I didn't want comedy but it all took itself too seriously to be totally enjoyable. Another problem with it is that the pacing is all off - the film has a set pattern that goes all the way through, first a talky scene with slow camera movements, then the music changes, the camera starts zooming around and we enter an action scene, then back to a talky scene, then an action/chase scene and so on. It all gets a bit tiresome with it's continual cut between action/talking/action/talking with a relentless monotony. There's nothing wrong with the content but it all gets a bit tiresome after a while.

The cast are roundly great - almost totally well cast with the exception of Danny De Vito who sounds and acts just like his character in Terms of Endearment - it makes it too distracting. Charles Adler as Spike is a little too serious at times, gazing off into the distance and delivering straight dialogue. Tammy Anderson and Sheryl Bernstein are both great, Tammy especially with her flawed character struggling against the Smooze. The best character in the film is the Smooze! The film suffers from not having a bad guy to focus on (Wysteria is built up but she isn't the main source of evil). Giving the Smooze itself the ability to tempt and manipulate and speak, this makes it the main evil character and makes the quest even more tense.

Overall it's a big grown up blockbuster with amazing effects but it isn't very much fun to watch (not just laughs but basic enjoyment). A good film but far from perfect - 4 out of 5.

A must see movie for MLP fans

[stregga · 25 December 2000]

If you're a My Little Pony fan,then I'm sure you will love this movie. Even though I'm 17,I class this movie as one of my favourites.Okay so some of the songs are annoying and sometimes its a bit slow in places but if you can get past that its a really cute little movie that any MLP collector or fan can enjoy.

Eek

[amanda_k1990 · 10/10 · 24 January 2006]

I used to watch this movie everyday between the hours of 2-4pm when i was younger! AND I MEAN EVERYDAY! It was the best thing i ever watched. and it was the only thing i would watch. I went to garage sales upon garage sales collecting the little ponies. I wish i could find my collection again! :( If anyone has this movie and wants to like give it to a good home i would so take it off your hands. Or the ponies, I would love to get those again. Childhood memories are the best thing. :P I have to write 10 lines and this is going to take forever. Since i don't know what else to talk about except how much this movie makes me laugh now that i look back to it. It is pretty ridiculous but i love it anyways! Well, that is my 10 lines!

Great movie!

[evilgnik · 10/10 · 30 March 2007]

I only got a chance to see this movie recently. Even though it is a kids movie I thought it was very well done. When one thinks of "my little pony" one naturally thinks of girls. While this certainly was made for girls the only thing girly about it is that the characters are girls. Other then that it is very much an adventure movie. I like how the unicorns can teleport and my favorite scene was the shadow forest where the trees throw daggers at you. Anyhow this was a great movie. Btw a sequel to this was made called "The End of Flutter Valley". I didn't like that sequel very much because I didn't think it was as good. Ten stars for a wonderful movie.

i love this movie!!!

[Silver-16 · 15 December 1998]

oh god i could watch this movie till the cows come home!!! i love the part when shady says, "its all my fault," and magic star says, "no its not, shady." Then gusty says, "yes it is. YES IT IS!!!!!!" i recommend it to a mlp lover its soooo damn cute!!!

One of my favourite childhood films

[Stompgal_87 · 8/10 · 12 January 2008]

When I was very young, I loved the 'My Little Pony' TV series on video and I also had the movie on video. On Boxing Day last year, I watched this film with my mother and my brother on Tiny Pop, a digital channel for young children in the UK.

This film is bright and colourful where good meets evil. The ponies celebrate the first day of spring while the baby ponies participate in a dance. Evil witch Hydia and her daughters Reeka and Draggle threaten to destroy Ponyland by creating a horrible, oozing purple substance called Smooze that eventually hardens because the phlume is missing. Meanwhile, Baby Lickety-Split runs away because she is upset about the ponies scolding her for 'showing off' in the dance. During the runaway, Baby Lickety-Split and Spike encounter Grundles, a group of friendly monster-like creatures and the Flutter Ponies. Will the rest of the ponies ever find Baby Lickety-Split? Will Ponyland eventually become Smooze-free? Watch the movie to find out.

The best things about this film are the songs, some well-known voice actors (Nancy Cartwright, real-life husband and wife Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman) and the 'Casablanca' reference at the beginning where BabyLickety-Split says, "play it again, Spike," instead of "play it again,Sam." 'My Little Pony: The Movie' is a nostalgic 80s film that I would absolutely love to see again and I also wish I had the DVD.