My Little Pony: The Movie is a 2017 animated musical fantasy film based on the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which itself is part of the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and franchise. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen, written by Meghan McCarthy, Michael Vogel (all three of whom are Friendship is Magic veterans), Joe Ballarini, and Rita Hsiao, and produced by Stephen Davis, Brian Goldner, Marcia Gwendolyn Jones, and Haven Alexander. The plot follows the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, her five pony friends – collectively known as the "Mane 6" – and her dragon friend/assistant Spike embarking on a quest to save their home of Equestria from an evil conqueror while gaining new friends along the way while testing their friendship and their patience. The film stars the show's regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, Cathy Weseluck, and Nicole Oliver reprising their roles and the guest voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldaña as new characters.
The film was produced by Hasbro's Allspark Pictures and animated at DHX Media's DHX Studios Vancouver,[6][7] using traditional animation created with Toon Boom Harmony.[8] It premiered in New York City on September 24, 2017,[1] and was released on October 6, 2017, in the United States by Lionsgate[2] and in Canada by Entertainment One Films (which had Canadian rights to Lionsgate titles at the time).[b] Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film was commercially successful, grossing $61.3 million worldwide on a $6.5 million budget and becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing animated feature to date.