My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)

My Little Pony: The Movie is a 1986 American animated musical fantasy film based on the Hasbro toy line "My Little Pony."

Plot
As the Little Ponies prepare to celebrate their annual Spring festival, an evil witch named Hydia covers Ponyland with a purple ooze called "The Smooze" and it's up to the ponies, their human friends (Megan, Danny & Molly), the friendly Grundles & the Flutter Ponies to help save Ponyland.

Voice Cast

 * Danny DeVito as Grundle King
 * Rhea Perlman as Reeka
 * Madeline Kahn as Draggle
 * Cloris Leachman as Hydia
 * Tony Randall as Moochick
 * Charlie Adler as Spike and Woodland Creature
 * Russi Taylor as Morning Glory Rosedust Skunk and Bushwoolie
 * Tammy Amerson as Megan
 * Jon Bauman as The Smooze
 * Michael Bell as Grundle
 * Sheryl Bernstein as Buttons Woodland Creature and Bushwoolie
 * Susan Blu as Lofty Grundle and Bushwoolie
 * Nancy Cartwright as Gusty and Bushwoolie #4
 * Cathy Cavadini as North Star
 * Peter Cullen as Grundle and Ahgg
 * Laura Dean as Sundance and Bushwoolie #2
 * Ellen Gerstell as Magic Star
 * Keri Houlihan as Molly
 * Katie Leigh as Fizzy and Baby Sundance
 * Scott Menville as Danny
 * Laurel Page as Sweet Stuff
 * Sarah Partridge as Wind Whistler
 * Alice Playten as Baby Lickety Split and Bushwoolie #1
 * Jill Wayne as Shady and Baby Lofty
 * Frank Welker as Bushwoolie #3 and Grundle

Production
The movie was one of the first projects for Nelson Shin's AKOM studio.

Due to an emergency rush, Shin and his crew spent ten weeks on the film's 300,000 cels and Japan's Toei Animation also worked on the production.

Box Office
"My Little Pony: The Movie" was first given a limited release on June 6, 1986, opening in only 421 venues. It debuted at the box office at #10, grossing $416,108 in its opening weekend.

The film's wide theatrical release premiered on June 13, 1986, debuting at #12 at the box office, grossing $674,724 in its opening weekend, opening in 734 venues. Due to the poor performance at the box office, Hasbro lost $10 million.

Critical Reception
The film was not well-received by critics.

Nina Darnton from the New York Times said, "Unlike the great Disney classics (including Marvel) [...], there is nothing in this film that will move young audiences, and there are very few bones of wit thrown to the poor parents who will have to sit through the film with children of this age group."

According to the staff of Halliwell's Film Guide, "My Little Pony" came off as an "immensely distended cartoon meant to plug a fashionable line of children's dolls."

TV Guide gave the movie two stars, saying, "The story is treacly sweet, told in a simplistic animation style that has lamentably become an industry standard".

On Rotten Tomatoes, it was given an audience rating of 75%.