Borg here to lead you back through the 2 min rush that was the My Little Pony: The Movie Trailer.
Without being too spoilery, it's got ponies, adventure, ponies, conflict, ponies, cupcakes, non-ponies, water, and villains.
In addition I have a music related announcement buried inside.
Without further ado, let's follow up the trailer for the best movie about equines since
Welcome to Equestria...
And welcome to Canterlot. A pinker more three-dimensional Canterlot. Right off the bat, we can see a great more detail put into the surrounding environs than we see in the show. The hills look like a place you can go to. The mountain side Canterlot is built on has more character. The waterfall is vibrant and exciting looking. I'm not sure why ponies are walking up an enormous mountain to get to Canterlot instead of riding the long existing established train, but my theory is to reinforce the need for some other modes of travel significantly more exciting than a train trip. Also, I'm a bit disappointed in the foreground grass that looks way too flat. Trailers will often have under-rendered surfaces so I hope that's just it.
Also, I'd like to point out that they use the blatantly obvious Mane 6 voices here for those ponies flying by. Anyway, yeah, this Canterlot is quite different. Let's compare...
See, the background elements in the movie are interesting and mysterious like the waterfall, mountain, and foothills. But the foreground vegetation is infinitely better here. In our show shot here, Canterlot is and has always been gold and purple on white. Royal colors to be sure, far removed from the girly pink that plagued early toys. Our movie Canterlot, however, gets quite the helping of pink (glance at the houses in the picture below too) and hopefully that isn't a hint of more little girl tropes to come. Speaking of houses, the solid castle look here is replaced with a proper city surrounding a central palace structure while still maintaining the overhanging balcony image that is iconic of Canterlot.
Let's take a closer look...
"I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle" You don't say? The trailer does a good job at helping us get comfortable with this reimagined world by dropping in a bunch of ponies we know: Berry Punch, Lyra, Apple Fritter, Apple Cobbler, Red Delicious and I'm extra sure that is Caramel Apple and not Carrot Top. Lot's of Apple family here. You'd only see that many in one place if there was some sort of celebration...
Like that. So the movie comes out October 6th. This doesn't look like Nightmare Night though. Not enough spiders. Speaking of, the first pony con happening after the movie happens is Nightmare Nights Dallas 2 weeks later on the 27th. That'll be interesting for sure.
Edit: As those of you have pointed out, Ponyville Ciderfest starts on 20th and CanterlotKC starts on the 27th as well. In addition UK PonyCon starts on the 21st the day after the UK release. There is no reason you all shouldn't go to one of these 4 cons.
So lots of hard to recognize / new ponies here at the Friendship Festival. With all the ponies entering, it is likely just getting started. I see Minuette, Trixie, and Rumble for sure. More of that cool mountain waterfall. Let's go up the ramp and get to the inner city...
Edit: As those of you have pointed out, Ponyville Ciderfest starts on 20th and CanterlotKC starts on the 27th as well. In addition UK PonyCon starts on the 21st the day after the UK release. There is no reason you all shouldn't go to one of these 4 cons.
So lots of hard to recognize / new ponies here at the Friendship Festival. With all the ponies entering, it is likely just getting started. I see Minuette, Trixie, and Rumble for sure. More of that cool mountain waterfall. Let's go up the ramp and get to the inner city...
Yay! Trixie gonna Trix. And yes, yes, I see Starlight Glimmer too. The fact that we see her near Trixie points to the relationship they have built up to this point in the show, is also represented in the movie, possibly indicating that a majority if not all show canon is canon for the movie as well.
Also if you've noticed this newly rethought Canterlot looks much more defensible than the show version with the central palace surrounded by the lower city, suspended ramp, upper city, and finally a wall so tall even Trump would import it. They got the changelings to pay for it. See my Twitter at the end for hate messages.
This transition is dope...
Trixie blew up the sun. Celestia is gonna be so mad. This movie's animation style really lets them use significantly cooler effects like these fireworks and this sunset effect. I actually think this scene is at the end of the movie as a victory celebration. Uh oh! Spoiler. The good guys are gonna win. I have the proof below on other screenshots.
"A land of...music" Funny, for a movie with a ton of music, this is an odd way to point it out. Movie music would help but Danny Ingram just recently finished up the score. We're hearing some movie music in a bit though actually. I'll cover that below. We will likely get the OST to drop before the movie though.
Anyway, let's check out that whiteboard...
I'll let the graphic explain itself. Awesome sleuthing work!
And there's Tree Hugger. I wonder what she's growing doing here in Canterlot. Nice to see Harry the bear here as well though because his style hasn't changed at all from the show he looks a little out of place. Are those squirrels copy/pasta'd? I'm nitpicking.
Let's move on to some meat and potatoes....
Here are the good guys celebrating! Obviously, our pirate parrots here aren't introduced in the beginning of our opening Friendship Festival, but later when they need them. Given the celebratory mood, the new friends, mood lighting, along with the fireworks above, we can safely say this is at the end of the movie. Also, there's another clue this is the end. I'll point it out in a few caps.
Do you like Princess Skystar's hippogryph form? Fishy Pony bird.
Let's turn the camera...
I think he just killed Octavia and that other pony cause they just got blasted off the side of the mountain faster than Team Rocket. Bulk Biceps' new training video is all about chunking other ponies. By now you've noticed I haven't been pointing out the new ponies. It's because there's just so many of them! The cute blue one up front looks like a young Mrs. Cake.
Let's look at some other cute pones...
Like these six. I'm really enjoying this art style. Also, Twilight's horn is significantly bigger than Rarity's. Applejack's expression is great.
There's something else I want to point out about this new art style but I need a closer shot...
...just not at the back of the head. Anyway, we know this is Canterlot as I am very positive this is the beginning of the movie. I'll let you know why in a sec. So the royal throne room got quite the makeover. Maybe this is far in the future. Sadly in the trailer, this is all you see of Celestia and Luna and a nice surprise, there is Cadance too. I wonder if Shining Armor and Flurry Heart are about. That's how you defeat bad guys; unleash Flurry Heart.
If you scroll back up to Twi's whiteboard you'll notice now she gave her presentation in this room. Like immediately following this entrance.
Speaking of random ponies...
Yay new and ponies! I like the Big Mac recolor on the left, complete with a yoke.
Let's add some conflict to this colorful world...
The real villain of this movie: Petroleum-based fuels and global warming...
Alrighty, so a black and red purple Alicorn OC Airship spews forth from an ominous black cloud. Way to drive in the 3-inch nail with a sledgehammer.
So disclaimer, the movie is still months away, but just like my unborn son, this doesn't look finished. I'm extra sure I've seen better rendering in PMV and SFM shorts. I feel like I just screenshotted in a different movie.
Let's take an up-close look...
Yeah that is not a whole lot better, is it? The repeating wooden blank pattern is cringe worthy. Also, the studio wants to rub their evilness in your face even more as the ship takes out structures.
Maybe try another angle?
Wow nah. This has to be incomplete rendering. Pinkie has the same reaction...
This is my face looking at that Airship too. Rewinding a second, this is the close up I was talking about. See her eyes? Each pony gets a bunch of little eye reflections in their iris beyond the two big ones. Neat. Fun little details like this make the airship a sorethumb.
I wonder what the so obvious it's painful that they are bad guys airship crew want...
Hahaha! The death of Ryan the Balloon. Party Favor there is so crushed...like Ryan. Ryan was all he had after Party apparently lost his horn in a freak balloon accident. This is one of those classic tropes that introduces the villain. Hint, hint, wink, wink...
Ah, bad guy comic relief! If you notice his megaphone, it sprung out of the blue box and telescoped out.
You know all those defensive layouts and structures I've been pointing out? They count for nothing when you can fly right up to the palace. Also, wouldn't the weather patrol have seen that cloud rolling in from a long ways off?
Also, the inside of that ship is apparently a hookah lounge with mood lighting.
Yeah, she's been smokin' something. There's an Emily Blunt joke in there. Alrighty, so here we have the number two mane bad guy, the broken horned, Commander Tempest Shadow. I wonder how that horn effects her magic. We'll see in a sec.
So this is when things start to get a little fuzzy timing wise. Also fuzzy are these moving baddies. Let's call them Storm Troopers. That's an original idea; donut steel. From the flow of the trailer, you might assume that these guys jumped down from the ship. However, if you look in the background the airship is way the heck back there. Likely what is happening is they are using a Sky Skiffs similar to the one packaged with the Guardians of Harmony Tempest Shadow figure. There might have been a little bit of time between their arrival and the invasion.
It's obvious something intense happened between their arrival and the take over because...
Twilight had time to lose her crown! That's a key moment here. Anytime in the trailer you see her without the crown, was after this point. So the celebrations I said were at the end with their Pirate Parrot buddies? The crown is another clue. Also, Spike is riding on Fluttershy's back 'cause Twi is sick of his nonsense.
Let's continue the conflict...
Oh yeah. That magic effect is great. I want to see some outrageous alicorn magic.
I wonder if Commander Tempest has magic...
You bet Celestia's flank she does. Unicorns are the most magical of the three common races. You can bet something as little as a broken horn won't stop it from coming out. While not pretty nor efficient, you'll notice the magic forms a pseudo horn as it is being called.
And after using her magic to fling herself in the air, what does she do?
Ask for your "complete and total surrender" of course. This action is awesome, but I watch it for the plot...
Now begins our six heroes' quest (fax machines don't count) to save Equestria through the magic of friendship.
Scootaloo did this once.
Pinkie's "we got the cupcakes kicked out of us" line here is amazing! Look at Twilight being mopey. Also look at Spike. With this new animation style, his "ear" fins have become translucent. You can just make out the side of his head in his right fin.
Speaking of fins...
So this scene likely occurs later in the film when Tempest and goons are out hunting for Twilight & Co. There are some very interesting characters here. I'd describe this place full of Equestrian outcasts, a place where an Equestrian princess isn't likely to find any aid. Sounds like a friendship lesson to me.
+1 to fish guy for no snitching. Likely a confrontation started when he refused to give up the ponies' location. Tempest definitely has some moves. Also, think this guy eats krill?
The goon squad kinda remind me of Wraith from Stargate Atlantis. Anyway, Michael Peña's performance is going to be a lot of fun I bet.
Some trailer editing magic. She's not referring to beating up the fish guy. She's referring to kicking the cupcakes out of Twilight and Co. That is the Canterlot center stage right there. Also, dude likes some pie.
I'm really not sure where the seaponies fit in this movie timewise, but they're here. Their kingdom is pretty awesome though, isn't it? We saw this a backdrop at Hasbro's event at Toy Fair this year. Positively splendid.
What do the ponies think?
They think it's dope. Bubble spells FTW. A better shot of Spike's fins.
Dude seapony. I wanted to make sure you artists had a good reference. Also our fish seapony leader, Queen Novo. A bit of semantics for you; the Latin word Novo means 'new, renew, beginning, revive, alter, change'. Well, she's about to change our heroes into seaponies so it's an apt name. Either that or she's called Novo because she's just a new royal pony and the writers had a laugh...
Undah dah sea! Also look at Novo's throne. Lavish. And how is she gonna help our little ponies?
By inking all over them of course. Also, Princess Skystar is kinda cute.
Yep so here is the moment we've been waiting for. Our favorite mares turn into fish. And Spike turns into Flounder. Spike is worst fish. So the question that should be on your mind is, is the red hair band now part of her body? Regardless, AJ has a hat problem.
Side effects of seapony transformation may include, upset stomach, bloating, gas, pointy growths, derpy eyes. and intestinal distress. Seapony transformation is not for everypony. Seapony transformation should not be done on pregnant mares. Please ask your doctor about the risks of seapony transformation.
I really hope this is the Storm King being, well, a storm king. I bet Canterlot doesn't get a lot of tornados. It's hard to place this either at the beginning or at the end for a final confrontation. Cool either way.
About this time you might have noticed the pop song in the background. Hasbro's official trailer upload says 'Featuring “Off To See The World” by Lukas Graham.' That's an interesting thing to note. A quick look at Graham's discography reveals that the song has not been released.
I think we can safely assume the Sia is not the only one who wrote a song for this movie and that this unreleased "Off To See The World" will be featured in the movie. Still waiting on confirmation by either Graham or Danny Ingram to be 100% sure. Just as I was hitting the publish button The Illustrious Q checked in on Graham's twitter and it is confirmed, this is a new song he wrote specifically for the movie!
Also, Canterlot is a large city capital. We never see this side of it from in the show. Notice the lower city sections extending outward.
I want to imagine that at some point Tempest realizes that she needs Twilight and sets off after her. Based on the port hole here, this is either on their ship or in that janky town with the fish man we saw earlier.
Speaking of janky town...
Is this some effort to escape Tempest? I wonder if they fell on the windmill from an airship or something and had a fun Dizzitron™ experience. What are they hoping to accomplish here?
And was this it? Poor Spike there is about to lose his lunch and Twilight is has the "we've come too far to make things right" face. Pinkie's not worried though.
Nor is she worried here. So the ship that it looks like they are falling from is the Parrot Pirate ship. However, as they fall a mug with the Storm logo falls too.
Time for some rapid scene changes...
I don't recognize the logo on the hot air balloon. They could have gotten it from the Parrots or they picked it up in Janky Town. Either way, If I had to take a wild guess as to where Rainbow Dash was pushing it, I'd say the seaponies. All I have to back that up is a similarity in the architecture. Hey, you try finding an underwater civilization with a guide or obvious landmark.
This is the point in the trailer where we find out that Tempest is chasing Twilight. It's not just assistance in liberating Canterlot but the Mane 6 also need help running and hiding from Tempest and the Storm King.
Take a big whiff Rainbow. Twilight washed with Downey. Speaking of clothing...
Rainbow has a cute bandanna on. Also, taste my cold steel! No really, you'll need to pick it up with your mouth. Also, do you think Captain Celaeno's feather is from a former lover? Speaking of the Captain, I have an etymology lesson for you. Celaeno is a Greek name for a variety of beings including the mother of Delphius, as well as a star in the constellation Taurus. Celaeno was also the name of a harpy, a mythos borrowed by the book and movie The Last Unicorn for a captive Harpy of terrible power.
That purple thing is a spear. Specifically the Storm King's spear. Is Twilight impaled? I like how we know which two ponies are ready to kick some serious flank.
Judging by the reactions, I want to bet that Twilight just did something really cool. Hippogryph Skystar is so adorable. I have a theory that the shell necklace is what creates this transformation as she doesn't have it when she is a fishpone. Skystar is best Buckbeak.
Also yes. That bird on the far left. He knows what's good.
"...of friendship and magic and ponies, bleh." So this is really the only time we see or hear the Storm King speak during the trailer. It's a little hard to tell how his personality is gonna pan out for the rest of the movie or if he's going to be inflicting his brand of humor on everyone. Keep in mind Liev Schreiber is the same actor who played Sabertooth in the X-Men franchise.
Also, Twilight is captured. She needs a rescue...
There's a lot of baked good gags in this movie. You likely missed what the cake looked like as it was only up for one frame. Also if you notice, this is in a fairly ruined Canterlot. Anyway, that's a nice cake, all done up with Storm colors professing ponies' love for the Storm King.
Not suspicious at all...
Yeah, that's your textbook example of a Trojan Horse. Regardless of the element of surprise, ain't they surrounded on all sides and outnumbered?
Pinkie can be scary sometimes, can't she? Continuing the baked goods gag. This too is near the climax of the movie when our Mane Mares, with the help of their Parrot cake topper friends, try to liberate Canterlot.
S.S. Rendered here features one heck of a grappling weapon. Let's check out the damage...
It's super effective!
If this stage looks familiar, it's because it was in the shot with Tempest saying "Easy as Pie". Hard to say if it's day or night here as the background is just mountains. Not any damage I see to the decorations, but maybe the Storm King ordered some entertainment?
You'd think that Twilight would be used to her fame by now. Photo Finish is going to make ze magik! Also, that yellow pony in the back has two toned eyes by the way.
She's got some good balance on that pegged leg of hers. This is definitely on their own ship as they are moving. I wonder who they are surprising? A Storm Trooper boarding or Mane 6 stowaways?
I love these new special effects! The particles, the colored shading, the size of it, the particle emission jet! Also, this is the best shot we have of the Parrot Pirates ship. If you look closely you can make out the front is a bird head.
What does RD think of new Sonic Rainboom?
Oh yeah, she loves it. Also, if she is breaking a sound barrier then her hooves are literally red hot going on white hot. That is some pegasi magic I am unfamiliar with. No wonder pegasi get stuck in factories.
This is what the inside of a can of sardines looks like.
This is the main upper balcony pre-invasion again. Notice the small royal balcony on the castle with sperate doors for Celestia and Luna.
This Friendship Festival wouldn't be complete without cake...
It takes skill to bake a cake via cannon. Does Pinkie need a license for that thing? I want to believe Pinkie has this crazy ability to fill out forms for all her party needs. Also, that was an enormous cake. I wonder what flavor Twilight is now.
So this was a great cameo that I noticed immediately, of Vincent and Jules from Pulp Fiction. Notice Jules' Cutie Mark? It's a wallet with bits. If you zoom in close it says Bad Mother...
...Bucker. Again great cameo! Sia definitely needs body guards with ponies that crazy everywhere.
Time for a quick roll call!
Edgy...
Cute...
Stormy...
Hungry...
Musical...
Nearly absent from the trailer...
Caviar...
Plunderful...
This is when it airs. Don't forget it!
So that was the trailer what did...
German Bonus Round!!!
As you should guess this trailer was released worldwide in native languages. A few people from out of town watch both the US English and German trailer and noticed a little something extra!
Remember Pinkie's MechaCannon? Pinkie did...
So not only is this gonna be hilarious but it reinforces the possibility that Twilight gets captured and needs rescue.
And guess who's pushing the plunger...
Yep! Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs there is also in the Trojan cake so this isn't a simultaneous attack.
This looks like one of the lower cities. Without a flying ship to get to the palace balcony all those Canterlot defenses are working against our heroes. Though that begs the question, how did Pinkie's cannon get down here?
And that's it! If I rambled I'm sorry. There was just so much new and shiny in every millisecond of this trailer.
Let me know in comments if you have other insights gained from watching the trailer or disagree with my observations. Also, send an email to the Submission Box if your country's trailer has an extra scene too. That would be awesome to see!
