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Why am I reviewing, The Art Of My Little Pony: The Movie, you may ask? Me, a 37-year-old-man? Well, I love cute things. I love things that have a positive message at their hearts. Call me a Brony if you will, and I’ll gladly accept that. I also love Hello Kitty and collect Transformers, and when one of my closest friends asked me if I would like to do this, I thought to myself, “Self, you should do this, not just because friendship IS magic, but because who else could appreciate this like you?”
The book is broken down into sections detailing the different parts of the world as well as the ponies and the new film’s characters. Each of these sections aren’t just filled with cool, pretty, or interesting pieces of art, they’re jam packed with information as well.
The first section dealing with the character designs of the “Mane Six (and Spike!)” features a ton of information on the differences between the TV ponies and the movie ponies. The movie ponies have thinner animation than the flash-animated TV ponies. The different coloring techniques are laid out, showing the depth of the new animation program. Bios are written for everypony and the other characters debuting in the film. This kind of stuff is always a nice touch in these things, making it accessible for both diehard fans and people not obsessed with the Elements of Harmony.
The later sections deal with the world of Equestria, the population, and the film’s villains. The information provided on The Storm King and his minions is presented in a way that both shows you and tells you about the film, while simultaneously not ruining it for the reader.
The art pieces presented range from animation sketches to set pieces, to simple individual pony pictures. There is a fair amount included that didn’t make it into the film, which designer Michaela Martin explained was hard to see not get used but, “Well, at least there’s the ‘art of’ book!” And I can’t help but agree with that. It’s always nice for the fans to get to see the hard work put into these kind of movies.
The introduction, written by art director Rebecca Dart, is a wealth of fun information about her childhood art of ponies and unicorns eventually leading to her awesome job at the show. The afterword by director Jaysen Thiessen expounds upon the reason he thinks My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic works. He boiled it down to one word: believability. No matter how fantastical is, once the story has you feeling something, it becomes real.
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The physical book itself is really very nice. The art on the dust jacket features the newly updated movie ponies and is eye-catching enough for any fan of the property, or a person who’s mildly interested in cute stuff, to want to pick it up and flip through. The paper stock is thick enough so that it never feels cheap. It’s well-constructed and will stand up to the sticky fingers of a child AND the Cheeto-stained fingers of an adult.
So, is this book worth your time? Do you enjoy the property? Are you a fan of really pretty art? Do you maybe have a young daughter, or son, that cares about the Equestria girls? Heck, are you like me and just enjoy positive things that are heartwarming? Then yes, this book is for you. Its well-made, well-presented, and is generally great.
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