My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade

2006 animated film

My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade is a 2006 direct to video animated musical family fantasy film produced by SD Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment in association with Hasbro. The film is the second feature in the third incarnation of the My Little Pony series and the first film to promote the Crystal Princess line. It featured the debut of the Breezies and the 2006 re design of Spike the Dragon, who originally featured in the first My Little Pony series from the 1980s. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, and became the first successful My Little Pony animation to date, before the debut of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. It has a strong following amongst "G3" collectors, and has been positively received by many since its DVD debut in 2006. The DVD also features two bonus episodes: A Charming Birthday, which was originally released on video in 2003 and Pinkie Pie and the Ladybug Jamboree. The film is notable for being the MLP animation that was sent to Lauren Faust in the hopes of retooling the My Little Pony series. The movie has been reissued in the 2 disc DVD collection My Little Pony: Classic Movie Collection, alongside The Runaway Rainbow, Dancing in the Clouds and Friends are Never Far Away. Alongside Crystal Princess: The Runaway Rainbow and Twinkle Wish Adventure, the film premiered on August 8, 2014 on the Hub Network after its "My Little Pony Mega Mare athon". According to Broadway World, the "Mega Mare athon" itself drew in 5.4 million viewers and has earned significant delivery growth on every demographic measured by Nielsen: Kids 2 11 (+134%), Girls 2 11 (+179%), Kids 6 11 (+169%), Girls 6 11 (+216%), Adults 18 49 (+111%), Women 18 49 (+146%), Adults 25 54 (+74%), Women 25 54 (+76%), Persons 2+ (+124%) and Households (+98%).

The Spring Promenade is nearly here, and the ponies are preparing for it with the help of the Breezies. But a troublesome weed lands Wysteria and Pinkie Pie in a mysterious cave where Spike the dragon has been sleeping for a thousand years. He makes Wysteria a princess, but Wysteria learns that it's more important to be true to yourself.

The DVD includes a second animated feature, titled A Charming Birthday, originally issued on a VHS alongside the Glitter Celebration Ponies in 2003. Chronologically taking place before Dancing in the Clouds, it shows how the ponies in Ponyville planned a special surprise party for Kimono.

The DVD includes a short animated feature, titled Pinkie Pie and the Ladybug Jamboree which is made specially for the film. The story is set after The Princess Promenade and before The Runaway Rainbow, explaining Pinkie Pie's band named "Pinkie Pie's Ladybug Jamboree".

DVD Talk editor Mike Long said that "However, I found the previous entry into this series, A Very Minty Christmas, to be goofy fun which offered enough charm to be enjoyed by adults and children. That movie took a familiar plot, the clumsy soul who almost ruins Christmas, and put some new twists on it while fully integrating it into the pony world. The Princess Promenade does very little to distinguish itself from any of the other home videos out there aimed primarily at young girls. At some point, simply having ponies and princesses doesn't cut it and one should expect a good story." He also stated in the same review that "I realize that I may sound curmudgeonly in my assessment of My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade, but when it comes to entertainment for my kids, I want something that tries a little harder, and this show doesn't meet those standards. Still, fans of "My Little Pony" (such as my daughters) will enjoy the program, but it probably won't be one that they watch over and over." Internet Movie Database gives it a score of 7.8, being the second highest scoring My Little Pony animation to date, first being My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (which scored an 8.7).

According to Lauren Faust, she stated that she used some of the ideas in the DVD special on her pitching for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as Lisa Licht of Hasbro Studios considered that Faust's style was well suited to that line and asked her to consider "some ideas where to take a new version of the franchise."