The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie

The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie is a hardcover/digital artbook by Hasbro, Inc. that features behind-the-scenes material used to create the feature film My Little Pony: The Movie. Included are concept art and sketches by art director Rebecca Dart, a foreword by writer/executive producer Meghan McCarthy, an afterword by director Jayson Thiessen, full-color artwork, deleted scenes and content, and commentary from the director, screenwriters, character/location designers, and animators.

The book is 160 pages long and was published by VIZ Media LLC on August 29, 2017.

Publisher's description
"Explore the making of My Little Pony: The Movie with exclusive behind-the-scenes material from the creators of the film. This gorgeous hardcover volume includes concept sketches, notes, character designs, and pages and pages of magical, full-color artwork accompanied by commentary from the director, screenwriter, and character designers. A must-have for all My Little Pony fans."[1]

Foreword
Meghan McCarthy, writer and executive producer for My Little Pony: The Movie, delivers the book's foreword and comments on the process of bringing only the most dedicated writers, artists, and creative minds together to create the film and how fortunate she was to be a part of that process.

Introduction
Rebecca Dart, art director for My Little Pony: The Movie, delivers the book's introduction and discusses her initial start at DHX Media in 2010, her being appointed as art director on the series in season five, and the transition from using Flash in the series to using Toon Boom Harmony in the film.

The Mane Six (Plus Spike!)
Introductory bios for the film's main cast and concept art, sketches, and animation references by the film's art and animation departments. Comparisons between how the ponies look in the series and how they look in the movie. Commentary by art and concept designers discusses how the ponies' designs were changed with the new animation software: thinner outlines, more ear depth, more detailed wings, etc. Also commented on is the blending of 2-D animation with 3-D assets.

Equestria
Concepts and final designs of Canterlot and Ponyville, including how each location was updated for the film. Influences and inspirations for the designs include Antoni Gaudí—particularly the Sagrada Família—and Indian, Greek, and Russian architecture. Introductory bios and concept art for Songbird Serenade, Tempest Shadow, Grubber, and the Storm King. Scrapped prologues for the film include featuring the Arimaspi King and an aged Scorpan.

Beyond Equestria
Artwork and concept art of locations from an originally longer travel montage sequence.

Klugetown
Concept art of Klugetown and its anthropomorphic residents. Commentary discusses how Klugetown was specifically designed to be the "antithesis to Canterlot". Introductory bio and concept art for Capper, who evolved from a fox character named Mendax to his current design. Concept art of Capper's house and the Klugetown airport.

Pirates
Introductory bio and concept art for Captain Celaeno, who evolved from a harpy character named Madame Harpy to her current design, and the pirates, who were originally villains. Concept art of the pirates' airship. In a deleted scene, the Mane Six encounter mud trolls after escaping the pirates.

Mount Aris
Artwork and concept art of the Hippogriff Kingdom. Influences and inspirations for the designs include Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Concept art for the hippogriffs and how their designs transitioned to seapony form.

Seaquestria
Artwork and concept art of the Seapony Kingdom. Introductory bios and concept art for Queen Novo and Princess Skystar. Scrapped concepts include Haven Bay and Salina Blue being sisters of Skystar's instead of background characters, a seapony prison, and Spike turning into a seadragon instead of a pufferfish. Concept art of the Mane Six's seapony forms, and storyboards for the opening seapony sequence.

Return to Equestria
Artwork and concept art of the film's climax. In a deleted scene, the seaponies turn back into hippogriffs and join the Mane Six in the final battle against the Storm King. Storyboards for this scene were drawn in October 2015. Other scrapped concepts include the Mane Six transforming similarly to Rainbow Power.

Afterword
Jayson Thiessen, director for My Little Pony: The Movie, delivers the book's afterword and comments on why My Little Pony has resonated with audiences worldwide and the difficulty of squeezing everything that the production team wanted into the film's runtime. He also thanks everyone involved in the film's creation and Lauren Faust for her talent and vision.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the teams at Hasbro and DHX Media.