My Little Pony, practically every little girl of the 1980’s loved them!
They became a huge collectors item, and a must on a Christmas list, and birthdays! In fact I’ve lost count of the amount of My Little Pony birthday cakes I ate at friends birthday parties as a child! The 80’s was the decade that these Pony’s were huge!!
What were the names of the original My Little Ponies?
- Snuzzle
- Butterscotch
- Blue Belle
- Minty
- Blossom
- Cotton Candy
My Little Pony was originally produced in 1981, but it was first called My Pretty Pony.
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In 1982 it became an American entertainment franchise, developed by Hasbro, which was launched in the same year. The name became My Little Pony.
The 1980’s were the golden years for My Little Pony. That was their prime. Little girls loved them! They loved the TV series, the film, the toys and other merchandise. In the 1980’s over one hundred and fifty million pony’s were sold! 1983 to 1992, was the first, original years for the franchise.
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My Little Pony was revived in 1997. But the popularity was very little and two years later, it was discontinued. However, another revival happened in 2003, which turned out to be more successful.
But back to the golden years… The Hasbro Ponies were created by illustrator, Bonnie Zacherle, and sculptor, Charles Muenchinger. Bonnie’s design was inspired by a real pony from her childhood. In Japan, where her Father cared for the animals coming in and out of the country, in the quarantine. Which was where Bonnie fell in love with a Korean Pony, called Knicker.
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There were six original ponies in 1982. They were, Snuzzle, Butterscotch, Blue Belle, Minty, Blossom and Cotton Candy.
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The first My Little Pony animated special was aired on April 14th 1984. My Little Pony: Rescue From Midnight Castle. Which was twenty two minutes long. Another special was aired in 1985, My Little Pony: Escape From Catrina.
The Pony’s lived in Pony Land. A mystical land, which was home to all kinds of magical creatures. Where they lived a peaceful life, full of singing and dancing.
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But not all the creatures of Pony Land were peaceful, the Pony’s often had to fight for survival, against, witches, trolls, goblins, and other beasts, who wanted to see the Pony’s destroyed, harmed, enslaved.
The two animated specials were so popular, that the following year, 1986, in June, a feature film was released. It was the first ever Marvel film to be released. My Little Pony: The Movie. The featured voices included, Rhea Perlman, and Danny DeVito.
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Critics panned it, saying it was too sweet, sickly sweet. Too much cuteness and sugar. But of course it was really aimed at little girls, who absolutely loved it!
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My Little Pony was on a wave of success, next came two animated series, in 1986. My Little Pony and Friends. Two series, with half an hour episodes, with a total of twenty seven episodes.
Little girls especially loved all the toys you could purchase, with the favourite being the Pony’s! With their brightly coloured hair and bodies, which had a feature of their character on their side, which was called a ‘cutie mark’.
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For example, Applejacks ‘cutie mark’ was apples! In the My Little Pony world there was Earth Ponies, Unicorn Ponies, Pegasus Ponies, Flutter Ponies, Sea Ponies… The favourite Pony’s were the Earth Pony’s, who were like normal ponies, except they were brightly coloured.
From the original Pony’s and the Pony’s which featured in the 1984 animated special. Its hard to pick a favourite! As they were all loved! But here is my Top Six.
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1) Applejack.
A silly pony, who loves to eat apples and this girl can often be found munching away in the orchard.
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2) Bowtie
She loves ribbons, in every colour! She loves having her hair braided too.
3) Bubbles
She is one shy Pony. Bubbles loves playing and getting muddy in the fields, then she loves having a bath, as she adores the bubbles.
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4) Ember
Ember was introduced in 1984, she was the first baby Earth Pony. She is the only Pony to have no ‘cutie mark’ of her own.
5) Cotton Candy
She loves sweet things, honey, sweet grass, flowers. She can be lazy.
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6) Blue Belle.
Blue Belle seemed to be the Pony which girls got first, to start their collection. Every little girl had Blue Belle, for that alone, Blue Belle has to make the number one spot.
Aww Spike, the baby dragon.
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The 1983 Dream Castle. This was on Christmas Lists up and down the country! What little girl wouldn’t love this! It practically doubled in size when it opened up too! Hours of fun! It is truly one of the best toys from the 1980’s.
The world of My Little Pony, the original toys are now huge collectors items, so search your attics! But what a wonderful world of magic Pony Land was for the imagination of an 80’s girl.
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