My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 3
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 DVD cover | |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | The Hub |
| Original release | November 10, 2012 – February 16, 2013 |
| Season chronology | |
The third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 3 of the series premiered on November 10, 2012 on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on February 16, 2013.
The show follows a studious unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle as her mentor Princess Celestia guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different face of friendship, and Twilight discovers herself to be a key part of the magical artifacts, the "Elements of Harmony". The ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.
Development
Concept
Season 3 features a broad arc which shows that Twilight has demonstrated positive leadership qualities beyond Celestia's expectations, leading Twilight to be crowned as a new Princess in Equestria and to become an "alicorn" (a pony with both a horn and a pair of wings).
Production
Season 3 is the first season of the show without input from Lauren Faust, the original creative director of the show who stepped down after the first season and provided creative consulting in the second; instead, production was overseen by Jayson Thiessen, while Meghan McCarthy was the lead writer for the series, who both shared the role of executive producer from Season 4 onwards.
A sneak peek of two future songs in Season 3, "The Failure Song" and "The Ballad of the Crystal Empire" (both from the first episode), was unveiled at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con.[1] Part of a continuing plot in this season is a journey that Twilight Sparkle undertakes that ultimately leads to her to be named a Princess in the season finale, which includes becoming an alicorn. Meghan McCarthy said that the intent was to show that they were building a "unique mythology around being a princess", and to show girls that while they cannot be princesses themselves, they can live to the ideals of one by "shar[ing] the gifts that they have been given with others".[2]
As of Season 3, the song titles make their appearance in the closing credits, along with the names of the composer (Daniel Ingram) and lyricist. In addition, only the voice actors who take part in a particular episode are listed in the credits, along with all of their main/secondary roles. During the first two seasons, every episode credited only the same core group of actors and their main roles, whether they had speaking lines or not.
Cast
Main
- Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle (speaking voice)
- Rebecca Shoichet as Twilight Sparkle (singing voice)
- Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity
- Kazumi Evans as Rarity (singing voice)
- Ashleigh Ball as Applejack and Rainbow Dash
- Andrea Libman as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie (speaking voice)
- Shannon Chan-Kent as Pinkie Pie (singing voice); Libman occasionally
- Cathy Weseluck as Spike
Recurring
- Nicole Oliver as Princess Celestia
- Tabitha St. Germain as Princess Luna
- Britt McKillip as Princess Cadance
- Andrew Francis as Shining Armor
- The Cutie Mark Crusaders
- Michelle Creber as Apple Bloom
- Madeleine Peters as Scootaloo
- Claire Corlett as Sweetie Belle (speaking voice)
- Michelle Creber as Sweetie Belle (singing voice)
Minor
- Chantal Strand as Diamond Tiara
- Shannon Chan-Kent as Silver Spoon
- Kelly Metzger as Spitfire
- Kathleen Barr as Trixie Lulamoon
- Lee Tockar as Snips
- Richard Ian Cox as Snails
- Brenda Crichlow as Zecora
- Tabitha St. Germain as Granny Smith and Aunt Applesauce
- Peter New as Big McIntosh and Half Baked Apple
- Ashleigh Ball as Apple Rose and Apple Dumpling
- Andrea Libman as Apple Leaves
- Terry Klassen as Apple Split
- John de Lancie as Discord
Guest stars
- Jim Miller as King Sombra
- Brynna Drummond as Babs Seed
- Britt Irvin as Lightning Dust
- Veena Sood as Ms. Harshwhinny
- Patricia Drake as Ms. Peachbottom
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 1 | "The Crystal Empire" (Part 1) | James Wootton | Meghan McCarthy | November 10, 2012 | 0.58[3] |
| 54 | 2 | "The Crystal Empire" (Part 2) | James Wootton | Meghan McCarthy | November 10, 2012 | 0.58[3] |
| 55 | 3 | "Too Many Pinkie Pies" | James Wootton | Dave Polsky | November 17, 2012 | 0.43[4] |
| 56 | 4 | "One Bad Apple" | James Wootton | Cindy Morrow | November 24, 2012 | 0.49[5] |
| 57 | 5 | "Magic Duel" | James Wootton | M.A. Larson | December 1, 2012 | 0.37[4] |
| 58 | 6 | "Sleepless in Ponyville" | James Wootton | Corey Powell | December 8, 2012 | 0.39[4] |
| 59 | 7 | "Wonderbolts Academy" | James Wootton | Merriwether Williams | December 15, 2012 | 0.51[6] |
| 60 | 8 | "Apple Family Reunion" | James Wootton | Cindy Morrow | December 22, 2012 | 0.37[6] |
| 61 | 9 | "Spike at Your Service" | James Wootton | Story by : Dave Polsky Teleplay by : Merriwether Williams | December 29, 2012 | 0.43[7] |
| 62 | 10 | "Keep Calm and Flutter On" | James Wootton | Story by : Teddy Antonio Teleplay by : Dave Polsky | January 19, 2013 | 0.42[6] |
| 63 | 11 | "Just for Sidekicks" | James Wootton | Corey Powell | January 26, 2013 | 0.32[6] |
| 64 | 12 | "Games Ponies Play" | James Wootton | Dave Polsky | February 9, 2013 | 0.39[8] |
| 65 | 13 | "Magical Mystery Cure" | James Wootton | M.A. Larson | February 16, 2013 | 0.49[9] |
Songs
DVD release
Shout! Factory, which owns the DVD publishing rights for the series within Region 1, released multiple DVDs. Adventures in the Crystal Empire,[10] Pinkie Pie Party,[11] Princess Twilight Sparkle,[12] and A Pony for Every Season[13] were released for Region 1 markets containing episodes from the third season, bundled with episodes from previous seasons. The complete season was released on February 4, 2014.[14]
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season Three | |||||||||
| Set details[14] | Special features[14] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Release dates | |||||||||
| Region 1 | |||||||||
| February 4, 2014[14] | |||||||||
References
- ^ Valle, Raul (13 July 2012). "SDCC 2012 – My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 3 Teaser Songs". PixelatedGeek. San Diego. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ Busis, Hillary (2013-01-29). "'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic': Meet Princess Twilight!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
- ^ a b "Hub TV Network New Series "Littlest Pet Shop" Makes Best-Ever Premiere for Any Original Series on Network, "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" Marks its Best-Ever Series Premiere" (Press release). Los Angeles, CA: Discovery, Inc. November 13, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2014 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ a b c Pucci, Douglas [@SonOfTheBronx] (January 9, 2014). "Winter 2012 Ratings Confirmation" (Tweet). Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Strong Holiday Week Programming Caps Best-Ever November for The Hub TV Network and Drives Network to 11th Consecutive Month of Audience Growth". Los Angeles, CA: Discovery, Inc. November 28, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2020 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ a b c d Pucci, Douglas [@SonOfTheBronx] (January 9, 2014). "Winter 2012-2013 Ratings Confirmation" (Tweet). Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "The Hub Wraps 2012 with Fifth Consecutive Quarter of Year-Over-Year Audience Growth Across Key Demos". Los Angeles, CA: Discovery, Inc. January 3, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2020 – via Hasbro Investors.
- ^ Pucci, Douglas [@SonOfTheBronx] (December 27, 2013). "Games Ponies Play Ratings Confirmation" (Tweet). Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ Pucci, Douglas [@SonOfTheBronx] (December 27, 2013). "Magical Mystery Cure Ratings Confirmation" (Tweet). Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Adventures in the Crystal Empire". Shout! Factory. 2012-08-13. Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ Liu, Ed (2013-01-28). "New Clips Released from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – Pinkie Pie Party" DVD". Toon Zone. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
- ^ "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Princess Twilight Sparkle". Shout! Factory. 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: A Pony for Every Season". Amazon.com. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ a b c d Lambert, David (2013-11-15). "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Online Retailer Shows a Release Date for Season 3 on DVD". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
