Gen 5 news announced- setting sail for 2021 and new cast!

[Mana Minori]

Some big news has arrived out of Festival of Licensing. (Source: https://www.licensing.biz/hasbro-joins-festival-of-licensing-with-new-peppa-pig-content-pj-masks-toy-plans-and-more/) My Little Pony Generation 5 is finally getting some new information released after almost a year of silence on it. We knew Twilight Sparkle wasn't returning, but it's looking like Hasbro is going for a full on, brand new cast for this one as seen in the quote:


Next up, the world of Equestria is expanding to introduce a new generation of ponies to a new generation of fans. With more humor, heart, and music than ever before, Hasbro hopes that audiences will be swept away by the new cast of ponies and the incredible adventure that awaits them. Fall in love with My Little Pony all over again when the all-new, computer-animated theatrical feature hits theaters everywhere in September 2021.

The date for the movie was revealed way back in 2019, and pretty much everything from the early leaks have been completely debunked at this point, or changed up. We really are going in blind! Hopefully it's good.

[Carrehz]

Hmm. Sounds promising. I just hope "new cast" really does mean "new cast" and it isn't just a way of saying "it's a new series".

Nice to have a projected release date, too.

[banditpony]

The date for the movie was revealed way back in 2019, and pretty much everything from the early leaks have been completely debunked at this point, or changed up. We really are going in blind! Hopefully it's good.

This isn't directed at you, just in general.

Whatever we had leaked to us was concepts. It doesn't take much for someone big to just say "nope, do it again". We saw mane 6, which could of very well been a place holder for "new" that wasn't developed.

But let's just think about this. There's a G3 Pinkie Pie, and a G4 Pinkie Pie. We could very well just see the same characters but they are revamped.

Nothing has changed in my eyes. We still know nothing, one way or another.

[Nemesis]

“New cast”... I really, really, REALLY hope this actually means an all new cast! I suppose hoping that they drop the entire centralized cast idea is too much to hope for.

My dream is that any and all MLP animation goes back to being a half-hour toy commercial with a perpetually rotating cast.

[Ponybookworm]

Waiting patiently for actual images of "new cast"

[Ragamuffin]

I'm always excited to hear G5 news!

But "new cast" has me interested... I somehow doubt they're scrapping the Mane 6 entirely. It's a dream, yes, but they've become so integral to the brand, unfortunately. We'll probably just get new versions of it. A "new" Pinkie Pie, a "new" Rainbow Dash...

Spoiler

Whatever comes out of it, I hope we get those dragon ponies!! Please please please, Hasbro...

[Leave a Whisper]

I'm afraid to click.

[LadyMoondancer]

Ohhh, interesting!

I think "new cast" does imply a new cast of characters.  I think otherwise they'd say, like, "a rebooted series with reimaginings of the characters you know and love!!" or something like that.

But I guess we'll see!  This is exciting news either way!

Edit:  Looks like the Festival of Licensing is in early October so we won't have too long of a wait.

[Ragamuffin]

I think "new cast" does imply a new cast of characters.  I think otherwise they'd say, like, "a rebooted series with reimaginings of the characters you know and love!!" or something like that.

I hate how accurately you worded that, they probably would have done that, you're right. I won't get any high hopes though.

If they're new characters, I hope they have great names and better designs. I think Rainbow Dash had Twilight had the best designs out of the Mane 6, but the others were bland. Rarity might get a pass from me because her dark purple hair is interesting (and she's my favourite character of the bunch!), but as for Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack? Tiring... I love their Rainbow Power versions though, I hope they add a bit more colour to them. The princesses had great designs as well, Celestia is so pretty. Fluttershy was a lot more appealing when she had pastel pink hair instead of the fluorescent pink they keep giving her for whatever reason.

[Leave a Whisper]

I hope its true about the new cast. But I'm not gonna hold my breath.

[Xenotropos]

I'm with those who think "new cast" means "new characters".  I love G4 and all it's ponies (they're my gateway generation after all) but I wanna hear about other new ponies.  Maybe a mixed group of critters?  More Griffins, Hippogriffs, Changelings and Dragons, etc? I feel that was sort of field tested in the latter years.  Maybe shorten it to "MLP" and focus on a wider range of toys/characters?


Okay, I'm just dreaming here. but I have slightly more hope for G5 now than I did.

[Mana Minori]

I'm with those who think "new cast" means "new characters".  I love G4 and all it's ponies (they're my gateway generation after all) but I wanna hear about other new ponies.  Maybe a mixed group of critters?  More Griffins, Hippogriffs, Changelings and Dragons, etc? I feel that was sort of field tested in the latter years.  Maybe shorten it to "MLP" and focus on a wider range of toys/characters?


Okay, I'm just dreaming here. but I have slightly more hope for G5 now than I did.

that wouldn’t too bad of an idea. It would be a nice shake up to the formula to have half the characters ponies and half some other species. Would love some characters other than ponies right out the gate. I know Hasbro wouldn’t do that, though. 

[Leave a Whisper]

Ohhh, interesting!

I think "new cast" does imply a new cast of characters.  I think otherwise they'd say, like, "a rebooted series with reimaginings of the characters you know and love!!" or something like that.

But I guess we'll see!  This is exciting news either way!

Edit:  Looks like the Festival of Licensing is in early October so we won't have too long of a wait.

I just kind of imagine that this Festival of Licensing is a bunch of big brand name companies who get together, get smashed over luncheon and brag about their franchises while making deals.

[LadyMoondancer]

Yeah, "Festival of Licensing" is just a very funny name to me.    This year it's online so I guess they will have to drink alone at home while they make Zoom calls.

[RoseNoire]

Oh no ! I got excited, now I need to expect to be disappointed. x)
Well, I mean, when I see how the recent pony news are going, I have no sensible reason to expect G5 to be the wonderland I've always dreamed of. ^^'

tl;dr : I'll wait and see. :3