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Would My Little Pony have stayed successful if they kept it more horse-like?

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sunshinedim:
My Little Pony started off very horse-like when it was first created. I remember the original creator even wanted the ponies to have natural horse colors—white, brown, black—but later, it was decided they'd be pastel and rainbow shades like pink, blue, and purple.

Even when the ponies became colorful, they were still very much horses. The first home you could buy for them was a stable.

Later on, Their official home became Dream Castle. I think this change was influenced by the introduction of unicorns and pegasus ponies—since those were more fairytale and fantasy-inspired, Hasbro probably figured that fantasy ponies belonged more in a castle rather than a stable.

But as time went on, it felt like My Little Ponies started being treated more like little humans than actual horses. They started putting them in outfits like dresses, and bridles and saddles became rare.

Paradise Estate, while very cool, also felt a little too much like a human-style house for ponies. If I remember correctly, in the show "The Toys That Made Us", there was even a rule at Hasbro that said something like, “A pony is like a little girl.” That always stuck with me—and honestly, it makes sense when you look at how they were designed and marketed over time.

Personally, when I think about it, I believe if they had kept the ponies as horse-like as possible, it would’ve limited their potential. They probably wouldn’t have been as successful with kids as they were. That said, I do think Hasbro sometimes took the human-like angle too far.

What do you all think?

Destiny:
Like you, I believe that if Hasbro had continued in a more real-pony-like direction, MLP might not have stayed as popular over time as it have and I definitely don't think it would have had all the generations it have.

Sadly..

On a very personal note though, I would have loved it! In fact, one of the reasons I've liked the newer generations less and less also has to do with them being more and more human-y. Even just back with G1, I liked the tales series less because they seemed to live in a much more human styled verse.
For the toys, I didn't mind playsets like the school, Paradise Estate (dream playset) etc, because when I played, my ponies were still very fantasy pony in behaviour.
This actually makes me think of another thread (forgot who made it, sorry) about what our next G would be like. Not really something I've thought of before, but reading through the thread, I would definitely go back to G1 vibes and make them more pony-ish.
Now I do love G1-3 and I like some G4 toys (the first years. When Hasbro remembered that variety is good). But I also prefer both toys and shows in that order. G1 first, then G2 and so on.

I'm really curious to hear other people's thoughts and while I know that the opinions of collectors ain't the same as the opinion of the actual target audience, I'm still curious to see if it reflects my own personal view or my thought that more realistic would have made MLP short lived.

lovesbabysquirmy:
Fantasy was the only way to make the line last more than 2-3 years.  How on earth can you have all the gimmicks with "realistic equine horse toy" , especially when Breyer was already a thing? 

Leave a Whisper:
In terms of form yes. In terms of being talking fantasy animals, maybe not.

Minty_Magic:
I honestly think without the fantasy/doll elements MLP wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long as at has.

I’m probably in the minority here, but I actually never was much of a horse girl. I didn’t dislike them, but I was much more into dogs when it came to animals. I played with animal toys more than anything (definitely if they were dogs!) when I was a kid, but I didn’t play with them as animals - they lived fairly human lives in my pretend world! I think that’s how I ended up being so drawn to MLP as a kid. Yes, they were technically horses, but all the play and accessories allowed them to be so much more than that!

Speaking from a stylistic standpoint, controversial opinion but I don’t think making the next gen more horsey will make them appeal more to kids today. I know this is a common point that is brought up with the recent generations, but honestly looking at the toys that ARE popular with kids, ultra cutesy and highly sylized absolutely seems to be the way to go.

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