1986 MLP Movie

[Faerie-StarV]

This is gonna sound like a very strange question but does anypony know why the movie flopped? That movie was the first MLP cartoon that I ever saw when I was a kid and fell in love with the show.  I only saw half of it before my mother came and take me home(I was watching it at my friend's house as it was airing on Disney channel and we didn't have cable back then) so I didn't see the rest till years later.
Also, what did you guys think of the movie? I thought it was pretty good but that's just me. 

[Majesty]

I loved it.  I have it on DVD.   I don't know why it flopped, because in my opinion it was pretty much no different than the episodes, except longer.

[happycootie]

When I was a kid, I wanted to see that movie so bad but it didn't come to a theatre near us. I finally bought it a few years ago and I hate to say this but I was pretty underwhelmed. I don't remember why (sorry, I've got a terrible memory ) but it just didn't hold my attention. I sold it soon afterwards. I really like the Catrina special though.

[Star Spark]

None of the toy based movies seem to have been well received in the '80s- even the Transformers movie wasn't (a certain shocking death in that film didn't help matters.) From what I've seen of reviews at the time, people were well aware that they were basically hour and a half commercials for that year's line of figures, which may have affected parents' decisions to take their kids to see them. Personally, I think the My Little Pony movie was okay relative to its intended audience, but movies like The Great Mouse Detective from Disney and Don Bluth's An American Tail (which were also released in 1986) probably came off as less crass. 

[scrub-adub]

I haven't been able to watch it all the way yet but I think the reason the movie did do so well is that the people reviewing it thought it was just for selling the toys...
thats what I heard any way

[TWILIGHTCOOKIE]

My grandma took me to see it when it was in theaters, I was about 5 and loved it. I still love the movie and wish I owned it, I love Baby Lickety Splits song.

[ValeofSpring]

I saw it in the theater in 1986 w/ one of my best friends and we both loved it.  *That said*. . .I realized even at the time that the production quality was not as good as the 1984 & 1985 TV specials (especially the first My Little Pony AKA Rescue at Midnight Castle).  I think since this was a movie there should have been more effort to make it look less like the TV show (1986-87).  The animation is very sloppy w/ lots of errors. 

I actually watched the movie as an adult once w/ non-collector friends, and their complaint was that the ponies aren't in it enough!  And I'd have to agree with that--I think the witches get way way too much time!  The Smooze song is great, but otherwise I think they could have given them a much lesser role.  Also I would have liked a darker movie (more akin to Rescue), but that's just me. 

The movie may have flopped in part b/c few little boys would have wanted to see it, and not all little girls were MLP fans, plus very little for most adults to care about at the time (unlike us now!).

[reanna-mator]

I haven't been able to watch it all the way yet but I think the reason the movie did do so well is that the people reviewing it thought it was just for selling the toys...
thats what I heard any way

There was a bit of a backlash against toy-based cartoon franchises. Same thing happened to Care Bears, but they got treated a bit kinder, I think, but some reviews are awfully cynical.

I personally enjoy the movie, most of all for the nostalgia... and, well, it's ponies!

[partypony566]

I have always loved the movie! I can still watch it again and again with my girls, they love it too!

[Tirac]

My personal opinion was
1. The change of animation style from the specials
2. The possible rush.
I watched a video or read a review somewhere explaining the last on in detail. Apparently there was a lack of organization on the project.

[hathorcat]

I don't know if it can be classed as an outright flop really. While it was set up as a movie, it was nothing more than a fancy and elaborate advert at the end of the day. Financially it needed to cover itself and then focus attention back on the brand which at the time it did and it did well. In the grand scheme of being a blockbuster then sure it did not do well but as mentioned neither did a lot of popular cartoons translated to the big screen around that time.

It used to drive my Dad crazy, we would go down to the video store in the town to rent movies and every single Friday I would pick up this movie. Poor Dad then had to rent it again and again and again. Unfortunately back then it was simply too expensive to purchase the VHS tape and made more sense to keep on renting. The man in the video store ended up just putting it to the side so my Dad could hire it for me every weekend after one weekend I had a temper tantrum in store because someone else had dared to rent it . I think Dad probably spent the value of buying the tape considering the money spent hiring it.

[Shenanigans]

I love the movie! Love, love, love! I have it and watch it occassionaly (especially when I'm depressed because it makes me so happy) I adored it when I was little and just loved Baby Lickety Split and all the songs

I thing it was a big advertisement to push the sales of Paradise Estate and the Flutter Ponies though

I don't recall ever wanting flutter ponies when I was little, but boy the Rescue at Midnight Castle made me want sea ponies SO bad! The Shoo-Be-Doo song was my favorite and I would have died for a sea pony when I was little The movies and cartoons definitely help with the sales

[Leopard_Print_Unicorn]

That movie will always have a special place in my heart because it was one of the very few VHS tapes I actually owned. On the rare occasion I was home sick from school, my mom would make me up a little bed palette in the living room floor and let me watch a movie. Almost invariably I would watch MLP. I need to get it on DVD because there are lot of days I could use some nostalgic cheering up.

I did see it in theaters when it came out but I was so young (6-7 in 1986) that I can't really say why it didn't do well. Also I was from a pretty strict family where we were not allowed to see anything inappropriate, so the only time we got to see a movie in theaters or anywhere else was when it was a movie for kids. So naturally any movie that came out for kids we were pretty excited and really wanted to see.

[Elisto]

It didn't do well? Huh. I never thought about it. I've always loved it and I still think it's a decent children's film (and still enjoy it). It's not Disney, no, but it clearly wasn't meant to be.

That said, while it's obviously meant to sell toys, I really don't see it as being nothing more than a giant advertisement; Escape from Catrina to me is WAY more guilty of that. I mean, virtually everything shown in it could be purchased, except Catrina herself! There's even the needless costume parade at the end to show off all the pony wear! The movie did kind of nonsensically introduce Paradise Estates, but everything else seemed pretty well integrated into the plot, which was fairly creative, and there was plenty shown that wasn't "for sale."

I guess I am kind of curious just what people thought of it at the time since I was too little to remember when it came out and certainly didn't see it until later.

[scarletjul]

I'm not sure if Hasbro defined the movie as a flop; it clearly did what it was supposed to do - it sold ponies.  And Paradise Estate.  I think it's super cute.  That said, in comparison to the other, better animated movies that were coming out in that period - An American Tail etc, I really don't think it's quite as good.  I also think MLP had a rather limited audience.  If a parent was going to spend $4.00 on a movie ticket (average price in 1986,) I can see them deciding that they weren't going to spend it on a movie about ponies - which would have to assume that the kid was into ponies - and vote for something else.

Personally, I do think it would have worked better as a TV special.