My Little Pony is a line of toys featuring colorful ponies and similar creatures. The toys are manufactured by the company Hasbro, Inc. The American illustrator and designer Bonnie Zacherle created My Little Pony for Hasbro in 1983. Since then, the toys have undergone various changes in style and size, and hundreds of new characters have been added to the line. A number of popular animated television shows and motion pictures featuring My Little Pony characters have boosted the toys’ popularity.
In 1981, Zacherle created My Pretty Pony, a 10-inch- (25-centimeter-) tall plastic pony figure. My Pretty Pony had a lever under its chin to make its tail move, its ears wiggle, and its eyes wink. Zacherle next designed a 6-inch (15-centimeter) pony made of softer vinyl. She and two other Hasbro employees, Charles Muenchinger and Steven D’Aguanno, patented the new design, which became My Little Pony. Each pony featured a unique marking on its flank. The marking later became known as a “cutie mark.” The original six ponies were named Blossom, Blue Belle, Butterscotch, Cotton Candy, Minty, and Snuzzle. My Little Pony: The Movie (1986) became the first of many animated movies and television shows to feature the ponies.
Hasbro has released several generations of My Little Pony toys. Various generations have included unicorn ponies, sea ponies, winged “ Pegasus ponies,” and glow-in-the-dark ponies. There have even been ponies that wet their diapers. In 2013, Hasbro created Equestria Girls, a toy line of human teenage versions of the pony characters. Many My Little Pony toys have become valuable collectors’ items.
In 2010, the American animator and writer Lauren Faust created the television series “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” The show is centered on Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity—a group of ponies known as the “Mane Six.” They live in the enchanted land of Equestria. The Equestria Girls have also been featured in animated TV shows.
My Little Pony was created for young girls. However, My Little Pony movies and TV programs have gained a following among people of all ages. Women fans are sometimes called “pegasisters,” and adult male fans are known as “bronies.”
