Thursday, October 13, 2016

Blu-ray/DVD Review: My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend Of Everfree

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend Of Everfree is the new feature-length My Little Pony offering, taking us once again to the land of the ponies’ human counterparts. In this movie, Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) and the other girls are going on a field trip with their classmates to Camp Everfree. It’s a chance to get away from the magic and get back to nature, but of course it isn’t long before strange things begin happening. It is presented as a two-disc set, Blu-ray and DVD in the same package, along with a code for a digital download, so however you want to view it, this set has you covered. It also includes a patch to put on your jean jacket.

When the movie opens, Twilight falls asleep on the bus on the way to camp and has a nightmare about the return of Midnight Sparkle, the darker side of herself. Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman) is adorable as ever, and of course excited about the trip. “We’re going to roast marshmallows, and eat marshmallows and sleep on marshmallow pillows.” When Rainbow Dash (Ashleigh Ball) expresses doubt about that last item, Pinkie Pie holds up her pillow, a giant plastic bag of marshmallows.

The camp sounds perfect, with the students deciding which activities they’d like to do, while the camp director, Gloriosa Daisy (Enid Raye Adams), says yes to everything. Of course, the theme of friendship comes into play, as Gloriosa describes one important activity, creating a gift for future campers. “Every year campers work together to create something useful, a gift for future campers. Working toward this common goal is key to forming the strong bonds that will last well beyond your time at camp.” However, there is some tension between Gloriosa and her brother, Timber Spruce (Brian Doe), as well as a mysterious, creepy man named Filthy Rich who threatens the continuing existence of the camp.

Twilight has her own personal troubles. She suddenly uses magic, but isn’t sure how it happened, and so it frightens her. And there is a question about whether she’s really doing it at all. Timber tells the campers a scary story about the origins of the camp, describing a magical creature that swore to return to reclaim her lands. Could it be this creature that is behind the strange magical occurrences?

Legend Of Everfree might be the best Equestria Girls movie so far. It certainly has some of the best songs. “The Legend Of Everfree,” the song during the opening credits, is particularly good, with a delightful, joyful folk vibe and lines like, “Will your story be told or remain a mystery.” And Twilight has a good number about battling her own darkness. Sunset Shimmer also gets a good song, this one about how the magic could be embraced as a positive thing. But perhaps my favorite is Gloriosa’s song about keeping the camp.

There are plenty of funny moments, like when Sunset Shimmer (Rebecca Shoichet) realizes she’ll actually have to bend down and pick up the tube of sunblock when magic fails to levitate it. Also funny is when Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain) tells her own special brand of scary story. And when the girls decide to replace the deteriorating dock as their gift to future campers, Pinkie Pie exclaims, “Yay, adult supervision!” But my favorite moment by far is when Sunset Shimmer uses her magic to read Pinkie Pie’s thoughts, and we’re given a glimpse inside Pinkie’s mind. After watching the film, I went back and watched that part a few more times. Hilarious!

Twilight learns a Luke Skywalker lesson, that size doesn’t matter when levitating objects. And be sure to watch the closing credits, as there’s an extra scene at the end.

Special Features

This set contains some special features, including a commentary track by Meghan McCarthy, Ishi Rudell, Katrina Hadley, Jeremy Tin and Daniel Ingram. There is also a section of “bloopers,” but of course as this is an animated film, these “bloopers” are all intentional little jokes. Or perhaps some of them were bloopers in the audio recording, which then the animators ran with. Either way, they’re kind of cute, and run just over two minutes. The special features include three sing-alongs: “The Legend Of Everfree,” “The Midnight In Me” and “The Legend You Are Meant To Be.” The lyrics are presented at the bottom of the screen.

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend Of Everfree is scheduled to be released on November 1, 2016 through Shout! Factory.

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