What If The Movie Came Out In 2013?

[Denim&Venöm 16,503]

So picture this: what if instead of Equestria Girls, the MLP film as it is now, came out in July 2013. 

How would the world and the fandom have reacted to the film? Would there have been more or less Bronies to go see it? How would a post Season 3 fandom have reacted to the movie, especially in the midst of the show's long hiatus?  And how would we reflect upon the movie today? And how would the fandom be different without Equestria girls, or having the franchise pushed back in it's release? 

[Megas 27,063]

Definitely could have been bigger. That was where the fandom at it's peak

At the same time though....it was where the fandom was at its worst, between the EQG and Twilicorn drama

Edited October 8, 2017 by Kiryu-Chan

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,274]

It would have been so interesting, since 2013 was probably the worst year for the fandom. I actually think the fandom response might not have been as positive as it is now, since the movie does kinda make Twilight look a bit stupid at one point and with the fandom still unsure about Twilight being a princess, the movie would not have helped that cause that much. I mean, it would have showed that she definitely isn't perfect, but I still think the fandom would have had a mixed reaction.

It taking the place of EqG would have been nice though. I still wish EqG just didn't exist.

[Applejack1989 35]

It would have been a much bigger hit, that much is certain.

[Tiny Hoofs 200]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the My Little Pony Movie has been in production for years. I think they first formally announced back in 2014-2015? I don't think they would have managed to successfully pitch a movie within the first few seasons. Or it would have been hard to since the show was still somewhat new. The first SpongeBob movie didn't begin until after the production of season 3 in 2002.

58 minutes ago, Kiryu-Chan said:

Definitely could have been bigger. That was where the fandom at it's peak

At the same time though....it was where the fandom was at its worst, between the EQG and Twilicorn drama

Yeah, it would have been better seeing as it would a debuted during the fandom's peak around 2012-2013. It might have improved the film's performance financially. I'd have much preferred an actual movie over Equestria Girls, which I thought was quite tepid at best. I thought it was a wasted effort because I didn't like season 3 all that much and EQG probably detracted from its quality; it wasn't really worth the trade-off in my opinion. Season 3 actually put me off the show for a few years.

But I am glad that a film was made at all. And that it's a good movie given that most of the fan responses seem to be fairly positive.

[Sunlight Swift 29]

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&q=%2Fm%2F0czdsgs

It was definately a much bigger trend. So I would say it would have done much better.

[Ganondox 899]

13 hours ago, Kiryu-Chan said:

Definitely could have been bigger. That was where the fandom at it's peak

At the same time though....it was where the fandom was at its worst, between the EQG and Twilicorn drama

Wouldn't have been any EQG drama if there was no EQG. People likely would have been less frustrated over twilicorn if the movie did something about that back then. 

[Splashee 28,537]

On 10/8/2017 at 5:48 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

So picture this: what if instead of Equestria Girls, the MLP film as it is now, came out in July 2013. 

How would the world and the fandom have reacted to the film? Would there have been more or less Bronies to go see it? How would a post Season 3 fandom have reacted to the movie, especially in the midst of the show's long hiatus?  And how would we reflect upon the movie today? And how would the fandom be different without Equestria girls, or having the franchise pushed back in it's release? 

First, it would have been great if the animation was like the show. Only then I think I would have been completely OK with it having the plot it did.

But 2013 was the critical year of the Bronies. If the Movie had been released then instead of Equestria Girls, then we would have had a lot more Bronies around for quite some time. A lot of people started losing interest in ponies around that time, and I think the Movie could have boosted the love for ponies once again. For how long? Maybe for a whole year! Maybe that would have been enough to keep them staying for longer.

The Movie was released in 2017, after 3 (or maybe even 4?) Equestria Girls movies. The future would have looked quite differently if Hasbro had skipped Equestria Girls, Movie or not.