My Little Pony: Generation 5 (MLP G5): What We Know So Far - Part 1 (February 24, 2021)

[Dreamstar Moonlight 44]

[Note: This post is a copy of my original Tumblr post. Originally I had intended it to keep updating it, but such a task would be cumbersome and messy. So instead, I created a new post with the updates, which is a direct continuation of this one.
Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3]

The earliest solid bits of information surrounding the MLP G5 movie (not the ones from the 2017 leaks) came from the Festival of Licensing and were reported by Equestria Daily on October 8, 2020.  The article revealed that the 2021 all-CGI MLP G5 movie would feature a brand-new cast of characters along with the (possible) return of the ‘Old Cast’ (probably the Mane 6 of MLP FiM, who won’t take center-stage but will serve as incidental characters or cameos). It also mentioned that Paramount Pictures was set to distribute the film, which was produced by Hasbro’s entertainment studio Entertainment One and that the movie had been scheduled to open in theaters on September 24, 2021.

Things have been awfully quiet since then, with no other announcements, not even who’s been cast in the movie. And this is strange because in case of the 2017 movie , we got the casting announcements as early as August 10, 2015 – 2 years, 1 month and 27 days before the movie’s release on October 6, 2017. Other announcements continued throughout 2016, with the second one being on February 12, 2016 and the last one on January 23, 2017.

But today it’s February 24, 2021 – barely 7 months until the movie releases, and we have still no freaking clue as to who’s even been cast. The only vague information came from the Licensing Summit Online which had a presentation about the Russian branch of Hasbro about their "My Little Pony" brand. The presentation revealed the following schedule:

Besides stating for the umpteenth time that the MLP G5 movie will premiere Fall 2021, the presentation also revealed that:

a)      We will apparently have a 44-minute special with the new generation in Spring 2022

b)      Fall 2022 will see the debut of the MLP G5 series proper.

c)       We’ll have 2 seasons of MLP G5 during the period 2022-24, each of which will be divided into two parts (kinda how they did with MLP G4 FiM, I believe)

[Side note: The presentation also mentioned that the line of dolls with the Equestria Girls will be updated in 2021, but no new movies or animated series with them had been planned.]

The only concrete piece of news we’ve gotten so far is that the MLP G5 will be skipping the theaters altogether and instead will be heading straight to Netflix (probably due to Covid restrictions), as reported by Variety.

And the entire My Little Pony fandom is waiting on tenterhooks for any solid piece of information about the upcoming MLP G5 movie, and a vast majority of us are getting impatient at the lack of any ‘official’ announcements. 

But that’s not to say that there haven’t been ‘unofficial’ announcements. In fact, there have been tons of teeny-tiny bits and bobs of information flying around which is what compelled me to create this post in the first place. I wanted to collect every piece of info we have on the G5 movie into one massive post and see if I can’t put together something solid and cohesive, because God knows I need to rearrange my ideas or I can’t think straight.

So, what exactly do we know about G5 so far? Next to nothing? Or everything – including but not limited to the setting, the plot, and the characters etcetera?  Well, the answer would vary depending on whether or not you choose to believe the 4chan leaks.

Now you might roll your eyes and think “Really, dude? 4chan is your source? Those folks come up with literally anything!”

Which, I admit, would be most logical and common reaction.  Even I was skeptical at first. But as the days passed and we got official tidbits of information (which uncannily matched the ‘leaks’), my opinion began to waver.

So let me break this down for you. The following is a screen-cap of the original 4chan posts. You can find both the archived threads here (or here) and the second one here.

Notice the dates. The post bearing No. 35988776 which first brought up the leaks (bottom) is dated October 13, 2020 while the follow-up ‘leak’ (top) bearing No. 36193384 was posted exactly a month and 11 days later on November 23, 2020.

I’ll list down the main points:

• Takes place in Futuristic Equestria
• FiM characters and the Elements of Harmony believed to be long gone.
• The main character is a happy-go-lucky Pegasus who just wants everyone to get along and be friends. She’s part of a pacifism activist group.
• The other major character is a unicorn kind of like twilight who wants rights for her ponies, and she and the main pegasus form the main duo.
• The MC (main character) remembers a time when friendship was commonplace in Equestria and the races got along.

Now compare this info with what the KidScreen article revealed. For the record, this article was published on January 29, 2021. That’s 109 days (i.e. 3 months, 17 days) after the original leak on October 13, 2020 and 68 days (i.e. 2 months, 7 days) after the follow-up leak on November 23, 2020. To get a brief summary, you can either read the Equestria Daily post or watch DrWolf’s video on it.

But for now, let’s focus on what the article has to say about the plot of the movie. Read the following excerpts from it below:

• "Instead of abandoning the franchise’s characters and stories, the movie will take place in the same world featured in Friendship is Magic and Pony Life, but jump ahead in time to focus on a new generation of ponies and unexplored corners of Equestria.
• “The movie’s main character, for example, is an activist working to make the pony world a better place."

[The latter point about the main protagonist created a shitstorm. A majority of the fans have expressed their disappointment over MLP going woke, while others are still on the fence about it. But that topic deserves its own separate post, so let’s not get sidetracked]. 

Welp, there you go. The main gist of the article adds up with the rumoured 4chan leaks. Make of that what you will.

Coincidence? I think not. Personally, I’m of the opinion that that the 4chan leaks do indeed have a basis in fact. Because the similarities between the leaks and the article are just too strong. But if it is a coincidence – then whoever posted those ‘leaks’ on 4chan must possess future knowledge or Divination powers. That’s the only possible explanation.

There’s another thing.

On January 13, 2021, Equestria Daily reported the appearance of a mystery animatic (titled “Opening Scene Song”)  online which was supposedly posted mistakenly by someone who formerly worked Boulder Media as a storyboard artist. When the news spread like wildfire, the animatic was promptly taken down by the artist from whichever site it was they originally posted on. But the damage was already done. Plenty of people (including myself) went ahead and immediately saved it (as well as the .pptx slides) and some of them even made YouTube videos about it.

As DrWolf001 so clearly observed in his video (and I quote):

“We have what appears to be an older male pony showing figurines of the Mane 6 to a younger pony (who might be Izzy – but more on that later); and much of it shows the comradery between the pony races and especially the close bonds between the Mane 6 themselves. It also seems like this older male pony is talking about the Mane 6 as if they were stories of long ago. ‘Legends and History of Equestria.’ I mean, why else would there be figurines of each of the Mane 6? The way these two characters are interacting with the Mane 6 seems much more likely to be – as mentioned before – tales from long ago. So, if this was meant to be part of the upcoming 2021 movie, then this would indeed be one way of bridging the gap between G4 and G5.”

This interpretation does indeed match with what the leaks refer to as “the MC remember(ing) a time when friendship was commonplace in Equestria and the races got along”.

Next, let’s move on to the ‘supposed’ characters of the movie, shall we? Here’s a screencap from another 4chan leak

(Take your time reading through the original thread here)

Here’s what the leaks had to say about the character names:

It also offered descriptions of 5 of the Mane Cast:

Now, for all we know, those could just be rumours. Made-up names and descriptions.

But wait.

Take a look what popped up on Equestria Daily on the morning hours of February 22, 2021.

Rumor: Licensed MLP Bedding Shows Off Possible G5 MLP Style

Here’s an excerpt.

“The company, Jerry Fabrics, has been known to license MLP in the past and even has some G4 products awaiting release for later this year. What is curious though is the product you see above for release in September of this year. Not only is it a completely different style from the other products scheduled for release, but the September release date puts this new bedding out in stores around the release date of the MLP Movie..................If it does turn out to be G5 then I guess we get our first look at some possible characters from the movie as well as the potential style.”

Take a close look at the images on the bedsheet. And then read the (apparently leaked) character descriptions. They match exactly.

 Well? What do you make of that? Another coincidence??? Nope. Extremely unlikely.

Also, now scroll up and take another close look at that animatic. That younger pony sure does resemble “Sunny” the earth-pony, doesn’t it?

Not to mention the fact that the art-style closely resembles lmalou’s who has reportedly done freelance work on the upcoming movie.

According to the report on Equestria Daily, “In the past 3 years Imalou worked both at and with Boulder Media, an Irish animation studio acquired by Hasbro a few years ago, as part of the effort to bring a new cast of ponies to the big screen next year.”

Below are some samples of lmalou’s work. The way she draws the ponys’ eyes and muzzle closely resembles the drawings on the bedsheet. 

Top picture: Source & Bottom picture: Source

And as if any more proof was needed, a fan sent an email to the company that advertised the bed-sheet and they confirmed the fact that the characters displayed on the bed sheet are indeed from the upcoming G5 movie.

What further cements the fact is that Equestria Daily reported on February 23, 2021 that jfabrics website has since unlisted the merchandise featuring the new Mane Trio - although the page itself is still up. 

What’s more, EQD was instructed to remove all images of the item off the site too.

But as other fans have pointed out, Hasbro’s efforts are, as usual, “too little, too late”, seeing as Derpibooru, Tumblr and Twitter already exploded with an unbelievable number of fan-art "celebrating" those designs. (Thanks, fandom, really appreciate that! Keep the artworks rolling!!)

Next up, the new MLP Logo

Hints of a possible new logo for MLP G5 emerged online on January 11, 2021 when Equestria Daily reported that “a sleuth over on Derpibooru” while looking at merchandise on Taobao has spotted a never-before-seen logo on one of the packs.

This roused some speculation, but the very next day (January 12, 2021), Equestria Daily reported another piece of news surrounding the new logo. This time, the logo was spotted on one of the Secret Ring Blindbag packs (pictured below).

Here’s a clearer version of the logo (vectored by someone on 4chan)

As expected, this sent the rumour-wheel spinning and there were tons of theories and speculation surrounding the product and where that shop picked up said merchandising. Also, while the actual box for the rings featured the familiar G4 logo, a bunch of the characters were unknowns. But there was no confirmation – official or otherwise – from any source whatsoever.

That is, until the reveal of the new characters on the bedsheet. Take a close look at the font.

That’s an exact match! What further evidence do we need? It’s “two plus two equals four”.

(Side note: The phrase “Everypony can make a difference” written on the blanket kinda sorta gives off activism vibes – but that could just be my imagination running wild).

Welp, that’s all for now, folks.

On February 8, 2021, at the Hasbro (HAS) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript, Brian Goldner (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) has gone on record saying that (and I quote):

“........This is further enhanced by Hasbro IP like My Little Pony, which has been reinvented under the eOne family brand's scheme leadership and is re-launching later this year. Certainly, in 2021, we are building an event around the new My Little Pony animated feature film which we're all very excited about and that should be a very robust program both for Hasbro developed products as well as consumer products. We've got our own My Little Pony movie coming in the September window. Every one of our franchise brands was up with the exception of My Little Pony and we've already talked about how we'll be staging that this year. The eOne team will share more on our progress and plans at our event on February 25th.”

Hasbro is holding an investor event on February 25, 2021 (that’s only a day away!) where they are expected to reveal more on the plans for the G5. Here – keep checking this countdown timer.

That’s my two cents. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

Peace out!

~~Dreamstar Moonlight

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Dreamstar Moonlight
Added G5 General prefix

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

This is some grade-A sleuthing work you've done, @Dreamstar Moonlight; and I'm super happy to see it here in the form of a thread! I plan to keep it pinned and featured for at least a few days as a resource we can all rely on to get up to speed with all things G5.

I expect to have more thoughts on the topic later, after rest and work and other IRL commitments, but I want to leave a few notes with my impressions!

One, I found it quite interesting to learn about how many times it turned out that some rumoured G5 leak turned out be seemingly real. Quite a lot of random things leaked out of Hasbro and DHX over the course of FiM's run so I wonder if it's a systemic security problem or a guerilla marketing tactic to start warming up the hype train before a big release like yesterday's.

Two, having the full timeline of G5 information in one spot makes my inner "internet historian" really happy. Seeing how all the puzzle pieces that were dropped over the months and years come together to paint the big picture of what's coming our way - I expect to look back at this day fondly in a few years as the moment the G5 hype train left the station.

Three, the connection to Imalou- I had no idea about that before reading your post, and found it heartwarming to learn that a fan artist was hired by Hasbro to work on the very IP they love. I tend to hear more about companies keeping a cautious distance from hiring their fans - good reasons for this exist but I can still have the warm fuzzies over this.

And for my last point right now, as a pony fan with a tendency to get way too excited about aesthetics and canon theorycrafting, I really enjoyed the collection of images you collected to display here that take us from those mysterious blankets (we have a dedicated thread for those, by the way, for anyone who wants to rave or rant about 'em) to the characters' names and a cleaned-up version of the official logo.

I plan to return to this thread tomorrow when my brain is less mushy. I enjoyed the heck out of reading that opening post and would love to keep up with any future writeups like it that you make in the future. Thanks so much again for putting this together and sharing it here.

[Will Guide 21,325]

Whoa! So much information at once! I think it would be easier if we could just split the actual confirmed stuff from the stuff that's just rumors

[Rushing cash 824]

Thank you so much for gathering all the known information in one place, you did an amazing job! 

Interesting to note that in the leaks it said that a Pegasus will be the main character but from what was released today its the earth pony(sunny). 

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

Woah, you deserve an award for gathering all this info! 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Wow... Now this is what I call doing one's homework, and then some.

[Dreamstar Moonlight 44]

32 minutes ago, Rushing cash said:

Thank you so much for gathering all the known information in one place, you did an amazing job! 

Interesting to note that in the leaks it said that a Pegasus will be the main character but from what was released today its the earth pony(sunny). 

You're welcome! It was a bit of a challenge, but the end result was worth it. Figured it would be helpful to have everything in one place rather than having to dig this stuff up from rabbit holes.

Also, that part confused me too. Maybe the 'leaker' got mixed-up? Lol, to think they got everything right - except for that little bit of crucial info about the pony's race. Either that was a typo, or they deliberately put a bit of wrong info (why though?) That's my guess!

29 minutes ago, Ganondorf8 said:

Wow... Now this is what I call doing one's homework, and then some.

Thank you for your kind words! Glad to see my hard work being appreciated! :-)

[Dreamstar Moonlight 44]

55 minutes ago, Twilight Sparkle ✨ said:

This is some grade-A sleuthing work you've done, @Dreamstar Moonlight; and I'm super happy to see it here in the form of a thread! I plan to keep it pinned and featured for at least a few days as a resource we can all rely on to get up to speed with all things G5.

I expect to have more thoughts on the topic later, after rest and work and other IRL commitments, but I want to leave a few notes with my impressions!

One, I found it quite interesting to learn about how many times it turned out that some rumoured G5 leak turned out be seemingly real. Quite a lot of random things leaked out of Hasbro and DHX over the course of FiM's run so I wonder if it's a systemic security problem or a guerilla marketing tactic to start warming up the hype train before a big release like yesterday's.

Two, having the full timeline of G5 information in one spot makes my inner "internet historian" really happy. Seeing how all the puzzle pieces that were dropped over the months and years come together to paint the big picture of what's coming our way - I expect to look back at this day fondly in a few years as the moment the G5 hype train left the station.

Three, the connection to Imalou- I had no idea about that before reading your post, and found it heartwarming to learn that a fan artist was hired by Hasbro to work on the very IP they love. I tend to hear more about companies keeping a cautious distance from hiring their fans - good reasons for this exist but I can still have the warm fuzzies over this.

And for my last point right now, as a pony fan with a tendency to get way too excited about aesthetics and canon theorycrafting, I really enjoyed the collection of images you collected to display here that take us from those mysterious blankets (we have a dedicated thread for those, by the way, for anyone who wants to rave or rant about 'em) to the characters' names and a cleaned-up version of the official logo.

I plan to return to this thread tomorrow when my brain is less mushy. I enjoyed the heck out of reading that opening post and would love to keep up with any future writeups like it that you make in the future. Thanks so much again for putting this together and sharing it here.

Omygosh, THANK YOU so much for that kind commen, @Twilight Sparkle ✨! And thank you for your suggestion to move my blog to the forums - it's really getting noticed and I feel so warm and fuzzy inside to see it being appreciated like this!

I'm glad you found tout about lmalou's involvement through my post. It is indeed an honour!

"Seeing how all the puzzle pieces that were dropped over the months and years come together to paint the big picture of what's coming our way - I expect to look back at this day fondly in a few years as the moment the G5 hype train left the station."

I've often wondered about that myself....

54 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

Whoa! So much information at once! I think it would be easier if we could just split the actual confirmed stuff from the stuff that's just rumors

But that was the point of the whole post - to compare the leaked stuff with the official announcements and see if they add up. It wouldn't have been possible to do that if I'd separated the 'leaked' info from the official bits.

As it is, we haven't had any official news except what was revealed earlier today. Pretty much everything else that have cropped up have been leaks or speculations, nothing more.

Maybe I can do something like what you suggested once we get more official info...

[SharpWit 2,472]

I'm most excited for the continued setting and world building opportunities.

Typically there's been a pendulum model for how masses react to various movements. Perhaps the division of races and species we're presented with from G5 is the result of it swinging in opposition to the "wokeness" that was brought about in G4.

Equestria has had a long standing position of isolationism and paranoia towards other species, and perhaps with reason given the readiness so many have expressed their willingness to go to war over such slight grievances, and the particular impact changeling invasions have wrought in the past.

Divisions in the pony races have persisted after all, notably through classism between Unicorns and Earth Ponies, and the Spartanesque inspirations for Pegasus society and their own degree of separation via cloud cities.

Unicorns have always been the most abled, Pegasus have air supremacy, and earth ponies hold the numerical advantage. They've all sought dominance in their own ways.

Despite how early on in the Fandom it wad written and the influence it took from the original franchise, Fallout Equestria I think showed one of the best and most accurate if potential extremes that could take place for Pegasus.

I'm most excited for the continued setting and world building opportunities.

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos 1,189]

This is really cool!! I'm so hyped for G5, thanks for compiling all of this in one place!

[Rising Dusk 26,072]

A little confused on some of the details presented... It looks like they talk about three ponies in detail, Izzy, Pipp and Sunny.  But then say that only Izzy and Pipp are the main dou with a Bat Pony, Kirin, Hippogriff and Changeling make up the new 'Mane Six'... So is Sunny, or any of the three promoted, not actually part of the group?  Am I missing a detail in all this wonderfully gathered info? 

[Goat-kun 2,498]

Race wars and real life clutter in fantasy, my two favorite things! Kinda gives one the "Brand New Animal made by woke wine aunts" vibes, but I shall reserve my judgment like a good fan that I am. Can't really complain too much. I was the one advocating for horn cutting after all

[Sparklefan1234 161,861]

This one is my favorite so far. I don't know her name but I think she will be the "fun and random" one. 

[Silly Druid 6,138]

@Sparklefan1234 The name is Izzy Moonbow.

[Truffles 2,033]

Wow, I forgot about that leaked animatic. That really does lend credibility to the idea that Sunny and that stallion might be siblings (or really close childhood buddies) and the both of them long for the days of when Twilight and her friends ruled the lands with harmony. Great stuff, thanks!

EDIT: Oh and in case anyone's wondering why I feel like they're siblings, check out this teaser with them roughhousing:

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Truffles

[Sparklefan1234 161,861]

1 minute ago, PawelS said:

@Sparklefan1234 The name is Izzy Moonbow.

 

Izzy...I mean, is it?  Thank You, BFFFF. 

[Will Guide 21,325]

2 hours ago, Truffles said:

Wow, I forgot about that leaked animatic. That really does lend credibility to the idea that Sunny and that stallion might be siblings (or really close childhood buddies) and the both of them long for the days of when Twilight and her friends ruled the lands with harmony. Great stuff, thanks!

EDIT: Oh and in case anyone's wondering why I feel like they're siblings, check out this teaser with them roughhousing:

 

What a nice little teaser.

It reminds me of a promo for a fake show I once saw on a Family Guy gag. Shoving buddies. 00:16 from the start of this video

 

[ProfVenturer 94]

At first, I hated the new art style. But now, come to think of it, maybe I should give it a chance.

Matter of fact, the art looks a lot better in 3D than 2D.

Edited February 25, 2021 by ProfVenturer

[Jesse Terrence 2,963]

Ah, another cloverfield dweller. Good to see an anon spoonfeeds the surface dwellers. Kudos anon

[North Star 4,540]

Wow @Dreamstar Moonlight that was great  

[ManaMinori 4,143]

I know there is an unincorporated Amino app for g4 and g5 lovers
http://aminoapps.com/invite/5R6URJEIP7

[TBD 17,228]

Here’s the artist name, Lea, and her information! Lets all support her every pony! *Applause)
 

https://mobile.twitter.com/ImalouArt

 

[Truffles 2,033]

1 hour ago, Will Guide said:

What a nice little teaser.

It reminds me of a promo for a fake show I once saw on a Family Guy gag. Shoving buddies. 00:16 from the start of this video

You're not really friends if you're not shoving each other around. XD

I loved the expression on Sunny's face when her brother and/or friend shoved too hard and knocked her off-balance. It's good to see the animators know their stuff.

[Happy Heart 307]

Well, certainly looks...interesting. Let's only hope this next gen lives up to what we've already come to love. 

[Shigaraki 270]

So far only 3 or maybe 4 main characters l seen. I don't if the boy pony counts but this is something. And l only heard about g5 because of that day when they released that bedding which feels like a strange start xD Remember everyone, g5 started with a bedding

Did anyone see the toys yet? They're not appealing and sorry to say. MLP potion ponies look better

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Osoka_Topez