My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series produced by Hasbro Studios in the United States (for scripts) and at DHX Media's studio located in Vancouver (for animation; formerly known as Studio B Productions), which is based on Hasbro, Inc's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works. The series is considered to be the fourth generation (G4) of the My Little Pony franchise, following earlier lines and television show tie-ins in the 1980s and 1990s. The series premiered on October 10, 2010, on The Hub, an American pay Television channel partly owned by Hasbro. As of February 2013, the show has completed its third season with a fourth season in production, and is broadcasting internationally in dozens of countries in more than 20 languages. In addition to toys and home media releases, Hasbro has licensed clothing, comic books, and video games based on Friendship Is Magic.

Hasbro selected animator Lauren Faust as the creative director and executive producer for the show. Lauren sought to challenge the established "girly" nature of the existing My Little Pony line, creating more in-depth characters and adventurous settings, incorporating Hasbro's suggestions for E/I ("educational and informational") content and marketing of the toy line. Lauren stepped down after the first season, but remains as consulting producer. Jayson Thiessen, the show's supervising director, became the showrunner starting with season two.

The show follows a studious unicorn pony named "Twilight Sparkle" as her mentor Princess Celestia guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with 5 other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different face of friendship, and Twilight discovers herself to be a key part of the magical artifacts, The "Elements Of Harmony." The ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.

The show has been critically praised for its humor and moral outlook. Despite the target demographic of young girls, Friendship Is Magic has, in addition, gained a large following of older viewers, predominately teenagers and adults, largely male, who call themselves "bronies." Reasons for this unintended appreciation include Lauren and her team's creative writing and characterization, the expressive Flash-based animation style, themes that older audiences can appreciate, and a reciprocal relationship between Hasbro, the creators, and the fans. Elements of the show have become part of the remix culture and have formed the basis for a variety of Internet memes. As a result in part of this unexpected cross-demographic audience interest, the series has become a major commercial success, becoming the most highly rated original production in the Hub's broadcast history.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Pony:_Friendship_Is_Magic