My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Adventures In The Crystal Empire on DVD {Review}

While I sometimes find myself interested in my daughters' new characters and shows that have debuted since my own childhood, I just can't help getting a little nostalgic when the classics return. Can I help smiling at the Cabbage Patch Kids television commercials or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles advertisements?

So my girls weren't the only ones excited to hear that, on December 4th, Shout! Factory released My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Adventures In The Crystal Empire to help keep the pony love alive for another generation.

A collaboration between Shout! Factory Kids and Hasbro Studios, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Adventures in the Crystal Empire includes five episodes from the beloved Friendship Is Magic series.

While the girls and I had actually never heard of this series (the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series currently airs on The HUB TV Network), their eyes positively lit up when they say the adorable ponies on the cover of this DVD. What better way to get to know them than through all of these magical adventures?

We quickly were acquainted with the colorful cast of characters, including:

• Applejack, a down-to-earth, resourceful and dependable pony who isn't afraid to get her hooves dirty. Applejack has an impeccable ability to break a situation down to its core and fix it fast and usually topped off with a wacky country anecdote told with a charming dose of country twang.

• Fluttershy is a gentle, shy, sweet, soft-spoken and often fearful pony that would like nothing more than to spend every waking moment caring for all types of forest animals in her secluded meadow cottage

• Giggly, playful and brimming over with energy, it's not unusual to find Pinkie Pie prancing and skipping joyfully through the streets looking for fun, doing cartwheels, singing a song in a silly voice and making up her own ridiculous lyrics. This silly, free spirited pony acts on her whims, follows her heart and nothing makes her happier than evoking a giggle and a smile from her friends.

• Capable and athletic, Rainbow Dash lives for adventure! This rainbow-haired Pegasus is fast, confident, proud, brave and always the first to volunteer to travel to distant lands or deal with a magical, mysterious beast.

• The most beautiful pony of all, Rarity is a talented fashion designer that is generous to a fault. She believes so badly that the world should be beautiful that she's all too eager to give away her designs and help other ponies look their best. 

• Dutiful and intelligent, Twilight Sparkle is obsessed with studying magic. However, having learned the importance of friendship, she uses her knowledge and unusually powerful gift for magical spells to help her new companions in Ponyville and take her position as a naturally born leader.

In Adventures in the Crystal Empire, a magical empire has suddenly appeared in the arctic north of Equestria, and Princess Celestia needs Twilight Sparkle and her friends to find a way to protect it. While her friends try to keep the Crystal Ponies occupied at the Crystal Faire, Twilight Sparkle searches for the hidden Crystal Heart that is the key to keeping their empire safe from harm.

The five episodes include:

• The Crystal Empire, Part 1
• The Crystal Empire, Part 2
• Sonic Rainboom
• Luna Eclipsed
• It's About Time

While I hadn't been expecting so much action and complicated plot lines right off the bat, this DVD did end up seeming to have just the right mix of adventure, teamwork, friendship and pony cuteness that it kept my kids (and my own) attention riveted to the screen.

Whether or not you have a full-blow Friendship is Magic fan in your life or just one who can appreciate the age of My Little Pony in an updated, anime-style way, the five episodes in this collection are a fun and unique way to enjoy the show. With a running time of approximately 120 minutes and a bonus coloring sheet and sing-along, this is an easy way to bring home the sparkling fun and friendship that these ponies embody.

Just take a look and then tell me that you don't want to keep watching to find out what happens!


My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Adventures In The Crystal Empire is available now with an SRP of $14.97 (but is currently priced for $9.99). Find out more about everything pony at MyLittlePony.com and by connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Other than the My Little Pony DVD I was sent in order to facilitate my review, I was not compensated or enticed to do this review in any way. This post is solely my honest opinion of this DVD.