Friendship Is Witchcraft
| Friendship Is Witchcraft | |
|---|---|
 YouTube thumbnail | |
| Genre | Parody Abridged series Black comedy |
| Created by | Jenny Nicholson Griffin Lewis |
| Starring | Jenny Nicholson Griffin Lewis Various voice actors |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 5–15 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | June 16, 2011 – January 6, 2016 |
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |
|---|
 |
Friendship Is Witchcraft is a fan-made abridged parody web series based on the animated television show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.[1][2] Created by Jenny Nicholson and Griffin Lewis under the pseudonym "Sherclop Pones,"[3] the series ran from June 2011 to January 2016 and gained popularity within the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom, also known as bronies.[4][5]
Overview
[edit]The series reimagines the characters and storylines of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic with darker, more satirical themes. Episodes typically feature voice acting, original musical numbers, and comedic reinterpretations of scenes from the original show.[6][5]
In January 2013, Friendship Is Witchcraft was blocked from YouTube in the United States due to a DMCA claim by Hasbro.[4]
Reception and analysis
[edit]In a collection of essays on Friendship Is Magic and its derivative works, author Jen A. Blue examined the series as an example of fan commentary on both the original show and its fandom. Blue argued that rather than simply parodying Friendship Is Magic, the series functioned as a parody of the fandom's expectations and fan works themselves. She commented that the series incorporated elements characteristic of "cult shows" and meme-driven content, suggesting it transformed the source material into something resembling adult-oriented cartoon comedy. Blue wrote that the series mocked fan tendencies to impose darker interpretations on the original show and to approach it with the kind of conspiracy-theory viewing typically associated with more complex serialized television.[5]
As an abridged series,[7] Friendship Is Witchcraft employed a process of recontextualization, taking the visuals of the original work and pairing them with new audio to create comedic dissonance. Unlike many abridged series that focus on imperfections in audio-visual matching, the series primarily derived humor from showing familiar characters behaving in drastically different ways while maintaining their core personality traits.[5] The series was known for its provocative humor and creative approach to the source material.[1]
Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Based on | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Perfect Swarm" | "Swarm of the Century" | June 16, 2011 | |
|
Twilight prepares Ponyville for Princess Celestia's arrival while Fluttershy unleashes parasprites on the town. The ponies accidentally direct the creatures toward Molestopia, causing casualties. Pinkie Pie eventually leads the parasprites away using an instrumental version of Rebecca Black's "Friday". | ||||
| 2 | "Read it and Sleep" | "Look Before You Sleep" | July 10, 2011 | |
| 3 | "Dragone Baby Gone" | "Dragonshy" | September 8, 2011 | |
|
The ponies are tasked with destroying a dragon threatening Ponyville. Fluttershy reveals the dragon is her estranged father and ultimately kills him off-screen. Features creative editing including ABBA music video clips during an "ABBAlanche". | ||||
| 4 | "Cute From The Hip" | "Call of the Cutie" | November 2, 2011 | |
|
Apple Bloom seeks her cutie mark while Pinkie Pie performs magic to resurrect her parents. Introduces robotic Sweetie Belle (also known as "Sweetie Bot"). The episode ends at a party where Apple Bloom meets Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. | ||||
| — | "Spike's Big Day" | "Griffon the Brush Off" | December 5, 2011 | |
|
Short: Spike loses his five-year fantasy novel manuscript when Rainbow Dash scares him into hiccuping, causing his dragonfire to accidentally send the scrolls to Princess Celestia, who burns them thinking that they are Twilight's fan fiction. | ||||
| 5 | "Neigh, Soul Sister" | "Sisterhooves Social" | January 6, 2012 | |
|
Rarity is too busy preparing for a Smooze summoning ritual to spend time with robotic Sweetie Belle. After a fight, Sweetie Belle partners with Applejack for the Sentient Social contest, but Rarity ultimately chooses her sister over the apocalyptic ritual. | ||||
| 6 | "Lunar Slander" | "Luna Eclipsed" | March 14, 2012 | |
|
Princess Luna (called Molestia) attends Nightmare Night but struggles socially. Twilight offers to help Luna gain acceptance in exchange for her "Princesshood". Pinkie's parents are reincarnated as foals in a post-credits scene. | ||||
| 7 | "Cherry Bomb" | "The Last Roundup" | June 30, 2012 | |
|
Applejack is scammed and held hostage in Con Junction with a bomb attached to her. Her friends misunderstand her coded messages for help. A background character named Raincloud sacrifices herself to save everyone by taking the bomb into the sky. | ||||
| — | "Star Waving Mad" | "Owl's Well That Ends Well" | September 6, 2012 | |
|
Short: Twilight uses her princess powers to force her friends to watch her puppet show. She carelessly raises the moon, which catches fire and crashes into Ponyville's main square, leaving Twilight's face etched on its surface. | ||||
| 8 | "Foaly Matripony" | "A Canterlot Wedding" | February 23, 2013 | |
|
Twilight wants to marry her adopted brother instead of letting him marry Princess Cadance. She convinces herself that Cadance is evil, attacks her, and locks her in crystal caverns before proceeding with her own wedding to her brother. | ||||
| 9 | "Seed No Evil" | "One Bad Apple" | August 2, 2013 | |
|
Babs Seed joins Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in bullying the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Inspired by a dark parody film called "Snowblind," the three attempt to use dark magic to blind Babs, though they ultimately fail. | ||||
| 10a | "Horse Women - Part 1: Grazed and Confused" | Equestria Girls | April 19, 2014 | |
|
Twilight becomes an alicorn and creates a political crisis. Princess Celestia sends her through a portal to the human world, where she and Spike are transformed into human and dog respectively at a high school. | ||||
| 10b | "Horse Women - Part 2: Mare-is Bueller's Neigh Off" | Equestria Girls | January 6, 2016 | |
|
Continuation of Twilight and Spike's adventures in the human world. | ||||
| 10 | "You Smooze, You Lose" | "Make New Friends but Keep Discord" | June 4, 2015 | |
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Live reading only: The planned final episode was cancelled and only exists as a live reading by the creator. A fan-animated version was later created independently. | ||||
| — | "Celestia's Standalone Adventure!" | "The Crystal Empire – Part 1" | July 22, 2019 | |
|
Crossover: Princess Celestia is visited by Pinkie Pie from another abridged series. Celestia has frozen all other characters in place because she's tired of their antics, but is driven further insane by a constantly playing trumpet sound. | ||||
See also
[edit]- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Music of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan fiction
- PONY.MOV
References
[edit]- ^ a b Hargraves, Hunter (December 19, 2022). Uncomfortable Television. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-1-4780-2419-4.
- ^ Halley, Jean O'Malley (2019). Horse Crazy: Girls and the Lives of Horses. University of Georgia Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-8203-5536-8.
- ^ Jamison, Anne (November 26, 2013). Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World. BenBella Books. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-939529-19-0.
- ^ a b Scotellaro, Shaun (2013-01-16). "Friendship is Witchcraft & Equestria Girls Taken Down". Equestria Daily. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ a b c d Blue, Jen A. (2016-01-20). My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Three and Derivative Works. pp. 141–147.
- ^ Collins, Malcolm (2013-08-22). "The Abridged Series: An Emergence of a New Genre". HuffPost. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Capps, Borealis (2024-03-13). Ferreira, Samantha (ed.). "The Evolution of Abridged Anime Part 3: What's In A Name?". Anime Herald. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
