G1 Pony Literature for G1 toys.

[AutumnRoan]

When I was little what charmed me the most about the My Little Pony toys were the snippets of story that came on the back of the cardboard. These small adventures or dialogues were essentially character development. But to my young mind they suggested a whole landscape and an interconnected web of friendships making up a community.

I did not watch the early cartoon or read any of the picture books that were produced years after, so I never relied on their worldbuilding. Coming back to these blurbs they seem so small and insignificant, just like things do when one gets bigger. The MLP animation had the same feeling as these blurbs, returning to old characters who would play secondary parts in subsequent stories.

BUT (I was wondering)
Does anybody know who wrote them?
Is it the same Merrill Farnsworth who wrote "Ember's Dream"?



(... and most crucially are they still bound by Hasbro copyright?)

 

[LadyMoondancer]

I loved the backcard stories too! Some of them do seem more basic now that I'm grown. My favorite is Moondancer's story, which had more conflict than most.

The backcard stories would have been written in-house by Hasbro employees. I'm not sure if Merrill Farnsworth was a Hasbro employee or just a freelancer. If they were an employee then they might have been involved, but I would guess there were multiple authors, especially since the toyline lasted so long.

 

[AutumnRoan]

Well, I can tell that they used a different writer for year three, just from the writing style. There was no credits given except for "Amber's Dream" - the tape that included a short story and some original music. It was a cautionary tale about a baby pony and 4 of the rainbow ponies, that didn't exactly have a happy ending either. It has a similar style to the blurbs.

My favorite is Moondancer's story, which had more conflict than most.

Moondancer's story:

Moondancer was sleeping peacefully. Awakening with a start, she found Twilight beside her.
"Cotton Candy is missing!" said Twilight. "Have you seen her?"
"Cotton Candy should go on a diet," yawned Moondancer. "She ate my favorite bluegrass and my prettiest wild flowers. I put her in hibernation until winter!"
Twilight was stunned. "Free her from the spell, Moondancer. Her friends are worried!"
"Is it winter already?" teased Moondancer. But she freed Cotton Candy from the spell and even called the West Wind to give her a ride home.

 

[DorkLarue]

I love Moondancer's backcard story, I think it's my favorite too. Cotton Candy basically did the pony equivalent of eating your roommate's leftovers from the communal fridge and Moondancer decided on "Magically-Induced Coma" as her response. It's so funny to me, and I think of it every time I look at my Moondancer.