Transript
I have no life and just bought two ponies and listened to this story and was moved... so I went ahead and transcribed the first video. It probably has mistakes, so if anybody catches them feel free to correct them!
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Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved horses. Her name was Bonnie. Bonnie's dad was a Colonel in the Army. A veterinarian, and a horseman, he owned and rode several horses; jumping, showing, and even playing polo with them. When Bonnie was four, her family moved to Japan, where her father was stationed. Her dad was the vet in charge of all the animals who were quarantined before entering and leaving the country. Among the animals at the compound was a Korean pack pony named Knicker, who was boarded there. She rode him often and considered the pony her own. Mine.
When the family left Japan, they were unable to take Knicker with them. Bonnie's father promised her someday, she would have a horse, or a pony, of her very own. By the time he retired from the Army, however, Bonnie was in high school. Her father said, "you can have a horse, but you'll have to get up early every morning and come home right after school to take care of the horse. Also, you won't be able to take vacations or go away to college." Or, have friends, in other words.
Bonnie opted for friends and a more normal life. After going away to college, she moved to New England (here I am!), and took a position as designer for Hasbro toy company. Her job was to think of and draw toy ideas. Not a bad job, I'd say. She tried to remember the things she liked as a little girl. Her favorites were: art supplies, a record player, and her pets. None were toys. The thing she always wanted was a horse. Bonnie thought "Little girls like horses. I'll make a toy horse that has a combable tail and a mane, and girls can play with it much they would play with a doll. It should be small and soft and cuddly. She drew up her idea and showed it to Research and Development Department. She presented it saying, "Little girls like horses." She was told "most girls aren't like you. They like to cook and clean and iron." This was 25 years ago, there's some neanderthals that really believe that.
Bonnie, she presented the horse idea several times, to no avail, and kinda gave up on the idea, until a fellow designer said his boss wanted him to design a pony idea. So different from a horse. The pony was to have a winking eye and a swishing tail, and it should be big and made of hard plastic. So you could take it to bed and get marks on your face. Anyway, it's you know...
Bonnie was asked to draw up the new design. The large pony was produced and was somewhat successful. You'll see a model of that over there. You all know it more than i do. *something*
The wife of the director of marketing saw the large horse and said "It should be small and soft, and played with like a doll."
These directions were passed on to Bonnie with instructions to replicate the large horse exactly, only in a smaller size and to make it soft and cuddly.
Bonnie did as instructed, drawing the ponies in natural, horse-like colors, such as palomino, dappled gray, pinto, bay, chestnut, etc.
One day her marketing director came by her office and asked what she thought of making the ponies pink and purple, and other pastel colors. Bonnie, ..., these were not horse like colors. The director suggested testing pastel colors with girls, saying "little girls like pink and purple." Bonnie relented, and the rest, as the say, is history.
Pony was presented at Toy Fair 1981, where the sales floor said, pony didn't do enough. They couldn't sell it! The director of marketing, whose wife was the one who said that she needed to be small, stuck to his guns and his wife's intution and did not drop pony from the line, and it was this close.
My Little Pony was introduced to the market in the spring of 1981. I'm not sure about that. It was an instant success. She galloped off the shelves, striking a chord with girls throughout the US and abroad.
Though she has gone through many changes, Pony has remained a favorite companion for generations, for over 25 years.
Although Bonnie has yet to get her horse, her niece, Emily, who's with me this weekend, has several, as well as two ponies that she rides and trains. She loves horses, but has to get up early every morning and has to come right home after school to take care of the horses.
Bonnie now realizes that it's much easier to care for horses of the pink and purple variety than those real ones of her dreams.
