Fillies, gentlecolts, and foals of all ages, welcome once again to another My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic review. This time however, I’m not doing an episode review. Don’t worry though, there is a new episode on its way this Saturday. This will be a review on the new DVD released by Shout! Factory a couple weeks ago. This DVD is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express.
This DVD was released on February 28th 2012, and is the first official DVD for the series. Though there were single episode DVDs released with certain toys, and a Target Exclusive Canterlot DVD. This however is the first official release. Despite the show’s massive popularity, and a demand for season sets, Shout! has stated that they have no plans for a season set of any kind, believing that the series would benefit better through single disc releases featuring several random episodes. And that is the case that we have here. The DVD contains five episodes of the series, along with several extras, and even an episode of another Hub cartoon.
The episodes on this Disc are
Friendship is Magic Part 1
In the pilot episode of the series, Twilight Sparkle is sent to Ponyville to make friends and prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration. However, friendship is the furthest thing from Twilight’s mind, as the worry of a 1000 year old prophecy is far more important to her. And it proves true, as the evil Nightmare Moon returns from her imprisonment on the moon.
Friendship is Magic Part 2
Nightmare Moon has returned from her imprisonment and has shrouded Equestria in eternal darkness. Not only that, but she kidnaps Princess Celestia. It’s up to Twilight Sparkle and her new friends to overcome Nightmare Moon’s plans and use the elements of harmony to defeat her.
Over a Barrel
The ponies head to the wild west town of Appleloosa. But their visit comes at a bad time, as they find themselves in the middle of a battle between the settler ponies and the buffalo for control of the land. Can there be a way for everyone to make peace?
Hearth’s Warming Eve
The mane six star in a play about the birth of Equestria, and the heated rivalry between the three pony classes. But this hatred between the three may be the cause of bigger problems. How can they learn to get along?
The Last Roundup
When Applejack sends a letter that says she won’t be coming home to Ponyville after competing in the Canterlot rodeo, Twilight and the gang set out to find her. But when they do, they find out that Applejack is stubbornly hiding something from them. What is Applejack running away from?
Along with these five episodes, the DVD contains several extras. These extras include a sing along version of the theme song (the first time that the full version of the theme song has ever been released), meet the pony featurettes for each pony (these can also be found on the My Little Pony website), a coloring sheet, and the pilot episode of Pound Puppies, “The Yipper Caper”. Though, let’s be honest, this could have really just been used for another episode instead of trying to shill Pound Puppies on this DVD. But that’s really just my opinion on the matter.
A big plus for the DVD is that The Last Roundup episode contains the unaltered Derpy Hooves scene. Since the DVD was printed before the controversy began to heat up, there thankfully wasn’t any time to change the scene to be more similar to the recent iTunes version of the episode. However, one major downside to the DVD is that both of the “Friendship is Magic” pilot episodes suffer from desyncing issues. But you can contact Shout! for a replacement disc. Also, don’t worry about the Derpy scene on these discs. They are apparently left unaltered as well.
“The Friendship Express” is a solid debut for the show on DVD, with five quality episodes, several great extras, and enough content to keep any brony or pegasister entertained. There are more DVDs for the show planned in the future, and possibly some greater extra content as well. If you are a fan of the show, give this DVD a buy. It’s just under 15 bucks, so it’s a fair price (I payed $11.97 at Wal-mart for it). Keep giving this show your money, and support it in any way possible.