A Hearth's Warming Tail
A musical holiday episode adapting A Christmas Carol.
Here is the rewritten encyclopedia entry:
The 100th episode of *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic*, and the eighth of its sixth season, is "A Hearth's Warming Tail." Denny Lu and Tim Stuby directed it, and Michael Vogel wrote it. It debuted on Discovery Family on May 13, 2016. In the episode, Ponyville is preparing to celebrate Hearth's Warming, the show's version of Christmas, in Twilight Sparkle's castle. Starlight Glimmer would rather not take part, calling the holiday "a day dedicated to presents and candy." To change her mind, Twilight and Spike tell her a story about Snowfall Frost, a cold-hearted unicorn who hates Hearth's Warming and plans to use magic to erase it. Most of the episode is this story, with the main characters playing its roles. The tale adapts Charles Dickens' 1843 novel *A Christmas Carol*, with Snowfall Frost as Ebenezer Scrooge, visited by three spirits who try to teach her the holiday's value. The episode is known as one of the series' musical installments, with six songs composed by Daniel Ingram, orchestrated by Caleb Chan, and lyrics by Vogel and Ingram. Critics and fans praised the episode, especially its pacing and songs. "The Magic of Friendship Grows," the first solo song for Princess Luna (voiced by Aloma Steele), received particular acclaim.
- Episode number
- 100th overall, 8th of season 6
- Air date
- May 13, 2016
- Producer
- Not credited
Quick Facts
- Series
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Season
- 6
- Episode
- 8
- Writer
- Michael Vogel
- Director
- Denny Lu / Tim Stuby / Jim Miller (supervising director)
- Editor
- Rachel Kenzie (animatic editor) / Mat Garneau (offline editor) / Tom Harris (online editor) / Josh Haber (story editor)
- Airdate
- 2016-05-14
- Length
- 22 minutes
- Guests
- William Samples as Professor Flintheart / Aloma Steele as Princess Luna (singing voice)
- Prev
- Newbie Dash
- Next
- The Saddle Row Review
- Season Article
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 6)#Episodes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In the episode, Ponyville prepares to celebrate Hearth's Warming in Twilight Sparkle's castle, but Starlight Glimmer prefers not to participate. To convince her of the holiday's importance, Twilight and Spike tell the tale of Snowfall Frost, a cold-hearted unicorn who despises Hearth's Warming and plans to erase it magically. The story within the episode mirrors A Christmas Carol, with Snowfall Frost representing Ebenezer Scrooge and being visited by three spirits: the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past (Applejack), the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents (Pinkie Pie), and the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come (Princess Luna).
The episode features six songs composed by Daniel Ingram and orchestrated by Caleb Chan, with lyrics by Vogel and Ingram. It has been described as one of the series' "musical episodes." The animation sequences for three songs were storyboarded by Sabrina Alberghetti. An early draft included a Jacob Marley character represented by Discord, but it was cut for time; Princess Luna's spirit originally had no song, but the creative team later added one.
Reader's Guide
The episode received acclaim from critics and fans, with particular praise for its pacing and songs. Daniel Avarez of Unleash the Fanboy gave it a perfect 10 out of 10, calling it "a solid Christmas tale" that takes the overused Christmas Carol plot and manages to be great. Don't Hate the Geek described the episode as "amazing," noting that Luna's appearance as the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come and her song were show stealers. The song "Luna's Future" was the first solo song for Princess Luna, sung by Aloma Steele. Daniel Ingram was nominated for a 2017 Leo Award for Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series for his work on this episode. All songs except one reprise were released on the 2016 re-release of the compilation album It's a Pony Kind of Christmas.
Did You Know?
- The episode is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel A Christmas Carol, with Snowfall Frost representing Ebenezer Scrooge.
- An early draft included a Jacob Marley character represented by Discord, but it was cut to save time.
- Princess Luna's song 'The Magic of Friendship Grows' was the first solo song for the character in the series.
- Daniel Ingram was nominated for a 2017 Leo Award for Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series for this episode.
More in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record