A Hearth's Warming Tail
Starlight Glimmer learns the meaning of Hearth's Warming.
A Hearth's Warming Tail is the 125th episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the eighth in its sixth season. Directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby, written by Michael Vogel, and produced by Devon Cody, it aired on Discovery Family on May 14, 2016. The episode adapts Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol into a musical, with six songs by Daniel Ingram.
Quick Facts
- Series
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- 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)
- Air date
- 14 May 2016
- Length
- 22 minutes
- Guests
- William Samples as Professor Flintheart; Aloma Steele as Princess Luna (singing voice)
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In Ponyville, the ponies gather at Twilight Sparkle's castle to get ready for Hearth's Warming. When Twilight and Spike ask Starlight Glimmer if she plans to join in, she replies that she might skip it, calling it a day all about presents and candy. Twilight points out that the holiday is really about being with friends and family, but Starlight is not convinced. Hoping to change her mind, Twilight reads her favorite holiday story, A Hearth's Warming Tale. The story is set many years ago and follows Snowfall Frost, a cold unicorn mage who thinks Hearth's Warming is a pointless excuse to party and doubts the tale of the three pony tribes uniting to drive away the Windigos. After she accidentally gives her assistant Snowdash time off for the holiday, Snowfall decides to cast a spell to remove the holiday forever. Just before she does, the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past appears and takes her back to her childhood. There, she sees her younger self enjoying the holiday until a professor tells her the holiday's origin is a lie and that she must study instead to become a powerful unicorn. Taking this advice, Snowfall stops celebrating and isolates herself. She then wakes up and meets the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents, who shows her other ponies having fun and laughing at her seriousness. Finally, the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come warns her that erasing the holiday will bring back the Windigos and cover all of Equestria in endless snow.
Cast
Kelly Sheridan voices Starlight Glimmer and Snowfall Frost, a stingy and cynical pony who rejects Hearth's Warming. Ashleigh Ball plays Applejack and the Ghost of Heart's Warming Past. Andrea Libman voices Pinkie Pie and the Ghost of Heart's Warming Presents, with Shannon Chan-Kent providing Pinkie Pie's singing voice. Tabitha St. Germain voices Princess Luna and the Ghost of Heart's Warming Yet to Come, with Aloma Steele as Princess Luna's singing voice. Ashleigh Ball also voices Rainbow Dash and Snowdash. Andrea Libman voices Fluttershy and Flutterholly. Tabitha St. Germain voices Rarity and Merry. William Samples plays Professor Flintheart. Tara Strong voices Twilight Sparkle as the Narrator, with Rebecca Shoichet as her singing voice. Cathy Weseluck voices Spike.
Production and promotion
The opening song, Hearth's Warming Eve Is Here Once Again, was first previewed at the 2016 New York Toy Fair. Writer Michael Vogel noted that an early script draft included a Jacob Marley character represented by Discord, but this was cut to save time. Princess Luna's Spirit of Hearth's Warming Future originally had no song due to running time constraints, but the directors and creative team decided she needed one. The animation sequences for three songs were storyboarded by Sabrina Alberghetti.
Reception
The episode received acclaim. Daniel Avarez of Unleash the Fanboy gave it a perfect 10 out of 10, praising the fantastic songs and calling it a solid Christmas tale that takes the overused Christmas Carol plot and manages to be great. He also commended the use of songs to enhance the story and Starlight's redemption arc. Don't Hate the Geek described the episode as amazing, noting Luna's appearance and song as show stealers. 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.
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