My Little Pony Audiobooks of the 1980s Part 1: Hasbro’s Stories

 The early years of a big franchise like My Little Pony are interesting to go back to after several toy generations have passed. After all, there is no guarantee that a toy franchise will have staying power even after a handful of successful years. The concept behind the franchise was a little more rudimentary, and the stories were a little different from what would become the norm later on.

I grew up with stuff from early My Little Pony thanks to my two older sisters. They handed down quite a lot of pony merchandise to me, including some early picture books and audio cassettes (read-along books).  I enjoyed the huge My Little Pony revival that took place with Friendship is Magic, and looking back at these early stories reminds me of the parallels that exist between the Generation 1 and Generation 4 versions. Hopefully, others will also enjoy this look at the past. 

 My Little Pony Adventure Book 

 

The cover of the My Little Pony Adventure Book (left) and the back of the Ember’s Dream cardboard insert with an image of what the Adventure Book looked like in packaging (right).

Title: My Little Pony Adventure Book (1984)

Story By: John Braden 
Art & Production By: Ed Rowe Studio 
Company: Hasbro Listen ‘n Look Book 
Format: Cassette

Ponies Named in This Story: Firefly, Cotton Candy, Blossom, Moondancer

According to the collector website, Ghost of the Doll Year 1 is 1982 to 1983, Year 2 is 1983 to 1984, and Year 3 is 1984 to 198. This book features Earth Ponies Blossom and Cotton Candy, who first appeared in Year 1, as well as Earth Pony Applejack, Pegasus Firefly, and Unicorn Moondancer, who first appeared in Year 2. The book and cassette are either from Year 2 or 3.  

 

 

The first four minutes of the story are a short, fanciful monologue by the narrator on imagination and feelings. I don’t agree with the idea that “all smart ponies know it is much more fun to feel than to think.” I beg to differ. I probably enjoy thinking a little too much. In general, I am of the opinion that thoughts and feelings are best when combined and working in tandem. Telling kids that it is more fun to feel than to think doesn’t seem like a great idea. The descriptions of what feelings are like are much better and go beyond simple happy or sad to describe what it is like to have a feeling like a warm sense of comfort or a niggling problem. 

   

The Show Stable (left) in artwork for the toy line and the Show Stable (right) in artwork from The My Little Pony Adventure Book. Both feature a pond and a jumping post out front. Before Dream Castle or Paradise Estate, the ponies lived in the Show Stable. This may have contributed to the early stories having a more rural setting and feel. 

 

 The remaining ten or so minutes are the story itself. Firefly has had a feeling all day that something isn’t right. She goes from sleeping on a cloud to flying down to the Show Stable in the world of My Little Pony. There is a nice description of flying and what it is like to be in the sky, along with some wind sounds. The Earth ponies find Firefly’s ability to fly amazing, and they gather around her. It gives a sense of how amazing it is that these colorful ponies exist at all in this world. There is a childlike wonder about it. Just the simple act of landing is a big deal. Firefly explains that she has had a bad feeling. Everyone has been enjoying the nice day, but they realize Applejack is missing. She went to find a wild crabapple tree across the river

Apparently, it is dangerous to go across the river alone. There is a strong current and the Sunken Swamp on the other side. It is almost sunset, and the ponies decide they have to do something to find her. Meanwhile, Applejack is wandering through the dark swamp. A frog startles her, and a kind of boiling water effect is heard for ambiance. After Applejack realizes she is lost, there is a nice bit of imagery describing the long shadows of the trees of the swamp seeming to reach up and pull down the setting sun. Applejack tries to find her way out of the swamp but ends up wandering around in circles. She realizes she should not have crossed the river alone and feels afraid. The cold night and darkness seem to be represented by wind sounds.

 

 Firefly and Moondancer search for Applejack.  

Back at the Show Stable, Firefly flies off to find Applejack and runs across Moondancer by the river. Moondancer glows and can help Firefly see in the swamp. They enter the swamp together. They search nearly the entire swamp, then finally see a bit of movement in a briar patch. The scene shifts to Blossom and Cotton Candy talking about how worried they are. Then they see Applejack and Moondancer running up over the hill with Firefly above them.

Firefly asks Applejack what she has learned, and Applejack says that no matter how nice things are on the other side of the river, she knows she is happiest with her friends. This doesn’t seem like the right moral to me. Isn’t the one the story was building up to more about not getting lost than appreciating what you have? She thanks everyone for finding her. Firefly thinks that Applejack is starting to grow up, which implies that she has been irresponsible before, perhaps? It ends with Applejack being happy that she is back.

  

 Applejack wandering in the Sunken Swamp (left) from the My Little Pony Adventure Book. The ponies venturing through the Everfree Forest (right) in episode 2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 

 

 “Applejack could see the glow of strange red eyes peering out from the shadows.” Even though the eyes pictured don’t seem to be red (left). The ponies were menaced by trees with spooky faces (right) from episode 2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 

It is well known that Lauren Faust based My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on the G1 ponies, but I don’t know if she has ever called out this book in particular. The premiere two-part episode of Friendship is Magic primarily features a dark forest outside of Ponyville that the characters have to travel through. The Everfree Forest has always struck me as being similar to the Swamp in this story.  

    

There is another book with the same cover art but a different story. The Stolen Shadow sounds like it could have an interesting plot. The castle from the original book was remade to look like the Dream Castle playset. 

 Ember's Dream

Baby Ember toy and cassette in packaging. This cassette never received a picture book.

Title: Ember's Dream
Written By: Merrill Farnsworth
Company: Hasbro Bradley Inc. Listen ‘n Fun
Format: Cassette Tape (no book) 
Ponies Named in This Story: Baby Earth Pony Ember, Rainbow Ponies Earth Pony Parasol, Unicorn Moonstone, Earth Pony Sunlight, and Unicorn Windy, and the Unicorn Pony Majesty.

 

The first mail-away insert from before Ember was named (left). The second insert for Ember after she was named (right). 

 

 Ember is the first baby pony to be introduced to the toy line. There are three color variations that were a part of mail-in offers. Kids could collect so many horseshoe points from buying My Little Pony merchandise and send them in to get a free baby pony. The only version of Ember to be sold in stores was the one that came with the Ember’s Dream cassette tape. She was yet another color and, unlike the earlier three versions, had a symbol on her side like the other ponies. Ember also appeared in the first My Little Pony TV special without a symbol and probably inspired Lauren Faust to invent that baby ponies get their Cutie Mark when they get older in Friendship is Magic.

According to this cassette, Ember is a sweet baby pony who likes sweet things. She especially loved the rainbow and so loved the Rainbow Ponies who have rainbow hair. She admired them but was content to be herself and not be one of them. They liked her and thought she was cute. They took her on little adventures and told her stories about rainbow magic. One day, a butterfly tells Moonstone that Majesty has invited the Rainbow Ponies to the Dream Castle for a party in their honor. 

 

 

 

Artwork of the Rainbow Pony toys.  Only four of the six Rainbow Ponies are in Ember’s Dream. The animation from this commercial may have been from a canceled Rainbow Pony TV special, but I’ll save talking about that for another time. 

 

The party is because of a guest who wants to see them. The book uses a synthesizer sound effect for the butterfly's voice, which is so quiet that only Moonstone can hear it. The party will be on the evening of the magical pink moon. Once a year, in the “land of My Little Pony,” the moon turns pink and makes everything have a rosy pink glow. Ponies usually serve pink lemonade on this day. However, only Rainbow Ponies have been invited to the party. 

 

  

 Artwork of Majest, a unicorn that came with the Dream Castle play set (left). Artwork from a toy brochure(right). 

  

Ember meekly says they can drink pink lemonade for her. The Rainbow Ponies, callously, keep talking about the party and ask Ember to help them get ready. Ember sadly agrees to help. For the first time, Ember wishes she could be a Rainbow Pony. That night, she had a dream that something terrible would happen if they went to the party. She dreamed that a bad man had forced Majesty to invite them to the castle so he could cut off their rainbow hair and make rainbow wigs to sell to rich people in New York City.      

The Rainbow Ponies think Ember made up the dream because she wasn’t invited to the party. When they leave, Ember thinks she can’t do anything but cry. The magical pink moon rises, and everything looks pink in its light. Ember feels better and dances. She then hears a voice calling to her on the wind. Suddenly, a beautiful pony with pink wings appears and introduces herself as the Angel Pony. She says Ember’s dream was true. The Angel Pony tells Ember the others were not wise to have ignored her warning. She gives Ember a magic flower. When the Rainbow Ponies return and say they are sorry for not listening to Ember, Ember can squeeze a drop of the flower’s nectar onto the mane of each pony, and their hair will grow back quickly. She also gives Ember a cup of pink lemonade. They do, she does, “and on that day, Ember was the most beautiful pony of all. She was the only pony who had hair.” 

  

 Early My Little Pony picture books had them flying to the human world sometimes, like in My Little Pony and the New Friends (1984) and My Little Pony at the Country Fair (1984), but this New York City plot feels out of place to me. 

I could just be nostalgic for the My Little Pony Adventure Book, since I grew up with it, rather than Ember’s Dream, but the second story seems much weaker. Even the narrator's voice seems more patronizing, and there are few sound effects. The background music is a repetitive synthesizer ditty that gets on my nerves. The Rainbow Ponies are not particularly likable, and Ember is so meek that spending time with them isn’t fun. Furthermore, the events surrounding the moral aspect are questionable. Ember is not said to have reliable prophetic dreams or any special powers, yet she completely believes her dream. There is no reason not to go to the party, even if Ember did not make up the dream. This seems particularly irresponsible messaging as it might lead a child to think any nightmare they have could come true.

There is also an issue of the “bad man” getting away scott free and a key scene of the story (the Rainbow Ponies losing their hair) taking place ‘off screen’, so to speak. The problem with the Rainbow Ponies getting their hair cut was that they no longer looked as pretty, and not that violence was done to them. The Angel Pony solving the problem is a deus ex machina cop out. Hmmmmm, I really don’t like this story.

The My Little Pony Adventure Book had a couple of questionable elements, but the characters had agency and were proactive. Firefly and Moondancer actively searched for Applejack, and even Applejack spent time trying to find her own way out of the swamp. Going into the swamp alone was a realistic mistake she could learn from. Ember’s Dream, on the other hand, has a much shakier moral.

Check out the next entry in this article series for more old G1 audio books! Early G1 My Little Pony Audio Books Part 2: Kid Stuff will be available soon. 

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