[Top 10] Cartoons Like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

SagaTakesAShot — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 05:29:12 +0000

What's a jounrey without friends? Discover some the greatest cartoons out there that portray friendship.

The best show for all ages and I mean ALL AGES! My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has retained all the good vibes you could possibly stuff into a kids show and still make it appeal to adults regardless of age and gender. I didn’t grow up watching the previous My Little Pony seasons but I loved my journey through Equestria with this specific Mane 6.

But of course, every story must come to an end, and as we gear up for another MLP series we can keep ourselves occupied with these other cartoons to remind every pony that friendship is the most powerful source of magic out there. Here are 10 cartoons that any bronie and pegasister out there can get into.

10. Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper Trailer

In an unspecified kingdom, two baby girls, a princess and a pauper were born at the same time and shared identical faces but different hair. When the kingdom is about to fall into poverty the queen is forced to marry off her daughter, Princess Anneliese to King Dominic. The princess, knowing her duty to her kingdom, agrees to the engagement but makes a request to her tutor to be brought to the town so can experience her last dose of freedom. While wandering the market place she is drawn in by the beautiful song of Erika who she later discovers share similar features with her.

I want to throw every barbie movie in this list but that should be a separate list on its own, so I decided to go with Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper as the closest movie to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The movie talks about the unbreakable friendship between our two heroines, who, despite only knowing each other for one day, have already put their utmost trust in one another. It has great music, some of the best from the entire barbie franchise, and you have two female protagonists. Barbie has been a known icon to inspire girls to reach for the dreams despite your gender.

9. Winx Club

Winx Club Trailer

Winx Club at first follows a teenager named “Bloom” who knows nothing about magic or fairies. Her world changes when she encounters a battle between Stella, a fairy and an Ogre. Bloom intervenes in the fight when things start to look rough for Stella. She discovers that she does have magical abilities. Impressed, Stella invites Bloom to attend Alfea with her so she may learn more about her abilities and learn how to properly use them. After another skirmish with the Ogres, she decides to go with Stella and learn about magic, leading her to meet the other girls and eventually build the Winx Club.

Travelling to a new land to learn something about friendship and magic—Twilight and Bloom have a lot to talk about if they ever meet. In Twilight’s case her magic has already been polished but she lacks companions who will stick by her side no matter what comes her way. Bloom will learn about friendship and her magical abilities as well. She starts off as the most timid member of the group but overtime develops to become probably one of the strongest fairies of Alfea.

8. Star vs. the Forces of Evil

Star vs. the Forces of Evil Trailer

Star Butterfly, a magical princess from Mewni is the next to ascend the throne of the Butterfly Kingdom. On her 14th birthday her parents gave her the family’s heirloom wand. Unable to fully grasp her power, she accidentally sets her castle on fire, leading her parents to send her to earth where no magic exists for magical training. Star now lives out her days as a student living under the Diaz’s family roof while keeping her wand away from the clutches of evil.

The best way to learn is through experience. Twilight was a star student when it comes to magic but never knew that there the strongest magic of all is friendship. It took a firm order from Celestia for her to live in ponyville and learn about making friends. The same goes for Star, her parents had to send her to an area without any magic for her to understand and appreciate her magic more. She also learned about creating friends and family through her school life.

7. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Trailer

Two teens, Marinette Dupain Cheng and Adrien Agreste, separately end up finding two objects called Miraculous. Being the two new owners, Marinette and Adrien are now able to transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively. They are now Paris’ crime fighting duo, ensuring the safety of Paris from Hawk Moth who has been transforming the citizens into akumas through their negative energies. Both Marinette and Adrien must hide their identities from the city and each other in order to keep everyone safe.

Friendship doesn’t come without its own rain showers. Sometimes friends fight or grow out of touch due to different priorities. Marinette and Adrien struggle to find balance with being superheroes, friends and a member of their respective families. In My Little Pony, we see the Mane 6 battling similar social problems with jealousy, misunderstandings, shortcoming, self-doubt, peer pressure and other problems.

6. Tinkerbell (Film Series)

Tinkerbell Movie Trailer

All of us know Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, but how about her backstory? Tinker Bell is born from the first laugh of a baby and is brought by the winds to Pixie Hollow (a part of Never Land). Every Fairy has their own talents and jobs, for Tinkerbell she discovers that she was born to be a tinker fairy, a fairy who makes and fixes things. The movie series is about Tinkerbell’s adventures and her colorful array of friends, each possessing their own unique talent.

I believe this movie series should be seen by all My Little Pony fans. Remember how the Mane 6 each represent a trait of friendship? The Tinkerbell films are a bit like that with each fairy taking up a main character role for each film. Each of them have to battle a physical boss and their own personal shortcomings to overcome adversities in their realm.

5. Digimon Adventure

Digimon Adventure Trailer

On August 1, 1999, 7 kids from a summer camp got transported to the digital world via the Digivices they found on the camping grounds. After finding themselves in another world they befriend 7 Digital Monsters who they later come to learn as their partners. Now, together with their Digimon, they travel across the Digital World to find a way home. Their coming to the Digital World is no accident, apparently these kids are the 7 chosen children to save both the human and the digital worlds.

Another series that shows how having companions could be the best thing in the world? Digimon! particularly the very first series that started the franchise. While a lot of anime and cartoons alike showcase friendships between characters, I think nothing beats the bonds the DigiDestineds have with their partner Digimon and with their fellow teammates. Through their bonds and their crests, they can reach even higher levels of digivolutions.

4. Avatar: the Legend of Korra

Avatar: The Legend of Korra Trailer

After Aang’s death, the world now has a new Avatar, a waterbender in the south pole named Korra. Instead of travelling the world to master the four elements like her predecessor did, she was kept in the south pole and had tutors come to teach her. Now, she has to master airbending from Aang’s son Tenzin. However, Tenzin cannot stay in the south pole due to political problems in Republic City and is forced to travel there to oversee the problems. Impatient due to the turn of events, Korra decides to travel to Republic City and finally do her duties as the Avatar while learning airbending.

My Little Pony is known for bringing strong, iconic female characters up to the center. All the members of the Mane 6 stand out well on their own especially Rainbow Dash who is shown to have a tomboyish personality and isn’t afraid to get her hooves dirty. For Korra, we finally have a female main character who proves her worth as a great bender despite being a female. Let’s not forget her partner Asami who can go toe-to-toe with benders despite not being able to bend elements like the rest of the new team Avatar.

3. Cardcaptor Sakura

Card Captor Sakura Trailer

Sakura Kinomoto, an ordinary young girl, finds a mysterious book. Upon opening the book she accidently releases the clow cards that were sealed within it. She finds out that she has magical powers and has the ability to seal the cards. Together with Keroberos, she searches and seals the magical cards before they cause too much trouble in the city.

If you loved the wholesomeness of My Little Pony, then Card Captor Sakura is another light and fluffy show anyone can watch. It’s an old shoujo magical-girl show geared to young girls but just like MLP-FiM, the show has also attracted adults of all kinds. Sakura also doesn’t fight on her own, she, Kero, hero best friend Tomoyo and later Syaoran all help her card capturing escapades.

2. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Trailer

Adora and Catra are orphaned best friends and have been training hard to join the horde as Hordak’s soldiers. Adora however is unaware that the rest of the planet is suffering under Hordak’s rule. An incident caused her to get lost in the woods and find a magical sword. The sword allows her to transform into the Legendary Princess of Power She-Ra. She is told by other residents of Etheria about the evildoings of the horde and now swears to help the rebellion defeat Hordak. They form the Princess Alliance, a group of magical girls who defend Etheria from anyone or anything that causes it harm. Catra who feels betrayed rises in ranks in the horde and makes no move to join her ex-best friend.

Another female centered story where we have a badass female protagonist who can definitely outdo any male soldier that may come her way. She was strong as a regular human but Adora goes above and beyond once she is able to transform into the all-powerful, She-Ra. The show fleshes out the truths and struggles among friends, specifically between Adora and Carta as well as the importance of companions or communities, and the theme of "good will always triumph against evil" is always present.

1. My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (series)

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (Series) Trailer

The show follows the main characters of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, only reimagined as human teenage girls attending Canterlot High and with a new female main, Sunset Shimmer. The series is set directly after the Equestria Girls Movie series showing off how the girls deal with their everyday life with school, the band, and their part-time jobs. Following the series, the girls also have magical abilities where they sometimes use it to help their everyday life or when magic seeps into their dimension.

If you’ve finished the main series then it’s about time to get into Equestria Girls, before you jump into the shorts better get into the three main movies first. The shorts are a fun watch that show lessons on friendship and everyday situations. The fact that the girls are now represented as humans make them much more relatable as compared to their pony-counterparts. But at the end of the day, you’re still looking at the Mane 6 and every quirk you love about them-- which is all the reason you need to start Equestria Girls.

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