tek's rating:

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Magical Movie Night, on Discovery Family
TV Tropes; Wikipedia
streaming sites: iTunes; Netflix; Vudu

Caution: spoilers.

This is a series of three specials that aired over three weeks in summer of 2017. They were released on a single DVD in August 2017 under the title "Magical Movie Night," but I didn't get around to watching it until July 2018. (They were also made available on Netflix starting in October 2017, under the title "Tales of Canterlot High.") Anyway, before I watched the DVD, I assumed I would consider them individual specials (despite the fact that some sites referred to it as a miniseries, and despite the fact that I was always planning on listing them all on one page). And I thought if I did think of the specials as parts of a whole, I'd consider the whole a limited series. And I felt that way throughout my viewing of the first two specials. But when I watched the third one, I decided to call it a miniseries, after all.

Dance Magic
Equestria Girls Wiki; IMDb; My Little Pony Wiki

This takes place after the events of the movie Legend of Everfree. At the start of the special, the girls are doing a car wash as a fundraiser to restore Camp Everfree. Apparently they'd done a few other fundraisers, but were only half way to achieving their goal. (This doesn't really make sense to me, because there was an earlier fundraiser in the movie itself, which seemed to be sufficient. But... eh, now that I think about it, I guess that was just to keep the place open. Still, there seems to be some urgency about the current fundraiser, and I still don't think a deadline makes sense. But whatever.) Anyway... Rarity tells her friends she has a plan for yet another fundraiser, which in fact she doesn't. But when she goes to the mall looking for inspiration, she sees a video about a dance music video contest, and enters the Rainbooms in the contest. She comes up with a concept for their video, which she foolishly divulges to some girls from Crystal Prep Academy, who predictably steal the concept for their own entry in the contest. The special does have a happy ending, which is completely in keeping with the whole "Friendship is Magic" theme of the series from which "Equestria Girls" spun off. But I won't spoil the details.

Movie Magic
Equestria Girls Wiki; IMDb; My Little Pony Wiki

The girls are invited to the set of a movie based on A.K. Yearling's "Daring Do" books. (I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that these books exist in the human world just as they do in the pony world, although we don't actually meet the human version of Yearling. And I have no idea whether her books have any basis in actual adventures, as they do in the pony world.) The reason the girls are invited to the set is because the movie's director, Canter Zoom, is an alumnus of Camp Everfree, and he appreciates their having saved it (in "Legend of Everfree"). They also meet Zoom's niece, Juniper Montage, who works as his assitant. Meanwhile, the star of the movie, Chestnut Magnifico, may not be thrilled about playing Daring Do. (Or then again, maybe it's just a misunderstanding.) But there are several problems plaguing the production, and the girls begin to investigate. It all turns into rather an amusing sort of "Scooby Doo" spoof, wherein the culprit is fairly easy to guess well before Velma- um, I mean, Twilight- reveals the identity of who's behind it all. Anyway, the production is finally saved.

Mirror Magic
Equestria Girls Wiki; IMDb; My Little Pony Wiki

(This review contains a spoiler for "Movie Magic")
All the girls are excited to attend the premiere of the Daring Do movie... all except Sunset Shimmer, who can't stop worrying about her responsibility of figuring out the possible dangers of magic in the human world. So she writes in her journal to the Starlight from Equestria, and ends up being invited to go there. So, we get to see her in pony form. But instead of meeting with Twilight, she meets with Starlight Glimmer, who gives her a new journal. Starlight also goes to the human world with Sunset, so we get to see her in human form. (At first, Starlight has difficulties similar to Twilight's first time as a human, though she gets past it fairly quickly, with Sunset's help.) Meanwhile, Juniper Montage, who was revealed as the villain in "Movie Magic," is now working at the movie theater where the girls will be attending the premiere of the movie. (She also resents having to see the girls she blames for ruining her plans in the second special on video screens throughout the mall, in the music video they made in the first special.) She finds a magic mirror that shows a more glamorous version of herself, who is apparently a star, just as Juniper wants to be. And the mirror has the power to make her wishes come true. So... the girls end up trapped in a limbo within the mirror, and it's up to Starlight to free them and stop Juniper's new plan. The way she does this is, again, pretty predictable, but appropriate.

Well, I found all three specials amusing, of course. And I liked how they all ultimately tied together. And I guess that's all I can tell you.


miniseries index

My Little Pony
Friendship Is Magic * The Movie * Best Gift Ever * webisodes * Rainbow Roadtrip

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
movies: Equestria Girls * Rainbow Rocks * Friendship Games * Legend of Everfree
TV: Magical Movie Night * Summertime Shorts * Forgotten Friendship * Rollercoaster of Friendship * Spring Breakdown * Sunset's Backstage Pass *
Holidays Unwrapped
web: webisodes * Better Together