Greetings, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line Spy of Stories here with another chapter.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls-Holidays Unwrapped".
Considering that this is just a series of shorts focusing on the Human Main Six and Sunset Shimmer in a variety of misadventures during the holiday season, I hardly think that a rundown of what it's about is necessary.
Admittedly, I hadn't intended on reviewing "Holidays Unwrapped" at all due to the special being a compilation of shorts instead of an episode with a big story. However, it suddenly occurred to me that I could create a TV show analysis of it instead. In this case, review it like the shorts are part of a slight miniseries. So, that's exactly what I decided to do.
When "Holidays Unwrapped" came out last year I didn't pay much mind to it due to not intending on reviewing it. But, after recently taking a look at each of the shorts individually via YouTube...I found myself having a lot more fun with them than I did before.
For instance, the direction for each short by Ishi Rudell and Katrina Hadley, and the writing for each of them by Anna Christopher, were splendid. The comedy aspect of each short was not only well-done, but the jokes were hysterical and had a brilliant innocence that made them enjoyable to watch. Plus, despite the series not containing much in the ways of morals and emotional-investment, it nevertheless had heart and was a pretty worthy entry for the Christmas season.
The animation was amazing, if I may add. The style certainly wasn't as different as the rest of the Equestria Girls installments or "Friendship is Magic", but it looked like the animators were really giving their all and having a lot of fun.
Finally, the voice acting and characters were incredible. Despite not having much in the ways of character development, Sunset Shimmer and the human Main 6 were as lovable and fun to hang with as ever. Rebecca Schoichet, Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, Ashleigh Ball, and Tabitha St. Germain likewise portrayed their characters with spectacular style, and the characters themselves carried each short flawlessly.
In the end, "Holidays Unwrapped" isn't a perfect installment to the fourth generation of My Little Pony, but it's still a treat that's as delicious as hot cocoa. It was interesting to see the show team create something a little more simple than what they did before too, and as the final Equestria Girls installment to be produced and animated by DHX Media, and before Allspark got absorbed into Entertainment One after Hasbro bought that company...it qualified itself well as just that.
So, I rate "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls-Holidays Unwrapped" 4½ out of 5 stars.
To Hasbro and the newly acquired Entertainment One: I know that "Friendship is Magic" ended over a year ago and that you guys seem pretty intent on rebooting the franchise starting in 2021. But, please make more screen installments of Equestria Girls soon. The journey of the lead characters, particularly Sunset Shimmer's, is far from over and deserves to be given a solid ending instead of being left open-ended.
(This review was originally posted on my blog on November 20, 2020)