| Seaponies and mermares | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Seaquestria Aquastria |
| Other links | |
| More info | |
|---|---|
| Relatives | To Aquastrian seaponies: Ponies ("cousins") |
Seaponies and mermares are two races of aquatic pony-like creatures in Equestria, similar to sirens and kelpies, that appear and are alluded to in the series, My Little Pony The Movie, IDW comics, storybooks, and other media and merchandise. They are based on the real-life seahorse and mythological hippocampus.
Development and production
Seaponies and mermares are based on the very similarly-named Sea Ponies and somewhat similarly-named Fancy Mermaid Ponies of Generation 1 and the Mermaid Ponies of Generation 3.5.
At the 2010 My Little Pony Fair and Convention, Hasbro reported that, at the time, there were no plans to incorporate seaponies into the show or merchandise.[1] At the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 Fairs, Hasbro representatives stated that seaponies were not planned for those years either.[2][3][4][5] At the 2015 Fair, Hasbro reps acknowledged the presence of mermares in Under the Sparkling Sea and the sirens in Rainbow Rocks but still could not divulge any future merchandise plans.[6]
Lauren Faust stated in June 2011 on DeviantArt that she "had a sea pony episode idea, but it didn't get made under [her] watch."[7] She also stated in June 2013 on Ponychan that she "had an idea for seaponies" but "Wasn't sure about it though."[8] The idea was also brought up by M. A. Larson at Equestria LA 2015[9] and is featured in the show bible under the sample title "Nothing More to Sea".
When asked about seaponies (and G1 in general) at BronyCon 2011, then-supervising director and executive producer Jayson Thiessen stated "it's been mentioned", but nothing concrete was in the works at the time.[10]
When asked on Twitter in February 2014 if The Little Mermaid was an influence while designing the mermares in My Little Pirate: Friendship Ahoy, artist Brenda Hickey answered "Probably on a subconscious level."[11]
When asked at BABSCon 2014 about the idea of introducing seaponies to G4, Amy Keating Rogers answered that she kept pitching seaponies to Meghan McCarthy but kept getting turned down.[12] She stated the same at BronyCon 2015.[13] When asked the same question at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Meghan McCarthy answered, "Anything is possible."[14] In response to the same at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Jayson Thiessen joked, "When global warming melts the ice caps and the ponies are forced to evolve".[15]
M.A. Larson's official website had previously listed season five episode thirteen with the title "From Seapony to Shining Seapony".[16]
Depiction in the series
In the season five episode Scare Master, Rarity dresses up as a seapony/mermare for Nightmare Night. In the season seven finale episode Shadow Play - Part 2, Twilight Sparkle finds a book about seapony etiquette.
A seapony character named Silver Stream will be introduced in season eight.[17] In addition, in Surf and/or Turf, Twilight will once again transform into a seapony, as will the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Depiction in film
The Mane Six as seaponies.
In My Little Pony The Movie, seaponies appear as inhabitants of the underwater kingdom of Seaquestria. These seaponies, resembling the mythological hippocampus, have the upper body of a pony and the lower body of a fish. Among their prominent members include Princess Skystar and her mother Queen Novo. As revealed by Skystar, the seaponies used to be Hippogriffs that lived at the top of Mount Aris before the Storm King and his forces invaded their land and forced them to flee underwater.
During the film, the Mane Six are temporarily transformed into seaponies, bearing their cutie marks on their dorsal fins.
Depiction in the comics
On the My Little Pony Micro-Series Issue #4 Jetpack Comics cover RE & Larry's Comics and Jetpack Comics cover RE, Fluttershy appears with a fish tail. On page 6 of My Little Pony Annual 2013 comic, two books in Princess Celestia's library of dark magic are titled Sea-Ponies and History of Aquastria.
In the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #13-14 story arc My Little Pirate: Friendship Ahoy, pirate captain Hoofbeard spends most of the story pursuing his precious "jewel". In the second half of the story arc, Jewel is revealed to be a mermare who is in love with him. She and the other mermares featured in the story have slender bodies, horse heads, and fish fins, tails, and scales, but they were originally envisioned as hippocampi,[18] with Jewel herself originally being named "Coralita".[19]
On My Little Pony: Friends Forever Issue #3 page 1, Princess Celestia mentions the "seapony delegation". On My Little Pony: Friends Forever Issue #28 Phoenix Comics & Games cover RE, original character Marina is sometimes referred to as an "orca seapony".[20][21]
Other depictions
Lauren Faust's series bible contains a sample adventure story titled "Nothing More to Sea". Its description reads, "The ponies go on a vacation to the beach only to find that the tide has gone so unusually far out, it has uncovered a portion of the kingdom of the sea ponies! Dried up and languishing in the sun, the once lush, beautiful city of the sea is quickly turning into ruins. Twilight, having just learned some special water magic for the trip, helps her friends enter the ocean where they meet the sea ponies and find that the selfish, monstrous sea serpent, the Kraken, is hording[sic] half the water of the sea for his underground home and is taking more and more every hour. Can the ponies team up with the sea ponies to get the ocean back from the Kraken?"
Chapter books
In the chapter book Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity, Rarity and her apprentice Charity Sweetmint make a "Sparkling Sea" clothing line, inspired by the magical world of the seaponies.
Storybooks
In the picture book My Little Pony: Under the Sparkling Sea, the Mane Six and Spike visit the underwater city of Aquastria, home to both seaponies and mermares. The seaponies here resemble seahorses and are referred to as "cousins" of the land-based ponies. Respective sister and brother seaponies Coral and Arrow are among the notable seaponies featured.
Mermares have larger bodies than seaponies and are described as more introverted and competitive than their fellow aquatic folk. The most notable mermare featured, Electra, races against Rainbow Dash in the Aquastria Race.
Merchandise
Toy figures of several seaponies and baby seaponies were released for My Little Pony The Movie, including Princess Skystar, Queen Novo, Lilly Drop, Sea Poppy, Jelly Bee, Bubble Splash, Sun Twist, Ocean Gem, Sea Foam, Crystal Pearl, and Haven Bay. A mermare and a unicorn seapony appear on pages 9 and 10 respectively in the pop-up book My Little Pony: The Castles of Equestria.
Gallery
See also
References
- ↑ Live From the Fair... MLP Fair Pics and Experiences. My Little Pony Trading Post (2010). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ MLPCon 2011 Q&A, part 1. YouTube (2011-07-11). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Hasbro Q&A from MLP Fair 2012 v2. YouTube (2012-07-07). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ My Little Pony Fair 2013 Hasbro Q&A Part 1 of 2. YouTube (2013-07-11). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ My Little Pony Fair 2014 Hasbro Q & A panel. YouTube (2014-07-16). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ MLP Fair & Convention 2015 - Hasbro Inc. Panel. YouTube (2015-07-01). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Lauren Faust (2011-06-13). Comment on fyre-flye's profile. DeviantArt. Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Lauren Faust (2013-06-08). No.2520566. /arch/. Ponychan. Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ EQLA 2015: An Interview with Lauren Faust featuring M.A. Larson. YouTube (2015-09-24). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ BroNYCon September: Jayson Thiessen QnA. YouTube (2011-09-29). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Brenda Hickey (2014-02-19). @KTonarella Probably on a subconscious level. I tried channelling CLAMP through some of the hairstyles though :). Twitter. Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ BABScon 2014 - Writers Panel, Pt. 2. YouTube (2014-04-30). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Gabby-Gums Gossip: Show Writers Panel - BronyCon 2015. YouTube (2015-10-31). Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ MLP:FIM Hasbro Studios Panel - San Diego Comic-Con 2014 Part 2. YouTube (2014-07-27). Retrieved on 2017 October 20.
- ↑ CCI 2015 My Little Pony Friendship is Magic panel. YouTube (2015-07-24). Retrieved on 2017 October 20.
- ↑ television. M.A. Larson. Retrieved on 2015 June 27. Archived.
- ↑ We Are Borg (2017-09-09). HASCON: My Little Pony Season 7 & 8 Panel - Spoilers Galore!. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2017 October 20.
- ↑ Page Not Found. Retrieved on 2013 December 1. “Here's the Original painting of the newest MLP release from IDW. This cover required a major fix to the merponies and you get BOTH the original painting in it's entirety AND the fix along with prelims.”
- ↑ Brenda Hickey (2014-02-19). Jewel the mermare from MLP issue #14 was.... Crazy Ary. Tumblr. Retrieved on 2016 May 2.
- ↑ Everfree Northwest (2015-11-20). @KelchanFerret @PonyCiderfest @argodaemon She's actually an orca seapony! This is the first convention we have premiered her at.. Twitter. Retrieved on 2017 October 20.
- ↑ EverfreeNW (2016-02-21). Gooood morning, Seaddle!. DeviantArt. Retrieved on 2017 October 20.
