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The design for all characters and their color schemes are subject to approval by Hasbro.<ref>[[:File:Nayuki layout artist Lyra Bon Bon.pdf|Layout artist discussing the show's approval process]], 2011-05-09</ref> The background ponies mostly share two body types–one male and one female-and are generally only differentiated from each other by [[My Little Pony Friendship is Magic|pony type]], mane style, mane color, coat color, eye color, and [[cutie mark]]. There are [[List of ponies|hundreds of different ponies]] whose color schemes or designs are distinct from each other even though they share the same design, although some of the background ponies are used more frequently than others, such as [[Lyra Heartstrings]] and [[Sweetie Drops]]. These two ponies are used by a layout artist for added visual gags.<ref>[[:File:Nayuki layout artist Lyra Bon Bon.pdf|Layout artist "Nayuki" describing his use of "Lyra" and "Bon Bon" for background gags.]]</ref>
 
The design for all characters and their color schemes are subject to approval by Hasbro.<ref>[[:File:Nayuki layout artist Lyra Bon Bon.pdf|Layout artist discussing the show's approval process]], 2011-05-09</ref> The background ponies mostly share two body types–one male and one female-and are generally only differentiated from each other by [[My Little Pony Friendship is Magic|pony type]], mane style, mane color, coat color, eye color, and [[cutie mark]]. There are [[List of ponies|hundreds of different ponies]] whose color schemes or designs are distinct from each other even though they share the same design, although some of the background ponies are used more frequently than others, such as [[Lyra Heartstrings]] and [[Sweetie Drops]]. These two ponies are used by a layout artist for added visual gags.<ref>[[:File:Nayuki layout artist Lyra Bon Bon.pdf|Layout artist "Nayuki" describing his use of "Lyra" and "Bon Bon" for background gags.]]</ref>
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The background characters will get to appear as the central characters for the upcoming 100th episode [[Slice of Life]].
   
 
===Recurring background ponies===
 
===Recurring background ponies===

Revision as of 00:47, 4 June 2015

For a list of all ponies that are mentioned or seen on the show, see list of ponies.
For a list of background ponies with their own pages, see Category:Background characters.

Background ponies are ponies that appear in the background during most scenes in episodes and possess character models that are used frequently to fill out crowd scenes and incidental characters in the show. In late April 2013, The Hub's Facebook page and Twitter account referred to Trixie, Princess Luna, Daring-Do[sic], DJ Pon-3, Spitfire, Princess Twilight, Queen Chrysalis, and Zecora as background ponies.[1][2]

Introduction

Main article: Animation

Each episode goes through several stages in pre-production: premise, script, dialog recording, and storyboard. The storyboards detail each shot and most of the layout, posing, and camera actions. After storyboarding, backgrounds are created or re-used, and the preliminary staging, composition, and color balancing is refined by the layout department, who ship the layouts to the animation department. After animation and animation revisions, the episode is further refined in post-production.[3]

Usage

Background characters are dropped into scenes only in the layout phase, after storyboarding has already finished.[4][5] From a story standpoint, they are interchangeable and serve the purpose of populating scenes whenever ponies other than the main or supporting characters are needed. Crowd scenes are often filled with multiple copies of the same designs, in crowd scenes in Friendship is Magic, part 1, Friendship is Magic, part 2, The Show Stoppers, Luna Eclipsed, and many more episodes. In The Ticket Master, Boast Busters, Fall Weather Friends, and The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, there is a galloping "mob" of ponies, consisting of Diamond Mint, Berryshine, Shoeshine, Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Daisy, Amethyst Star, and Minuette, and in some shots the entire group is duplicated to increase the number of ponies. They also use colorfill on a lot of ponies, changing the color but leaving the same cutie mark and design.

The design for all characters and their color schemes are subject to approval by Hasbro.[6] The background ponies mostly share two body types–one male and one female-and are generally only differentiated from each other by pony type, mane style, mane color, coat color, eye color, and cutie mark. There are hundreds of different ponies whose color schemes or designs are distinct from each other even though they share the same design, although some of the background ponies are used more frequently than others, such as Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops. These two ponies are used by a layout artist for added visual gags.[7]

The background characters will get to appear as the central characters for the upcoming 100th episode Slice of Life.

Recurring background ponies

Among all of the background ponies that are used in the show, there are twenty-two mares that are used consistently in Ponyville, and as a result are the most commonly seen in the series. They typically occupy crowd scenes and react to actions performed by the main cast, or, on rarer occasions, even interact with them. These twenty-two characters consist of six Earth ponies, six Unicorn ponies, and ten Pegasus ponies, each one sharing her design with at least one other. Their names as given by the show, merchandise, or currently held with a placeholder, are as follows:

Background Ponies Similar Design
Earth Ponies Berryshine Cherry Berry
Sweetie Drops Shoeshine
Golden Harvest Daisy
Pegasus Ponies Derpy Sunshower Raindrops
Cloud Kicker Merry May
White Lightning Sprinkle Medley
Rainbowshine Orange Swirl
Sassaflash "Parasol"
Unicorn Ponies Twinkleshine Lemon Hearts
Minuette Sea Swirl
Lyra Heartstrings Amethyst Star

Other recurring background ponies include Rose, Lily Valley, "Candy Mane", Lyrica Lilac, Royal Ribbon, and an assortment of male ponies, but they are absent from the list due to a relative lack of appearances and/or an offset of shared designs.

Equestria Girls

Some of the background humans were based on background ponies,[8] such as Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops, but none of these humans are among the students who appear in the first film My Little Pony Equestria Girls.[9]

References

  1. Timeline Photos. Facebook (2013-04-28). Retrieved on 2013 April 28.
  2. HubTVNetwork: Choose which background pony.... Twitter (2013-04-28). Retrieved on 2013 April 28.
  3. Jayson Thiessen interview, answer about layout department, 2011-09-14
  4. Layout artist on the role of layout artists, 2011-04-05
  5. Layout artist discussing the role of Derpy in season two, 2011-05-08
  6. Layout artist discussing the show's approval process, 2011-05-09
  7. Layout artist "Nayuki" describing his use of "Lyra" and "Bon Bon" for background gags.
  8. Rebecca Dart (2014-08-09). Rebecca Dart on Twitter: "@OttoWorld I think some were.". Twitter. Retrieved on 2014 December 31.
  9. Equestria Girls - The Allspark Forums (2013-06-27). Retrieved on 2013 June 28. Archived locally.