Filly Funtasia

Filly Funtasia
Also known as	Filly Funtasia: Magic, Spells & Fun
Genre	Fantasy[1] Adventure[1] Comedy[1] Coming-of-age[1]
Created by	Jacob Andersen Henrik Andersen
Based on	Filly by Jacob and Henrik Andersen
Developed by	Tine S. Norbøll
Written by	Carlos Bleycher Sean Catherine Derek John Gatehouse Johnny Hartmann Jymn Magon Expand Steve Middleton Armin Prediger Dean Stefan Laura Tey Noelle Wright Phil Harnage[2]
Directed by	Jacob Andersen (season 1) Henrik Andersen (season 1) Conan Hu (season 2)
Opening theme	"Magical World" by Windy Wagner
Ending theme	"From Now Until Forever" by Windy Wagner
Composers	Giles Packham John McPhillips Klaus Derendorf (song producer)
Country of origin	Hong Kong Spain China
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jacob Andersen Henrik Andersen
Producers	Zhong Lin Haichuan Shen Conan Hu Liang Li Dirk Hampel
Running time	24 minutes[3][a]
Production companies	Dracco Brands (2012–19[4]) BRB Internacional (2012–16) Studio 21 (2012–16) Black Dragon Entertainment (2012–16) Guangzhou Huamai Animation Studios (2018–present) B-Water Animation Studios (2018–present) Zhaolong Culture (2019–present[4])
Distributor
Release
Original network	iQiyi[b]
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
First shown in	Italy
Original release	November 28, 2019 (2019-11-28)[c] – present
External links
Website
Production website

Filly Funtasia is a computer-animated fantasy television series created by Jacob and Henrik Andersen for Dracco. The series follows filly Rose and her friends as they attend a magical academy in the royal kingdom of Funtasia. It is based on the Filly toy franchise.^[2] The series was originally produced by Dracco Brands, BRB Internacional, Screen 21, and Black Dragon Entertainment, but the latter three companies dropped out of producing the series around 2016, and the former dropped out in 2019. Guangzhou Huamai Animation Studios, B-Water Animation Studios, and Zhaolong Culture^[4] joined production much later and managed to complete what the other studios left behind.

After five years of development hell starting from 2014 when Filly Funtasia was originally supposed to premiere, the series finally premiered on March 11, 2019 on Frisbee in Italy.^[5] The series also premiered on November 28, 2019 on iQiyi in China.^[6]

The show was renewed for a second season^[7] that was released on iQiyi on December 25, 2020.^[8] In early 2021, the series started streaming in English on the KidsFlix and MyToonz apps in the United States.

Plot[]

Filly Funtasia is about the adventures of Rose, a unicorn filly who attends the Royal Magic Academy in the kingdom of Funtasia. Her best friends – Bella, an elf filly, Lynn, a witchy filly, Will, a fairy filly, and Cedric, a royale filly, accompany her as they go to the extraordinary school to improve their magical skills, be it mixing unpredictable potions or casting spells. Rose also has to deal with everyday teenage school life while learning about the magical world around her.

Inside the basement of the academy lives Wranglum, an evil tree-like wizard creature who is trapped inside a "dark mirror", or a crystal prison. Battiwigs, a bat who is Will and Cedric's dorm pet, secretly works for Wranglum as his bumbling minion and carries his master around. Wranglum and Battiwigs plot various schemes to try and steal any crystals from the academy they can so that they can use their magic to rule over Funtasia.

Characters[]

The main characters. From left to right: Will, Bella, Rose (in center), Cedric, Lynn, and Battiwigs (on top).

Main[]

• Rose is the main protagonist and a caring, young unicorn who tries to be good at everything she does.^[9]
• Bella, short for Isabella is a talented elf who loves nature and finds beauty in everyone.^[9]
• Lynn is a high-spirited witch from the Witchy Kingdom (Zimsala).^[9]
• Will, short for Willow is a daring fairy who likes to play pranks, and is friends with Lynn.^[9]
• Cedric is an intelligent prince, and an inventor.^[9]

The villains[]

• Wranglum is the main villain of the series. He is a tree-like wizard creature who is trapped inside a crystal prison that takes the form of a mirror. He is determined to rule Funtasia by any means necessary.^[9]
• Battiwigs is a bat serving as both Will and Cedric's dorm pet, and undercover as Wranglum's minion.^[9]

Recurring[]

• Miss Sparkle is the headmistress of the academy.
• Twilight is a fairy filly. She is one of the teachers and Zack's boss.
• Zack is the top student of the academy and Twilight's intern. Rose has a crush on him.
• Fabian is a new student at the academy. He is a lover of geology, and is often clumsy.
• Bijou the owl is the dorm pet of Rose.
• Zam and Zamie are two elf twins in the academy. They are normally seen causing trouble, especially for Will.

Production[]

Filly Funtasia was created by Danish brothers, Jacob and Henrik Ranis Stokholm Andersen, who also founded the Filly franchise around 2006, and serve as the directors of the series. Development began during the summer of 2012, and Tine S. Norbøll, the developer of the franchise, wrote the story bible for series. She was also an art director for the show,^[10] though her work is uncredited. BRB Internacional and their animation studio Studio 21 originally did the animation work, with some outsourcing from Black Dragon Entertainment in China.

A concept art of a scene in what was previously known as episode 4 (likely "The Crush") by one of BRB's staff, Stevepeig.^[11]

Some notable BRB staff who worked on the show include Stevepeig, who designed some of the concept art and how scenes would act out,^[11] and Dani Canovas, who designed some of the main characters such as Rose and Will, and did the color script for some scenes, as well as the backgrounds.^[12]

On October 12, 2012, plans for an animated TV series based on the Filly franchise were announced, with the working title of "Filly", and the series was set to premiere worldwide in 2014.^[13] A teaser for the show was presented at MIPTV in April 2013.^[14] On May 29, 2013, the show was renamed to Filly Funtasia, and some of the writers for the show were revealed; Dean Stefan, Noelle Wright, Jymn Magon, Johnny Hartmann, and Sean Derek. BRB Internacional was to distribute the show internationally, except in Germany where Dracco would handle it.^[15][16][17]

A trailer for the show was uploaded officially by BRB to YouTube on October 15, 2013. Another trailer was released to Twitter on April 11, 2014, featuring clips synced to the show's ending theme, "From Now Until Forever". A third one was released on October 13, 2014 by Funtasia Daily, for BRB offered them the chance to release it to reach a wider audience. A fourth trailer for the show was presented at MIPCOM 2015 and was released on October 6, 2015, featuring clips from the show synced to the show's opening theme, "Magical World".^[18]

Two 75-minute specials of the show were announced April 4, 2016 at the MIPTV Media Market titled "Filly Stars" and "Filly Butterfly". Originally produced by BRB's 3D movie division, Apolo Films, no news has surfaced about the current state of the specials and whether they have been cancelled or not as of late. They were meant to be released before the show in order to explain the characters and the world, which explains why Filly Funtasia starts off with no proper introduction.^[18]

Later in 2016, BRB and Screen 21 stopped working on the show, and stopped publicly associating with it. It can be assumed that around this time, Black Dragon also quit too. Around 2018, Spanish company B-Water Animation Studios and Cantonese company Guangzhou Huamai Animation Studios joined the production of the series, and worked to complete what the previous studios had left behind. A fifth trailer for the show, which would be the first Filly Funtasia material in a few years, would be released to Vimeo on March 23, 2018 by B-Water. It would also be the last trailer of the show to be released before its premiere one year later.^[18]

Filly Funtasia has gone through development hell five years prior to its release, and was delayed many times before it finally premiered in 2019. While the reasons for the delay remain unclear, it likely includes financial problems the Andersen brothers were facing, BRB and Screen 21 suddenly ceasing production of the series on their part, and Dracco initiating legal action against Simba Dickie Group.^[18] In the final version of both the English and Chinese credits, nobody from either BRB and Screen 21 or Black Dragon have been credited since those companies backed out of their involvement with the series. While English is the original version of the series, it was not released officially anywhere until 2021; however, various English trailers were released prior. The latest trailers posted by Imira Entertainment in 2019 contain the finalized voices,^[19] while the previous trailers released by BRB in 2014 featured different voices. Irish actor Morgan C. Jones has participated in voicing characters in the English version.^[20]

On January 17, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season^[7] that was released to iQiyi on December 25, 2020. A trailer for it was posted on November 2, 2020 on the show's official Weibo account.^[8] Several Chinese sources mention the plans on the third season^[21] of the show to be created and released in late 2021,^[22] as well as merchandise and promotion both online and offline.^[23]

Dracco Brands dropped out of the show in season 2, to be replaced by Zhaolong Culture in 2019. Zhaolong would fund the production of seasons 1 and 2, and share the merchandising rights worldwide.^[4] The series is distributed by ,^[24] which is owned by Toonz Media Group.

Episodes[]

Series overview[]

Season 1 (2019)[]

Season 2 (2020)[]

The second season of the series was released on December 25, 2020.^[8] The worldwide premiere for the season was on iQiyi, and unlike the previous season, all episodes were released on the same day.

Broadcast[]

Filly Funtasia was originally planned to be released in early 2014, but was delayed to the fourth quarter of 2014.^[27] On March 30, 2014, the release date of the show was delayed again to 2015.^[28] It was announced that the show would air on Clan in Spain,^[29] and later on V-me in the US.^[30] The show was delayed again on January 19, 2015 for a 2016 release.^[31] On March 10, 2015, it was announced that Filly Funtasia would air on K2 in Italy.^[1] On January 16, 2018, the Andersen brothers discussed in an interview that the series was postponed once again for a 2019 release.^[32]

The series eventually premiered worldwide in Italian on March 11, 2019 on Frisbee in Italy.^[5][33] In China, the series was officially released with a Mandarin Chinese dub onto iQiyi, with the title The Colorful Wonderland of the Little Fillys, on November 28, 2019.^[6] The show had reached more than 2800 viewers in under 24 hours. Later, the series would have its TV premiere on Hunan TV Golden Eagle Cartoon on January 20, 2020.^[34] Each of the 13 episodes are split into two 12 to 13-minute episodes, unlike how the show would be broadcast elsewhere.

In Ukraine, the series premiered on November 30, 2019 on PLUSPLUS with a Ukrainian dub. Filly Funtasia premiered on September 5, 2020 on Minimax in Hungary,^[35] the 7th in Romania and Moldova, the 16th in the Czech Republic, and October 3 in Serbia and Slovenia. Minimax started airing episodes 14-26 in 2021, with the premiere for Hungary on February 6,^[36] Czech Republic on February 11,^[37] and Serbia^[38] with Slovenia^[39] on February 15. Romanian dub of those episodes first premiered on 18.04.2021 .^[40] The series premiered on Arutz HaYeladim in Israel in November and is currently^[when?] available on the streaming service known as BIGI (latter received all 26 episodes of the show)^[41] as well. Since around January 2021,^[42] three English episodes ("Hide and Seek", "The Lost Mermaid", and "Farina, the Fire Dragon") were made available in the United States on the KidsFlix and MyToonz apps (as well as online streaming for the latter), both of which are owned by Toonz Media Group.^[43][44] These episodes are also available to stream on the Airtel Xstream service in India.^[45] On February 15, 2021, the series premiered on La Tele Tuya in Venezuela^[46] with a Latin American Spanish dub for the first 13 episodes and episodes 14-26 in early and late June and July of the same year,^[47] released in a very different order as compared to all previous dubs.

Songs[]

Filly Funtasia has many songs used throughout the series. Nearly all of them have served as background music at some point, playing through certain scenes with the vocals intact, but a few of them have been sung by the characters in-universe. Most of the songs were produced by Klaus Derendorf and Windy Wagner.^[48] Artists Drew Seeley, Maria Christensen, Jean-Yves Ducornet, and Leticia Ascencio were credited in the show as "in association with". Due to being a song from the second season, "Amigos" is sung by a different female singer.

In addition, the regular background music heard throughout the series was composed by Giles Packham and John McPhillips. The recording studio was Waveform Studios Dublin

Full versions of four (Transformation,^[49] In the storm,^[50] We can find a way through it all,^[51] From now until forever^[52]) songs in English were released in form of coloring sheet videos through Minimax's sites and channels on YouTube in late May of 2021.

Other media[]

Short videos[]

On July 13, 2021, official Ixigua channel of Filly Funtasia (China) released an unique short clip (50 seconds, hardsubbed) with educational focus, featuring some scenes not completely taken from episodes of the show. It is called 'Why do little bees collect nectar?' (小蜜蜂为什么要采蜜？) and is explaining to kids how bees are creating honey we eat, featuring Cookintot, Rose and Will. ^[53] Second video, uploaded on July 19, is featuring a comical story about one match of Hoopenhoof game (金蹄杯足球大赛, ^[54]).

Video games[]

Various games for Android^{[55] [56]} iOS^[57] and HTML5 ^{[58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63]} were made during several years of production of the series, hosted on different sites (with the exception of slide puzzles as they were deleted some years ago ^[64]) and using materials created for the series.

Merchandise[]

Toys of Filly Funtasia that were meant for China only, and made in partnership with Seasun^[65] were released in 2020, while the newest merchandise is to be sold in 2021 and includes trading and collectible cards, blind bag figurines (in the style of first Filly toys).^[66] Additionally, there are clothes for kids created by YouYouYu.^[67]

Reception[]

Accolades[]

On August 23, 2018, the episode "The Blue Rainbow" (at the time known as "The Missing Student") was nominated in the Best Animation category in the 58th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, before the series premiered. It lost to Fundamental.^[68][69]

Controversy[]

In China, mostly on Weibo where the show has an official verified account there, reception of the show has been mixed since its release there. While some have been praising it, many articles have came out claiming that the show plagiarized My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as both center on colorful equines, and that it is not a real domestic Chinese cartoon due to being a co-production and being released first in Italy. They also point out that the Chinese title of the show is one character off from Friendship Is Magic's.^[70][71]

Internet popularity[]

On October 16, 2013, one day after BRB Internacional had released the first trailer for Filly Funtasia on YouTube, Shaun Scotellaro of Equestria Daily had reported on the show's existence, calling Filly a "copycat brand".^[72] What resulted after were a lot of mixed reactions to the show, with many disregarding it as a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic rip-off before it premiered, and others claiming that it reminded them of the third generation ("G3") of My Little Pony (which wasn't typically regarded as good by bronies at that time). An intern at BRB responded calmly to a lot of the YouTube comments on the trailer that arouse from the situation before the video was privated, then unlisted with comments disabled. The show was also reported on the site in 2014 and 2015 due to the new trailers that were being released.^[73][74]

In the midst of the brony fandom becoming aware of the show, Funtasia Daily was created by Skundi on October 24, 2013. The intention of the site is to report on all Filly related news, much like Equestria Daily does for Friendship Is Magic. Some articles were also written by Zejgar. As a response to the 4chan and Ponychan threads on the show dying, Skundi also created Fillychan on January 24, 2015.^[18] The show would gain a minimal fanbase of its own, with some taking an ironic interest in the show. Memes about the show were prevalent at the peak of its popularity, including the frequent joke that the show was the next generation ("G5") of My Little Pony.

Tine was interviewed by Skundi of Funtasia Daily in June 2015, using questions that were asked by the community. Notably, Tine noticed the Filly Funtasia fandom and acknowledged the term "Funtasian", which would be the equivalent of bronies.^[75]

After a long period of silence, Equestria Daily would report on the show's comeback in 2019, and the reception to the show was notably more positive than it was before.^[76] One of the earliest reuploads of the first trailer of the show has over 1 million views as of February 2020.^{[citation needed]}

Notes[]

References[]