[2] The earliest known official use of the "Equestria Girls" name occurred in 2011 when the American television channel The Hub (a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro; now known as Discovery Family) released a promotional trailer for Hasbro Studio's Friendship Is Magic television series which featured a modified version of Katy Perry's "California Gurls".
Monster High featured non-human skin and hair colors, was supported by multimedia tie-ins, and had its popularity and sales peaked in 2012 and 2013.
[15][16] In the audio commentary included in the Rainbow Rocks home media, Meghan McCarthy commented that Equestria Girls was initially not intended to become an ongoing franchise and that the thought of a sequel did not cross her mind.
A special short story, featuring the origins of Sunset Shimmer, was published in the IDW My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 2013 San Diego Comic-Con comic variant in July 2013.
In the main story, a prequel to the events of the film but told in flashback from a series of interviews, the five students, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash struggle as freshmen at Canterlot High.
On the day of the first game, Pinkie has found her true calling, as leader of the school's glee club, and gets Fluttershy to help distribute cheering equipment to the crowd.
The next day, Applejack is shocked to discover that a social media user called "Anon-a-miss" has posted a message about the nickname and that everyone at school has read it and begun to tease her.
The situation worsens after the next slumber party, held at Rarity's house when Anon-a-miss posts photos that the girls took of one another while trying on silly outfits.
They begin to suspect Sunset, as she was the only person present at both events and the colors on Anon-a-miss' social media page now match the ones she favors.
Apple Bloom had created Anon-a-miss as a way to get back at Applejack for spending so much time with Sunset rather than her family, and the other two soon joined in, with other students feeding them fresh gossip.
On August 14, 2015, the same year the Friendship Games lineup was launched, Hasbro released a live-action music video on its website, depicting five of the six protagonists as well as Sunset Shimmer in a sporting competition against Crystal Prep's Twilight Sparkle.
[32][better source needed] A Rainbow Rocks missile command-type mini-game was added to the Hasbro Arcade mobile app on April 8, 2014.
[37][better source needed] The My Little Pony 2015 Convention Collection released for San Diego Comic-Con in 2015 contains select songs from the first two films: Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks.
Before the Equestria Girls film's release, several mothers spoke to the New York Daily News stating concerns about the humanized characters, describing them as "too sexy", "anorexic", and "going back to the original Barbie" or "looking like Bratz dolls", and several feared allowing their children to be influenced by the looks.
[38] However, some considered it reasonable with other current media such as The Little Mermaid, with one parent stating she felt that it isn't "any worse than Ariel in a bikini top for two hours".
[39] However, many of these adult fans expressed disappointment in the announcement of the franchise and the characters, considering Equestria Girls to be trying to pander to this older audience, and that the approach "goes against everything that Pony was trying to prove".
[43] Sherilyn Connelly, published by McFarland & Company, complimented the films for having character-driven plots and argued that some journalists' and adult male My Little Pony fans' harsh criticisms of Equestria Girls arose from a misogynistic backlash against the idea of media that overtly starred characters meant to appeal to, resemble, and resonate with a young female audience.