But it was an emergency rush in 1985 for the film "My Little Pony: The Movie" that allowed Mr. Shin to start Akom Studio in Seoul. In only 10 weeks, his newly formed team of animators was able to create the 300,000 cells required for the 1986 film. "We all just worked nonstop," he said.
It was a bountiful time for animation. In 1994, the South Korean government finally recognized the economic potential of the industry and started to support it (a far cry from 1967, when the government labeled cartoons one of the "six evils" of Korean society).
There are several all too easy potshots to take about "My Little Pony: The Movie" but then I think about Dakota brushing the manes of her dolls and having them sing and talk about their careers as Mechanical Engineers and I have to pause. "My Little Pony" is just the benign affection of a little girl bestowed upon a pretty plastic pony. It's cheaper than a real pony and a whole lot less smelly.
Hooray for Hasbro.
