My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks

On February 13, 2014, songwriter Daniel Ingram wrote on Twitter that there will be a total of 12 songs in the film, the greatest number of songs featured in a Friendship Is Magic episode or Equestria Girls film thus far;[12] however, only 11 songs made it in the film.

Like in Equestria Girls, the songs were composed by Ingram with lyric writing shared between Ingram and screenwriter Meghan McCarthy; with the exception of "Rainbow Rocks" and "Shine Like Rainbows" which had lyrics by Ingram; "Bad Counter Spell" and "Under Our Spell" by McCarthy; and "Shake Your Tail" having a first draft by writer Amy Keating Rogers, in which Ingram later revised.[13] Trevor Hoffman provided the arrangements for the songs, and musician Caleb Chan produced the songs as well as played guitar and bass.[14]

• "Rainbow Rocks" – The Rainbooms (voiceover)
• "Better Than Ever" – The Rainbooms sans Twilight Sparkle
• "Battle" – The Dazzlings and students
• "Bad Counter Spell" – The Rainbooms
• "Shake Your Tail" – The Rainbooms
• "Under Our Spell" – The Dazzlings
• "Tricks Up My Sleeve" – Trixie and the Illusions
• "Awesome as I Wanna Be" – Rainbow Dash and the Rainbooms
• "Welcome to the Show" – The Rainbooms, Sunset Shimmer, The Dazzlings, and students
• "Rainbooms Battle" – Instrumental
• "End Credits Song: Shine Like Rainbows" – The Rainbooms

On July 24, 2014, a movie clip and a teaser trailer were released on Yahoo! TV.[15] On September 10, 2014, through the Equestria Daily fan news blog, Shout! Factory revealed a 30-second trailer.[16] Two days later on September 12, a 50-second trailer was released on YouTube.[17] Six days later on September 18, a full theatrical trailer was released also via Yahoo! TV;[18] the trailer was then uploaded to Hasbro's YouTube channel four days later on September 22.[19]

The film received a limited theatrical release on September 27, 2014, in the United States through Screenvision theaters and in Canada through Cineplex theaters.[20][21] It also received a "Purple Carpet" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, which was attended by the cast and crew as well as some celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Modern Family actress Ariel Winter, and Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis.[22] Like the first film, the screenings of Rainbow Rocks in the United States bore no classification from the MPAA (which is not a mandatory, although many theaters carried a G-rating), while the Canadian screenings had classifications from provincial film boards (usually G).

In the United Kingdom, the film was theatrically released on October 25 and 26, 2014.[23] The film was theatrically released on November 15, 2014, in Australia.[24]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on October 28, 2014, in Region 1.[25] Special features include a new featurette, the eight prelude animated shorts, a sing-along song, and an audio commentary on the film by writer Meghan McCarthy, director Jayson Thiessen, co-director Ishi Rudell, vice president of development at Hasbro Studios Michael Vogel, and Hasbro's executive director Brian Lenard.[26] There were also three store exclusives for the United States release of the DVD: The Target edition included a bracelet, a USD $4 coupon for one My Little Pony toy, and the DVD of the first Equestria Girls film; The Walmart edition included a music CD, a digital copy of the film, and the same $4 coupon; The Kmart edition included a "backstage pass" and the coupon.[27] The initial production run of the DVD contained an error that caused chapters 5 and 6 to play in reverse order when the film was viewed using the "Play" option on the main menu.[28]

A Region 2 Rainbow Rocks DVD from distributor Primal Screen Entertainment was released on March 23, 2015, for various countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Middle East region, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.[29]

Alongside Equestria Girls and Friendship Games, this film was released in a box set on October 13, 2015 in Region 1.[30]

Rainbow Rocks made its United States television premiere on Discovery Family (a joint venture between Discovery, Inc. and Hasbro) on October 17, 2014.[31] The film premiered on the Family Channel in Canada on November 8, 2014. In the United Kingdom, it premiered on Pop on December 24, 2014.

On February 13, 2014, Entertainment Weekly released the first trailer;[35] about four months later however, McCarthy confirmed on her Twitter post that the clips from that trailer "are separate shorts and not scenes in the movie."[36] A series of eight animated shorts was released on Hasbro Studio's YouTube channel in 2014 from March 27 to June 19 to promote the film.[37] The shorts were created by the Friendship Is Magic crew to tie into the film, and are considered "prequels" to the film's events, detailing how each of them discovered that they could awaken Equestrian magic within them by playing their respective instruments.[38]

The first eight shorts made their television debut on Discovery Family on May 30, 2015.[39]

With lyric collaboration between Katrina Hadley, Daniel Ingram, Brian Lenard, Jayson Thiessen and Michael Vogel,[48] and songs composed by Ingram,[49] Hasbro released three Rainbow Rocks music videos on March 31, 2015: "Friendship Through the Ages",[50] "Life Is a Runway",[51] and "My Past is Not Today";[52] but were reuploaded two days later on April 2, 2015. These shorts are separate initiatives that lead up to the third Equestria Girls film installment, Friendship Games.[53] On April 6, 2015, Ingram replied in a comment on Facebook that these will likely be on the next Equestria Girls album in late 2015.[54] On September 17, 2015, the encore shorts were released as the first three audio tracks on the My Little Pony Equestria Girls: The Friendship Games soundtrack.[55]

The film's soundtrack was released on September 10, 2014 via the iTunes Music Store.[56] Announced on Ingram's Twitter eight days later on September 18 (chart of September 27), the soundtrack placed #15 on the Kid Albums Billboard chart;[57][58] two weeks later on October 2 (chart of October 11, 2014), the soundtrack placed #12;[59][60] a week later on October 18, it placed #10.[61]

In Hasbro's Q3 2014 Earnings Report, it was revealed that the box office returns from this film exceeded that of the first film in the first weekend by 37%. On a per theater basis, sales for tickets grew by 19% in the first three weeks of its limited theatrical run.[63] The film grossed $360,736 in its limited time in theaters in the United Kingdom, Finland, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.[64]

When the main feature premiered on Discovery Family on October 17, 2014, it was viewed by approximately 610,000 viewers.[65]

When the first eight Rainbow Rocks shorts made their television debut on Discovery Family on May 30, 2015, they were viewed by approximately 299,000 viewers.[66]

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks was well received by critics and fans alike. Sherilyn Connelly for The Village Voice called Rainbow Rocks "far superior" to the first Equestria Girls film, and that while "the picture is continuity-heavy and not particularly accessible to newcomers", that the film was "up there with the show at its most thoughtful".[3] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter complimented the film, saying "Though it's strictly for the faithful, the tween-friendly mix of cute and earnest has a forthright sharpness and is never cloying."[4] Shane O'Hare of Geekscape gave the Blu-ray of the film a score of 4 out of 5, praising the soundtrack stating "The show's composer, Daniel Ingram,...killed it. 10 all new original recordings from Daniel really stole the show."[67] Ed Liu of Toon Zone, who gave the first film a mixed review, also found this film to be better. He wrote the film "is almost as sweet and charming as the best episodes of the series, finding new and interesting ways to expand on the show’s themes of friendship."[68]

"Gerry O", 12-year-old film critic for The Huffington Post's Kids First! column called the film "a combination of adventure with a crème of comedy and a sprinkle of excitement all rapped [sic] up in a friendship sandwich."[69]

In 2017, IGN named the film among the "Best Kids Movies Streaming on Netflix".[70]