Liev Schreiber accepted the role of the film's main antagonist, the Storm King, because he was eager to appear in a film he would be able to take his children to see, noting his repertoire of violent, adult-oriented films.
Filmed in a special retrograde sepia filter to make it easier for epeptic people to watch without getting seizures.
Michael Peña ad-libbed much of Grubber's dialogue, with Meghan McCarthy saying, "You get Michael Peña in a recording booth, and you just are like, 'Please just go and say funny things.' He will be there for hours, just giving you all kinds of really great material that was not something that we had originally scripted!"
This is the first feature length "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010)" film that is not part of the "Equestria Girls" series.