M.A. Larson
| M.A. Larson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rochester, Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Author, screenwriter |
Mitchell A. Larson is an American screenwriter and author. Born in Rochester, Minnesota, Larson moved to New York City and then to Los Angeles c. 2005 to become a screenwriter.
Larson has written for several animated series, including Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Gravity Falls, Littlest Pet Shop, and most notably My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Larson had become interested in the latter show from previously working with Lauren Faust, Friendship Is Magic's original showrunner, on Foster's Home; he was surprised by her characterization of the main characters and started writing for the show. Larson became a popular figure within the latter show's adult and teenage fanbase of "bronies" and has become a frequent guest at various conventions.
Larson wrote Pennyroyal Academy which was published in November 2014 by Putnam. Larson was influenced by what he called "princess fatigue" in the popular culture during his time writing for Cartoon Network shows. Brainstorming from this, he considered a children's work where many different princesses would be together in one place, dealing with having to live together. He originally called it Princess Boot Camp, where the princess characters would undergo rigorous training in a parody of a military-like boot camp approach. As he began developing the book, he had read The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim, which analyzed works like Grimm's Fairy Tales using Freudian psychology and concluded that the darker elements of these stories enable children to help develop their emotions. Inspired by this analysis, Larson revamped his work over a six-year period to target a slightly older audience with scarier elements and with less humor. The resulting book became Pennyroyal Academy, which centers on school for budding princesses and knights that train to fight approaching armies led by evil witches. Larson noted that his experience with the characters of Friendship Is Magic resonated in his approach with Pennyroyal Academy.
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